By: Ben TC Brooks |RiverGee County Correspondent
River Gee County ,Fish Town -Wednesday, March 19, 2025 – The Government of Liberia through the Ministry of Justice has abandoned the Jarkaken Magisterial Court in Chedepo Administrative District, River Gee County.
According to a local journalist in the area, the court has been closed for about eight months now due to lack of assigned Associate Magistrate there.
Jarkaken Magisterial clerk of court, Ambrose Swen Dees, confirmed the closure of the court for a prolong period now due to the absence of an assigned associate magistrate.
“The last magistrate assigned here was magistrate “Franklin Smith”, but since he left the area about eight months ago, there has been no magistrate assigned at the Jarkaken Magisterial Court,” said Ambrose Swen Dees.
Sources informed our reporter that Magistrate Smith has been promoted as a public defender.
Elders of the area said they have written communications and informed the 15th Judicial Circuit Court in Fish Town for the replacement of Magistrate Smith, but to no avail. They hope that a new magistrate will be assigned to the court before the opening of the next term of court.
Residents and court officials have alarmed over the increasing wave of crimes in the area as a result of the absence of a magistrate to hear cases and law enforcement officers.
“Lot of crimes are taking place here, but as a clerk of court, I cannot handle them because I am not trained to that and it is not my role,” Swen Dees told Rural Reporter News Network.
Sources have hinted our reporter that there is no law enforcement officer assigned in the area, due to an alleged high rate of traditional practices there.
It is reported that officers of the Liberia National Police (LNP) and the Liberia Drug Enforcement Agency (LDEA) were assigned in Jarkaken, but flew the area overnight due to increasing traditional bush school activities there.
Since the ministry declared Jarkaken as a place of a magisterial court, the government is yet to construct a building to conduct court cases.
The court is currently housed in a public guest house that is in deplorable conditions, according to a local journalist and images seen by this network.
The women center in the area used for pre trial detention also lies in deplorable state with no funding to renovate both the guest house and the women center.
The court was previously housed in open-town hall before being transferred to the town’s guest house.
The surrounding of the court remains uncleaned with grass taking over it and there is no sign of renovating it anytime soon.
Magisterial courts are authorized to exercise exclusive original jurisdiction of theft of property and other misdemeanor, as well as all offenses and violations of the Traffic Law, except another court is given exclusive original jurisdiction. The magisterial courts also have jurisdiction and they are considered court of “First Instance”.
Mob violence, disorderly conduct, theft of property, drug smuggling and other crimes increase in the absence of a functional court system, especially in populated areas.
Jarkaken is a seat of Chedepo Administrative district, located western River Gee County about 65km away from the county Capital Fish-Town.
Edited: Esau J. Farr| Sub-Editor
