Liberia: U.S.-Sanctioned McGill Cleared for Senatorial Race
Flashback: Former minister of State, Nathaniel McGill while in government.
…. Voters such as appellants, not being among those listed in the regulation, lack the legal capacity and standing to file an injection to the nomination of the appellant,” the ruling from Associate Justice Jamesetta Wokokollie said.
The Supreme Court has reaffirmed the National Elections Commission’s (NEC) decision to qualify former Minister of State, Nathaniel McGill, to contest for the Margibi County Senatorial Seat.
McGill, who is contesting on the same ticket as President George Weah, was sanctioned by the U.S. government for his alleged involvement in massive corruption. However, the case against him, which was filed by some residents of Margibi, has nothing to do with the issue of the sanction charges as the government has yet to investigate the matter.
The complainants had claimed that McGill lied on his application to the electoral body that he was domiciled in Margibi County when he lived in Montserrado County electoral district 6.
However, the court ruled that those who challenged McGill's eligibility were not official contestants, paving the way for his qualification to stand.
“The NEC’s nominations and registration procedures name those qualified to challenge nominees whose names appear on the provisional list for the 2023 general and presidential election, which are a candidate, participating political parties, coalition or alliance.
“Hence, voters such as appellants not being among those listed in the regulation, lack the legal capacity and standing to file injection to the nomination of appellee,” the ruling from Associate Justice Wokokollie said.
Wokokollie, who was one of the three justices that presided over the case, noted that the Court was reaffirming the decision of the NEC Board of Commissioners and ordered the clerk “to mandate” the Commission to resume jurisdiction over “case and give effect to this judgment."
Nathaniel McGill, once a powerful figure in the administration of President George Manneh Weah, served as the Minister of State for Presidential Affairs. His tenure was marred with allegations of corruption and misusing public funds, prompting the United States government to impose sanctions on him for his involvement in “corrupt activities.”
The U.S., among other things, sanctioned McGill for having “bribed business owners, received bribes from potential investors, and accepted kickbacks for steering contracts to companies in which he has an interest” during his term in government.
He was also accused of manipulating “public procurement processes to award multi-million dollar contracts to companies in which he has ownership” and used government funds allocated to other Liberian government institutions to run his own projects.
McGill also made off-the-books payments in cash to senior government leaders, and organized warlords to threaten political rivals, the U.S. said.
While McGill has refuted the sanctions allegation against him, the U.S. government announced that his property and interests in property of his in the U.S., if or in the possession or control of U.S. persons, will be blocked and reported to the Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC). In addition, persons who engage in certain transactions with the designated individuals risk also being exposed to sanctions or subject to enforcement action, the Treasury said.
Meanwhile, Wokokollie noted also that the claim made by the complainants alleged conflict between the NEC nominations and registration procedures with section 5.9 of the election laws cannot hold in the case as the section primarily deals with voting rights and not pre-election challenges.
Justice Wolokollie’s decision, which was also endorsed by Chief Justice Sie-A-Nyene Yuoh and Associate Justice Yamie Quiqui Gbeisay, dismissed the appeal filed by Alfred Sheah, Alex Rogers, and Joseph Yakpawolo against McGill’s qualification by the electoral body.
The two other justices, Joseph Nagbe and Yussif Kaba, could not give an opinion as they were out of the country and did not participate in the case hearing.
The electoral body had on August 2 certificated McGill to contest the October 10 polls but Rogers and his co-complainants filed a case at the Commission to challenge the qualification but the NEC ruled against them.
They then filed an appeal to the Supreme Court, claiming that McGill was not domiciled in Margibi County as claimed.
“Our request is based on the false information he provided to the National Elections Commission (NEC) as provided for in His Affidavit of Confirmation of Domicile in which he stated under oath that he’s Domicile in Margibi County, the county of which he wants to represent,” they claimed.
The complainant cited Article 30 (b) of the Constitution, which, among other things, says that candidates seeking public office should be “domiciled in the county or constituency to be represented not less than one (1) year prior to the election and be a taxpayer.”
According to them, McGill cannot be domiciled in District #6 of Montserrado County and at the same time be domiciled in Margibi County — hence the suit to have him disqualified.