Monrovia – Liberia: Verity News through its in-depth investigation has reliably uncovered that the daughter of Chief Justice Sie-A-Nyene G. Yuoh is on the payroll of the Supreme Court. The investigation reveals that the biological daughter of the Chief Justice, Ms. Elsie M. Nyeplu-Willie, is on the payroll as a Special Assistant to her mother, Chief Justice Sie-A-Nyene G. Yuoh.
Ms. Nyeplu-Willie who is at #4 on the official Supreme Court Payroll captioned, “Salary Payroll For The Month Of June 2024 – Office Of The Chief Justice,” is earning a monthly gross salary of US$2,500 as a special assistant while her mother, Chief Justice Yuoh, is bagging US$20,000 excluding other benefits as reflected on the payroll.
The Chief Justice, Her Honor Sie-A-Nyene G. Yuoh, was once married to the late Cllr. Isaac C. Nyeplu. Chief Justice Yuoh and the late Cllr. Nyeplu birthed Ms. Elsie M. Nyeplu, and Ms. Nyeplu is now married to the son of Criminal Court “A” Judge, His Honor Roosevelt Z. Willie. The name of Judge Willie’s son in question is Soeghen Willie.
In a November 2023 Internal Memo of Staff working in the Office of the Chief Justice of which a copy is in the possession of Verity News, the Ghanaian “niece” of Chief Justice Yuoh, Faustine Abena Agyei, is also serving as the Executive Assistant to the Chief Justice while her “foster daughter”, Calista Tubman, is on the payroll as her cook. The Investigation of Verity News verified from multiple sources that Agyei and Tubman have a family relationship with the Chief Justice even though our inside source alleged that they are the “niece” and the “foster daughter” of the Chief Justice respectively.
The source also claimed that the daughter of the Chief Justice, who is a nurse by profession, does not go to work but receives monthly paychecks. On top of maintaining her biological daughter as a Special Assistant on the payroll of the Supreme Court, some political and legal pundits are even questioning the rationale and decision of the Chief Justice to hire a Ghanaian as an Executive Assistant in her office as though there’s no Liberian who’s qualified to ably discharge the duties and responsibilities of such a role.
Nepotism and Conflict of Interest
Section 1.3.16 of the 2014 Code of Conduct Law defines “Nepotism” as, “When a public official appoints, employs, promotes, or recommends for advancement of family members in any agency of Government or branch of Government in which he/she works.”
The investigation of Verity News has established that Chief Justice Sie-A-Nyene G. Yuoh’s action to employ her biological daughter and other “relatives” is not just unethical, but it violates Part 9 Section 7 of the Code of Conduct Law which states:
“A Public Official may not appoint, employ, promote, advance, or advocate for appointment, employment, promotion, or advancement, in a civilian or military position in the agency or branch of Government in which he or she is serving or has jurisdiction or control, any individual who is a Relative, as defined in Section 1.3.21 of this Code. An individual who is a Relative of a Public Official may not be appointed, employed, promoted, or advanced in or to a military or civilian position in an agency or branch of Government if such appointment, employment, promotion, or advancement has been influenced or advocated by the Public Official. Any such appointment upon investigation shall be declared null and void. Upon being declared guilty in accordance with due process, the appointing authority shall be subject to dismissal, suspension, or impeachment in accordance with due process.”
Section 9.8 of the Law (Sanctions for Nepotism) states, “The penalties for Nepotism include reprimand, suspension, demotion or removal from employment; and could include prohibiting the offender from working for Government for up to five (5) years.”
The investigation of Verity uncovers that the Chief Justice exploited her official position and power as the Presiding Officer of the Supreme Court to pursue private family interests by employing her biological daughter and other “relatives”. Such action on the part of the Chief Justice according to the 2014 Code of Law constitutes a ‘Conflict of Interest,’ and it violates Part 9 Section 6 of the Law.
