MONROVIA – Members of the Lofa County Legislative Caucus are said to be divided over the latest ruling from the Supreme Court of Liberia, mandating the incarceration of Senator-elect J. Brownie Samukai for misapplying money belonging to soldiers of the Armed Forces of Liberia (AFL) along with two others.
The Supreme Court is the final arbiter of justice in Liberia
On Thursday, January 27, the High Court ordered the imprisonment of Mr. Samukai and two others for their alleged failure to meet up with the 50% payment of the US$1.1 million money of soldiers of the Armed Forces of Liberia (AFL) money which was misapplied by them.
Mr. Samukai, who is the former Minister of National Defense, Joseph Johnson, former Deputy Minister for Administration and James Nyumah Dorkor, former Comptroller were found guilty of the crimes of theft of property, misuse of public money and criminal conspiracy.
Senator-elect Samukai was ordered jailed for two years, while the co-defendants were given six months jail terms each but with a condition that their sentences shall be suspended if they restitute 50 percent of the fund within six months and make full payment within a year.
Though Senator-elect Samukai claimed to have paid his portion of the money through his supporters, the High Court mandated his imprisonment in its latest ruling on grounds that the 50% payment has not been met by the trio in its totality.
Embracing court’s ruling
Speaking when she participated on Radio Kintoma Morning Show following the court’s ruling, Lofa County district # 4 Representative Mariam Fofana stated that the decision reached by the court will deter others from mismanaging public funds.
“I want to state that I agree with the ruling and we all should see that as a deterrent to mismanaging the trust of the people when given to us-and what has happened to the army people and their money will not happen again and I hope that will give us a closure”.
“I am also waiting to further see what will happen with the local people seat. We will be waiting-now that the decision has been made by the Supreme Court, whether NEC will be able to declare this seat vacant so Lofa people can go back to election and decide who they want to be their Senator”.
Not witch-hunt
Opinion leaders, stakeholders and locals in Lofa have pointed accusing fingers at the Coalition for Democratic Change (CDC) led government of President George Manneh Weah for the lawsuit filed against Senator-elect Samukai.
They believed that Senator-elect Samukai was being witch-hunted for his refusal to accept an offer to contest on the ticket of the CDC during the December 2020 senatorial election.
But the government has denied the accusation.
According to Representative Fofana, the matter involving Mr. Samukai is more legal than political.
“I don’t see the motive why this government will want to witch-hunt one person. There is no reason or motive to convince me that this was a witch-hunt. I think this is justice that has been served. We cannot be asking for justice to be served in other cases than when it is our own criminal we say prosecute everybody but protect our criminal”.
Representative Fofana claimed that the former Unity Party led government took Samukai to court for the AFL money, and not the CDC administration.
She pointed out that the court’s ruling against their kinsman Samukai could have been avoided if a report from Counselor Miller Catakaw was endorsed by executives of the UP at the time to prevent Mr. Samukai from contesting on the ticket of the party.
She added that Senator-elect Samukai was not the best choice for the former ruling party to contest on the CPP’s ticket, but he was erroneously endorsed and presented to citizens of Lofa over other qualified and competent contenders.
“They still went ahead and selected somebody who has been convicted. This man (Samukai) was convicted before the election. I don’t see the motive of the President or the CDC led-government to witch-hunt a single individual in the Senate. He (Samukai) cannot do anything; you have to work with your colleagues”.
Stop fooling our people
Representative Fofana used the medium to cautioned politicians and others against inciting citizens of Lofa against the Supreme Court’s ruling.
She blamed Senator Steve Zargo and Representative Francis Nyumalin along with the Standard Bearer of the UP, Mr. Joseph Nyuma Boakai for being the masterminds behind the current situation Lofa is faced with.
According to her, the two Lofa County lawmakers, along with Mr. Boakai allegedly misled citizens of the county to vote for Senator-elect Samukai who was already indicted.
“Anybody who is going around fooling our people-and telling them that this thing is politics, they have no basis to this. They are just saying it to manipulate our people; to ride on the sentiments of our people. They are lying to our people”.
