The Government of Liberia risks a potential default judgment for an alleged wrongful dismissal of the former Liberia Institute for Statistics and Geo-Information Service (LISGIS) Deputy Director General for Information Coordination.
Civil Law Court resident Judge J. Kennedy Peabody, in a writ of summons dated 19 June 2024, ordered the government to appear to show cause for its alleged action.
The writ commands court officials to summon the Executive Branch represented by the Ministry of Justice to appear before the court on 17 June 2024 at 10:00 a.m.
The court further ordered the respondents to file their returns to the petition on or before 29 June 2024.
"Failure to do so, a default judgment will be rendered against him/her," the writ of summons concluded.
The Dismissed LISGIS Deputy Director for Information Coordination has sued the Boakai-Koung administration for wrongful dismissal.
Through his lawyer, the embattled LISGIS official, Mr. Wilmot Smith, filed the petition for Declaratory Judgment at the Civil Law Court of Montserrado County.
Mr. Smith explained that he was appointed by the institution's board of directors. Under the authority delegated by LISGIS' 2008 Act, Smith argued that only the board can dismiss him.
He informed the court that the management of Spoon FM/TV which runs a media institution has allegedly been engaged in a defamatory and libelous campaign to harm and defame him.
For more than three months, he said the media house branded him as a criminal and a person who stole census money intended to pay enumerators.
"This allegation remains a severe stigma on the petitioner in Liberia and outside of Liberia," he lamented.
He demanded a retraction of the alleged defamatory statement against him by the media house.
Smith suggested that former President George Manneh Weah illegally and wrongfully dismissed him from the position as deputy director while the media house was allegedly carrying out its slanderous and libelous acts against him.
"The reason for my illegal and wrongful dismissal was termed as "administrative reason," Smith complained.
Meanwhile, the petitioner stated that the act by former President Weah was unconstitutional, accusing the former president of violating the Act establishing LISGIS.
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He also accused the former president of violating Article 89 of the Liberian Constitution, which delegates authority to the Legislature to establish autonomous agencies.
Through his lawyer, Smith contended that the government's actions were based on unfounded allegations and lies that were never substantiated.
"The dismissal violated petitioner's constitutional right to due process under Article 20 [a] of the Liberian Constitution," said Mr. Smith.
However, following the petitioner's petition, the court has summoned the Government of Liberia to appear before it on 29 June 2024.
