MONROVIA – The Supreme Court of Liberia has issued a writ commanding several individuals, including a sitting judge and former senior government officials, to appear before its Full Bench in connection with the disappearance of a 53.34-carat diamond, a case that has exposed deep legal and governance fractures within Liberia’s mineral sector.
The order, issued under the seal of the Supreme Court on October 6, 2025, mandates His Honor J. Boima Kontoe, Assigned Circuit Judge of the Sixth Judicial Circuit, Civil Law Court, Montserrado County; the Sheriff of the same court; T. David Sluward and Abraham Kamara, both Class “C” mining license holders in Gbarma Statutory District, Gbarpolu County; and Mohammed “JR” Kamara, also of Smith Town, Gbarma, to appear and file their returns before the Full Bench on Monday, October 13, 2025, at 10:00 a.m.
The writ arises from a Bill of Information filed by Cllr. Frank Musah Dean, Jr., former Minister of Justice and Attorney General, regarding the enforcement of the Supreme Court’s earlier ruling in the diamond ownership dispute. The respondents are required to explain why the Bill of Information should not be granted, and must file their official returns with the Clerk of the Supreme Court on or before October 13.
This latest Supreme Court action follows a landmark judgment delivered on August 14, 2025, during the Court’s March Term. In that decision, the Court upheld a lower court ruling ordering the Ministry of Mines and Energy and the Diamond Dealers Association to return the 53.34-carat diamond to licensed miners Sluward and Kamara or pay them the stone’s fair market value.
The Court ruled that while Liberia’s Constitution vests all mineral resources in the Republic, these rights can be legally transferred through government-issued licenses. The Court found that the miners had submitted their license renewal application on March 17, 2022, well before its expiration on May 25, 2022, and that the Ministry subsequently renewed it on April 28, 2023. It was therefore unlawful for the government to claim automatic reversion of the diamond. Former Chief Justice Sie-A-Nyene G. Yuoh, reading for the bench, affirmed that no mineral right can be reassigned once a valid renewal application is filed, until an official decision is made.
The case intensified on September 26, 2025, when the Civil Law Court for the Sixth Judicial Circuit, presided over by Assigned Circuit Judge Sianeh Kontoe, ordered the arrest and detention of several high-profile individuals for their alleged role in the disappearance of the diamond. Judge Kontoe described the transaction as “a criminal cartel knitted in connivance, secrecy, and collusion,” pointing to a fraudulent scheme carried out under the cover of the Kimberly Process.
Those implicated include Cllr. Frank Musa Dean; former Minister of Mines and Energy Gersler Murray; Mustapha Tounkara, President of the Diamond Dealers Association; Tshaka Connah, alias Bakat; Emmanuel T.T. Swen; and Korvah Baysah, the appraiser who issued the certificate of origin. Judge Kontoe noted that the sale of the diamond abroad was facilitated without proper documentation, and under direct instructions from Dean and Murray. Baysah is accused of concealing vital information about the buyer and the amount paid.
The court ruled that unless the named individuals provide a full account of the diamond’s whereabouts, they will remain detained at Monrovia Central Prison. “They shall be arrested and detained at the Monrovia Central Prison until they shall have found, answered, and detained the Monrovia question,” the court declared. The ruling emphasized that the failure to account for the diamond is obstructing the execution of the Supreme Court’s mandate.
The October 6 writ from the Supreme Court signals the next stage in what has become one of Liberia’s most consequential legal battles over natural resource governance. With the October 13 appearance looming, the proceedings are expected to shed light on the chain of actions that led to the disappearance of the diamond and test the resolve of Liberia’s judiciary to enforce accountability at the highest levels.
