MONROVIA, LIBERIA-The Supreme Court of Liberia has finally given the green light to prosecute former Finance and Development Planning Minister, Samuel Tweah, and four other public officials for allegedly stealing over eight million US dollars.
On Thursday, December 18, 2025, the Supreme Court ruled that Article 61 of the Liberian Constitution gives personal immunity to only the President and not any other person serving in the Executive Branch of the Government, contrary to Tweah and others’ claims.
Moreover, the Court said the statute and the act establishing the National Security Council (NSA) specify certain persons as beneficiaries and not the defendants questioned.
ELBC Judicial Reporter said,” The former Finance Minister and others petition for a Writ of Prohibition was denied and later remanded the matter to the lower court to resume jurisdiction and proceed consistent with law”.
In 2024, Associate Justice Ceaineh Clinton-Johnson stopped defendant Tweah and others’ corruption case at Criminal Court ‘C’, after defendant Tweah and others’ lawyer, Cllr. Arthur Johnson filed a petition for a Writ of Prohibition.
Cllr. Johnson’s request to the Supreme Court questioned prosecuting lawyers’ indictment, saying that his clients were wrongfully implicated in allegedly stealing over six million US dollars and billions of Liberian dollars.
Cllr. Johnson argued that his clients’ action regarding the amount was under the instruction of former President George Weah and the National Security Council, contrary to the state lawyers’ indictment on grounds that they are immune from prosecution as provided by Article 61 of the 1986 Constitution.
Those indicted are defendants Samuel Tweah, former Finance Minister, and Cllr. Nyenati Tuan, former Solicitor General, Stanley Ford, former Director of Finance Intelligence Agency, Moses Cooper, former Comptroller of the Finance Intelligence Agency, and Jefferson Karmoh, former National Security Advisor.
At the same time, the Supreme Court has granted the former Minister of Justice, Frank Musa Dean’s Bill of Information filed before the Court, after the Justice Ministry included him as a party to the 58.34 carat diamond valued at over twelve million US dollars.
The Court’s December 18 ruling stated that the mandate growing out of the judgment of the Supreme Court cannot lawfully be enforced against the former Justice Minister, who was not personally named or adjudged liable.
The Court’s mandate, according to ELBC Reporter, ordered the Government of Liberia, through the Ministry of Mines and Energy, to make restitution of the 58.34 carat diamond or its monetary equivalent.
The Supreme Court maintained that the former Justice Minister is not a party to the action out of which the Bill of Information grew, saying that the trial court proceeded improperly in enforcing the Court’s mandate.
ELBC Judicial Reporter said,” The Supreme Court’s Clerk was ordered to send the mandate to the lower court below, commanding the Presiding Judge to resume jurisdiction and proceed consistent with the judgment”.
The Supreme Court’s decision means that the government lawyers misinterpreted the August 14, 2025, opinion and were seeking the arrest of former Minister of Justice, Frank Musa Dean, in connection with the diamond case.
On August 14, 2025, the Supreme Court upheld the Subordinate Court’s decision by ordering the government, through the Ministry of Mines and Energy, to return the 58.34-carat diamond to the two licensed miners.
The diamond in question was taken away from the two miners in Gbarpolu County during the administration of former President George Weah in 2024.