Declare the seat vacant
Sometimes ago, Representative Fofana was petitioned by a cross section of citizens to contest the seat won by Senator-elect Samukai if it is finally declared vacant by the Liberian Senate.
But critics accused her of stage-managing her own petitioning ceremony because she is “over-zealous and desperate” to become a Senator.
She claimed that citizens of the county, especially traditional leaders have been waiting for Mr. Samukai’s seat to be declared vacant.
Representative Fofana added that despite the current situation, some citizens of the county are politicizing traditional leaders over the matter.
“The people have waited long enough and we do not need to wait anymore. So, let’s make the right thing happens. This is what our traditional people want. Our elders are very clear”.
“When it comes to my participation, I will tell you that I will be a very big fighter but to declare that I will be in the race when the seat is not even declared yet, I will not make that decision now. When that seat is declared vacant, we will get back to the people to see the way forward. But there will be no Lofa politics minus Mariamu Fofana who will always be a participant”.
Senate Indecisive
The 1986 Liberian constitution gives both the House of Representatives and the Senate the right to inform the National Elections Commission (NEC) about vacancy in their respective bodies as a result of expulsion, death, or resignation.
But the Chairman of the Lofa County Legislative Caucus Steve Zargo, ruled out the possibility of members of the Liberian Senate declaring Senator-elect Samukai seat vacant.
He said the snubbing of the President’s recent State of the Nation Address (SONA) by about 11 members of the Senate, is a clear indication that Senators will vote against declaring the seat of Lofa vacant.
He noted that citizens of the county are being disenfranchised because they renege to do things to please a specific group of people in the country.
Senator Zargo added that citizens of Lofa are humbled and conscious-minded people who believe in their culture and traditions and as such, the approaches being taken to sway them away from their usual way of doing things are not workable.
Snubbing meetings
Senator Zargo observed that though all lawmakers hailing from the county reside in or near Monrovia, some of them do not attend meetings being called by the county’s legislative caucus which he heads.
He noted that delinquent members of the caucus normally gave excuses to boycott the meetings, adding that, “the Lofa County legislative caucus has a problem”.
Senator Zargo indicated that members of the caucus need to play a swift and urgent role as soon as possible to bring some relief to citizens of the county.
Acting in accordance
He maintained that despite the situation, the caucus will act in accordance with the rule of law to find a common ground.
“We thought that the boycott could make the government to see some reasons since we are all part of the government. Lofa will continue to be law abiding and our position will be in consonance with the rule of law. Our decision will be joy, joy rather than war, war”.
Senator Zargo noted that the decision has already been taken by the Supreme Court, but Lofa legislators will continue to act and proffer dispute resolution mechanisms in keeping with best international practices.
“There is nothing you can do when the Supreme Court gives its opinion because it is the final arbiter of all legal issues. Howbeit, the Supreme Court is being manned by human beings; they are not Sierra Leoneans or Guineans. They are Liberians and they are on the ground; they know the circumstances we find ourselves in”.
Senator Zargo maintained that what is legal or written on the book may not always be right or expedient and as such, the Lofa Legislative caucus will continue to engage major stakeholders, including the ECOWAS parliament to encourage the Government of Liberia (GOL) to rescind its decision on Senator-elect Samukai.
“We are being tempted and pushed to the wall, but we want to do all we can to maintain the peace in our county”, he added.
Reacting to Mariamu
Senator Zargo further expressed disappointment over comments made by Representative Mariamu Fofana accusing him of being one of those responsible for the under-representation of the county.
“The decision for Samukai to get on the CPP ticket was a Unity Party decision and not the Liberty Party decision. However, I do support the outcome of the people of Lofa County”.
He noted that citizens of Lofa should not also be held liable because of the decision they took to elect Samukai who was certified and cleared by the Liberia National Police (LNP), Liberia Revenue Authority (LRA) and the National Elections Commission (NEC).
Senator Zargo stated that the current situation does not require a “blame game” among those at the helm of power.
“When young men and women in Lofa raised the issue, the court said Samukai was cleared to run. We at the helm of authority need to rise up because our county is at the bridge and we are trying to cross it”.
