Who Wants Cllr. Cephus Dismissed?

Liberia’s Solicitor General, Cllr. Saymah Syrenius and Ellen Corkrum

Who Wants Cllr. Cephus Dismissed?

The question is actually rhetorical and quite loaded, depending on who you ask. But, for Liberia’s Solicitor General, Cllr. Saymah Syrenius Cephus, a real threat against his job exists, given what he refers to as “Ellen Corkrum’s allegations of ritualistic killings involving me.” This has led to him calling the names of several other prominent individuals who, he alleges, are gunning for his removal from the position of Solicitor General of the Republic of Liberia.

Cllr. Cephus has alleged that the recent allegations of ritualistic killings involving him, President George Weah and a number of other senior government officials, is a politically motivated endeavor aimed at discrediting the gains he and others are making as they serve in government.

Cephus made the disclosure Tuesday, September 14, 2021 in an interview with the Daily Observer in Monrovia.

“Because opportunities are limited, everybody fights to be in public service. There is so much envy. In fact Ellen Corkrum is not alone in this battle. She’s being aided and abetted by Bishop Kortu Brown and Kabineh Mohammed Ja’neh,” he alleged.

“How do I know? Sometime ago, Ja’neh and another person, whose name I will not call now because sometimes in the future we might need him, went to a colleague of mine and said he should generate fake documentation so that they can help Ellen Corkrum in her campaign against me,” Cephus explained. “The reason is that these things are politically motivated. They are socially, economically, religiously tribally motivated.”

Cllr. Cephus alleged that Cllr. Kabineh Ja’neh, the impeached Associate Justice of the Supreme Court, is angry because is out of a job.

“Ja’neh has fallen from grace. He can never become Associate Justice again in his entire life. He was removed. The only thing the State did not do well in was to press criminal charges against him. He won at the ECOWAS Court. We challenged the ruling but he won again. All we are waiting for is for the Court to serve us the opinion so we can advise government on how to proceed. But, no matter what, Ja'neh can never, ever become Associate Justice again,” the Solicitor General said. 

“In the case of Bishop Kortu Brown, I got to know when Ellen Corkrum said religious leaders themselves went to her. I hope she’s recording them too. In a short time, after she said that, Bishop Brown called for my removal as Solicitor General. That is enough proof to believe that a person who is supposed to be religious is deeply involved in politically motivated issues and, against me this time,” Cephus said.

He also made mention of Evelyn Kpadeh Seagbeh, the executive director of Just a Girl Initiative (JGI), a not-for-profit basic vocational skills development organization.

According to Cephus, Seagbeh is among a number of persons who “claim to be human rights advocates” but are deeply involved in campaigns against people without facts.

“One Evelyn (Kpadeh) Seagbeh called on a radio and went on saying that I sacrificed three virgins to become an official at the Ministry of Agriculture and, while coming to the Ministry of Justice to take on the position of Solicitor General, I also sacrificed three virgins. This means six; and she even went on saying that I have already sacrificed another three virgins to become Justice Minister. This means, I am aspiring to remove my current boss, Cllr. Frank Musa Dean.

“Ellen Corkrum, too, went on saying that President Weah has also sacrificed three virgins while Nathaniel McGill too has sacrificed three other virgins to be strong and stay in power. This is how ridiculous they sound. Can you imagine this? This means President Weah, who wants to fire me, has joined ranks with me and others to destroy fifteen lives of young, beautiful girls in this town,” he posited.

According to him, it is unthinkable that such a number of people, mainly young people, would die in such a form and manner without their parents or families raising alarms.

Cephus quoted from the Holy Bible, Deuteronomy 19:15 through 21, which says: “If there is an allegation against anyone, produce at least two to three witnesses to testify and prove what is said is true.”

He said Bishop Brown and all others who outrightly believe Ellen Corkrum, even though she has produced no evidence, are not good.

“Ellen Corkrum accused me, but by using someone else’s name, who also denied her claims and challenged her to produce any evidence, something she has not yet provided. Now, a fake Bishop, called Kortu Brown, went on the radio saying I should be dismissed,” he emphasized further.

