MAMBA POINT, Monrovia—The Office of Liberia’s War and Economic Crimes Courts is facing eviction in from its rental space as the ongoing battle with government for funding reaches a crisis point.
By Anthony Stephens with New Narratives
Dr. Jallah Barbu, executive director of the Office, made the disclosure to Front Page Africa/New Narratives as he left a closed-door coordination meeting with the international community, in which he said “additional promises and commitments” were made to Office for Liberia’s transitional justice process.
As he moved into the office space last month Dr. Barbu told FPA/NN that officials of the Justice Ministry and the General Services Agency (GSA), the institution that manages all government’s assets, had told him they had signed a two-year lease agreement. The owner of the building has now approached Dr. Barbu to say that no money has been paid. He is expecting the Office will be evicted by Friday.
Dr. Barbu said he and his staff have also yet to be paid by the government or provided with any funding for operations. They are funding the Office with their personal funds and small international travel grants from donors.
The admission escalates the dispute between the government and Dr. Barbu, court advocates and the international community. To date no funding has been supplied to the Office since Dr. Barbu took over the role as head of the Office of the Courts on November 1. This is in spite of the government allocating $US500,000 in the revised 2024 national budget for the Office.
Cllr. Oswald Tweh, Liberia’s Justice Minister, told FPA/NN earlier this month that he would respond to queries about the funding. He has yet to do so. Minister Tweh has again failed to respond to requests for comment on the pending eviction, before publication.
Mr. Robert Wilson, Deputy Director General of the GSA, referred this reporter to an individual only identified as “Gaygay,” whom he referred to as “director of real estate” at the GSA. But in a phone call Gaygay declined to comment on the matter. The Ministry of Finance and Development Planning, which releases funding for government’s operations, did not respond to requests for comment.
I’ve been asked by the owner as to what’s happening with her lease amount or rental, and I’ve directed that question to the appropriate authorities, and I believe they’re handling that. And I believe that if the government has not paid that amount to the owner, the owner may then be thinking in that direction.
Dr. Jallah Barbu, executive director, Office of War and Economic Crimes Courts
The building is key to the Office’s operations, as it’s where Dr. Barbu and his team will operate from and undertake a range of activities, including designing the models for the courts intended to ensure accountability for the estimated 250,000 people killed during the civil wars, and the alleged economic crimes committed during the armed conflict. Dr. Barbu and his team have since begun working to execute their mandate, including with separate study visits to the facilities of Sierra Leone’s Residual Special Court and Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Those trips were paid for by international donors.
International donors have said they are willing to give funding and technical support to the Office of the courts. There has been no official notice of funding yet. But advocates insist there must first be a funding commitment from government to show its commitment to the process.
There has been an ongoing cloud over government’s commitment since Dr. Barbu revealed to FPA/NN earlier this month that he had been told that much of the $500,000 was spent by Jonathan Massaquoi, the first head of the office of the courts, who was fired in August after an outcry from advocates and victims about the lack of transparency in the process. Dr. Barbu said he had been given a handover note but there was nothing else to show for the $500,000. He said he was assured by the Justice Minister that there were some funds left, and they would be given to the Office quickly. Two weeks later that has not happened.
Because the Office is on a short timeline to make major progress before the executive order that established it expires in May, Dr. Barbu moved quickly to make key appointments and set up divisions for the court’s operations even before he received funding. It’s not clear how long staff will be willing to go on without funds for operations or payment.
Court advocates say this brings into question the government’s commitment to a process that they say could redefine the country’s future. Liberia is one of the poorest countries in the world and faces a range of competing financial needs, but its lawmakers are among the world’s highest paid. Campaigners for the courts have repeatedly urged the Boakai administration to cut what they say is wasteful government spending and demonstrate its commitment to the process by diverting funding to the courts. Dr. Barbu agrees.
“We do know that government is faced with a lot of different issues, and you know they are peeling them off and trying to address them, but this is a very compelling issue,” said Dr. Barbu. “This is a very compelling national initiative that the government must, and I underline the word must in red and bold, pay attention to as a matter of urgency.”
Dr. Barbu said he had met with President Joseph Boakai since his appointment and was convinced he was “deliberate and intentional about establishing the court and ensuring that this office leads the establishment of the court.” But Dr. Barbu said he was “aware that there are some people who want to derail this process, want to undermine it.”
He provided no specifics but is likely referring to recent discredited newspaper articles that have falsely accused key players of corruption. Dr. Barbu warned that, “if we find that a particular person, group of persons, or organization is acting contrary to what Liberian people are looking for, that could be detrimental to those actors. I don’t think it’s good for the country.”
Dr. Barbu’s warning came minutes after he and his staff held a meeting with the international community. Senior diplomats, including Madam Catherine Rodriguez, the US Chargé d‘Affaires, Madam Johanna Suberu Svanelind, Second Secretary of the Swedish embassy in Liberia, Madam Joanna Markbreiter, Deputy British Ambassador, Madam Maria-Paule Neuvillie, Governance Program Officer of the European Union Delegation to Liberia, and Mr. Christian Mukosa, Country Representative and Chief of the Office, United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) in Liberia, support staff and transitional justice experts were in the meeting.
“In my opinion, it was a meeting that showed additional promises and commitment to helping Liberia in this process,” said Dr. Barbu. “I see that they’re quite interested in what we’re doing, and that’s because it promotes justice, protection of human rights and the rule of law. I saw that as one of the pillars of the emphasis they’re making.”
“They definitely said that, yes, ‘we do have the capacity to provide some minimal support in diverse areas, especially technical assistance for capacity building, but also a few other things that we can do depending on what the needs will be in the future.’”
The international community is now coordinating the range of support it gives the Office and the process. The United Nations will be the focal point through which support flows.
“Yes, the UN has, for all intents and purposes, exhibited very intense interest in what we are doing,” said Dr. Barbu. “And yes, they’ve also said to me that beginning January, there will be more visible in their support to us.”
This story is a collaboration with New Narratives as part of the West Africa Justice Reporting Project. Funding was provided by the Swedish Embassy in Liberia. The funder had no say in the story’s content.
