By: Frank P. Martin
MONROVIA: In a surprising twist of events, the Executive Branch of Government, headed by President Joseph Nyuma Boakai, has formally submitted the 2025 National Budget to the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Cllr. Jonathan Fonati Koffa. It is not clear whether similar budgetary documents which President Boakai previously forwarded to a legislative group, calling itself ‘Majority Bloc,’ has been withdrew from the group which has been embroiled in a prolonged struggle to ‘dethrone’ House Speaker, Jonathan Fonati Koffa, citing among others, conflict of interest.
On Monday, December 2, 2024, the 2025 National Budget was officially submitted to the Office of House Speaker, Jonathan Fonati Koffa, via the Chief Clerk, according to Montserrado County Representative, Dixon Seeboe, who is also Chairman of the Ways, Means and Finance Committee of the 55th Legislature.
The latest move by the Executive Branch came after its earlier submission which bypassed House Speaker Jonathan Fonati Koffa, and instead, routed the 2025 national budget to the ‘Majority bloc’—a move that effectively generated widespread public criticisms and vehement condemnations by several topnotch lawyers in an out of government.
Speaking to reporters on Tuesday, Representative Dixon Seeboe, Chair of the House Committee on Ways, Means, and Finance, confirmed the submission of the 2025 National Budget by the Branch to House Speaker, Cllr. Jonathan Fonati Koffa.
Representative Seeboe described the Executive’s previous submission of the 2025 National Budget to the ‘Majority Bloc’ as error, but commended the Boakai Administration for correcting its “misstep.”
“I believe the Executive Branch realized the gravity of its mistake and acted swiftly to rectify it by submitting the budget to Speaker Koffa, as is the proper channel to communicate with the legislature,” Representative Seeboe stated.
The earlier submission of the 2025 National Budget to the ‘majority bloc’ also triggered series of controversial actions by some lawmakers.
It was reported that some members of the House of Representatives debated relative to the country’s budget without the necessary input from the House Ways, Means, and Finance Committee.
“This circumvention not only violated established norms but also underscored deepening divisions within the House of Representatives following the contentious and controversial election of Montserado County Representative, Richard Koon, as Speaker by the ‘Majority bloc,’” said Representative Frank Saah Foko recently in an interview.
Interestingly, the various committees hastily formed by the ‘Majority bloc’ have been accused of undermining legislative procedures, with critics arguing that such maneuvers risk politicizing the national budget—a critical tool for national development.
The Head of the Majority Bloc, and “Speaker,” Koon, has not commented on the latest submission of the 2025 National Budget to House Speaker, Fonati Jonathan Koffa.
In what also appears to be a restoration of order, House Speaker Koffa, through the Chief Clerk, has distributed copies of the corrected 2025 National Budget to members of the House of Representatives.
Representative Seeboe assured the public that discussions on the 2025 national budget will commence as soon as the Supreme Court of Liberia issues its ruling on the ongoing legislative dispute.
“Now that the budget has been properly submitted, we will begin the debate immediately after the Court’s ruling,” Seeboe disclosed.
The Supreme Court has suspended the activities of the Majority Bloc. The High Court also mandated the two parties to return to the status quo.
This decision has left critical national issues, including the 2025 budget, hanging in the balance.
As Liberians await the opinion of the Supreme Court on the House’s prolonged impasse, it seems the glaring implications of the unfavorable situation are experienced across the country.
Some political analysts warn that these developments could erode public trust in both the Executive and Legislative Branches of government if appropriate corrective measures are not employed as a matter of urgency.
The debacle surrounding the budget submission raises pertinent questions about national governance, accountability and probity,” said, James Lawson Dixson, a university student, reading economics and political science.