Cllr. Cephus said there is no need for his boss, Cllr. Frank Musa Dean, who is the Justice Minister, to be afraid of him because all the information spewed out by Ellen Corkrum and others are false and misleading.

“Cllr. Dean taught me at the Law School. He is qualified and knows the job. I have so much respect for him. How then can I aspire to succeed him when he is still enjoying the confidence of the President and all of us? I am innocent and there is no need also for anyone else out there to believe Ellen Corkrum or whoever because such information is made up for political reasons. Corkrum is a con and a notorious criminal who has done lots of secret recordings on reputable people and made up stories to destroy them but she will not get me,” he said.

In response, former Associate Justice, Cllr. Kabineh Ja'neh, said at no point in time did he join ranks with anyone to do anything harmful, including a campaign to see Cephus out of office. 

Everyone named by Cephus in his allegations, with the exception of Ellen Corkrum herself, has denied putting forth any words or actions to have him dismissed. Even when some called on him to exonerate himself from such grave allegations as ‘ritualistic killings’, Cephus is apparently not taking such statements lightly. 

“None, whatsoever; If he has anything to show the Liberian people, let him bring it to the public glare,” Ja'neh said and hung up the phone.

For her part, Mrs. Evelyn Kpadeh Seagbeh said she was taken aback that Cllr. Syrenius Cephus mentioned her name as one of those in a campaign to see him dismissed from his job, mainly by saying the worst things.

“At no time did I say the Solicitor General was involved in ritualistic killings. I do the analysis for Truth FM on gender issues. When they called me on their 2pm news program, I said all of what Madam Corkrum said is an allegation. What I said was that inasmuch that Corkrum may not have provided any evidence, it’s sad that anyone would think about sacrificing the precious lives of young girls, or even boys for any ritualistic purpose,” Seagbeh told the Daily Observer via telephone on Tuesday, September 14.

She said the Universal Declaration on Human Rights calls for the protection of human lives and, as such, it concerns anyone who respects the dignity of human lives when he or she hears about killing of human beings, regardless of their ages.  

“I don’t know how they can sacrifice human lives. I also mentioned the issue of heart-men (those who kill innocent people and take out their hearts for ritualistic purposes). We were small and the heart-men business has been going on. These things are open secrets but, at no point in time I made mention of anyone, not even the SG, of being involved with the killing of young girls for sacrifice,” Seagbeh concluded.

Bishop Kortu K. Brown, in an interview with the Daily Observer yesterday (September 16, 2021), said at no time did he ever call for the removal of Cllr. Syrenius Cephus from his position. However, he has admonished the government to ensure those accused of crimes and other improprieties be called to account in order to exonerate themselves, if only they are innocent of the allegations levied against them.

“This country cannot progress if people are living in fear everyday. This is why the Liberia Council of Churches (LCC) is calling on the Ministry of Justice and all others concerned to launch full scale investigations,” Brown said.

Bishop Brown who is the president of the Liberia Council of Churches explained that he was called by the Truth FM News department recently to give his input on the news about ritualistic killings, people going missing without being found at times and his position was only to admonish government to take the allegations seriously and investigate them.

“I have nothing personal against the Solicitor General. He works for all of us through the government but, with his name being involved in an allegation of ritualistic killing, I think the best thing [for him] to do is to exonerate himself. It is just a moral obligation on our part to speak out for everyone,” he said.

He added: “We are marching towards 2023, the elections’ year. With the many news out there about people being killed, it is nothing to take for granted. Just a day ago, the dead body of a young lady was found on the beach in Sinkor. Another [lady] was out narrating her ordeal she went through in the hands of alleged murderers. From her narration, and saying how she survived, it tells that all of us are not safe. Something has to be done.”

Bishop Brown, also quoting the from the Holy Bible, Proverbs 6:16 through 19, speaks about seven things God hates, and among them is sharing innocent blood.

“You may be hiding from man but you cannot hide from God. God knows you. God’s wrath is even more dangerous,” Bishop Brown said.