Liberia: Speaker Koffa Calls for Unity, Rebranding of Legislature
CAPITOL HILL, Monrovia–Newly elected Speaker of the House of Representatives, J. Fonati Koffa, has called for unity among members of the 55th National Legislature.
In his victory speech minutes after his election, Koffa encouraged his colleagues to work towards collective efforts in rebranding the first branch of the government so that it works in the interest of the Liberian people.
“The time of politics is over, it is now time for governance --- it is now time for the people’s work to be done,” Speaker Koffa said. “We need to work in unity so that we work more robustly. We need to rebrand the House of Representatives so that we prioritize the interest of the country rather than individual interest.”
The Speaker indicated that President-elect Joseph N. Boakai outlined some of his agenda and two of them are “fighting corruption” and the infrastructure development, including the Southeast roads.
Members of the House of Representatives on Monday voted for the Grand Kru County District #2 Representative in an intense contest.
The Speaker is one of three powerful positions in the country and the second in line to the Presidency.
Cllr. Koffa, 60, is the first lawmaker to serve as Deputy Speaker and be voted as Speaker in the House of Representatives of the Legislature of the Republic of Liberia since 1848. His victory means that he replaces embattled Maryland County District #2 Representative, Bhofal Chamber, another CDC lawmaker.
Speaker Koffa was elected as Grand Kru County District #2 Representative. He served as Charman for the Judiciary Committee from January 15, 2018, to January 12, 2021. He was elected Deputy Speaker, replacing Rep. Prince Moye of District #2 Bong County, who won as Senator for Bong County during the 2020 Midterm Senatorial Election.
Koffa served as Deputy Speaker from January 12, 2021, to January 15, 2024–the same day he was elected Speaker and subsequently inducted.
Rep. Richard Koon thanked Speaker Koffa for the victory and hoped for the best of the 55th Legislature.
Speaker Koffa, according to some lawmakers, is “a people-centered person who cuts across all divides, a counselor of law and a politician who under human relations.
Speaker Koffa is a founding chairman of the opposition Liberty Party. He became Liberty Party’s chairman from 2011 to 2014 and oversaw its growth and expansion, including winning legislative seats for the party and ensuring that its lawmakers sat on and led ranking committees in the Legislature.
But Koffa resigned from the Liberty Party and joined the CDC in 2019, where he serves as a member of the Executive Council.
He is comparatively one of Liberia’s brightest barristers and began his legal career in the United States in 1998 in private practice, would moved to Liberia in 2009 to become a founder and Managing Partner of the International Law Group (ILG), now one of the emerging corporate and government firms in Liberia.
He was admitted to the Supreme Court Bar of Liberia as valedictorian of its class of 2014.
Koffa was educated at the University of North Carolina School of Law at Chapel Hill, where he obtained a Juris Doctorate (JD) degree in law. He also holds a Master's Degree in Public Administration (MPA) from Raleigh, North Carolina State University, and a Bachelor of Public Administration (Cum Laude) with a concentration in Urban Planning from Shaw University, Raleigh, North Carolina, USA.