Published: October 2, 2026
MONROVIA – Chief Justice Yamie Quiqui Gbeisay Sr. did not interfere in a Gompa City magistrate’s decision to jail former Mayor Amos Suah for 30 days for contempt of court, the judiciary said in a statement issued on Thursday.
The judiciary said the Gompa City Magisterial Court based its ruling on contempt law, not ethnic considerations, and rejected claims that it decided the case along tribal lines.
“In the Magisterial Court case in Gompa City, the decision rested squarely on the principles of contempt, with no interference from His Honor Chief Justice Yamie Quiqui Gbeisay Sr.,” the statement said.
The judiciary accused unnamed individuals of deliberately trying to inject ethnic sentiment into the court’s judgment in a land dispute involving the Kalefa Turay family in Nimba County.
“Chief Justice His Honor Yamie Quiqui Gbeisay Sr. is not a tribal Chief Justice. He is the Chief Justice of the Republic of Liberia,” it said.
The statement said all Liberian courts have the power to punish for contempt. It cited a 1974 Supreme Court opinion holding that any act that “tends to belittle, degrade, obstruct, interrupt, or prevent the Court’s administration of justice is contemptuous.”
According to the statement, the magistrate said the Turay family bought the disputed property in 1951 under a public land sale deed signed by President William V.S. Tubman. The family later built a building on it and leased it to tenants, including the government, until the civil war. The statement said a court ruled for the Turay family and the judgment was not appealed, but its enforcement “has been rejected using tribal sentiment and alleging eminent domain.”
The judiciary said the chief justice swore an oath under Article 70 of the Constitution to do equal justice to all and that no case will be decided on ethnic grounds while he heads the courts.
“Courts base their rulings only on evidence; courts know no Kpelle, Mano, Gio, Madingo, Bassa, or any other tribe,” the statement said.
It said Gbeisay understands the anxiety the dispute has caused in Gompa City and Nimba County, and that land cases must be decided “in the courtroom, based on evidence and law-and not in the streets, not on social media, and certainly not based on tribal sentiments.”
The judiciary said the chief justice welcomes constructive criticism of court rulings but warned against framing the dispute in ethnic terms.
“The attempt to tribalize the land case is to put fire on our National House. Liberia has been down that road before, and we all know where it led us. We must not go there again,” it said.
The statement did not say what led to Suah’s contempt citation, when he was sentenced or which magistrate presided.
Discussion about this post