Liberia: Public Works Minister, Others, Ordered Jailed

Judge Nancy Sammy of the Civil Law Court has ordered the court sheriff to arrest and imprison the Minister of  Public Works, Ruth Coker- Collins for gross disobedience to court.

The minister who was just confirmed to the post two months ago was ordered to be imprisoned for a month along with her deputies and the ministry lawyer.

Their charge, according to Sammy, is due to Coker-Collins and her deputies' defiant and disrespectful attitude exhibited toward the court and the rule of law -- as such, they deserve to be jailed like ordinary people at the Monrovia Central Prison.

The Judge added that the Public Works Minister and all her deputies as well as the ministry lawyer, Cllr. Dallamah Sulonteh has continually shown disrespect to the court by refusing to appear whenever they receive a document citing the Ministry.

“The clerk is hereby mandated to immediately issue a writ of arrest and place the same in the hands of the Sheriff of this court to have Minister Ruth Coker-Collins, her deputies as well as, Dallamah J. Sulonteh be arrested and incarcerated at the Monrovia Central Prison for one month,” Sammy ordered. 

“This punishment is for their defiant and disrespectful attitude exhibited to this court by failing to appear all of the times they are cited to appear.”

Coker - Collins who is now charged with contempt of Court was confirmed to the post of Minister on June 14, succeeding the late Mambutu Nyeanpan, under whom she once served as Deputy Minister. She served as acting Public Works Minister from 2020 till her confirmation.  

According to Sammy, the Court since July 27, has been issuing citations to the Ministry of Public Works officials to a conference due to a complaint against the Minister and co-accused defendants who have been asked jailed but none attended. 

Sammy noted that despite the call of the case on the reference date, neither Coker-Collins, her deputies nor her lawyer, Cllr. Sulonteh has respected the court and appeared for the conference.

Such disrespect, according to the Judge, led to them being held in contempt of court. Based on the contempt charge, Sammy said the court again cited the public works Minister along with her deputies and lawyers to a conference yesterday to show cause “if and why they should not be held in contempt of court” but they again refuse to show up. 

Sammy added that based on her perusal of the case file, the Court sheriff’s returns show that the citation was served on the parties and the citation face showed that Cllr. Sulonteh, being the counsel for the Ministry of Public Works, assigned the said citation on July 28, at the hour of 11:00 am -- a day after it was issued but decided to ignore it.

“At the call of the case on August 9, for hearing, the court observed that neither the Minister of Public Works, her deputies nor the Ministry’s lawyer was in court. The court sees the failure of the Ministry of Public Works officials to appear in court as a total affront and disrespect.”

Sammy is a  nonsense judge who hardly shies away from speaking her mind free on issues when has the opportunity to do so. She is one of the few judges that has admitted that the country’s judiciary branch is corrupt — a behavior she believes is severely undermining the population's trust in the core administration of justice in the country. 

She has also been outspoken about the country for doing little to improve access to justice for millions of Liberians living in rural areas, a situation that undermines the rule of law. Her critical stances on national issues have won many prizes from lawyers — hailing her for dispensing justice according to the law.  Sammy also presides over the 10th Judicial Circuit Court in Lofa County.