By: Varney Dukuly
MONROVIA: When the majority bloc of Liberia’s House of Representatives drafted a resolution to oust Speaker J. Fonati Koffa on Thursday, October 17, 2024, it marked the third attempt to depose a speaker under Unity Party governance.
This dramatic move was both a rebuke of Koffa’s leadership and an escalation of the internal strife gripping the former ruling Congress for Democratic Change (CDC) party.
Yet, according to activists and legal experts, this crisis goes deeper. It is, they argue, a threat to good governance and the rule of law.
“The political discord between Speaker J. Fonati Koffa and the House’s majority faction, joined by the Deputy Speaker, highlights an unprecedented conflict in Liberian legislative history,” said Cllr. Arthur Johnson, a lecturer of criminal justice at AME Zion University.
In his analysis of the dispute, Cllr. Johnson warned that the majority bloc’s no-confidence vote raises significant legal and constitutional questions.
These range from the extent of legislative authority and the procedures for challenging or removing a speaker to broader implications for democratic governance in Liberia.
Experts say the House majority reached this breaking point through a web of factors, all interwoven: corruption-driven loyalty, politics of spectacle over service, and partisan districts where primary contests and weakened political parties, like the CDC, are captive to their loudest members.
Together, these dynamics have given many lawmakers the leverage to throw one of the country’s three branches of government into disarray.
The faction opposing Koffa, mostly CDC members led by Representative Samuel Kogar of Nimba County, argued their actions were necessary to end alleged conflicts of interest and misuse of the budget.
“Let us direct our attention to issues that truly impact the well-being of our people,” said Rep. Clarence Garr, a prominent voice within the majority bloc.
But, Cllr. Johnson criticized the Deputy Speaker’s alignment with the majority bloc as setting a troubling precedent that could further destabilize Liberia’s post-war democracy.
“The reliance on Rule #12 to justify the majority’s sessions is flawed; that rule doesn’t authorize bypassing leadership positions to convene,” Cllr. Johnson stated.
“Once the Deputy Speaker presides in a session led by the majority bloc without the Speaker’s approval, it grossly violates both House rules and the Liberian Constitution,” Cllr. Johnson said.
“By joining forces against Speaker Koffa,” Johnson contends, “the majority bloc echoes past legislative missteps,” such as the controversial removals of Rep. Edwin Melvin Snowe, then, and Speaker Alex Tyler, both of whom were constitutionally elected.
Since the no-confidence vote, Koffa has repeatedly failed to secure a quorum to proceed with legislative duties, with the majority bloc blocking his attempts.
Declared unfit to lead, Koffa himself has vowed not to resign. The standoff raises the question: How do you govern in such a climate? Scholars are asking this too, searching for explanations and historical lessons.
For Cllr. Johnson, stability and integrity within Liberia’s legislature can only be safeguarded if all House members, including the Deputy Speaker, adhere to established protocols, respect the Speaker’s role, and operate within constitutional bounds.
Without this commitment, he warns, the rule of law remains imperiled in Liberia.
