MONROVIA – Things are reportedly going amiss at the Ministry of Justice as the struggle for power between the Minister of Justice and the Solicitor General is leaving many junior staffers confused as to whose instructions to take.
The Solicitor General, according to reports, has been posing himself as the head of the Ministry and giving orders that lie solely in the purview of the Minister of Justice who is the statutory head of the Ministry.
This paper gathered that at one instance, during a meeting involving the Solicitor General, Cllr. Syrennius Cephas, Inspector General of Police, Col. Patrick Sudue and the Minister of Justice, Cllr. Frank Musa Dean, Cllr. Cephas in the presence of the Justice Minister began to give Col. Sudue instructions. However, offended Sudue told him he does not take instructions from him, rather the Minister of Justice.
According to reports, Cllr. Cephas then remarked, “In two months’ time you’ll see who you’ll be taking instructions from.” This reportedly led the Justice Minister asking him (Cllr. Cephas) out of his office.
FrontPageAfrica gathered that the pair have never had good rapport since that incident.
“The Solicitor General has no regard for the authority of the Justice Minister. In fact, in one of our workshops, he told the lawyers (prosecutors) not to take instructions from the Justice Minister, after all, they were all appointed by the President.
“I believe he’s doing all this because he often sits with Minister Nathaniel McGill and the rest and they all eat, sit and talk and he probably gotten assurance that he was soon replace Cllr. Dean here,” a Justice Ministry staff who asked for anonymity told FrontPage Africa.
When contacted Cllr. Dean declined to comment on the issue, while Cllr. Cephas failed to answer several phone calls placed to him up to press time Sunday evening.
Multiple sources at the Ministry of Justice said they have become confused as to who to take instructions from.
“It looks like Cllr. Cephas has the backing of the President, or maybe he’s just doing his own thing. But it’s difficult not to take instructions from someone who has the backing of the President because you just don’t know what he might tell the President about you. But at the same time, the Justice Minister is the head for this place and we have to obey him. So, a lot of work isn’t being done here because of the dilemma some of the workers find themselves in,” a staff said.
The beef between the Justice Minister and the Solicitor General became glaring when the Justice Minister told FrontPageAfrica that he was not aware that the Government had dropped charges against Ellen Corkrum who had been on the run since 2012 for economic sabotage.
Cllr. Dean also informed the Senate last week that it was the office of the Solicitor General that decided to seek the dismissal of the indictment against the former fugitive.
Subsequently, Cllr. Cephas has, therefore, been invited to the Senate to explain the circumstances surrounding the dropping of charges against Corkrum.
Senator Steve Zargo wrote: “As we are all aware, it was already clearly stated by the Minister of Justice that he was not aware of charges being dropped against the indictee, while the Solicitor General holds an opposing position.
“In view thereof, we request that the Solicitor-General be cited before the Senate for the purpose of clarifying the statements and position being attributed to him, such clarification is necessary considering the national security implication from which the matter arose.”
But legal pundits say, it was the prerogative of the Minister of Justice to have requested the court to drop the charges and find it strange that the Justice Minister was unaware of the proceeding that led to the court granting the motion seeking the dismissal of the indictment.
But this is not the first time that the Justice Minister’s role had been usurped. In November 2019, Deputy Information Minister Eugene Fahngon during a regular press briefing at the Ministry of Information, Culture and Tourism, told reporters, that the government had prepared a Writ of Arrest for Mr. Henry Costa, head of the Council of Patriots.
Barely 24 hours after the pronouncement, Justice Minister Cllr. Dean dismissed the pronouncement. He told FrontPageAfrica, “There is no writ of arrest from the Court and the Ministry of Justice has not given any such order of arrest.”
FrontPageAfrica would later learn that Deputy Minister Fahngon’s pronouncement was advised by Solicitor General Cephas.
In August 2019, Special Independent Prosecutor and Chairman of the Assets Investigation, Restitution and Recovery Team (AIRRET) constituted by the Solicitor General, wrote the Justice Minister inviting him to answer to account for payment he might have received during the first term of former President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf.
But the Justice Minister dismissed the allegation levelled against him by the head of ARRET, Cllr. Arthur Johnson and termed same as “speculative”.
“It looks like Cllr. Cephas has the backing of the President, or maybe he’s just doing his own thing. But it’s difficult not to take instructions from someone who has the backing of the President because you just don’t know what he might tell the President about you. But at the same time, the Justice Minister is the head for this place and we have to obey him. So, a lot of work isn’t being done here because of the dilemma some of the workers find themselves in.”
– A staff at the Ministry of Justice
Justice Minister Versus Solicitor General
The role of the Justice Minister, according to the Executive Law include: procure proper evidence for, and conduct, prosecute or defend all suits and proceedings in the courts in which the Republic of Liberia or any official thereof, as to such officer is a party or maybe interested.
The Justice Minister is also to institute all legal proceedings necessary for law enforcement; furnish opinions as to legal matters and render services requiring legal skills to the President and other agencies of the executive branch of the Government;
The Justice Minister also oversees the codification of Liberian statutory law and the editing and printing the Supreme Court opinions, and of such of the opinions of the Minister of Justice as he may deem valuable for preservation in book form;
The Justice Minister also supervises the correctional system and the commitment and treatment of prisoners, among others.
However, the Solicitor General, being a subordinate of the Justice Minister shall prepare and argue all cases to which the Government of Liberia or any officer thereof, as such officer, is a party; provided that the Minister of Justice may himself conduct any case if in his opinion the interest of the government requires him to do so;
The Solicitor General has immediate supervision of the conduct of all litigations involving the Government of Liberia, including the activities of the county, territorial and district attorneys.