For his part, Representative Francis Nyumalin expressed the hope that the matter involving Senator-elect Samukai will be resolved.
Unprecedented
He noted that the court’s ruling was unprecedented.
“There is no precedence on the Samukai matter in this country. You can check all judicial records-except the reliance of the Supreme Court is outside of this country. This is the first time in the history of our country for the Supreme Court to determine that the man appointed by the President of this country should have refused the written order of the President who is also the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Liberia”.
He noted that it could have been seditious if Senator-elect Samukai could have rejected the written request from former Liberian President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf to use the money on AFL soldiers who were on peacekeeping mission in Mali.
Representative Nyumalin indicated that despite the court’s ruling, leaders and citizens of the county have not lost hope.
“We the political leaders of the county have not lost hope; we want our people to remain calm, still have hope, and believe in us and the government. The rope that hangs monkey can hang bamboon tomorrow”.
ECOWAS Court
He noted that citizens of the county are yet to reach a determination to take the matter involving their kinsman Samukai to the ECOWAS court in Nigeria.
According to him, the move could be another remedy to challenge the conviction of their kinsman.
Response to Fofana
Representative Samukai observed that his colleague Representative Fofana has been one of the hidden hands behind multiple lawsuits instituted against Senator-elect Samukai.
He stated that his decision taken to support Mr. Samukai was based upon his triumph over his accusers during his nomination and qualifications processes.
“She has her own meaning of a convict; she was part of the group that challenged Samukai’s nomination at the NEC. Samukai went through all of the protocols and the NEC cleared him. She took an appeal to the Supreme Court and it was the Supreme Court who qualified Brownie Samukai. People have to be men and women enough when they are doing something”.
He added that Representative Fofana has been bitter with him due to his uncompromising stance against supporting a sitting Representative to occupy the vacant Senatorial seat of Lofa during the 2020 senatorial election.
“When Honorable Mariamu Fofana couldn’t get my support it became a different thing to the extent that she left the Unity Party in a sinister way even though she was the Chairperson of the UP legislative caucus. Her foot is in ALCOP and UP; when the determination was made that Brownie was the candidate of the CPP, she went back to ALCOP”.
Beyan Howard
Meanwhile, Lofa County district # 5 Representative Beyan Howard has questioned the rationale behind the court’s ruling.
According to him, the ruling was intended to settle political scores with Senator-elect Samukai.
“I am disappointed that the Supreme Court will hand down a political ruling. As a lawyer, I have not seen that anywhere. It was intended to get at Samukai politically. I can say that anywhere and anytime”.
Representative Howard wondered while the Supreme Court which previously cleared Mr. Samukai to contest could not give a definite position towards his certification.
He further observed that the caucus has not been able to meet and take a collective decision following the escalation of the case involving their kinsman.
He added that though other members are staying away, the remaining who constitutes the majority should meet and hold a news conference to give their collective position or decision on the matter.
Representative Howard, however, expressed the hope that traditional leaders’ vow to meet with the Liberian leader to seek a presidential pardon for Samukai would be fruitful in the soonest possible time.
Loggerheads
Since the lawsuit against Senator-elect Samukai, members of the Lofa County legislative caucus have been at loggerheads.
Opposition members of the caucus, including Representatives Mariam Fofana and Julie Fatorma Wiah, have been reportedly boycotting and providing poor justifications to attend called meetings intended to advance means and ways to help address the under-representation of the county at the National Legislature.
The pair was massively defeated by Mr. Samukai during the December 8, 2020 senatorial election in Lofa.
Representative Wiah, who won as an independent candidate, sometimes ago joined the ruling Coalition for Democratic Change (CDC).
Representative Fofana has been seen by the locals as being “too desperate for the seat of Senator-elect Samukai to be declared vacant” by the leadership of the Liberian Senate as evidenced by her recent promise to positively respond to a “stage managed” petition program held by some citizens in Lofa.
The high level of division among lawmakers hailing from Lofa has also spilled over to the locals in the county, instilling fears of insecurity, lawlessness, and possible chaos if the Supreme Court’s decision to jail their choice from the December 8, 2020 senatorial election stands as mandated.