Liberia History: True Whig Party Downfall, Samuel Doe Uprising & The Civil War - 03 (Chea Cheapo

Chea Job Cheapoo, Sr. was a Liberian politician who served as the 15th Chief Justice of Liberia from July 1987 until his impeachment and removal from office on December 2 of that year. His full rights were later restored by an act of legislature.

Cheapoo was born on 2 November 1942 in Kiteabo, which was located in the former Webbo District of Grand Gedeh County. He studied first at the Assembly of God school in Pleebo, then at Monrovia College. In 1961, he earned a diploma in bookkeeping from the Booker Washington Institute. He graduated from the North Carolina Central University School of Law in 1970.

After earning his law degree, Cheapoo returned to Liberia and joined the Ministry of Commerce and Industry. He later became an assistant minister in the Ministry of Justice.

Cheapoo served in the late 1970s as a Senator from Grand Gedeh County as a member of the ruling True Whig Party, but was forced out after disagreeing with party leaders. He then entered private practice. Soon after, Cheapoo joined the Progressive Alliance of Liberia (PAL), an opposition movement, and became its head counsellor. In early 1980, he served as a spokesman for its successor, the Progressive People's Party (PPP). That same year, the ruling Whigs banned the PPP; Cheapoo and other party leaders were imprisoned on charges of treason.
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