MAMBA POINT, Monrovia—It’s been just one month on the job for Dr. Jallah Allen Barbu, as the country’s second head of Liberia’s Office for the War and Economics Crimes Court. It is clearly not what the 60- year-old legal scholar and former Dean of the University of Liberia Law School expected when he accepted the role that will lead Liberia’s overdue effort to hold those who upended the country and left 250,000 dead, accountable at last.
“We’re starting from scratch,” Cllr. Barbu said in an exclusive interview, sitting in the newly acquired office space of the courts in the diplomatic enclave of Monrovia’s Mamba Point neighborhood. The office is bare but for a few sticks of furniture. “I took this service without anything whatsoever. No building, no stationery, so supplies, no vehicle, just absolutely nothing. All that I received from the process was a turnover note.”
The turnover note came from the first head of the office, Cllr. Jonathan Massaquoi, who had been appointed by the president in June. Cllr. Massaquoi was out of the role by August after an outcry from stakeholders who said the president had failed to conduct the appointment with the transparency and inclusivity that the role – upon which many are hanging hopes for justice, reconciliation and healing – required.
Cllr. Barbu said the handover note had some information on how the office operated but nothing about what the $500,000 allocated to the court in the government’s 2024 recast budget was spent on and what was left. “There was nothing to physically turn over and that was it,” said Cllr. Barbu. He conceded the office has not yet been provided with operating funding from that budget allocation.
Cllr. Massaquoi has not responded to multiple requests asking how much of the $500,000 was spent and on what. Cllr. Oswald Tweh, Liberia’s Justice Minister, said in a WhatsApp message that he was “presently out of the country” and that upon his return he “will gladly address your queries.”
Cllr. Barbu said he also was not aware of how much may have been left behind by Cllr. Massaquoi for the operations of the office but understands from the justice ministry that a “sum of money is still available”. How much, he does not know. “Trust me if I knew I would tell the Liberian people.”
He said he expects a speedy resolution. “I believe the government is just about to work in that direction with us.”
Cllr. Barbu rejected a suggestion that it might be a disappointing start.
“Nothing good comes easy,” said Dr. Barbu. “Rome was not built in a day. I don’t expect that from the word go, starting from scratch with nothing, we’ll have a plush building, we’ll have very beautiful pieces of furniture, we’ll have an office that is so convenient.
What I appreciate about this process is that I’m given the challenge to start up and build this office in terms of the materials that we need here, the framework that we establish in terms of structuring the office.”
Cllr. Barbu insisted his interactions with President Joseph Boakai had convinced him of the president’s deep commitment to seeing the court bring justice to Liberians for the 14 years of civil wars that devastated the country.
“I have full faith and confidence in the commitment of the government to ensure that this office succeeds,” he said. “From all that I know the government is not paying lip service. This is going to happen.”
Transparency and accountability are top of Cllr. Barbu’s mind, no doubt, at least in part because that is what the international donors who will provide the bulk of the funding for the court, will demand. He promised rigorous internal accounting practices would be put in place and the Office would be fully open to independent auditors.
“We’re setting in motion an accountability process that will help us to account for the resources, the assets, the personnel, the time and every little thing that has to do with this office,” he said. “We have not only to talk the talk, but we must also walk the walk. Not just this office, also the Liberian government. Accountability requires government to be watching what we are receiving and how we’re using it. Office will be fully transparent to government.
Despite the lack of funding, Dr. Barbu is moving fast. His first steps have been to set up the office and hire key staff.
He has appointed Cllr. Asatu Bah Kenneth, as director of an economic crimes division, Cllr. Frederick Gbemie as director of the war crimes division and Atty. Archie Williams, director of research. He did not make the positions open to public applications arguing that he needed to make some appointments himself, as he is permitted to do, in order to get the process going fast.
Cllr. Asatu Bah Kenneth is an ex-deputy chief of the Liberia Immigration Service.
