The Supreme Court justice in Chambers Jamestta Howard Wolokollie has declined to issue an alternative writ of prohibition sought by the Liberia Electricity Corporation (LEC), thereby ordering the Debt Court to resume full jurisdiction in a long-running debt dispute involving Swedish firm ELTEL Network.
In a communication issued by the Office of the Clerk of the Supreme Court, Justice Wolokolie, presiding in Chambers, directed His Honor James E. Jones, Resident Judge of the Debt Court, to proceed with the case “in keeping with law,” after declining to grant the writ prayed for by LEC.
The Court also lifted a stay order that had been imposed on January 6, 2026.
The petition was filed by LEC through its Managing Director, Assistant Director, managers, senior officers, and others acting under the scope of their authority.
The corporation named Judge James E. Jones as the first respondent, while ELTEL Network, represented by its Attorney-In-Fact, Mr. Hans Armstrong, was listed as the second respondent.
The Supreme Court’s decision followed enforcement actions taken by the Debt Court earlier this month, when court sheriffs sealed the main entrance of LEC’s headquarters in Monrovia over the corporation’s failure to satisfy a court-ordered debt of US$309,929.40 owed to ELTEL Network for electrical materials supplied under a 2016 agreement.
On January 5, 2026, Judge Jones issued a writ of execution authorizing sheriffs to seize and sell LEC’s assets to recover the debt. The order further instructed that if sufficient assets could not be found, LEC’s Managing Director, Mohamed Sheriff, and other senior officials be arrested and brought before the court.
The enforcement followed the findings of an arbitration panel appointed by the Debt Court on September 30, 2025. After reviewing invoices, purchase requests, and delivery notes, the panel ruled that LEC was liable to ELTEL Network in the amount of US$309,929.40, a reduced figure from the original US$434,459 claimed by the Swedish company.
The dispute stems from a nine-year contractual relationship in which ELTEL Network supplied Low Voltage (LV) electrical materials to LEC. Despite acknowledging receipt of the materials, LEC repeatedly challenged the debt and failed to settle the outstanding balance, according to ELTEL Network.
ELTEL Network maintains that between 2019 and 2020, it made several attempts to amicably resolve the matter, including offering a settlement of US$360,000, which would have waived more than US$74,000 of the original claim.
The company alleges that LEC ignored multiple emails and official letters, including correspondence sent on January 1, 2020, to then LEC Chief Executive Officer, Monie Captan.
With the Supreme Court’s refusal to intervene, legal observers say the Debt Court now has clear authority to proceed with enforcement of its judgment.
The ruling underscores the Supreme Court’s position that writs of prohibition are extraordinary remedies and will not be granted where lower courts are acting within their jurisdiction.
The case is expected to continue at the Debt Court, as ELTEL Network presses for full satisfaction of the outstanding debt owed by the state-owned electricity provider.
