Lawyers representing Professor Wilson K. Tarpeh and the Liberian government have held argument into the petition for a writ of prohibition.
On Tuesday, March 26, 2024, the Full Bench of the Supreme Court of Liberia heard the petition of Prof. Tarpeh by entertaining arguments from both plaintiff (Tarpeh) and respondents (EPA).
The Court heard five cases regarding tenure positions including the petition filed by Prof. Tarpeh verses Executive Branch of government by and through the Ministry of Justice.
During the arguments, lawyers representing the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) claimed that President George Weah failed to follow the proper procedure outlined in the EPA Act of 2003 when he appointed Tarpeh as Executive Director.
The respondents argued that there was no policy council established to make Tarpeh’s appointment.
The EPA lawyers accused Prof. Tarpeh of violating Executive Order #123, issued by former President Weah, which required all presidential appointees to resign before President Joseph N. Boakai’s inauguration on January 22, 2024.
However, when questioned by the Justices, the EPA lawyers were unable to provide any evidence to support their claims of former President Weah’s violation of the EPA Act.
What appears to be a remarkable twist, one of the Justices pointed out that President Boakai also did not follow the Policy Council in appointing Dr. Emmanuel K. Urey Yarkpawolo.
The Justices concluded that the EPA lawyers had no standing to raise the issue of alleged violation by former President Weah because according to them, President Boakai also failed to follow the controlling procedure as required.
Regarding Prof. Tarpeh’s alleged violation of Executive Order #123, the Justices determined that no violation had occurred.
The petitioner’s lawyers presented evidence proving that he held a tenured position, exempting him from the provisions of the Executive Order that applied to non-tenured presidential appointees.
The Supreme Court has reserved ruling for next week when a determination will be made into the petition for a writ of prohibition filed by Prof Tarpeh.
Part III, Section 16, count 1 and 2 of the Act that created the EPA, which leads to the appointment of an executive director states that “There shall be an Executive Director who is a person with wide environmental knowledge and recognized comment to sustainable management of the environment, appointed by the President from a list of three names recommended by the Council, except that the President may appoint an interim Executive Director pending the formation of the Council.”
