Monrovia – Bomi County Senator Sando
Report by Alaskai Moore Johnson, [email protected]
In a one-minute, 25-second video clip, Senator Johnson, who is noted for always calling ‘a spade a spade’ or for not ‘beating about the bush’, said Chief Justice Korkpor had acted “irresponsibly” by he (Korkpor) refusing to read out his (Johnson’s) dissenting communication as it regards the way senators were supposed to vote in the controversial impeachment proceedings of former Associate Justice Kabineh Mohammed Ja’neh.
As he angrily walks out of the Chamber of the Liberian Senate, the Bomi Senator is heard shouting at the top of his lung in the midst of all the noises around him: “How can I write such a letter to you and you as a Chief Justice and you refuse to read it? That’s an irresponsible act on the part of the Chief Justice!”
As he continually walks out of the hall, a voice is heard calling and urging him to tune down but the tough-talking Senator still blasts: “He should have read my complain, read my complain. He can’t deny me.”
When he managed to gain some semblance of composure, he then got down to the nitty-gritty of his outburst.
“Yeah, about what happen yesterday [March 28] Rule 63 was grossly violated; he refused to read it, than he calls himself Chief Justice?,” Sen. Johnson said angrily as he turns to walk outside the Chamber before he stops in the doorway to go further with his rants.
Throughout this drama, Senate Sergeant-at-Arm, General Toe Chea Toe, also stood in the doorway maybe trying to escort Senator Johnson out of the Chamber but couldn’t touch him apparently fearing not to be another victim of the Senator’s wrath, too.
Sen. Johnson continues: “I wrote the Chief Justice; we did a complain; we were three senators. Our complain was one: Rule 63 was tempered with. We adopted Rule 63 and Rule 63 says, ‘Every senator going to vote there will be a form to be filled up with their name and must sign it.’”
According to him, “in the middle of the game” the rule was changed without reverting to them (senators) to agree on it before the new procedure for voting would have been adopted.
He further provided more clarity stressing that the rule clearly states that every senator, there should be an open ballot where they must write their names and sign. He asked: “So, how come they didn’t bring those ballots and they brought different ballots.”
According to him that was the issue he had raised with the Chief Justice when he sought redress.
Responding to an inquiry about how he viewed the process, he said: “Well, I can’t believe that the Chief Justice is a compromised person. He compromised himself in this case.”
When the fellow interviewing him interrupted and said he was making a ‘huge allegation’ against the Chief Justice, the lawmaker retorted: “I really don’t care but you saw his attitude. He compromised himself.”
WhatsApp Message
Meanwhile, FrontPageAfrica has seen WhatsApp messages from the Senator in which he insinuates that Senate Pro-temp Albert Chie has issued threats against him and that of his family.
“My fellow colleagues, be informed that I will be holding series of radio talk shows beginning Monday on the threats, plan dragging, insults and public flogging on my person and that of my family by the Pro Temp as was stated by him aggressively and emotionally on yesterday in his office in the presence of most of you, only because I have gone to his office with three of our colleagues to do a verification of our ballots to ensure that our ballots were not tempered with. Me, and my family and friends are not talking these insults and threats likely [lightly] knowing our recent history on how prominent individuals are being murdered in cool blood in our society because of dissenting opinions and decisions on critical national issues. So please my colleagues bear with me, I have to do this because of my safety and that of my poor and innocent family. Again, let me say for the record, my decision not to vote against Justice Ja’neh in violation of his rights and that of the constitution remains unbending, and I will do it again should the opportunity to repeat same, absolutely no regret.” According to the Senator, he is going to go public because, “We all witnessed the mysterious death of the late Micheal Allison, Harry Greaves, Matthew Innis of the Central [Bank] of recent and others.”