By Godgift Harris
A looming legal confrontation between the Modern Development and Management Corporation (MDMC) and the Ministry of Transport (MoT), has intensified. The situation has also created uncertainty over who legitimately controls vehicle registration and driver’s licensing.
In the aftermath of the legal battle, Supreme Court Associate Justice Yussif D. Kaba, has henceforth, cited Transport Minister, Sirleaf R. Tyler, to appear before him in Chambers on Friday, February 27, 2026.
The citation follows a petition filed by MDMC seeking judicial intervention to halt the operations of Liberia Traffic Management (LTM) in the contested areas of vehicle registration and driver’s licensing.
The Justice-in-Chambers’ order mandates the parties to a conference at 10 a.m. in connection with MDMC’s request for a writ of prohibition; a legal instrument designed to prevent a public authority from exceeding its jurisdiction.
MDMC claims contractual breach At the heart of the dispute is MDMC’s claim that it holds a binding nine-year contract with MoT granting it exclusive authority over critical components of vehicle registration and driver’s license production.
In its petition, the corporation argues that LTM’s current activities amount to “unlawful interference with that agreement.”
MDMC upholds that no legal instrument has nullified or suspended the contract, and insists that MoT lacks the authority to allow LTM to duplicate responsibilities already assigned under a valid agreement.
The company, has meanwhile, asked Supreme Court to immediately restrain LTM from continuing operations it considers an “encroachment on its contractual rights.”
2021 court ruling resurfaces
The controversy is not new, in 2021, the Civil Law Court, ruled in favor of MDMC, upholding its contractual authority after LTM challenged the arrangement.
Although LTM filed an appeal to the Supreme Court, the appeal was never pursued until it was formally withdrawn in 2024.
Legal observers note that the withdrawal effectively left the lower court’s ruling intact; a fact MDMC is now using to bolster its argument that the matter has already been judicially settled.
Critics, however, argue that the government’s broader administrative authority and public interest considerations could complicate the narrative, especially if new statutory provisions override previous contractual arrangements.