MUSU-SCOTT, Cllr. Gloria M.
MUSU-SCOTT, Cllr. Gloria M.
gloria.musu-scott@crc.gov.lr |
Cllr. Gloria M. Musu-Scott was born in Monrovia out of the body of Madam Gertrude Pudiayenneh Newton who originates from Barrake, Maryland County and out of the body of the late Col. Lawrence A. Musu who originated from the Township of Warteken, Karluway District, also in Maryland County.
Cllr. Scott received her elementary education at the St. Peter’s Lutheran Elementary School and a High school diploma from the College of West Africa in 1973. She entered the University of Liberia in 1975 and was awarded a Bachelors of Arts degree in Economics with minor in Management. In 1982, she entered the Louis Arthur Grime’s School of Law and earned a Bachelor degree in Law in 1986.
As a teenager, Cllr. Scott had a thirst for education and excellence. In other to accomplish her life ambition, she took a job as a Bookstore Clerk at CWA to pay the cost of her tuition and later as a cadet at the Ministry of Public works while at the University of Liberia. Upon her graduation from the University, she became a full time employee of the Ministry of Public Works in the position of Administrative Assistant in charge of managing logistics and supplies for the Road Maintenance Department of the Ministry of Public works and at the same time, she attended the Louis Arthur Grimes School of Law in the evening session which lasted from 4:30p.m.- 8:30p.m.
Upon graduation from the law school she started her legal practice as a Prosecutor at the Ministry of Justice. Her first major case was to prosecute defendants who gang raped and murdered the late Esther Parker, a resident of the Stephen Tolbert Estate. The government of Liberia obtained a guilty verdict in the Eleventh Judicial Circuit of Bomi County in 1989. In 1990, she was displaced as a result of the civil war.
Cllr. Scott returned to the Ministry of Justice in 1991 as Assistant Minister of Justice for Administration. She was later appointed as Judge of the Monthly and Probate Court for Montserrado County by Dr. Amos C. Sawyer, President of the Interim Government of National Unit (IGNU) in the same year. During her tenure as Probate Court Judge, she observed the legal discriminations against widows married under customary laws. This observation motivated her to invite other female lawyers to a meeting and conveyed the need to seek equality under the law for women, children and other vulnerable persons. Her colleagues accepted the thought and the Association of Female Lawyers (AFELL) was organized with Cllr. Scott elected as its First President in 1994.
After the April 6, 1996 fracas, Cllr. Gloria Musu Scott was appointed Minister of Justice and later that same year became Chairman of the Ad Hoc Elections Commission. In 1997, she was named member of the Independent Elections Commission which conducted the 1997 elections under the Chairmanship of Hon. G. Henry Andrews, now deceased.
After the elections and the restoration of the Constitution, Cllr. Scott was appointed Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of the Republic of Liberia. She served in that position until October 2003. In 2005, she was elected Senator of Maryland County in the 2005 Presidential and legislative General Elections, a position she held until January, 2012. Due to her wealth of experience and the confidence reposed in her ability and integrity, she was appointed Chairperson of the Constitution Review Committee by President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf in August 2012.
Cllr. Scott has attended several international meetings and conferences and served as facilitator. The conferences include African European Women Conference in Brussels in 2007; African women Conference in Abidjan, La Cote D’ Ivoire in 2007; and UNEP Round Table Dialogue for Advancing the Millennium Development Goals held in Nairobi, Kenya in 2004.
She also served as participant at the 2nd All Africa Clinical Legal Education Colloquium in 2005; Conference on the Domestication of International Instruments relating to Women and Children sponsored by UNICEF and held in Austria in 2000; World conference on Good Governance and the Rule of Law sponsored by the Economic Commission for Africa held in Addis Ababa, and the International Visitors Program sponsored by the United States Information Service in 1995; among several other travels and conferences.
Over the years Cllr. Scott has lectured at the Louis Arthur Grimes School of Law from 1992-1996 as Instructor; 2001-2004 as Visiting Instructor; Adjunct Professor from 2012 to the present. Courses she taught include Property Law, Estates and Trust, Human Rights, Ethics and African Law. Cllr. Scott is a widow and mother to her three biological children including other children who are in her care as well as siblings, relatives and others. These persons affectionately call her, the Ol’Ma; Our Ma; Children Ma; Sister, Aunty, etc.