-From Its Headquarters
By Jerromie S. Walters
Monrovia– The Congress for Democratic Change (CDC), Liberia’s former ruling party, has been ordered to vacate its national headquarters by June 10, 2025, following a final Supreme Court ruling in a long-standing property dispute.
In an official legal notice served by J. Johnny Momoh & Associates, the CDC was informed that its continued occupation of the 4.23-acre property in Congo Town—previously contested as part of the Intestate Estate of Martha Stubblefield Bernard has been deemed “undesirable” by the court.
The Supreme Court acknowledged that the CDC’s rental payments over the years had established a landlord-tenant relationship, but ultimately ruled that the party must vacate the premises. Failure to comply by the June 10 deadline will result in legal action, including: Summary proceedings to recover possession of the property, demand for unpaid rent totaling $100,000 per year and Additional damages for unlawful occupation
The legal notice urged the party to “peacefully comply”and avoid further litigation. The eviction order deals a major logistical and symbolic blow to the CDC, which lost power in the 2023 elections and has since faced financial and organizational challenges. The party has yet to issue an official statement on whether it will contest the decision or seek alternative headquarters.
The Ruling:
Last week, the Supreme Court of Liberia delivered a definitive judgment in the ongoing property dispute between the Congress for Democratic Change (CDC) and the administrators of the Estate of the late Danielle P. Tucker Bernard, marking the end of a protracted legal battle over the former ruling party’s national headquarters. In its May 30, 2025 ruling, the court firmly dismissed the CDC’s Bill of Information while imposing financial penalties on the party’s legal representatives for improper court filings.
The dispute centers on a prime 4.23-acre property in Congo Town that has served as the CDC’s headquarters for years. The Supreme Court upheld previous rulings that recognized the Bernard Estate as the legitimate owner, noting that the CDC’s payment of $360,000 in rental arrears covering 2018 to 2023 had effectively established a landlord-tenant relationship. This financial acknowledgment, the court emphasized, legally barred the party from subsequently challenging the estate’s ownership rights.
The legal saga began when the Civil Law Court at the Temple of Justice first ordered the CDC to vacate the premises, declaring the party’s occupation unlawful following the expiration of its lease agreement. Despite the CDC’s historical claims of ownership dating back to political arrangements during former President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf’s administration, the party failed to produce valid title documents when challenged in court. The lower court’s decision compelled the CDC to settle substantial back rent to avoid immediate eviction, which the party ultimately paid in 2023.
In its final attempt to retain the property, the CDC filed a Bill of Information with the Supreme Court, seeking to intervene in a separate appeal between the Bernard Estate and third parties while challenging the enforcement of the eviction order. The high court rejected this maneuver as fundamentally flawed, with Chief Justice Sie-A-Nyene Yuoh writing that the CDC’s legal team had committed procedural improprieties by filing a Bill of Information that failed to meet established criteria. The justices unanimously agreed that the filing did not allege any interference with a Supreme Court judgment or mandate by judicial officers—a necessary requirement for such petitions.
The court’s scathing opinion described the CDC’s legal arguments as “preposterous and impermissible,” particularly the attempt to question the landlord’s title after years of rent payments. This decisive language underscored the judiciary’s view that the CDC had exhausted all legitimate legal avenues in the dispute. As part of its ruling, the Supreme Court imposed $500 fines on each of the CDC’s three principal lawyers—Counsellors A. Ndubuisi Nwabudike, Thompson M. Jargba, and James N. Kumeh—ordering them to pay the penalties into government revenue within 72 hours.
