By Lincoln G. Peters
TEMPLE OF JUSTICE, Monrovia, July 7, 2026: The Debt Court of Montserrado County has summoned Liberia Electricity Corporation Managing Director Mohammed Sheriff and other senior executives to answer contempt charges on Wednesday, July 8, over the state utility’s repeated failure to comply with a court-ordered payment toward a US$415,327.08 debt owed to Swedish engineering firm ELTEL Network Liberia.
The contempt proceedings mark a major escalation in the long-running debt dispute and could expose Sheriff and other LEC officials to fines, coercive sanctions or possible imprisonment if the Court finds them in contempt.
The latest order compels Sheriff and other senior LEC officials to appear before the Court and show cause why the corporation—and potentially its executives—should not be held in contempt for failing to pay an outstanding US$53,950 installment.
Court records show that LEC has repeatedly missed payment deadlines despite being granted several extensions and special consideration because of the utility’s importance to national security and public safety.
The US$53,950 remains unpaid, while the total outstanding balance on the December 2025 judgment now stands at US$363,411.19.
The July 8 hearing comes after LEC allegedly failed for a second time to appear at a scheduled court proceeding. In March, the Court excused an earlier absence, citing the public interest in maintaining uninterrupted electricity supply.
The case dates back to June 2024, when ELTEL Network Liberia, through its Attorney-in-Fact, British national Hans Armstrong, sued LEC over unpaid bills for electrical equipment and technical services. Court records trace the underlying contracts back nearly a decade.
Following litigation, the Debt Court entered judgment in favor of ELTEL on December 18, 2025, ordering LEC to pay US$415,327.08.
When payment was not made, ELTEL moved to garnish LEC’s bank accounts, prompting the intervention of Solicitor General Cllr. Augustine Fayiah.
On February 13, 2026, Fayiah urged the Court to unfreeze the utility’s accounts, arguing that paralyzing LEC’s operations could threaten public safety and national security.
“Criminal activities of all types … thrive in darkness,” Fayiah told the Court, describing electricity as a national security asset.
The Court agreed and, in a March 2026 ruling, acknowledged that LEC could not be treated like an ordinary judgment debtor because of the essential public service it provides.
“Because of the importance of service LEC provides, the Court cannot enforce its Judgment against it as it normally does to other Judgment Debtors,” the Court ruled.
Instead of enforcing full garnishment, the Court allowed LEC to settle the judgment in installments. Under the arrangement, the corporation was required to pay 25 percent—US$103,750—by February 28, 2026, with the remaining 75 percent, or US$311,577.08, to be covered by a subsequent Stipulation Agreement.
However, LEC initially issued a March 3 check covering only 12.5 percent of the total debt, prompting ELTEL to file a Motion for Enforcement of Judgment.
LEC later paid US$50,000 toward the first tranche, leaving US$53,950 outstanding. The corporation promised to clear the balance by May 30 but later requested an extension to June 8.
When that deadline also passed without payment, LEC’s lawyers sought another month, arguing that the additional time would “put management in a better position to pay.”
ELTEL objected to the request, but the Court granted LEC three additional weeks instead of the one month sought.
That grace period has now expired, with the US$53,950 still unpaid.
The dispute has placed the Court in a difficult position between enforcing a lawful judgment and avoiding measures that could disrupt electricity supply in Monrovia and other parts of the country.
Neither LEC nor ELTEL Network Liberia has publicly commented on the latest contempt order. LEC has also not presented a comprehensive payment schedule for the remaining debt.
