Minister Cooper Gets Away with Minimum L$4,999.90 Fine

Agriculture Minister Madam Jeanine M. Cooper.

-- Mandated to submit to Senate committee’s further investigations

The Plenary of the Liberian Senate yesterday imposed a fine of L$4,999.90 (Four Thousand Nine Hundred Ninety-Nine Dollars, Ninety Cents) on the Minister of Agriculture, Jeanine M. Cooper.

The fine was imposed as a minimum Legislative punishment for contempt of the Legislature for her failure to comply with the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Forestry, and Fisheries on numerous occasions, thereby apparently impeding the function of the Liberian Senate.

Minister Cooper was also mandated to submit herself to the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Forestry, and Fisheries for further investigations relating to the displayed “bulky dossier of very important issues in the sector.”

The Plenary’s action followed a complaint by the Chairman of the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, Margibi County Senator, Dr. Jim Tornonlah decrying several ‘non-compliant postures’ on the part of the Minister of Agriculture. 

Minister Cooper was accompanied by her lawyer, former Chief Justice, Cllr. Gloria Musu Scott.

The Minister was found guilty of contempt of the Legislature last Tuesday, but her sentencing was deferred to yesterday’s sitting.

During yesterday’s voting, twelve Senators voted in favor of the motion, proffered by Montserrado County Senator Abraham Darius Dillon, to impose a fine on the Agriculture Minister. Only two Senators abstained and none voted against.

Reading the sentence on behalf of the Senate, President Pro-Tempore Albert T. Chie mandated the Minister to pay the fine of L$4,999.90 into Government’s revenue and submit the Flag receipt to the Secretary of the Senate no later than 11:00 a.m. next Tuesday, December 7, 2021.