Supreme Court Orders Assets Retrieval Taskforce Set Up By Liberia's President To Halt Operations

Supreme Court orders Assets Retrieval Taskforce set up by Liberia’s president to halt operations

The operations of an Assets and Recovery and Property Retrieval Team set up by Liberian President Joseph Nyuma Boakai have been halted by the country’s Supreme Court.

The task force was arranged for the recovery and retrieval of public resources and properties that were illegally acquired or converted to private use by officials of past governments.

The Supreme Court’s decision follows a prohibition filed at the high court by the manager of Gracious Ride, a taxi company whose vehicles were being seized by the task force.

Francis T. Blama prayed the high court to stop the task force from seizing its vehicles which they claim belong to President George Weah’s Chief of Protocol, Finda Bundo.

According to him, the vehicles were being seized based on allegations that a top government official obtained the vehicles through fraudulent means.

Justice Yussif Kaba who presided over the case placed a temporary stay order on the operations of the Assets Recovery Task Force on March 28 and issued notice to the Ministry of Justice to halt the team’s operations.

The Liberian Observer reports that Justice Kaba further requested the appearance of the task force and the ministry on April 1, 2024.

The Office of Assets Recovery was established by President Joseph Boakai on March 5, as part of his corruption fight strategy as promised in his election campaign. This was followed by the announcement of a task force to crack down on corruption and try to retrieve stolen funds.

The Assets Recovery and Property Retrieval Core Team is mandated to ensure processes leading to the location, recovery, and retrieval – through criminal prosecutions and civil litigations – of public resources and properties that have been illegally acquired or converted to private use by officials of past administrations, the Liberian Observer noted.