Monrovia – Tuesday, August 28 appeared to be a dramatic day for workers and members of the 54th Legislature when a group under the banner, Federation of Nimba Youth and Students Association (FNYSA) stormed the Capitol Building to petition the House of Representatives to abort the impeachment proceedings of Associate Justice Kabineh M. Ja’neh.
Report by Augustine T. Tweh, [email protected]
“Liberia is a country of law and not of powerful men who will relish “rule by law” and not rule of law,” their petition read.
The group said the action of the lawmakers to impeach Justice Ja’neh is “politically motivated and is intended to harass, intimidate and to subject one of Liberia’s best and finest legal luminaries of the Supreme Court Bench”.
Reading the petition, the Chairman for Legal Affairs of FNYSA, Lawrence Suah said “ Liberia has come a long way and the days of having a weak Judiciary System that was easily manipulated, partial and not independent are since gone”.
“The days are gone when checks and balances in the government structures of Liberia were not manifested due to the overbearing power of one branch over the another, thereby creating fear, intimidation, and molestation within other branches,” he said.
Suah added that Justice Ja’neh has done nothing wrong to be subjected to impeachment by the lawmakers, citing Article 71 of the Liberian constitution of 1986.
Article 71 of the Liberian Constitution states: “The Chief Justice, Associate Justices and justices of subordinate court of records may be removed upon impeachment and conviction by the legislature based on proved misconduct, gross breach of duty, inability to perform the function of the office, or conviction in a court of law for treason, bribery, or other infamous crimes”.
Suah urged the lawmakers to redirect their energies to helping the economy that is in crisis, building the damaged infrastructure, improving the agriculture sector, supporting the poor health system, and working to ensure that the education system graduates from mess to best.”
Receiving the petition on behalf of the Nimba Legislative caucus, Rep. Johnson N. Gwaikolo thanked the group for the petition and encouraged them to always act in the confine of the law.
“Let do everything we can peacefully (and), orderly so that the messages you may have for the legislature maybe appropriately presented and understood. So, on behalf of the Nimba Legislative caucus, we receive this, with our own rules and protocol, we will convey this message to the speaker for consultation. You will be notified as regard the outcome of this petition,” Rep. Gwaikolo said.
For his part, Senator Thomas Grupee assured the group that justice will be served in the impeachment proceedings of Justice Ja’neh.
“This particular issue is playing at the lower house, it has not yet reached the house of Senate. The House of Senate is charged with the responsibility under the constitution trail the accused having been presented with a bill of impeachment to look at the charges. I want to assure you that justice will be done. The issue of impeachment is about 80% political and 20% legal. No citizen will be penalized for an unjust reason,” he noted.