Monrovia — The leader of Liberia's powerful National Bar Association, the professional organization of the nation's lawyers, has joined the growing list of civil society and victims' groups that have condemned the process by which President Joseph Boakai appointed attorney Cllr. Jonathan Massaquoi as executive director of the Office of War and Economic Crimes Courts.
Cllr. Sylvester Rennie, Bar Association president, said his organization was not consulted in the executive order or the appointment of Cllr. Massaquoi. He said the Bar was also not consulted in the nominations and appointments of Justice Minister J. Oswald Tweh and Judge Ceaineh D. Clinton-Johnson Associate Supreme Court Justice-designate. Cllr Rennie said the Bar's exclusion is a major blunder and a dramatic departure from the long history of the executive branch consulting the Liberian legal community on judicial matters.
"The tradition is that, where there are positions within the judicial sector, or the justice sector, the Bar is normally consulted to conduct a vetting process because we know our lawyers," Rennie said in an interview. "We know their capacities. We do the vetting and then send a short listing to you."
While the president's appointment of Massaquoi was within his constitutional powers, it was the Bar that drafted the bill to establish the courts and presented it to the Legislature in 2021.
"The Bar's role has not changed in its quest for the formation of war and economic crimes courts for Liberia," Mr. Rennie said. "The Bar will work with all lawyers. But the Bar remains an organization that respects itself and must be respected by every other person like how our international partners respect us."
Kula Fofana, the Presidential Press Secretary, said she was still "awaiting info" in order to respond to Mr. Rennie's allegations.
Mr. Rennie joins a diverse of list of advocates, civil society organizations and victim groups that have condemned the president for failing to include them in the appointment of the executive director, who will lead the office to establish the courts. They said the lack of transparency will undermine public trust in the courts, which, they said, was crucial if Liberians were to feel a sense of closure from the process.
The Bar's public condemnation comes a day after the office of the United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres confirmed it had received a letter from President Boakai requesting the UN to provide financial and technical support for the courts. The Secretary General's office took the rare step of confirming receipt of the letter before the Liberian president made it public. The Executive Mansion has still not conceded it sent the letter or made it public.
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The president's failure to make the letter public and to include civil society, victims groups and the Bar in the process, has rattled Liberia's major international donors who will be called upon to fund the courts. Two major donors, speaking on the condition of anonymity, told Front Page Africa/New Narratives this week that they were concerned with the process so far.
Leading human rights advocates say in order for the process to enjoy the trust and confidence of the public, there should be a reset.
Mr. Rennie said although Boakai has violated his government's commitment to upholding the rule of law as explicitly indicated in its developmental blueprint, Agriculture, Roads Rule of law, Education, Sanitation and Tourism (Arrest), the Bar was not losing track of its moral legal role to the society.
"The Bar will contiune to champion the cause of the ordinary people for the sake of justice," Mr. Rennie said. "The Bar tries to maintain its respect. We will work with those partners that see reason to give us the kind of respect as a Bar. The Bar is a relevant stakeholder in the Liberian society. In any situation, the Bar is needed under the rule of law program."
This story was a collaboration with New Narratives as part of the West Africa Justice Project.
