Ecobank-Liberia Limited lost a petition before the Civil Law Court in Monrovia to include two state institutions in a US$700K libel case brought against as co-defendants.
By Lincoln G. Peters
Monrovia, Liberia, January 10, 2025 - The ongoing US$700,000 libel case against Ecobank-Liberia Limited takes a dramatic twist here when the bank, as a co-defendant, asked the Civil Law Court to include the Liberia Institute for Statistics and Geo-Information Services (LISGIS) and the Ministry of Finance and Development Planning (MFDP) to the lists of co-defendants.
However, the request was denied by Judge Scheaplor Dunbar on Monday, January 6, 2024.
In the motion for joinder of party, the bank had opted for the two institutions to be a party to the lawsuit on grounds that the government owns them, so everything that belongs to them, including the controversial LISGIS's account statements, which are subjects of the case, belong to the state.
Ecobank further argued that the account statement that Acting Executive Director of LISGIS Wilmot Smith claimed was given to Ecobank-Liberia and other defendants is not his account; instead, it is owed by the government.
"The said account does not bear the name of Smith. Rather, the account in question is for and in the name of LISGIS, an agency of the government," the bank argued.
It was alleged that the government, through the Ministry of Finance and Development Planning (MFDP) at the time, had communicated with the bank, which the accused bank denied through written communication with the ministry.
The bank also denied ever participating in publishing and discussing the account statements in the media. It proceeded to dismiss its former employee, Yussif Kromah, one of the co-defendants in the case, thereby giving the government ownership of the said account.
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"Since the government is the owner of the subject account, acting by and through LISGIS and the MFDP, it is best positioned to interpose response to Smith's complaint to accord complete relief in the case," the bank argued.
Ecobank-Liberia prays the judge for an order to join the government, acting by and through the LISGIS and the MFDP as a party to the main action of damages for Wrong by Attachment in compliance with the mandate of Section 5.5(1) of the Civil Procedure Law, but was denied by the court. Editing by Jonathan Browne
