-In Property Dispute
A group of petitioners, including Oumou Sirleaf Hage, Bashir M. Hage, Monica M. Hage, and others, have petitioned the Supreme Court of Liberia for a Writ of Prohibition against Judge Peter W. Gbeneweleh, the Assigned Circuit Judge of the Sixth Judicial Circuit Civil Law Court for Montserrado County, challenging his decision in a high-profile fraud-in-title property dispute.
Filed before Chambers Justice Jamesatta Wolokolie, the petition seeks to restrain Judge Gbeneweleh from enforcing his ruling that set aside a unanimous jury verdict in favor of the petitioners in a case involving disputed ownership of property in Monrovia.
The matter arose from a jury trial conducted by the Civil Law Court, which reportedly found that the Hage family had proven fraud in title. Notwithstanding the verdict, Judge Gbeneweleh later overturned the jury’s decision and ordered a new trial, a step the petitioners argue is unlawful and beyond the court’s jurisdiction.
Through their legal counsel, the petitioners are asking the Supreme Court to bar the trial judge from proceeding with a retrial and to order that the original jury verdict be upheld. They further request that the case be forwarded to the Probate Court for final determination of ownership, in keeping with a September 5, 2022 Supreme Court mandate in the same matter.
The petition references a 2022 opinion authored by Justice J. Boima Kontoe, which held that title issues raised in the dispute should be determined by the Probate Court after being transcribed from the trial record. The petitioners contend that the decision to order a new trial undermines and disregards that binding Supreme Court ruling.
The case, involving Nohad Hage Mensah as respondent through her attorney-in-fact, Madam Edith Hage-Smith, has generated significant public interest due to the longstanding nature of the property dispute and allegations of fraudulent title documents.
In their filing, the Hage family maintains that Judge Gbeneweleh acted beyond his legal authority and urges the Supreme Court to intervene by issuing the writ of prohibition and granting all other reliefs deemed just and proper.
