The quest to remove embattled House of Representatives Speaker J. Fonati Koffa took an extremely dramatic turn on Thursday, November 21, 2024, when members of the Majority Bloc elected Representative Richard Koon as Speaker of the 55th National Legislature.
The action was taken shortly after a resolution to remove the speaker containing the signatures of at least 50 lawmakers surfaced on the floor of the Majority Bloc’s session in the Joint Chambers of the legislature.
Shortly after the display of the resolution which carried the signatures of more than 49 members required to legally remove a speaker, the Majority Bloc went ahead to declare the speakership position vacant, suggesting that Speaker Koffa had been ousted from his post to now serve the legislature as a common representative.
Without wasting any time, the body moved further to nominate Montserrado County District #11 Representative Richard Koon to contest for the position on a white ballot, meeting the consensus of all members. The lawmaker was immediately elected and sworn in as the Speaker of the House of Representatives even though embattled Speaker Koffa had made no statement of resignation and the process to have him removed was not fully followed.
Earlier, Koffa had written a letter instructing all directors, deputies, assistants, and sectional heads not to attend any acquaintance meeting with the Acting Chairman on Rules, Orders, and Administration, Rep. James Kolleh, who was appointed on Tuesday after the Majority Bloc went ahead to suspend Representative Marvin Cole from his position as Acting Chairman on Rules, Orders, and Administration.
The Liberian Constitution is clear as to how a Speaker can be elected and removed from office. Article 49 of the Constitution says “The House of Representative shall elect once every six years a Speaker who shall be the presiding body, a Deputy Speaker, and such other officers shall ensure the proper functioning of the House. The Speaker, Deputy Speaker and other officers so elected may be removed from office for cause by resolution of a two-thirds majority of the members of the House”.
Considering that there is now where in the constitution where it says that lawmakers absent from session can assemble anywhere outside House Chambers, and without the Speaker, convene session to conduct legislative business, the question of the legality of the process removing Speaker Koffa will now be a point of contention, as legal experts have told this paper that the Speaker could likely challenge this decision in a court of competent jurisdiction.
This is coming just a day after information sources suggested that the speaker had agreed to resign his post during a meeting on Wednesday, November 20, 2022, held at the home of a fellow lawmaker, Representative Ellen Attoh Wreh, on the SD Cooper Road in Paynesville, though the sources did not say when said action would be executed.
It can be recalled that on Tuesday, November 19, 2024, two lawmakers from Koffa’s Minority Bloc of 30 lawmakers joined the Majority Bloc of 43 seeking to oust him, bringing the total number to 45.
The joining of the two lawmakers including Montserrado County District #17 Representative Bernard Blue Benson and Gbarpolu County District #1 Representative Zinnah Norman, put the speaker in a thin situation as the Majority Bloc was now needing only four more lawmakers to acquire the legally accepted number of 49 members required to unseat a speaker.
Both lawmakers said their decision to join the Majority was in the best interest of their constituents and not influenced by bribes.
Meanwhile, the Majority Bloc went ahead to appoint new leaders and removed others heading key legislative committees. Those voted to be removed are Representative Dixon Seboe and Representative Ellen Attoh Wreh as Chair and Co-Chair on the Ways means, Finance, and Budget Committee. They mandated the Ministry of Finance, the Central Bank of Liberia, and all commercial banks not to do business with these lawmakers.
Representative Mike Jurry of Maryland County District #1 has been appointed Acting Chair on Ways, Means, and Finance, replacing ousted Representative Dixon Seboe.
In a related development, the Majority Bloc also suspended lawmakers—Montserrado County District #13 Representative Edward P. Flomo, District #14 Representative Abu Kamara, and Bong County District #3 Representative Marvin Cole.
Their decision was based on the lawmakers’ failure to appear before the Investigative Committee Of The Whole for allegations of gross disrespect and public disrepute to the honorable House of Representatives.
The action, according to them, is in line with the House’s Standing Rules 48.1 allowing a 30-day suspension of lawmakers that includes forfeiture of salaries and legislative benefits.
The body also appointed Bong County District #2 Representative James Kolleh to serves as Acting Chair on Rules, Order, and Administration, replacing Representative Marvin Cole, while Bong County District#1 Representative Prince Koniah has assumed the position of Acting Co-Chair of the Committee on Public Accounts and Audit, replacing Representative Dorwon Gleekia.
These events unfolded barely a day after Speaker Koffa told the Majority Bloc that resignation is an optional and a voluntary act and he has no intentions of resigning his position for any reasons.
Speaker Koffa said those calling for him to resign should use their time and resources to convince the so-called Majority Bloc to come to work.
Koffa said he will continue to stand with the Constitution of Liberia as the House’s Standing Rules make it clear that 37 members are needed to elect a speaker and 49 members to remove.
“The day you get your 49 members, I will not spend a day in my office. I will pack my things and leave, but anything other than what the constitution says, I’m not going to resign due to the savage greed of any so-called majority block,” Koffa said.
He said the nonsense at the House of Representatives has to stop because he is unwilling to be pressured to resign as was done to former Speakers Edwin Snowe and J. Alex Tyler.
Speaker Koffa said some members of that honorable body for whatever cause have destroyed the workings of the House of Representatives in their own interest, but said such acts will stop because the law is the law.
In the next couple of days, it is expected that a serious political and legal battle will be the order of the day at the Liberian Legislature up on Capitol Hill.
Speaker Koffa, shortly after the election of Koon, posted via his official Facebook page saying, “Nothing has happened” before taking flight to the Supreme Court with a Writ of Mandamus.
A writ of mandamus is an order from a court to an inferior government official ordering the government official to properly fulfill their official duties or correct an abuse of discretion.
