The Bishop of the Independent Catholic Church of Liberia (ICCL), Bishop Nimely Jarbokly Donyen has released the ‘Advent Pastoral Letter of 2020.’
The Advent Pastoral Letter which elevates the church’s position relative to critical issues in the country comes in the wake of a Special midterm Senatorial Election scheduled for December 8, 2020.
According to the Pastoral Letter, the ICCL Bishops are in agreement with those who have been advocating for the postponement of the referendum saying that to amend some articles in the Constitution does not require hasty decision.
“The people are now in dire need of security coupled with peace and mutual understanding as well as food, water and electricity including the permanent solutions to the disappearance of the Liberian Dollars from the banking institutions in the country,” It disclosed.
It then encouraged the government not to reject the many appeals from the people to postpone the referendum urging it to take cue from the demolition of private homes in Fendel, suburb of Monrovia during former President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf’s Administration and also the impeachment of the Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of Liberia, Kabineh J’aneh by President George Weah’s Administration noting that either case backfired.
Commenting on implementing the ruling on the part of government, the Bishops of the ICCL called on the government of Liberia to comply with the ruling from the Economic Community of West Africans States (ECOWAS).
See Full Text Below
40.01. The race is not to the swift,” (Ecclesiastes 9:11). As we begin the new church year, We, the Bishop of the Independent Catholic Church of Liberia, are very grateful to the Almighty God for being our Provider and our Protector. We also thank the Almighty God for inspiring us with the views we express in this Pastoral Letter. These views are bigger than us. As humans, they frighten us. But because they come to us to be delivered, we have the courage to make them known.
40.02. We begin by stating that the manner in which we are proceeding on a very serious issues like a national referendum, a decision which will bind us Liberians forever, moves us to remind all of us that We Liberians used to guide ourselves with the saying, “Hurry! Hurry burst trousers!” Our Western friends say, “Haste makes waste.” So the ancient Latin wise men and wise women used to say, “Festina lente;” that is to say, “Make haste slowly.” The Government is running with a terrific and uncontrollable speed in pushing us Liberians to having a referendum.
- “The race is not to the swift.” A runner may finish the race ahead of all the other runners, but if he did not follow the rules of the game, he will be disqualified. He cannot win the race. He cannot be awarded the trophy and wear the crown. Therefore, the Government of the Republic of Liberia should listen this time to the wise Liberian men and women who are advising the Government to postpone the referendum she wants to have on December 8, 2020.
Voting For Senator
40.04. On December 8th, the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary, the Mother of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, and our own Mother, We, the People of the Republic of Liberia, in obedience to the Divine mandate given us in the Holy Bible in Romans 13, that we should obey our government, will follow the instructions given us by the Government of the Republic of Liberia, that we go to the polls to elect fifteen senators on December 8, 2020.
40.05. We thank the Almighty God, the tension that was rising in some counties between some senatorial candidates and their supporters has reduced to a manageable stage. It was sad to hear that supporters of some senatorial candidates used to stone other senatorial candidates and their supporters, so some senatorial candidates used to carry bags of stones in their air conditioned cars with the hope of throwing them at opponents who threw stones at them. We thank God that that primitive way of thinking left the stage quietly and the midterm election for senator is set for December 8, 2020. We support the holding of the midterm senatorial race set for December 8, 2020.
National Referendum
40.06. Also, on this ecclesiastical holiday of obligation, the 8th of December, the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary, the Government of the Republic of Liberia wants the People of the Republic of Liberia to vote in a referendum to amend some articles of the Constitution of the Republic of Liberia. We, the Bishop of the Independent Catholic Church of Liberia, do not support having a referendum on December 8, 2020.
40.07. Ecclesiastical bodies, Religious Groups, Individual Lawyers, the Liberia Bar Association, Academicians, Elders, Statesmen, Stateswomen, Individual Liberian Citizens, and so forth, have already appealed to the Government of the Republic of Liberia to postpose the referendum set for December 8, 2020.
