Former Supreme Court Associate Justice Kabineh M. Ja’nah has announced plans to challenge the contentious Fiscal Year 2025 budget if President Joseph N. Boakai signs by suing the Liberian Government, particularly targeting the Executive Branch.
Ja’nah revealed that he has engaged senior lawyers to prepare legal action. He emphasized that if President Boakai proceeds with signing the budget which is widely criticised as having been passed through questionable procedures, they will escalate the matter to the Supreme Court.
Ja’nah explained his purpose was to ask the Court to clarify whether the passage of this budget adhered to the legal requirements under the Liberia system.
Ja’nah further stated that their legal strategy involves initiating proceedings at the lower court level before advancing to the Supreme Court, depending on the outcomes of the earlier rulings. He stressed the importance of ensuring the Court defines the correct procedural framework for passing national budgets.
The controversy stems from recent actions taken by the Liberian Senate, which over the weekend concurred with the Majority bloc of the House of Representatives to approve the Fiscal Year 2025 National Budget, valued at 880.07 million Liberian dollars. The Senate’s decision came late on Friday, December 20, 2024, following a motion introduced by Grand Kru County Senator Numene Bartekwa. Of the 30 senators, 19 voted in favor of the budget.
However, the passage of the budget has sparked significant debate, particularly due to the manner in which the House of Representatives conducted the initial vote. The Majority bloc approved the budget during an emergency session at Monrovia City Hall, bypassing standard procedures.
Following these developments, embattled House Speaker J. Fonati Koffa publicly condemned the Majority bloc’s actions. In a post on his official Facebook page dated December 21, 2024, Koffa labeled the budget’s passage as “ultra vires.”
With the ongoing controversy, Justice Ja’nah and his legal team aim to bring clarity to the situation by holding the government accountable to constitutional and procedural standards.
