The Perspective
Atlanta, Georgia
December 5, 2019

Cllr. Tiawan S. Gongloe President of the LNBA

His Honor Francis Saye Korkpor, Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Liberia
Her Honor Nancy Sammy Kparklin, Vice President, National Association of Trial Judges of Liberia and members of the association present
The Vice President and members of the National Executive Council
Members of the Liberian National Bar Association
Distinguished colleagues of the noble black gown

Once again, we have congregated at the annual convention of our association to take stock of our activities throughout the year. The purpose of our national convention is to strengthen our knowledge in the law through continuing legal education classes and reflect on organizational matters, in order to develop new ideas for making improvement in the practice of our profession. These activities are necessary, for us as a professional body, to remain relevant in leading our country in sustaining peace and attaining progress and prosperity through adherence to the rule of law. Since the last convention we have lost some of our members through the cruel hands of death. They are:

During the year, we also lost our Librarian, Mrs. Mary P. S. Nyemoh, whom we all called Ma Mary. Ma Mary served our association for thirty years with the highest degree of care and commitment. Please stand in a moment of silence to the memory of our fallen colleagues and Ma Mary. May their souls and those of other faithful departed rest in perfect peace.

 Since its establishment in 1907, the Liberian National Bar Association has played a pivotal role in developing our legal system. Although, the LNBA’s dream of leading Liberia in the direction of building a strong system of rule of law has been challenged by the manners in which power has been acquired and maintained in Liberia over the years, ranging from a virtual one-party rule for over a century, to over two decades of military rule and interim administrations, as a professional body it has made relentless efforts to remain independent from the politics of the day. This is necessary because the LNBA has a professional duty to protect the integrity of the principles of law that govern the Liberian society by aiding the courts, administrative tribunals, and institutions of government to make decisions that are just and fair. As officers of the law, members of the LNBA serve as judges, prosecutors, defense counsels, private practitioners, government lawyers in civil cases, administrators, corporate executives, lawmakers, ministers and diplomats, amongst others.
The role of the LNBA is to ensure that in whatever capacity lawyers find themselves, they must remain committed to the oath they took on the day they were admitted to the practice of law. This is what the LNBA has sought to do from one administration to another, albeit using different approaches. Possessing knowledge of the law and exhibiting it in a manner that meets the ethical rules governing the practice of law in Liberia are the core values that LNBA seeks to promote and protect.

At the last annual convention of the Liberian National Bar Association, the current leadership of the Liberian National Bar Association was elected to conduct the affairs of the association for a period of three years,   consistent with its constitution and by-laws. On January 25, 2019, we were inducted into office and commenced administering the affairs of the Liberian National Bar Association. In line with the Constitution and By-laws of the LNBA, we established standing committees. We also established special committees in order to increase the capacity of our administration to meet other burning needs of the LNBA. In the first year of our administration, some of the committees were challenged in achieving their objectives. However, there are committees that against all odds, made tremendous progress in the performance of their functions.

The Legal Aid Committee
The first, amongst these committees, is the Legal Aid Committee, headed by Cllr. Joyce Reeves Woods. Over the years, beginning with the administration of the late Cllr. Theophilus C. Gould to the Administration of my immediate predecessor, Cllr. G.  Moses Paegar, the Legal Aid Committee has been outstanding in its performance. During the year under review, the Legal Aid Committee carried out legal aid activities in five counties of Liberia ranging from providing pro bono services to pre-trial detainees who had been in prolonged detention and mediating domestic relations and community-based disputes.
Currently, the LNBA conducts its pro-bono legal services through Legal Aid Clinics established in five counties, Montserrado, Margibi, Bong, Grand Bassa, and Bomi. Through these legal aid clinics, the LNBA has been actively engaged in releasing many pre-trial detainees and resolving many cases through its pro-bono services.  For example, from April 2018 to March 2019, the legal aid clinics had 390 pro-bono cases, involving 345 males and 45 females out of which a total of 354 were resolved through pre-trial conferences, mediation, and litigation. The number of cases resolved by the LNBA, through its pro bono legal services rose to 1060 in 2019.

