Monrovia, Liberia – The Supreme Court of Liberia has denied the Petition prayed for by Gracious Ride Incorporated, “praying for an order of the Supreme Court to declare Executive Order 126 unconstitutional. stating that the petitioner cannot bring up the claims of a third party that is not in court and lacks the standing to represent the interests of the third party when it is not authorized to do so.
After reviewing the records, hearing arguments and contentions, and taking into account the pertinent laws that apply, it is decided that the petitioners lack the authority to represent a third party when they are not authorized to do so and are unable to bring up the claims of a third party that is not in court. Additionally, after failing to prove that executive order 126, which established Access Recovery, violated the statute, the petitioners’ case was dismissed for lack of a proper challenge.
Early in 2024, President Boakai signed an Executive Order with the express goal of locating and reclaiming public assets that had been stolen via corruption. The Supreme Court’s stay injunction prevented Executive injunction #126 from being enforced.
After former President Weah’s Chief of Protocol, Madam Finda Bundoo, owner of the contentious transport services company Gracious Ride Incorporated, contested the task force’s validity and existence, the court took action.
At the time, Gracious Ride Incorporated argued that the Liberia Anti-Corruption Commission (LACC), not a committee constituted by the president, was the only body with the legal authority to confiscate and retrieve allegedly stolen public property.
The taskforce had maintained on several occasions that the management of Gracious Ride lacked the legal standing and power to file such a petition with the Supreme Court.
In addition, they contended that the President of Liberia is empowered under Chapters 4 and 5 of the 1986 Constitution to operate as a quasi-legislative and judicial lawmaker by issuing Executive Orders in order to combat corruption and the misappropriation of public funds.
According to the Court, Gracious Ride Incorporated’s petition, which contested the legitimacy and validity of President Boakai’s Executive Order 126, which created the Assets Recovery and Property Retrieval Task Force, was unlawful.
“Wherefore, in view of the foregoing, the petitioner praying for an order of this court declaring Executive Order 126 unconstitutional is hereby denied and is hereby go order.”
