-As NOCAL Board Chair
By Jerromie S. Walters
The Liberian Senate unanimously confirmed former Chief Justice Gloria Musu-Scott as Chairperson of the National Oil Company of Liberia (NOCAL) during Tuesday, July 15, 2025, plenary session, approving President Joseph Boakai’s December 2024 nomination with 22 votes in favor and one abstention. Alongside Musu-Scott, the Senate also confirmed Yarnue Jeke as Deputy Minister for Administration at the Ministry of Commerce and former Maryland County Senator John Ballout as Liberia’s Ambassador to Nigeria.
During her confirmation hearing over the weekend, Musu-Scott faced rigorous questioning from senators about her plans for Liberia’s oil sector, despite her lack of direct experience in the field. The former Chief Justice, who previously served as Justice Minister, Elections Commission Chair, and Senator, outlined an ambitious agenda that includes establishing a sovereign wealth fund and presenting a Citizens Fund Bill to the legislature by September 2025.
She emphasized that these initiatives would ensure Liberians benefit from the country’s oil resources through job creation and training programs, regardless of whether commercial quantities of oil are discovered.
Montserrado County Senator Abraham Darius Dillon acknowledged Musu-Scott’s distinguished legal career but questioned her preparedness to lead NOCAL, given her unfamiliarity with the oil sector.
Dillon specifically pressed her on the government’s failure to implement Section 36.7 of the 2019 amended Petroleum Law, which requires the creation of a Citizens’ Fund to distribute 5% of oil revenues to Liberians. In response, Musu-Scott admitted awareness of the law and stated that NOCAL was working with the Ministries of Finance and Mines, as well as the Liberia Revenue Authority, to develop the necessary framework while addressing internal tensions between NOCAL’s board and management.
Pundits say the confirmation marks a significant political rehabilitation for Musu-Scott, who was acquitted by the Supreme Court in 2023 after being wrongfully convicted of murdering her niece, Charlotte Musu, and sentenced to life imprisonment. The high court overturned the verdict due to insufficient evidence, though women’s rights groups continue to call for justice in the unsolved case. Since her release after eight months in prison, Musu-Scott has remained active in politics as a member of President Boakai’s Unity Party and played a key role in the party’s legal challenges during the 2023 elections.
Gloria Musu-Scott’s Acquittal:
The dramatic reversal of former Chief Justice Gloria Musu-Scott’s murder conviction became one of Liberia’s most gripping legal dramas when the Supreme Court overturned her life sentence in 2023. The court found insufficient evidence to connect Musu-Scott and three female relatives to the brutal stabbing death of her 29-year-old niece, Charlotte Musu, at their Monrovia home in February 2023.
The case had captivated the nation, pitting the 70-year-old legal luminary – a former Justice Minister (1993-1995), Chief Justice (1997-2003), and Maryland County Senator (2006-2012) – against a justice system she once led. Her initial conviction by a lower court in December 2022 came just months after she had successfully represented the opposition Unity Party in a landmark election case, making her fall from grace particularly shocking.
Chief Justice Sie-A-Nyene Yuoh’s appellate ruling delivered a stinging rebuke to prosecutors: “The state did not meet the burden of proof… the defendants are hereby acquitted.” The court emphasized the prosecution’s reliance on circumstantial evidence and failure to identify the actual perpetrator.
Upon their release after eight months imprisonment, Musu-Scott emerged from jail to cheering supporters but quickly turned activist, declaring: “There are many innocent persons in jail. The lawyers’ work isn’t finished.” Her statement highlighted systemic flaws in a justice system she helped shape during her distinguished career.
While the acquittal allowed Musu-Scott to resume her political career – culminating in her recent NOCAL appointment – women’s rights groups maintain the case remains unresolved. Wongosol, Liberia’s leading women’s coalition, warned that “justice cannot be sacrificed for the wrongly accused,” calling for renewed efforts to solve Charlotte’s murder while acknowledging the “immense suffering” of the acquitted women.