The Legal Aid Committee is also engaged in creating awareness in various communities in the five counties in which it operates, on various legal issues and the procedures for seeking access to justice for redress. The Legal Aid Committee has become the face of the LNBA in many communities throughout Liberia. This was achieved through community visits and radio appearances by members of the committee. We request for a standing ovation for the Legal Aid Committee of the LNBA. While applauding the Legal Aid Committee, we which to express our gratitude to Legal Professional Development & Anti-Corruption Program in Liberia (LPAC) managed by checchiconsulting  for its tremendous manpower and logistical support to the Legal Aid Committee. It is pleasing to note that the United Nations Development Program, the Carter Center and the International Development Law Organization (IDLO) are in discussion with the LNBA on ways in which they can support the LNBA in expanding its legal aid program to cover the entire country.

The Induction Committee
Although the induction committee was an Adhoc Committee jointly established by the current Executive Committee and the last Executive Committee, it must be applauded for organizing and executing a very beautiful induction ceremony. We hope this landmark induction ceremony will be an example for all future induction ceremonies of the LNBA. We must reiterate our gratitude to Cllr. Bornor Varmah, Chairman and his committee members for such an excellent program.

The Social Committee
The Social Committee headed by Attorney Alice KenKpen Sirleaf worked very hard during the first year of our administration. In addition to playing pivotal roles in the organization of the 2019 Assembly held in Kakata, Margibi County in March 2019, the Law Day Program on May 3, 2019, held in Monrovia and the African Bar Conference held in Monrovia from October 21 to the 24, 2019, the Social Committee represented the LNBA in visiting sick members of the Bar and attending the funerals of deceased members of the LNBA and even deceased family members. It should be noted that this convention is being held as a result of the hard work of the Social Committee as a key constituent member of the Steering Committee of Convention 2019 of the LNBA under the able chairmanship of Cllr. Sylvester Renee, Vice President of the LNBA and Chairman of the Steering Committee of Convention 2019 of the LNBA.

The Bar Journal Committee
The Bar Journal Committee under the able leadership of Cllr. Mark Marvey has worked hard under the guidance of the Editorial Board chaired by Ret. Justice Philip A. Z. Banks, III to develop the governing policy of the Journal and is in the process of soliciting articles. Based on the assurance of Cllr. Marvey and his team, we are optimistic that before the 2020 Quarterly Assembly, we will see the first publication of the Bar Journal. LPAC has assured us that it has funding, at least for the first edition of the Bar Journal. Again, we express our gratitude to LPAC for this great offer of needed assistance.  We are thankful to Chairman Marvey and members of the Bar Journal Committee for the progress made, thus far.

Continuing Legal Education (CLE)
The Continuing Legal Education committee conducted three CLE events, the first during the 2019 Assembly held in Kakata, Margibi County, the second at the Law Day Program and the last at the Mamba Point Hotel in Monrovia. During this convention, continuing education classes will be conducted. It should be noted that lawyers are required to show evidence of attending continuing education classes each year as one of the conditions for obtaining a good standing certificate from the Liberian National Bar Association. In other words attending continuing education classes is not voluntary, but mandatory. According to the LNBA’s CLE Regulation, adopted at the 2017 Convention of the LNBA, each lawyer in Liberia must obtain at least ten points of continuing education in order to be issued a good standing certificate. The score for each continuing education class is 2.5 points. Seven point five (7.5) of these ten points can easily be obtained by attending the assembly, the Law Day and the Annual Convention. This means a lawyer is required to attend one more continuing education class in order to obtain the ten points required to remain in practice for the next year.

If a lawyer attends any other continuing legal education event such as a seminar, workshop in or out of Liberia, that is also graded as 2.5 for each class. So for example, the lawyers that attending the 2019 Annual Conference of the African Bar Association held in Monrovia obtained a score of 2.5 points. Therefore, this year, the LNBA provided an opportunity for lawyers to obtain 12.5 points of continuing education, so far, including this convention.   Since the CLE program was introduced, the National Executive Council has not yet begun to rigorously enforce it. Next year, the LNBA shall commence rigorous enforcement of the CLE regulation as one of the conditions for obtaining a good standing certificate. We applaud the CLE Committee under the able leadership of Ret. Justice M. Wilkins Wright backed by his co-chairman Cllr. Abrahim Sillah for organizing CLE sections for members of the LNBA during the course of the year. For those lawyers who for one reason or the other could not attend the CLE classes provided during the year, LNBA is looking into the possibility of providing four CLE classes to enable them earn their ten points in order to qualify them for obtaining a good standing certificate in 2020. We urge lawyers to take this offer of the LNBA very seriously in order to avoid any embarrassment next year.

