Claim: “President Boakai said nothing about the establishment of the War and Economic Crimes Court for Liberia.”
Verdict: Misleading; the SONA included establishment
Full Text: On Monday, January 27, President Joseph Nyumah Boakai presented his second State of the Nation Address (SONA) as mandated by the 1986 constitution of Liberia.
After the speech, there have been waves of responses from policymakers and politicians, including former Montserrado District # 8 representative Acarous Gray, who claimed that Boakai did not include the establishment of the war and economic crimes court in the SONA.
Gray served as the representative of District #8 for 12 years and was defeated in the 2023 general elections.
Verification: We contacted Gray and he claimed that the speech posted by the executive mansion was contrary to what the President said
“He said nothing about the establishment of the War and Economic Crimes Court for Liberia. He deliberately escaped the expectation of submitting such a bill, especially after the resolution by the legislature and an executive order issued by him,” Gray said.
Gray added, “The truth is that only a bill can establish such a court and interestingly, it can now be viewed that the death of Senator Prince Johnson has ended the essence of the court in the mind of President Boakai. Escaping a report on such only exposes President Boakai’s hypocrisy in his fight for global justice. What a sad day in our country’s history.“
We looked at the written speech and compared it with the live speech to verify Gray’s claim.
However, we contacted presidential press secretary Kula Fofana, who shared a copy of the speech. It shows that the war and economic crimes court was in the president’s SONA.
“In the year under review, we also issued 14 executive orders addressing the urgent needs of the government, including those establishing the Office of War and Economic Crimes Courts (WECC) and the National Railway Authority.”
In the live video (50:07), Boakai said, “In the year under review, we also issued 14 executive orders addressing the urgent needs of the government, including those establishing the Office of War and Economic Crimes Courts (WECC) and the National Railway Authority.”
Conclusion: Boakai spoke about the establishment of the court but didn’t go in-depth. Additionally, the claim that the executive mansion inserted the establishment of the court in the written speech is misleading. The live video showed that Boakai spoke about an executive order that established the court.
