MONROVIA, February 2(LINA) - President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf has described the death of former Chief Justice Johnnie N. Lewis as “a major blow not only to the judicial system but the Government of Liberia as a whole.”

 
She said the vacuum that the death of the fallen Chief Justice has created in the judicial system would be difficult to fill, considering the level of contributions he made to his country.

President Sirleaf was speaking Monday when she signed the Book of Condolence the government opened for the late Chief Justice at the Temple of Justice on Capitol Hill in Monrovia.

The Liberian leader was accompanied by members of the Cabinet to sign the book.
Thirty minutes later, Vice President Joseph Boakai, leading members of the Liberian Senate, signed the book of condolence with a call for members of the judiciary, especially legal practitioners, to emulate the example of the late Chief Justice.
Justice Lewis, who was Liberia’s 18th Chief Justice, died January 25, 2015 at the John F. Kennedy Medical Center following protracted period of illness.
 
Meanwhile, at 12: noon today, the Speaker and members of the House of Representatives will sign the book of condolence to be followed by the Chief Justice and Associate Justices of the Supreme Court, as well as members of the Liberia National Bar Association from 1:00 pm to 2:00 pm.
 
The body of the late Chief Justice will be removed from the Samuel A. Stryker Funeral Home on Wednesday, February 4 and taken to the Temple of Justice for one hour of viewing, and later moved to the St. Thomas Episcopal Church on Camp Johnson Road for wake-keeping.
 
On Thursday, February 6, the body will be taken to the Centennial Memorial Pavilion on Ashmun Street for official government program and repast.
On Friday, February 7, the remains will be flown to his home county Sinoe for interment at the family grave site.
LINA