Strategy and Planning Committee
A Strategy and Planning Committee was appointed by the Executive Committee of the LNBA, with the consent of the National Executive Council. This committee is headed by Cllr. Finley Kangar. Not long after the committee was appointed, it was mandated to implement the Justice First project of the LNBA under a grant received from the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), through its Country Representative, Dr. Uchina Omelonye. The Justice First Project carried out key activities based on the grant agreement with the OHCHR from July 8, 2019, to October 8, 2019:  The grant amount of US$69,000 was approved of which 80% was received by the LNBA Justice First Project. The beneficiaries of Justice First project were community members within the six project locations in three counties, Grand Bassa, Bomi and Margibi.

The Justice First project provided direct support to over 272 community members along with the policy-makers, with an expenditure of US$50,314. The project which concentrated, largely, on providing public education in the law and its processes was successfully implemented. We applaud members of the   Strategy and Planning Committee for the hard work. The work of the   Strategy and Planning Committee further raised the profile of the LNBA within various communities, as it served as a forum for civil society actors, chiefs and elders to understand basic legal issues regarding human rights and peace promotion at the community level. This project was undertaken with the cooperation and collaboration of the Legal Aid Committee. We express deep gratitude to the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights for supporting the efforts of the LNBA to meet its social responsibility to the people of Liberian in this very meaningful way. We look forward to greater cooperation between the LNBA and the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights in the coming year.

 Project Committee
Because of the importance of this committee to the LNBA, we reappointed Cllr. Oswald N. Tweh, former President of the LNBA, as chairman of this committee, in order to avoid the project being undermined by memory loss and lack of vital information regarding the background and context of the contract for the construction. The committee is co-chaired by Cllr. Bornor Varmah, who is ably assisting the chairman. This year, the committee did not do much, in terms of physical construction work because the LNBA owes the contractor who constructed the foundation US$69,068.85. Arrangements are being made by the committee with the Contractor for the commencement of raising of the walls, once a substantial portion of the debt is paid. Currently, there is US$28,451.35 in the building project account.

We have the capacity to raise the amount needed for us to make a substantial payment of our outstanding obligation to the contractor. If each counselor-at-law pays the amount of US$1,000, each law firm, US$1000, each attorney, US$500 and each student US$100 as was agreed upon a few years ago, progress will be made each year until the building is finished. If bar dues are paid by all lawyers, there will be enough money to carry on the day to day activities of the LNBA and to put some money aside for our headquarters project. We urge the Project Committee to collect from lawyers, law firms and students amount each category of persons was taxed to pay and collect the pledges made by lawyers, law firms, and other individuals and entities to the headquarters construction project. We hope that at the next convention we will give you a better report on the headquarters construction project.

Grievance and Ethics Committee
The Grievance and Ethics Committee is headed by Cllr. Milton Taylor. During the period under review, the Grievance and Ethics Committee received and disposed of three complaints. The first was a complaint by one Lincoln Mombo against Atty. Rufus Moore. He alleged that he gave Attorney Moore US$ US$1,550.00 to purchase him a vehicle in the United States, but the lawyer returned without the vehicle and did not return his money. The committee concluded that the issue was not a lawyer-client issue and advised Mr. Mombo to proceed to court against Atty. Moore. The second was a complaint filed against Cllr. Arthur Johnson by one Lewis K. Wleh, Sr. for delaying in providing him representation against the Liberian Electricity Corporation. However, while the committee was delving into the matter the complainant wrote and said that the matter was now progressing; therefore, the committee should stop dealing with the matter. The third complaint dealt with by the Grievance and Ethics Committee came from Cllr. Eugene Massaquoi against the Elections Commission of the Grand Cape Mount Bar Association. Cllr. Massaquoi’s complaint was that the result of the local bar election which declared Cllr. Molley Gray, Jr. as President of the Grand Cape Mount Bar should be set aside because of irregularities and fraud. The Committee, having thoroughly investigated the matter, concluded that the election was conducted in a free and fair manner and therefore confirmed the result of the election. The National Executive Council approved the report of the Grievance and Ethics Committee. Therefore, NEC recognizes Cllr. Molley Gray Jr. as President of the Grand Cape Mount Bar.
In another development, the committee recommended that the National Executive Council of the Liberian National Bar Association begins a rigorous implementation of the decision of the LNBA at its 2017 National Convention, which subsequently supported by the Supreme Court, that in order to establish a law firm, a lawyer must be a counselor-at-law with two years of experience after qualification as a counselor-at-law.

