Liberia: Speakership Race Intensifies on Capitol Hill

As the race for the speakership of the House of Representatives intensifies ahead of the scheduled election on January 15, a majority of the elected Representatives, (41), Lawmakers have reaffirmed their support to the Speakership Bid of Cllr. J. Fonati Koffa.

The reaffirmation was made on Monday, December 18, when Koffa, the current Deputy Speaker, arrived at the Roberts International Airport (RIA) from the USA.

As a way of publicizing their support to the Grand Kru County District #2 Representative, the majority lawmakers, who are poised to become members of the 55^th, wore white T-shirts with the inscription at the front: “I support Hon. Cllr. J. Fonati Koffa as Speaker 55th Legislature.” The inscription on the back of the shirts said: “Fonati for Speaker.”

There were 37 lawmakers present, while four are said to be absent owing to illnesses and busy schedules.

The 3rd public endorsement of the 41 Lawmakers to Deputy Speaker Koffa was triggered by the alliance of Musa Bility of the Collaborating Political Parties (CPP) and Richard Koon of the Unity Party (UP).

Last week Thursday, Musa Bility dropped his Speakership ambition and formally joined the UP which, according to reports, comprises 27 members in the House of Representatives.

Representative-elect Koffa is a consensus candidate of the Congress of Democratic Change (CDC) and is said to have the majority of the Representatives elected to the 55th Legislature.

"We have revolutionized the way in which speakers are chosen in this country," Deputy Speaker Koffa said.

He boasted of the continually high number of representatives who have imposed their confidence in him and said he is optimistic about his election as Speaker.

Koffa was nominated by the outgoing Coalition for Democratic Change (CDC) party as its candidate for the Speakership.

The nomination took place in a meeting on Friday, December 1, at the party’s headquarters in Congo Town. During the  meeting, CDC chairman Mulbah Morlu announced that after consultation with the party’s executives and legislative caucus, the Coalition had endorsed the candidacy of Koffa for Speaker.

Before the ruling coalition’s decision, President George Weah expressed his intention to support Koffa’s bid for the position of Speaker.

Weah called for unity within the CDC, urging its representatives to ensure that the Grand Kru County lawmaker emerges victorious come January 15. 

“I recognized that we were defeated because we defeated ourselves and had no need to fight. We are going to elections for the Speakership and President Pro Tempore of the Senate, and we continue to do the same thing that led to our defeat without considering the theory of succession,” Weah said in a special statement at his Forky Klon Church on Sunday, November 26.   

He stressed that unity is crucial for the CDC to secure positions such as the Speakership and President Pro Tempore in the 55th legislature — calling for the recalibration within the party ranks.

However, Koffa has promised that he will not turn the gavel into a partisan legislature simply because they are in opposition.

He promised that he would be robust if given the speakership mandate and that, under his gavel, accountability and transparency would be ensured. In his first 100 days, he promised to install electronic voting in the House of Representatives.

“The ruling government can trust me as a Speaker because I will work in the national interest,” Koffa said.

Meanwhile, the membership of the House of Representatives is 73, and a candidate needs a simple majority of 37 to win.

The elections for both the speaker and deputy speaker are expected to be held on January 15, 2024.