By By: The People News Online
Controversy is rocking Nimba County after the Gompa Magisterial Court in Ganta sentenced former Gompa City Mayor Hon. Amos N.G. Suah to 30 days in prison for contempt of court. According to the summons dated September 24, 2026, Suah appeared on Voice of Gompa Radio on 106.5 FM on September 22 and allegedly uttered words calculated to “demean, scandalize and lower the authority” of the court and incite the public to defy its order over the recent demolition exercise in Ganta. At Tuesday’s hearing, his lawyer admitted wrong but pleaded for pardon, but the court still jailed him.
The jailing sparked a storm of tribal sentiments on social media, with some accusing the Judiciary of siding with one tribe in the long-running land dispute. Responding in a blistering press release from his office, Chief Justice Yamie Gbeisay declared: “I am not a Tribal Chief Justice. I am the Chief Justice of the Republic of Liberia.” Gbeisay said his loyalty is not to a tribe, county or party, but to the Constitution, adding that under his watch, no case will be decided on tribal affiliation. “In the temple of justice, there is only one tribe, and that tribe is Justice,” he stated.
The Chief Justice defended the Gompa court’s judgment in the Kalefa Turay land case that triggered the saga, saying he was reliably informed the Turay family purchased the property as far back as 1951 through a public land sale deed signed by President Tubman, built on it and leased it to tenants including the Government of Liberia until the civil crisis. He said judgment was rendered in favor of the Turays and was not appealed, but execution is being resisted using tribal sentiment and alleged eminent domain claims. He warned that weaponizing tribe to intimidate the Judiciary is “to put fire on our national house.”
But the strong statement has only deepened the debate in Gompa City. While supporters hail Gbeisay for defending judicial independence, critics argue that jailing a former mayor for 30 days over a radio comment and invoking presidential history dating to 1951 shows the Judiciary is out of touch with the emotional reality of land in Nimba – where land is identity, livelihood and heritage. As Ganta remains tense, many are asking whether this is justice without fear or favor, or justice that risks silencing public criticism.