The Auditing Committee
The Auditing committee has scrupulously examined the financial records of the LNBA for this year and made some recommendations. The committee said, “The overall internal control system is operating in keeping with best practices, and verified to be correct”. However, it made recommendations for improvement in the accounting system.

 Other Committees
All of the other committees are working hard and have assured the Executive Committee that at the next convention they will have tangible results for our annual report to the National Convention of the LNBA. We understand their challenges, but encourage them to take steps to overcome those challenges for the good of the LNBA.

Activities undertaken
As stated earlier, the year began with an elaborate induction ceremony held on January 25, 2019. The induction ceremony was followed by a three-day orientation meeting of the incoming and outgoing administrations, held at the Farmington Hotel, with the support of LPAC. Subsequently, the 2019 Assembly was held in Kakata, Margibi County in March, and the celebration of law day held on May 3, 2019 in Monrovia. Also, during the reporting period, a CLE class was conducted at the Mamba Point Hotel in Monrovia. Further, a three-day strategic planning meeting was held at Hotel Buchanan, Grand Bassa County from August 15th – 18th, 2019. At that meeting the strategic plan of the LNBA was adopted followed by a meeting in Monrovia for the adoption of the LNBA’s Human Resource Policy. In April this year, the President attended a meeting of the Governing Council of the African Bar, held in Benin City, Federal Republic of Nigeria. The President also traveled to the United States to deliver the keynote address at the annual benefit dinner of the Association of Liberian Journalists in the United States of America, held in Brooklyn Park, Minnesota.

A major historic activity was undertaken by the Liberian National Bar Association during the year and that was the hosting of the 2019 Annual Conference of the African Bar Association. The African Bar had earlier requested that the Liberian National Bar Association hosts the first training section of members of the armed forces and law enforcement officers in Africa, under the theme: “Rules Of Engagement In Asymmetric Warfare and Security Operations: Need for Compliance With Local and International Law” from October 21 to 23, 2019. However, due to difficulties experienced by the Governing Council of the African Bar occasioned by the denial of entry visas to many delegates and resource persons to Cairo, Egypt, the Governing Council of the African Bar Association made a further request to the Liberian National Bar Association to host both the Annual Conference of the African Bar and the training workshop for members of the security sector.  Although the time was short and the LNBA did not have the logistical capacity to host these international events, the National Executive Council unanimously agreed to host these events. Based on our recommendation, the President of the African Bar Association appointed Cllr. J. Bimah Lansanah as chairman of the local organizing committee.

We are proud to say that since the LNBA was established in 1907, this was its first time to host such an international gathering of lawyers and it was very successful. The 2019 Annual Conference of the African Bar was held under the general theme: “Tackling Contemporary Issue Facing the African Continent: How Lawyers Can Drive A Renaissance” and it brought to our country great legal minds from the African continent and from other parts of the world. Amongst topics discussed were the following: Observance of Human Rights and Humanitarian Laws in Warfare Experience; Human Rights and Humanitarian Obligations no longer negotiable during Military & Security operation;  Challenges of Telecommunication in Africa: Rights of Consumers; Right to Land; Illegal Immigration and Modern Slavery: How to Deal with the epidemic; Rights of the African Women, the African Child: Affirmation of Agenda, Women in Government and Politics, to Court Procedures V. A.D.R.

It will remain in the annals of Liberian history as the first gathering of lawyers from all parts of the world since the establishment of the Liberian state in 1847.

We want to publicly thank Cllr. J. Bimah Lansannah for so graciously accepting our recommendation for his appointment to perform this historic duty to his professional organization and his country. We express our deepest gratitude to the Vice President of the LNBA, Cllr. Sylvester Renee, the Secretary-General, Cllr. Bobby Livingstone, the Treasurer, Cllr. Baida Rachel Yabah-Duobah and all members of the National Executive Council and chairpersons of the various committees, especially, the Social Committee under the able leadership of Atty. Alice Kenkpen Sirleaf, as its chairperson. Also words are inadequate for the expression of our thanks and appreciation of the Government of Liberia for its tremendous support to the success of the 2019 Annual Conference of the African Bar Association. We could not have successfully hosted the 2019 Annual Conference of the African Bar and other activities without the sacrificial services of the support staff of the LNBA headed by the Executive Director Edward Bowinker. We stand in a great debt of gratitude to all the members of our secretariat.