Cllr. Kenneth’s appointment has been widely welcomed. She’s a prominent women’s rights advocate and former deputy immigration chief. Cllr. Kenneth has also held a number of positions in the security sector, including deputy police chief. As an advocate, she was part of a group of women under the banner of the Women in Peacebuilding Network, which led a series of protests to compel warring parties to end the civil wars. The group, which has international chapters, is now referred to as the West Africa Network for Peacebuilding.
Mr. Philip M. Kollie, its national network coordinator, said he was pleased to hear about the appointment.
“We think it’s in the right direction,” said Mr. Kollie in a phone interview. “And her dream, including thousands of women who advocated for social justice in Liberia, will surely, surely be a reality.”
But the appointment of Cllr. Gbemie has run into fierce opposition from human rights activists who say he was a member of the National Patriotic Front of Liberia (NPFL), headed by convicted warlord Charles Taylor, which is accused of committing two in every five violations reported to the country’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission, including murder, rape, torture and forced labor.
Cllr. Gbemie has denied his was a member of the NPFL but Cllr. Barbu said he has initiated an investigation.
Cllr. Barbu promised all appointments are “temporary pending an evaluation process. After I get all of the feedback, and we evaluate them then we’ll move forward to see if we can make a decision on that.” He welcomed everyone to come forward with evidence against Cllr. Gbemie or any other staff.
Cllr. Barbu promised to take any accusations of misdeeds by his staff very seriously. “No matter how trivial people may want to treat them, I don’t. Even if it’s just a conversation in passing, I take them very seriously.”
Dr. Barbu said he was now working on a framework for each division of the office and expects them to be done this week. Then he promises to advertise positions to staff those divisions.
Also on his mind is the bill that must go to the Legislature to bring the court’s into being. The Legislature has passed a resolution, but a bill is needed before the courts can be established. He has one deadline: the president’s executive order to establish the office for the courts ends, after one year, in May. He said there is a lot of work to do.
“Times do change, and as times change, what evolves must be addressed, because what was yesterday may not be today, and what is today may not be tomorrow,” said Cllr. Barbu.
“So that’s why legislative drafting requires a broad thinking so that you are clear about where you are and what where you go. So, it’s possible, that instrument will be subject to review.”
Cllr. Barbu said he has begun discussion with the international community. International partners including the UN have made very clear to him the courts must be Liberian led with victims and survivors at the center. They are also insisting on strong coordination to ensure that money is well spent, and work is not being duplicated.
Though as yet donors have given “no definite pledge in dollars and cents, they have expressed willingness to work with us for funds, technical support etc.,” and in many meetings he has already had, he is persuaded the donors “are ready to go”.
With November’s US election of Donald Trump to return to the presidency, some advocates have worried the courts may not be a priority for the new Trump administration. The US is expected to provide the bulk of funding for the court. But Dr. Barbu is optimistic.
“I believe the world believes in justice and the word believes in ensuring that impunity is addressed,” he said. “I don’t think any administration in America is an exception. How they approach that is something I cannot speak to. But what I can speak to is, in Liberia, we have to do what is right to attract the attention of others around the world.”
Cllr. Babu’s office will draft blueprint for the courts which would try those most responsible for international crimes and serious human rights violations during the country’s three decades of conflict starting in 1979. The office will also choose a model for the court, as well as its mandate.
Cllr. Barbu admits to feeling the enormity of his task.
“I carry the weight to bring this war history to a logical conclusion, but it’s a shared responsibility. I know fully well I have a lot of people, the entire country, people out of the country, citizens and non-citizens of Liberia, who are working along to make this process successful.”
Meanwhile, Cllr. Barbu and his team will travel to neighboring Sierra Leone this week for a study tour on what lessons can be learned from that country’s Special Court.
The full audio interview with Dr. Barbu is available as part of the New Narratives/Front Page Africa podcast series “War Crimes Justice Comes to Liberia”.
This story is a collaboration with FrontPage Africa as part of the West Africa Justice Reporting Project. Funding was provided by the Swedish Embassy in Liberia which had no say in the story’s content.