Gracious Ride Fails to Heed Supreme Court’s Ultimatum

Associate Justice Yussif Kaba of the Supreme Court has scheduled a conference for Monday, April 8, to address Gracious Ride Transport Service’s non-compliance with the court’s five-day ultimatum. The ultimatum, issued on April 1, required Gracious Ride to provide ownership title documents for vehicles seized by the Assets Recovery Taskforce. As of April 5, there was no indication that Gracious Ride had met the court’s directive.

Following the seizure of the company’s vehicles by President Joseph Boakai’s Assets Recovery Task Force, a claim was made by the company’s purported manager, Francis T. Blama, that he owns the seized vehicles. However, Blama’s legal authority to represent the company in the matter was questioned by the Supreme Court, highlighting potential discrepancies in the lawsuit filed by Blama without proper authorization.

It is yet to be seen whether Gracious Ride’s failure would result in Justice Kaba returning the vehicles seized to the task force.

The company’s vehicles, predominantly taxis, were recently seized by President Boakai’s Assets Recovery Task Force on grounds that they were acquired through fraudulent means by a former top government official, pointing fingers at President George Weah’s Chief of Protocol, Madam Finda Bundoo.

However, the company’s manager, Blama argued that the task force is in error over the ownership of the vehicles as he is the actual owner of the company.

He therefore filed for a Writ of Prohibition to prevent the task force from confiscating the taxis, based on his purported ownership.

The request was partly accepted by Associate Justice Yussif Kaba, currently the Justice in Chamber at the Supreme Court, who imposed a temporary suspension on the working of the task force and subsequently instructed the return of all the vehicles seized during its operations, until the conclusion of the Monday, April 1 conference.

It was at this conference Kaba noticed that Blama lacked the necessary authorization from a board resolution or legal standing to initiate the lawsuit on behalf of the company.

The court noted that the lawsuit was solely based on Blama’s authority as a manager, without proper documentation empowering him to act on behalf of the company.

“While perusing the complaint, it was realized that Blama, in his capacity as manager of the plaintiff company, had authorized himself to sign, verify, and file the present suit,” the court said.

It was due to this that Kaba issued the ultimatum.

The present suit, therefore, has been filed merely on the strength of the claims made by Blama, who had no legal standing to do so.

“He is only a manager… and alone, he has no power, except such as may be delegated to him by the Board of Directors or given to him by the articles of association of a company,” a source quoted Kaba.

Meanwhile, the scheduled conference is expected to address the conflicting claims regarding vehicle ownership and the legal standing of individuals representing Gracious Ride Transport Service in the ongoing case.