Reason For A Joint Election
40.08. From what we hear, the Government of the Republic of Liberia remains firm on having the referendum on December 8, 2020, the same day that the Government of the Republic of Liberia is having the midterm election for senator. The Government of Liberia says she is combining the midterm senatorial election and the referendum because it will help the Government spend less money. The good of the Republic of Liberia is better than any amount of money that will not be spent.
Postpone Referendum
40.09. We, the Bishop of the Independent Catholic Church of Liberia, are, through this medium, asking the Government of the Republic of Liberia to postpone the referendum scheduled for December 8, 2020. “The race is not to the swift.” “Hurry! Hurry, bursts trousers.” “Haste makes waste.” “Festina lente,” that is to say, “Make haste slowly.”
40.10. We are appealing to our Government to postpone the referendum because there is no need to be in such a haste to amend the Constitution. Moreover, the People of the Republic of Liberia are not in dire need of amending the Constitution of Liberia. The People of the Republic of Liberia are in dire need of peace, security from armed robbers, basic human needs like food, water and electricity. The People of the Republic Liberia need salary arears owe them by Government. The People of the Republic Liberia want to Government of Liberia to deal effectively well with the liquidity crisis caused by the disappearance of a good sum of Liberian dollars’ bank notes from our local banks.
Government’s Shadow
40.11. If the appeals made to our Government to postpone the referendum are rejected by the Government of Liberia, We wish to refer the Government of Liberia to two actions taken by our Government in similar manner in recent past: (1) the demolition of private homes at Fendell and (2) the Impeachment of Justice Kabineh Ja’neh. The Fendell demolition was done by the former Government. The Impeachment of the Associate Justice was done by this Government.
40.12. It is common knowledge that appeals were made to dissuade the Government of Liberia from taking those actions, but the Government went ahead and took the actions. It is regrettable that the decisions taken by the government in either case backfired.
Demolition At Fendell
40.13. Maybe there are some who would want to know what we are referring to. A few years ago, the Government of the Republic of Liberia demolished the homes of responsible and peace loving citizens of Liberia at Fendell because the Courts of Liberia said that the premises were not for those who constructed their private dwelling places there.
40.14. Liberians who were so victimized fled to the ECOWAS Community Court and the ECOWAS Community Court sympathized with the Liberians whose houses were demolished by the Government of Liberia and ordered the Liberian Government to make restitution by paying for the demolished homes.
Impeachment Of
Associate Justice
40.15. Between 2018 and 2019, individual law expects and the Liberia Bar Association advised the Government of the Republic of Liberia to stop what she was doing to an Associate Justice who had done nothing
unlawful or immoral. The Government of the Republic of Liberia paid deaf ear to all the pieces of advice and impeached the Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of Liberia.
40.16. The impeached Associate Justice fled to the ECOWAS Community Court and the ECOWAS Community Court showed him the sympathy that a law abiding government official deserves. The ECOWAS Community Court ordered the Government of the Republic of Liberia to regard the “impeached Associate Justice” as a sitting Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the Republic of Liberia and pay him all the money Liberia has not paid him since they “impeached” him, including the two hundred thousand United States dollars for damages.
Race To The ECOWAS
Community Court
40.17. If care is not taken, the ECOWAS Community Court will be full of lawsuits from individual Liberian citizens, or group of Liberians who do not feel justly treated by the Courts of the Republic of Liberia. We pray it doesn’t happen.
40.18. The fear is that the ECOWAS Community Court is right here in West Africa. A Liberian in Liberia does not need a visa to go there. A Liberian can travel by road to get to the ECOWAS Community Court in Abuja,
Federal Republic of Nigeria.
Obey ECOWAS Court
40.19. How is the Government of the Republic of Liberia handling the ruling made by the ECOWAS Community Court in Justice Ja’neh’s Case?
40.20. Is the Government of the Republic of Liberia feeling humiliated by the ruling of the ECOWAS Community Court in the Justice Ja’neh’s case?
40.21. Or is the Government of the Republic of Liberia feeling proud that some Liberians are becoming courageous to take their government to task?
40.22. Finally, is the Government of the Republic of Liberia considering the action of the ECOWAS Community Court in the Justice Ja’neh’s case an interference in the internal affairs of Liberia?