Another Violation (Private Trip To Turkey)
It can be recalled that Verity News through its investigation recently uncovered how Chief Justice Yuoh also violated the 2016/2017 GOL Revised Travel Ordinance Law by spending far more money on Daily Subsistence and Incidental Allowance on a private trip to do medical check-ups in Turkey from Saturday, February 17, 2024, to March 6, 2024. The Chief Justice also took her daughter on this private trip to Turkey as reflected in a dossier of authentic documents including the disbursement form, requisition, proforma, and plane tickets. The documents published by Verity News can be found on its Website: Chief Justice Breaks The Law and Facebook page.
The investigation revealed that Chief Justice Yuoh and her Special Assistant, Elsie M. Nyeplu who is her biological daughter, were paid a total of US$25,472 as foreign travel daily subsistence and incidental allowance to facilitate a 16-day foreign medical check-up in Turkey. The office of the Comptroller of the Judiciary disbursed US$20,992 to Chief Justice Yuoh (Check #412488) and US$4,480 to Special Assistant Elsie Nyeplu (Check #412485). It was also revealed that US$8,082 was spent only on air tickets for this single trip. The Chief Justice flew Business Class while her daughter-special assistant flew Economy Class according to financial documents in Verity’s possession.
According to #5 of Annexure One (I) of the Revised Travel Ordinance of Law of 2016/2017, the Chief Justice should have been paid US$350 per day for Foreign Travel Incidental Allowance and US$280 for Foreign Travel Daily Subsistence Allowance (DSA rate for Turkey) amounting to a total of US$630 per day for Daily Subsistence and Incidental Allowance. Based on the Travel Ordinance Law, the Chief Justice should have received US$10,080 as Daily Subsistence and Incidental Allowance for 16 days. Contrary to what the law requires, the Chief Justice was paid over US$20,000 for daily subsistence and incidental allowance.
Chief Justice Yuoh Alarms Constitutional Crisis Amid Budgetary Mistreatment
Chief Justice Sie-A-Nyene G. Yuoh addressed a major press conference during the weekend threatening to shut the government down if the budgetary appropriations of the Judicial branch of government cannot be increased for Fiscal Year 2024. The Chief Justice claimed that the Judiciary is being mistreated by the Executive and the Legislature even though the three branches of government are co-equals.
She warned that if the situation is not immediately addressed by President Joseph Nyumah Boakai and the leadership of the Legislature, it could lead to a constitutional crisis. “This Bench will not accept such treatment of indifference and imposition from our co-equals in the government,” she asserted.
Some journalists who were present to cover the press conference, including a journalist from Verity News, thought that the Chief Justice would have addressed the investigative report released by Verity News, but she refused to even accept questions from the media.
The budget of the Judiciary for FY2024 as reflected on page 160 of the 2024 Approved National Budget is US$20,734,964. Out of this amount, the office of the Chief Justice has US$380,391 per annum while the other four Associate Justices have US$178,660. The management and administration of the entire Judiciary accounts for US$19,450,454, the Supreme Court accounts for US$67,500, the Judicial Training Institute has US$48,120, Montserrado Courts have US$237,686, and other County Courts account for US$372,153. The 2024 budget document shows that the Approved Budget of the Judiciary for the fiscal year 2023 increased from US$18,453,234 to US$20,734,964 while the outturn for FY2023 accounts for US$19,177,180.
Amid threats by the Chief Justice to shut down the government due to low budget, political and legal pundits say that the Chief Justice has no rectitude to make such a statement because she has broken the LAW as investigated and uncovered by Verity News. They wonder how can Chief Justice Yuoh be threatening to shut down the government when her family members are on the payroll of the Judiciary. The question that lingers is whether the Executive and the Legislature will ever hold Chief Justice Yuoh fully accountable for violating the 2014 Code of Conduct Law (Nepotism and Conflict of Interest) and the GOL Revised Travel Ordinance Law of 2016/2017 as discovered and reported by Verity News?
