MONROVIA, LIBERIA-Criminal Court “A” Judge Roosevelt Willie says the 2006 survey report conducted by the International Crisis Group following Liberia’s fourteen year-civil conflict indicted the Justice System as being one of the root causes of the conflict.
Judge Willie quotes the report as specifically singling out corruption, incompetent manpower, impunity, lack of infrastructure, and the failure by the Judiciary to exercise its role of independence due to political interference as contributing factors.
Additionally, Judge Willie said:” The report made reference to low salaries for the Liberia National Police resulting to corruption in some instances, lack of capacity by correction centers to accommodate pre-trial detainees and convicts, as well as the inability to protect the rights of detainees.”
The Criminal Court “A” Judge said several recommendations were made to improve the Justice System and disclosed that the three branches of the government have made tremendous strides to implement the recommendations and develop the structure.
He named the Executive through the Justice Ministry’s recruitment and training of new police officers as well as security apparatus to protect the rights of citizens and residents.
The Judiciary constructed new infrastructure to accommodate the courts through the Magistrate Sitting Program at the Central Prison in order to reduce population of pre-trial detainees.
Judge Roosevelt Willie made the remarks on Monday, November 11, 2024, when he delivered the Judge’s charge at the opening of Criminal Courts A, B, C, and D, for the November Term of Court at the Temple of Justice in Monrovia.
Meanwhile, the Supreme Court has cleared all seventy-six Attorneys at Law, who filed their petition to the Court for admission as Counselors at Law to the Supreme Court Bar.
The Attorneys were vetted by the Court before been cleared to sit for the Court’s legal exam scheduled for this November at the Temple of Justice. The Court has also granted seven lawyers’ dispensation, which prevented them from taking the legal test. The lawyers are Attorneys Rosetta Jackollie, Nelson Freeman, Peter Gbeyan, Thomas Bombo, Joseph Palay, Alex Johnson, and John Sarkoh.
At the same time, a twenty-seven-year-old man identified as Blama Kromah has been arrested and detained at the Monrovia Central Prison for allegedly smuggling drugs into the prison through cakes of soap.
According to the Prison Supervisor, Correction Officer Marshall Wonder, arrested suspect Kromah was apprehended during food inspection of food intended for prisoners, when it was detected, that soap included in the package contained drugs.
Narcotic substances were also discovered in water sachets which contained marijuana, as well as forty pieces of Kush and Tramadol tablets.
Suspect Kromah told investigators that he received a black plastic bag and five hundred Liberian Dollars from one Princess who also gave him the soap to sell and purchase food for her boyfriend, an inmate at the Monrovia Central Prison.
The total street or black-market value of the drugs is placed at sixteen thousand Liberian Dollars, plus two hundred US Dollars.
The drugs were taken to the laboratory of the Liberian National Police, where they were tested and proven to be harmful narcotic substances.
