Bull’s Return Rocks TRC - President Accused Of Intervention
Thursday, 24th April 2008
Flashback: Pres. Sirleaf swears in Cllr. Bull as Commissioner of the TRC
Members of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, currently holding hearings around the country, are in disarray over the fate of one of their members, Mrs. Pearl Brown Bull, suspended for allegedly violating the commission’s internal rules.
Reports from Gbarplu, where the TRC is now hearing witnesses of gross violations, say Mrs. Bull marched into the hearing accompanied by a bailiff from the Supreme Court, which has placed a halt on her suspension.
Meanwhile, sources have told this paper that President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, in a letter, annulled the suspension, contending that only she, as President, has the powers to take such actions. But Press Secretary Cyrus Badio, contacted to clarify the alleged intervention, said the contrary. He said the President has only received a letter from the TRC’s Chairman, Cllr. Jerome Verdier, which she has forwarded to her legal team for an opinion.
Mrs. Bull was suspended following reports she had been appointed on the Complaints and Appeals Committee of the Public Procurement and Concession Commission an act, the TRC maintained, that violates its internal rules forbidding Commissioners to hold any other position as long as they remain on the TRC.
According to documents, Mrs. Bull was appointed on the PPCC in July 2007 and was requested to meet with PPCC Commissioners to discuss her terms of reference and her oath of secrecy. It is not clear if she attended the meeting, but in February this year, she reportedly informed the PPCC that her obligations with the TRC could not permit her to serve on the PPCC Committee. The PPCC, in informing Mrs. Bull of her new appointment, had hoped that her presence on the Committee would enhance its “dignity
This development comes amidst a petition for a writ of prohibition filed by the suspended Commissioner Bull before the Supreme Court Justice in Chamber, Cllr. Jamesetta Wolokolie seeking to halt her indefinite suspension.
In her 17 count petition before the Superior Court, suspended Commissioner Bull said “despite the clear provision of the Act regarding by whom and how a commission may be removed, on April 20, 2008, she received a letter over the signature of Cllr. Jerome J. Verdier, Sr., of the TRC, dated April 19, 2008, informing her that by a decision of the Commission reached on the 17th day of April 2008, you are hereby suspended indefinitely from the TRC effective Friday April 18, 2008.”
The letter further informs Mrs. Bull that her functions, privileges, activities and representations were all indefinitely suspended.
But Mrs. Bull in her petition further stated that under the local legal system, an indefinite suspension is constructive dismissal, adding that her letter of indefinite suspension “was and is intended to remove her from the TRC, a power which she added is exclusively reserved for the Legislature.
It could be recalled that when contacted last month for clarification on Cllr. Bulls PPCC connection, PPCC’s Public Relations Officer Nathan Bengu said Cllr. Bull applied to serve on the PPCC after the PPCC advertised the positions in the April 12, 2007 edition of the Daily Observer.
However, in her petition before the Supreme Court, the suspended TRC Commissioner said on February 8, 2008, she informed the TRC seeking an exemption to allow her serve both on the TRC and the PPCC.
But that on March 14, TRC Chairman Verdier responded indicating that the TRC could not grant her the exemption because she had not made a full disclosure about the facts and circumstances of her selection.
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