Claim: “Boakai and a few of his officials went on and removed the insignia on the walls of the court that credited George Weah for being the one who constructed the court.”
Source: Aloysius Howe
Verdict: Not True, the court symbol was not ordered removed by President Boakai.
Full Text: Aloysius Howe, special assistant to Samuel Tweah, former Finance Minister in the Weah administration, took to his Facebook account a few minutes after the dedication of the 14th judicial circuit court in RiverCess County claiming that President Joseph N. Boakai and a few of his officials removed the insignia on the walls of the court that credited former President George Weah for being the one who constructed the court.
The Rivercess County 14th Judicial Circuit Court has original jurisdiction over cases, including admiralty jurisdiction, and can consider appeals from magisterial decisions and administrative rulings.
The circuit includes three specialized courts and three magisterial courts. In September 2021, the Liberian government broke ground for constructing a modern judicial complex worth $US1.4m in River Cess.
The court is housed in a complex that includes magistrate residences, public defenders’ offices, and jurors’ quarters.
The project was initiated after a 2018 conversation with former Chief Justice Francis Korkpor and was chosen due to the county’s existing infrastructure gap. However, it was not completed until this year.
On Monday, August 11, 2024, the court was dedicated by Boakai, Chief Justice, Sie-A-Nyene-Yuoh, and several officials of government.
Howe’s claim attracted 219 comments, 67 shares, and 67 reactions as of the time of this check.
The claim was also seen here by Foday Kromah, National Executive Council, CDC- Council of Patriots.
Verification: The Stage Media contacted Howe on the claim but he did not respond.
Cllr. Darryl Ambrose Nmah, the director of communication for the judiciary branch, was contacted to verify Howe’s claim.
Nmah said no one was ordered to remove the insignia as posted by Howe.
“The claim is not to my knowledge, because I am one of those responsible for that project and no one has ordered me to do so.”
He further confirmed that the insignia is still on the wall, contrary to what was claimed.
“I left Rivercess yesterday, August 13, 2024, to make sure all was concluded,” said Nmah.
We also witnessed live coverage of the event by Spoon Network, a media company in Liberia.
Journalist Sylvester Cholopay, a Spoon Network reporter, shared a live video that TSM reviewed, revealing that the insignia was covered with a white cloth and later removed by President Boakai during the unveiling.
He then shared the video.
Conclusion: Following our investigation, we discovered that the photographs released by Howe were obtained from the live video during the unveiling ceremony in Rivercess County not during the removal of the insignia as claimed. Hence, the assertion that the insignia was removed by Boakai is incorrect.