40.23. Our advice to our Government is that she follows the instructions of the regional
international court literally. Pay all the money that the ECOWAS Community Court says Liberia should pay to Associate Justice Kabineh M. Ja’neh and reinstate him to his seat on the Supreme Court of Liberia. If the Government of Liberia does not do this, she will weaken Liberia’s respectability in the international community.
Ja’neh’s Financial Benefits
40.24. It seems the Government of Liberia will find it difficult to pay the salaries and allowances of the Associate Justice, and the damages ordered by the ECOWAS Community Court. We, the Bishop of the Independent Catholic Church of Liberia, suggest that the United States dollars’ components of the remuneration
a. of the Honorable Members of the
House of Representatives, andb. the Honorable Members of the Liberian Senate,
Community Court says Liberia should pay
to Associate Justice Kabineh M. Ja’neh.
c. Also, because he presided at the
impeachment of Justice Kabineh
Ja’neh, which should not have
taken place, the United States
dollars component of the
remuneration of the Honorable
Chief Justice of the Republic of
Liberia should be used to pay the
money that the ECOWAS
Community Court orders the
Republic of Liberia to pay to
Associate Justice Kabineh M.
Ja’neh.Advice To Justice Ja’neh- “The race is not to the swift.” A runner may finish the race ahead of all the other runners, but if he did not follow the rules of the game, he will be disqualified. He cannot win the race. He cannot be awarded the trophy and wear the crown. Therefore, the Government of the Republic of Liberia should listen this time to the wise Liberian men and women who are advising the Government to postpone the referendum she wants to have on December 8, 2020.
40.25. Justice Ja’neh, thank you for being so courageous! However, the Yanbo People (the Pleebo-Sodoken District People) of Maryland County say, “An individual does not win the people.” We urge you to celebrate with joy the vindication of your rights which the ECOWAS Community Court has restored, but handle the aftermath as the patriotic Liberian citizen who you have always been.
40.26. At the ECOWAS Community Court, you and the Republic of Liberia were equal. You have come back home. You and the Republic of Liberia cannot be equal in Liberia. But don’t be afraid the Lord God is with you. Congratulations for your courage!
Five Justices On Supreme Court?
40.27. The most embarrassing of the ruling in the Justice Kabineh M. Ja’neh’s Case is to get him back on the Supreme Court Bench. How will it be done? A replacement had already been made.
40.28. We non-lawyers will have a problem. All justices of the Supreme Court are seasoned lawyers. They tell us that what is not done according to law, is not done. If Associate Justice were replaced, and the ECOWAS Community Court says that Justice Kabineh M. Ja’neh was unlawfully removed, the replacement was unlawful. It does not exist according to law.
40.29. The Supreme Court of the Republic of Liberia cannot have a Justice who is on the Supreme Court Bench in the wrong way. The Associate Justice who “replaced” Justice Kabineh M. Ja’neh should step down and Justice Kabineh M. Ja’neh should go back to work. Let the law honestly rule us.
The Chief Justice
40.30. Are those Liberians who say that the Chief Justice, who presided at the unlawful impeachment trial of Justice Kabineh M. Ja’neh, should resign wrong? Conclusion
40.31. We pray that the Government of the Republic of Liberia handles the decision of the ECOWAS Community Court, in the Justice Kabineh M. Ja’neh’s Case prudently. The international respectability of the Republic of Liberia should take precedence in this situation. The ECOWAS Community Court is a regional international court. Let Liberia be known in West Africa as a respecter of the ECOWAS Community Court.
40.32. That more than four million Liberians are registered to vote in Liberia is shocking. This is more than two-thirds of the population of Liberia. This is the first time that such a number is registered to vote in Liberia.
40.33. With more than four million registered voters going to vote, it seems the referendum will pass. We pray that the referendum does not backfire like the Fendell Demolition Case and Impeachment of Justice Kabineh M. Ja’neh’s.
40.34. We wish all of you a happy Advent 2020, and a Merry Merry Christmas and a Happy and prosperous New Year 2021.
We are yours in Christ,
+Bishop Nimely JarboKly Donyen, DD
Independent Catholic Church of Liberia