BREAKING: Legislature Boycotts Chief Justice Yuoh’s Retirement, Justice Minister Sends Proxy

Published: August 15, 2025

MONROVIA – Liberia’s Legislature on Friday boycotted the retirement of Chief Justice Sie-A-Nyene Gyapay Yuoh, joining the Executive in a high-profile snub that left only a proxy representing the Justice.

The ceremony was meant to honor Yuoh’s trailblazing service as a female chief justice, but the seats reserved for President Joseph Nyuma Boakai, House Speaker Richard Koon, Senate leaders, and senior cabinet officials were all empty. By tradition, the Justice Minister, serving as Dean of the Supreme Court Bar, escorts the outgoing and incoming chief justices alongside the Liberia National Bar Association president. On Friday, that role was filled by a stand-in, prompting murmurs among attendees about the depth of the political divide.

A brewing tit-for-tat
The boycott is widely seen as retaliation for the Judiciary’s own absence from the January State of the Nation Address (SONA). That snub came after the Supreme Court ruled that Koon’s rise to the speakership at the time violated Articles 33 and 49 of the Constitution, rendering any actions under his leadership ultra vires. Despite the ruling, the Boakai administration recognized Koon, reportedly relying on the Justice Minister’s interpretation, a stance critics said served the Executive’s political interests.

In January, Yuoh traveled to Cairo, Egypt, to attend the Annual High-Level Meeting of Chief Justices and Presidents of Supreme and Constitutional Courts of Africa and the Middle East, missing the SONA entirely. The other four justices also stayed away.

Composure amid political undertones
Despite the absence of Liberia’s top political leadership, Yuoh maintained a dignified composure in her farewell speech, reflecting on her tenure, the state of the judiciary, and the importance of upholding the rule of law.

The Liberia National Bar Association, legal practitioners, members of the diplomatic corps, and law school students filled the courtroom, offering standing ovations for her decades of service and her historic role as the country’s first female chief justice.