By Socrates Smythe Saywon
MONROVIA – Civil Law Court “A” has rejected a petition filed by the opposition Congress for Democratic Change (CDC) seeking to compel the administrators of the Bernard family estate to sell the 4.23 acres of land on which the party’s headquarters currently sits.
The decision, handed down by Judge George Smith on Friday, August 1, 2025, marks a significant legal setback for the CDC, which had asked the court to enforce a sale and purchase agreement purportedly entered into between 2018 and 2023.
In his ruling, Judge Smith emphasized that the CDC failed to present any documentary evidence establishing a valid contract for the sale of real property. “The petitioner has failed to produce a duly executed sale of real property contract or agreement to sell,” the judge stated, noting that no enforceable agreement exists between the parties.
According to the court, specific performance, a legal remedy that requires a party to fulfill its contractual obligations, must be grounded in an actual and binding contract. Judge Smith ruled that granting the CDC’s petition would amount to coercing the respondents into selling their property, a power the court does not possess under law.
“This Court holds that given the facts and circumstances of this case, there being no contract to enforce, this Court cannot decree specific performance,” Judge Smith declared. “The rule otherwise would mean to coerce the Respondent in selling its property to the Petitioner, which this Court is prohibited by law to do.”
The court’s ruling follows an earlier decision by the Supreme Court of Liberia on May 28, 2025, which upheld a 2016 ejectment judgment and ordered the CDC to vacate the Congo Town premises. The High Court also dismissed a Bill of Information filed by CDC through its acting chairman, Atty. Janga Kowo, and sanctioned the party’s legal team for filing what it deemed a meritless and procedurally flawed petition.
In its arguments, CDC claimed that it had not been notified of prior judgments and cited a third party claim by the intestate estate of Danielle P. Tucker Bernard as justification for remaining on the land. However, the Supreme Court ruled that CDC’s own actions, including payment of US$360,000 in rent between 2018 and 2023, amounted to an implicit recognition of a landlord and tenant relationship with the Stubblefield Bernard Estate.
“By paying rent to remain on the premises, the CDC affirmed the ownership rights of the landlord and cannot now challenge those rights,” the Court stated, underscoring that tenants cannot dispute their landlord’s title.
The Supreme Court also blasted the CDC’s attempt to use procedural delays as a legal strategy to forestall the enforcement of its mandate. “The use of procedural tactics to hinder the enforcement of a Supreme Court Mandate is not only improper but undermines the integrity of the judicial process,” the opinion warned.
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