Former Associate Justice of Liberia’s Supreme Court, Kabineh M. Ja’neh, has announced his intention to challenge the legality of Liberia’s 2025 fiscal year budget, if President Joseph N. Boakai signs it into law. Ja’neh, made the announcement on December 27, 2024 on Spoon Midnight Conversation, stated that he and a group of senior lawyers plan to sue the government, arguing that the budget’s passage did not meet legal requirements. According to him, they intend to seek a legal declaration from the Supreme Court regarding whether the process followed in passing the budget was lawful. Ja’nah explained that they would start by filing the case in a lower court, eventually taking it to the Supreme Court if needed, to clarify the legal procedures involved.
The budget, totaling US$880.07 million, was passed by the Liberian Senate on December 20, 2024, after the House of Representatives’ Majority Bloc approved it in a special emergency session at the Monrovia City Hall. The Senate unanimously concurred with the House’s passage of the budget, with 19 out of 30 senators voting in favor. However, this process has been called into question, as it did not follow the usual procedure. Embattled House Speaker J. Fonati Koffa has also criticized the budget’s passage, describing it as ultra vires—a legal term meaning “beyond the powers.” In a post on his official Facebook page, Koffa argued that the Majority Bloc’s actions were beyond their legal authority, a claim that adds fuel to the growing controversy surrounding the budget’s legality. The term ultra vires is typically used to describe acts taken by individuals or organizations that are outside the scope of their legal powers, as seen in both corporate and government law. Source: TheHardTalkTV
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