MONROVIA – A contentious 2018 incident, in which a supplier threatened to withhold vital election materials unless the National Elections Commission (NEC) paid an unexpected $150,000 fee, recently led to a court order which saw the commission’s compound beng shut down while compelling the commission to pay.
The situation began when the NEC, under a $589,060 contract fully approved by the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Justice, hired M-Tosh Print Incorporated to supply and deliver materials for the Sinoe and Montserrado by-elections. The contract explicitly stated that $300,000 of the total was for “Air Transport by Chartered Flight.”
Days before the delivery was due, with elections imminent, M-Tosh informed the NEC that the cost of the chartered flight had increased. The company sent a letter demanding an additional $150,000 and explicitly stated that failure to agree to this new payment would result in it not delivering the materials. Faced with a potential crisis that could disrupt the elections, the NEC insisted M-Tosh fulfill its existing obligation. The company delivered the materials but the dispute over the extra fee began.
The NEC refused payment, arguing that the company was bound by the original, complete contract which contained a clause (Article 12) stating it was the “entire agreement” between the parties. The commission maintained that yielding to the demand would reward holding essential electoral processes hostage.
Earlier this year, the Commercial Court resolved the long-running dispute by ruling in favor of M-Tosh. The court’s decision was based on its finding that the debt had been acknowledged by authorities years prior, after the Ministry of Finance had issued an allotment for the $150,000 sum in 2018, even though the funds were never actually released. The ruling forces the NEC to pay the additional amount.
Shutting NEC Down:
On Tuesday, August 19, 2025, the Commercial Court of Liberia authorized the seizure of assets and the arrest of the National Elections Commission’s (NEC) leadership to enforce payment of the $171,105 debt.
The writ of execution points out a substantial escalation in a long-standing legal battle. The order commanded the court’s sheriff to seize and sell NEC properties and, if necessary, arrest its current Chairperson, Mrs. Davidetta Brown Lansanah, and her fellow commissioners to compel compliance with the court’s judgment.
The enforcement of the writ led to a temporary shutdown of the NEC’s headquarters on Tuesday, bringing the commission’s administrative functions to an abrupt halt. The tense standoff was only resolved after behind-the-scenes negotiations resulted in an agreement between the commission and court officers, the specific terms of which remain undisclosed to the public. This agreement allowed for the compound to be reopened, though the fundamental issue of the unpaid judgment remains.
The Order:
The court order, which was approved by His Honour Associate Judge Chan-chan A. Paegar and issued under the seal of the court by Clerk J. Amos F. Gloryan on the 12th day of August 2025, commands the acting sheriff, Emmanuel Morris, to take immediate and severe measures to recover the funds owed to the plaintiff, M-TOSH Prints Media, Inc.
This legal action stems from a lawsuit originally filed during the court’s August Term in 2022, where M-TOSH Prints Media, represented by Mr. Varney A. Fahnbulleh, sued the NEC, which was represented by its Executive Chairperson, Mrs. Davidetta Brown Lansanah, and its Board of Commissioners. The court’s judgment, which was finalized on the 3rd of June 2025, found the NEC liable for the debt, but the commission failed to satisfy the financial obligation, prompting the plaintiff to seek enforcement.
The writ provided a clear and escalating set of instructions for the sheriff, beginning with the command to seize and expose for sale the land, goods, and chattels of the National Elections Commission. It further stipulated that if the proceeds from such a sale are insufficient to cover the full debt plus the expenses of the seizure, the sheriff is then authorized to seize the commission’s real properties until the entire sum of one hundred seventy-one thousand one hundred five United States dollars is raised.
In a stark ultimatum highlighting the court’s seriousness, the order concluded that if no assets could be found, the sheriff was commanded to take the living body of Chairperson Lansannah, her fellow commissioners, and all other authorized officers of the entity before the judge to be dealt with according to the law.
Upon successful collection of the funds, the sheriff was instructed to pay the necessary sum to the management of M-TOSH Prints Media to satisfy the judgment while reserving the court’s costs, and he must then make an official return endorsed on the writ detailing the manner in which the order was served and executed.
