Monrovia, Liberia – The Coalition for the Establishment of War and Economic Crimes Court in Liberia (CEWAECCL) has urged the CDC-led government and Representative Moses Acarous Grey of Montserrado County District #8, who serves as Chairperson on Executive in the House of Representatives, to approve the war and economic crime bill now pending in the legislature before leaving office in 2024.
In his 12 years as a member of the Liberian National Legislature’s House of Representatives and as the Chairperson of the Executive Committee, Representative Moses Acarus Grey was reminded by the Coalition for the Establishment of War and Economic Crimes Court in Liberia that this would have been the ideal time for him to propose a bill or policy for the creation of the court.
The group pointed out that while in opposition, Rep. Grey and the top officials of the Coalition for Democratic Change (CDC), which includes President George Weah, Speaker Chambers, Chairman Mulbah Morlu, and Secretary General Jefferson Koijee, had all been known to support the creation of a war crimes court. However, during their leadership, they never brought attention to this fact and instead attacked a resolution put forth by other members of the House of Representatives.
The Committee on Claims and Petition, chaired by outgoing Representative Rustonlyn S. Dennis, presented a single resolution calling for the establishment of a court; regrettably, Rep. Grey did not sign it, despite the fact that over 52 members of that body did. CEWAECCL, led by Lead Campaigner Adama K. Dempster, added that Rep. Grey had been the third most powerful man in the House of Representatives within the Legislature for the previous six years and that nothing could have stopped him from leading the campaign for the court’s establishment. But until the elections that drove them out, Speaker Chambers, a shrewd executive of the Coalition for Democratic Change (CDC), refused to bring the motion up for legislative discussion and voting.
Given Rep. Gray’s recent interest in seeing the court established, Speaker Chamber has a perfect opportunity to support Rep. R. S. Dennis’s Resolution and the Liberia National Bar Association (LNBA) bill calling for the court’s establishment to be brought up for immediate action before the Unity Party-led government takes office in January 2024, CEWAECCL added.
However, CEWAECCL pointed out that in his capacity as Chair of the Executive, Representative Grey and the Coalition for Democratic Change (CDC) as the ruling party ought to compose a letter that will serve as LEGACY and affirm their long-standing advocacy, which President George Weah should sign as part of his government handover note. Additionally, the letter should call on the UN, US, EU, ECOWAS, and AU to provide Liberia with financial and technical support in order to establish a War and Economic Crimes Court there.
The failure of Representative Grey and the CDC is counterproductive; hence, CEWAECCL believes that the amount of energy being expended on a protest at this time is completely pointless and will not accomplish anything. To the suffering of the victim and survivor groups, transitional justice specialists, and other international organisations on the accomplishments made thus far, it is completely needless and will only cause the war crimes court campaigners’ continuous efforts to see the court established in Liberia to be delayed, the lead campaigner of CEWAECCL, Adama K. Dempster, continued.
“We call on the CDC-led government to make the establishment of the War and Economic Crimes Court your legacy before turning over to the Unity Party in 2024.”
Following discussions about a planned demonstration on Inauguration Day to demand the creation of a war and economic crimes court in Liberia, headed by retiring Montserrado District Eight Representative Moses Acarus Grey, the call for the court’s establishment has resurfaced.
