Intimidated, Forced to Apologize?

When Makanvee Sheriff decided to take matters into her own hands against Representative Nathaniel Bahway, she never considered that she would be facing the entire House of Representatives. 

Madam Sheriff had earlier gone to the grounds of the Capitol to “teach Rep. Bahway lesson for being arrogant” after the lawmaker smashed her car in a hit and run incident on the Gabriel Tucker bridge while he was en route to the session on November 16. 

However, Rep. Bahway did not stop. Madam Sheriff, who became visibly irate by this injustice, decided not to let the man get away but pursued him up to the Capitol, where she angrily confronted him. When he appeared to ignore her, she grabbed him by the back of his coat and attempted to assault him, but was pushed away.

“I followed him here to let him know that he is not above the law when he hit my car and never stopped. That was very wrong,” she argued. 

For Madam Sheriff, she did what she did because the lawmaker ignored the fact that he hit her vehicle and drove away without concern. But little did she know that her action ‘lay hands’ on the lawmaker in an attempt to slap him would land her in a charge of contempt before the entire House of Representatives. 

The charge, which the lawmakers leveled against her, states that “Contempt of the Legislature shall consist of actions which obstruct the legislative functions or which obstruct or impede members or officers of the Legislature in the discharge of their legislative duties and may be punished by the House concerned by reasonable sanctions after a hearing consistent with due process of law.”

And while being charged with contempt, she was condemned and berated by the chamber full of lawmakers who took turns to make remarks and unanimously recommended punishments including a fine and one month in prison. Even before the lawmakers claimed to have given Madam Sheriff due process as mandated by Article 44, she had earlier on been arrested, handcuffed, and taken to the Monrovia Central Prison pending investigation. That, in itself, was a violation of due process. 

However, authorities of the Monrovia Central Prison declined to receive her due to the lack of a commitment note from the House (due process) -- forcing them to summon her at 3:40 on the same day to respond to the alleged “attack and disruption against” Rep. Bahway, while en route to the Capitol for the session.

And when summoned, her fate was already sealed as the lawmakers downplayed the root cause of the matter, focusing instead only on her actions on the premises of the Capitol, which they believed contravenes Article 44 of the Constitution. 

One by one, members of the House of Representatives -- mostly men -- took turns to suggest to the House Speaker a laundry list of possible punishments to be handed against Madam Sheriff for her approach on the lawmaker.  By the time they were finished with her, neither she nor her associates, who were arrested with her, could say anything in their defense but to apologize. Interestingly, not a single female lawmaker stood up to offer even a motion for reconsideration on behalf of Madam Sheriff. 

“First of all, I want to apologize for my behavior… I have no explanation about what prompted it. I am not that kind of person and I am not going to go further into detail. I am not well and was going to the hospital when the incident occurred. I am very, very sorry for what happened and apologize for my attitude,” Madam Sheriff said, knowing that her fate was already sealed before the due process could even kick off.

And when she was done, her brother Mohammed, who drove her to the Capitol, also took to the lectern and followed his sister's lead by apologizing as well. In the end, the House of Representatives Plenary voted to send Ms. Sheriff and her Brother Mohammed to jail for fifteen days each, for allegedly assaulting Rep Nathaniel Bahway of Grand Kru County.

Meanwhile, Madam Sheriff fainted following Plenary's decision and was rushed to a local hospital for treatment before being taken to the Monrovia Central Prison.

However, the lawmakers did not deliberate on the action of Rep. Bahway, who was reported using the opposite lane, although they have the right to do so according to the amended vehicle and traffic law. 

The lawmakers’ intimidation of Madam Sheriff, according to some lawyers, runs contrary to the same Article 44, which states also that “disputes between legislators and non-members which are properly cognizable in the courts shall not be entertained or heard in the Legislature.” 

Before her sentencing, eyewitnesses reported that Ms. Sheriff grabbed Rep. Bahway from the back of his coat suit and attempted to slap him before being stopped. Rep. Bahway then became shocked and asked his security detail to throw her out of his office but she refused, demanding that the lawmaker must fix her car.

Ms. Sheriff was then arrested for physically and emotionally assaulting the Grand Kru County District #1 Representative.

Meanwhile, following arguments on the floor of the session, lawmakers voted to write the appropriate authority to seize Makanvee’s passport or stop them from leaving the country until she serves her punishment by also spending 15 days in jail.

Makanvee is reported living in the UK.