Supreme Court Instructs, But LCAA Remains Defiant -Over Dr. Cassel’s Kwenyan & Associate Helicopter Saga

The Supreme Court of Liberia has since October last year instructed the Liberia Civil Aviation Authority (LCAA) by and through its Managing Director Chief Moses Y. Kollie and his corps of officers to permit the landing of an aircraft belonging to the Kwenyan & Associate Group of Company of Dr. Daniel Cassel, but the aviation authority remains defiant in failing to comply with the order of the high court, the final arbiter of justice of the land.

According to a PLP insider who spoke with The Analyst on condition of anonymity because the matter is still under judicial review, due to the refusal of the Liberia Civil Aviation Authority to grant landing permit for Dr. Cassell’s helicopter, the B430 chopper is currently idly parked in Ghana where the Kwenyan & Associate Group of Company of Dr.Cassell is reportedly paying US$200 daily.

“I believe this is pure wickedness for the Government of Liberia to deny its own citizens of much needed medical supplies that Dr. Cassell has procured for the country through his Foundation. This shows that the CDC Government really doesn’t care about the plight of the people,” the source lamented.

The craft is intended for use to distribute drugs around the country, but sources said the denial of landing permit to the Kwenyan & Associate Group of Company has moved the company to seek legal relief from the Supreme Court when the company petitioned the high court for a Writ of Prohibition to prohibit the Liberia Aviation Authority from preventing the aircraft from landing in the country,

Accordingly, the clerk of the Supreme Court of Liberia, Atty. Same Mamulu, by directive of the Supreme Court Justice in Chamber, Associate Justice Yusuf D. Kaba, on October 15, 2021 “ordered Respondent Moses Y. Kollie and this corps of corporate officers at the Liberia Aviation Authority to permit the aircraft which is subject of the petition, to land in Liberia pending the outcome of a conference to which the LAA’s  Moses Y. Kollie and this corps of corporate officers were being invited.

The Court communication ordering landing permit to the helicopter belonging to the Kwenyan & Associate Group of Company of Dr. Daniel Cassel also cited the respondent corporation and its officials to a conference with the Justice in Chamber, Yusuf Kabah on Wednesday, October 20, 2021.

The conference concerned the case, “Request for Writ of Prohibition” involving “Kwenyan & Associate Group of Company by and through its board member Mr. Tapple Doe of the City of Monrovia, [Petitioner] versus Liberia Civil Aviation Authority by and through its Director General Honorable Chief Moses Y. Kollie and this corps of corporate officers, [respondents], although it is not known whether or not the conference took place.

It can be recalled that the opposition People’s Liberation Party (PLP) has vowed to initiate a civil protest in Monrovia and other parts of the country if the Government of Liberia (GOL), through the Liberia Civil Aviation Authority (LCAA) fails to rethink its previous decision taken to cancel the landing permit of a helicopter belonging to its Political Leader, Dr. Daniel E. Cassell.

The party said that  LCAA granted Dr. Cassell, through his company, Kwenyan and Associates a permit for a B430 helicopter to land in the country in keeping with international aviation laws but unfortunately was allegedly denied landing in the country when it intended doing so. The party said the development prompted its political leader to institute a lawsuit against the government for allegedly infringing upon his constitutional rights.