A ranking Unity Party diaspora official says President Joseph Nyuma Boakai's war and economic crimes court will never be established while Lewis Garseedah Brown II sits in Liberia's seat at the United Nations, and he is demanding the president act before the pledge that defined his justice agenda becomes an empty one.
Thomas Ansumana, a member of Unity Party Diaspora East Coast, issued the warning over the weekend after the head of the court's establishment office went on radio and accused three senior government officials of burying the legislation needed to create the tribunal. For Ansumana, the twin crises were not a coincidence. They were the result of a decision Boakai made last year, a decision he had urged the president not to make.
"The War and Economic Crimes Court will never be in force as long as Lewis Brown represents Liberia at the United Nations," Ansumana wrote in a public statement. "President Boakai, you promised the Liberian people that you would implement the court so justice can be served. Today, the executive director of OWECC-L is frustrated by the lack of support from the government. President Boakai, I am once again asking you to replace Lewis Brown."
When Boakai nominated Brown to the UN post in late 2024, Ansumana went public with his objections. He says the president did not listen.
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"I pleaded to the president to reconsider his decision but it bounced on hard rock," Ansumana said. "Today it is evident what I said is coming to reality."
Why Brown's Name Matters
Ambassador Brown's name appears in the final report of Liberia's own Truth and Reconciliation Commission -- the same body whose recommendations form the legal and moral foundation of the court Boakai has promised to build.
The TRC's final report lists Brown, identified as the former managing director of the Liberia Petroleum Refining Corp., among individuals the commission found responsible for economic crimes and recommended for further investigation. The TRC's own 2008 press release described him, during his testimony before the commission, as a former member of the National Patriotic Front of Liberia, the insurgent movement through which Charles Taylor launched the first civil war in 1989.
Brown's official biography confirms a career at the center of the Taylor state. He served as national security adviser and adviser on political affairs during the Taylor years and led the government's negotiating team at the 2003 Accra peace conference that ended the second civil war. He later served as information minister under President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf before Boakai reappointed him as permanent representative to the United Nations. He presented credentials in that role on April 2, 2025.
Brown has said publicly he supports the court's establishment and expects it to exonerate him. No criminal conviction or finalized sanctions designation against him exists on the public record.
Thomas Ansumana, a member of Unity Party Diaspora East Coast
But for Ansumana, the TRC listings are disqualifying on their face. A man recommended for investigation by the commission whose findings underpin the court, he argues, cannot credibly represent at the United Nations a government that claims to be building that court in good faith.
The Coalition for Justice in Liberia made the same argument when Brown's nomination was announced last November, calling it a "blatant contradiction" to Boakai's stated accountability commitments. "Let us not forget that the TRC report explicitly recommended Mr. Brown for prosecution," the coalition said. "Appointing him to represent Liberia at the United Nations, a body committed to human rights and justice, would be a mockery of these principles." The Liberian Senate confirmed Brown regardless.
The Crisis That Proved His Point
What gave Ansumana's renewed call its urgency Thursday was what had happened two days earlier. Dr. Cllr. Jallah A. Barbu, executive director of the Office for the Establishment of War and Economic Crimes Court-Liberia, accused Justice Minister Oswald N. Tweh, Presidential Legal Advisor Cllr. Bushrod Keita and National Security Advisor Atty. Samuel Kofi Woods of failing to review two critical draft laws without which the tribunal cannot legally exist.
Barbu did not frame the delay as bureaucratic. He framed it as intentional.
"What we are seeing is strong political will from the president, but it is being strangulated by individuals who may have participated in the war or are protecting those who could be held accountable," Barbu said. "There are elements in this government that are stalling the process because they want it to fail."
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The Justice Ministry rejected Barbu's allegations Wednesday, calling them "false and misleading" and saying Minister Tweh had been consolidating multiple draft bills into a single harmonized text for submission to the Legislature. The ministry said funding had been withheld because OWECC-L had not submitted a government-compliant spending plan, and Cllr. Tweh extended an open invitation to Barbu for immediate discussions. "The Government will not be deterred from delivering the War and Economic Crimes Court," the ministry said.
The Decision Before Boakai
Boakai signed Executive Order No. 131 in May 2024, creating OWECC-L to coordinate the court's establishment. The tribunal would prosecute atrocities from Liberia's 1989 to 2003 civil wars, which killed an estimated 250,000 people. The TRC delivered its final report in 2009. Its recommendations have gone unimplemented through three successive administrations over 16 years.
