Interim PUL Leadership Imminent, If …
IPNEWS-Monrovia: The National Campaign Management Team of the Julius Kanubah for the PUL Presidency Friday, 18 November 2022, filed a Writ of Preliminary Injunction which was prayed for their our Legal Team at the Ninth Judicial Circuit Court in Gbarnga, Bong County’ and was issued and served on the outgoing leadership of the Press Union of Liberia (PUL) along with the 2022 PUL Congress Committee and the sub-committee on Elections and Inauguration.
According to a press release issued on late Friday, November 18, 2022 by Team Kanubah, the Writ of Injunction seeks to restrain and enjoin the outgoing PUL leadership together with the 2022 PUL Congress Committee and the sub-committee on Elections and Inauguration from further conducting and participating in the November 2022 PUL Congress inclusive of the elections.
PUL president Charles Coffey – This is the second time a Court has placed an Injunction on PUL Congress and Election due to complaints of Voters’ Roll paddling and bloating. Is there something this current PUL leadership shielding from the membership?
The Restraining Order further seeks to ensure that the PUL leadership turns over power to a neutral body after the expiration of its three-year tenure. The neutral body will govern and take the PUL to elections within a determined period of time.
The Write of Injunction, which was served on outgoing PUL Assistant Secretary General Akoi Baysah, and outgoing PUL President Charles Coffey, was initially refused but later signed for by Mr. Coffey, who had to chase the Court Sherriff in Gbartala, Bong County.
The Team Julius Kanubah Writ of Injunction was filed against the backdrop of series of violations of the Constitution of the Press Union of Liberia by the Union’s outgoing leadership along with the Congress Committee and sub-committee on Elections and Inauguration in relation to the 2022 PUL Congress.
The 2022 PUL Congress Committee is chaired by Mrs. Carolyn Myers-Zoduah while Attorney Ade Wede Kekuleh chairs the 2022 PUL Elections and Inauguration Committee. Both the Congress Committee and the sub-committee on Elections and Inauguration have been resistant to ensuring a credible voters’ roll and elections.
The 2022 PUL Congress which was to be climaxed by elections of new officers is deemed as a critical pacesetter to Liberia’s Presidential and Legislative Elections, scheduled for October 2023.
Team Kanubah believes the moral and democratic credential of the Press Union of Liberia hinges on the state of the Union’s internal democratic practices and conducts.
According to Team Kanubah, since 2019 the PUL under the leadership of Charles Coffey and Daniel Nyakonah has been grossly unable to hold a credible election, something which has deeply contributed to the erosion of the legitimacy of the PUL and the standing of Liberian journalists in the national discourse on democracy and good governance.
Team Julius Kanubah is legally represented by the Supuwood and Associates Law Offices, to which, Attorney-at-Law G. Alphonso Woiwor is the lead Legal Counsel on the case. Atty. Woiwor is also a journalist by profession, with vast knowledge of Liberia’s socio-economic, political and legal jurisprudence.
Meanwhile, Team Kanubah urges all its supporters, members of the Press Union of Liberia, and those interested in the democratic development of the PUL and Liberia to remain peaceful and always respect the rule of law including the Code of Ethics and Conduct for Liberian journalists.
In 2019 Similar Writ of Preliminary Injunction Was Filed to Halt PUL Elections
It can be recalled in 2019, a now former vice president of the PUL, Mr. Octavin Williams and his team of candidates vying to unseat the incumbent Charles Coffey, through their supporters filed a legal action to halt the PUL Congress until the final Voters’ Roll was vetted properly and cleaned.
Flashback: Team Octavin (left) withdrew from the 2019 PUL elections because incumbent PUL president and the leadership including (Daniel Nyakonah who was Secretary General and vying for the PUL Vice presidency) ignored a Bill of Information to the Court regarding a bloated Voters’ Roll. The same Voters’ Roll saga is again haunting the PUL in 2022
A legal battle ensued between Team Octavin and Team Coffey, but the Coffey leadership at some point in time during the legal battle ignored a Bill of Information that was intended to provide additional information to the court.
With the intervention of some senior media colleagues who had called for Team Octavin to withdraw their injunction, Team Octavin chose to boycott the process because he said they could not participate in fraudulent election, moreover, the PUL as a pace-setter for democratic society was embroiled in fraud, and its leaders were adamant to confirm to transparency.
Book makers are watching from afar what is going to unfold in Gbarnga between today and tomorrow, where PUL members are expected to go to elections.