Links with the Government of Liberia and organizations
The Liberia National Bar Association maintains a strong link with the Government of Liberia and local and international organizations through participation in their workshops and board representations. Currently, the Liberian National Bar Association is represented on the following government boards: the Ministry of Commerce, the Financial Intelligence Unit of Liberia, the Environmental Protection Agency, the Judicial Inquiry Commission, and chairs the Joint Civilian Complaint Boards of the Liberian National Police and the Liberia Immigration Service. The Liberian National Bar Association is also represented on the boards of the Institution for Research and Democratic Development (IREDD, the International Development Law Organization(IDLO), an inter-governmental organization engaged in the promotion of the rule of law and chairs the Liberia Coordinating mechanism for HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria.    

The LNBA also during the year wrote the first draft of the bill for the establishment of an extraordinary court for war and economic crimes, consistent with the LNBA’s Kakata, 2019 Assembly Resolution. The bill  which was drafted by a team of legal scholars from the LNBA headed by Dr. Jallah Barbo has gone through many revisions and will be presented at this convention for your consideration. The LNBA has also begun the drafting of a law for the establishment of a claims court, consistent with article 26 of the Constitution of Liberia, to be presented to the National Legislature, through the office of Hon. Rustonlyn Suacoco Dennis‏. The drafting of the bill for the establishment of a claims court is being led by Cllr Powo Hilton, as chairman.    
                                                                                         
The Financial Standing of the LNBA
The balance in the account of the LNBA on January 31, 2019 was US$32,061.93, LD2, 540,928.00 and US$28,451.35 in the building account. The grand total of the revenue before the convention was $148,674.93 and the total expenses for the same period was US$118,499.86. Therefore, the net income is US$30,175.07. The building project account has US$28,451.35 and the LD account has LD2,993,188.66. The current financial strength of the LNBA is very weak. We will improve the situation in 2020 by implementing the provision of the LNBA constitution that provides for the payment of dues on time by all members of the LNBA. Specifically, we shall strictly adhere to article II section III and section VII. Article II, Section III of the LNBA Constitution and By-Laws provides, “Membership dues shall become due and payable with the application for membership, and thereafter not later than on the 15th of March in each year.

Let it be known that if a member of the LNBA fails to pay his or her due by March 15, 2020, his/her membership shall be suspended as of the 16th of March 2020 and the courts, administrative tribunals and the employer of such lawyers shall be informed immediately. If a lawyer does not pay his/her due and arrears and other levies in six months after March 15, 2020, his or her membership shall be terminated in keeping with article II section VII of the Constitution and By-Laws of the LNBA. A person whose membership has been terminated may be reinstated as a lawyer based on new application and approval by the National Executive Council of the LNBA, consistent with article II section VIII. We shall use the Constitution and By-Laws to improve the financial position of the LNBA in 2020. Additionally, we shall ensure that no lawyer obtains a good standing certificate without evidence of attaining ten points of CLE credits.

We are pleased to inform you, our colleagues, that on Tuesday, November 26, 2019, at the hour of 4:00 PM, the LNBA signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Liberia Revenue Authority, in order for the LNBA to have the authority to license its members. The MOU will help the leadership of the LNBA to protect the practice of law in Liberia by preventing non-lawyers from impersonating as lawyers by paying fees at the LRA for professional license and then using the receipts for such fees to illegally practice law. Also, the fact that the LNBA will now be in charge of issuing license to its members will help the LNBA to ensure that its members fully fulfill their obligations to the bar.

We call on all lawyers to cooperate with the National Executive Council as it strives to make the LNBA a stronger professional body than it is, currently. We appeal to members of the Judiciary from the Chief Justice and Justices of the Supreme Court to Judges of subordinate courts to support the steps that are being taken by the National Executive Council to strengthen the legal profession.

Finally, it is important that all lawyers commit themselves to improving the image of our noble profession in Liberia. We must work collectively to change the view held in some quarters of our society that lawyers are corrupt. Both lawyers on the bench and lawyers in the bar have a collective responsibility for this cleansing exercise. However, we strongly believe that the justices, judges and magistrates have a key role to play in this effort. They must use the gavel to hold lawyers in contempt for trying to damage the integrity of the court by any attempt to bribe them or engage in ex-parte persuasion in non-ex -parte proceedings. Lawyers too should make efforts to expose any justice, judge or magistrate who makes financial or material demand as a pre-condition for assigning a case or giving any judicial relief or decision. Let us work collectively to improve the image of our profession from this convention onward.

Backward never forward ever!!!!

Thank you.

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