Speaker Koffa to resign today!

Embattled House Speaker Cllr. J. Fonati Koffa is expected to announce his resignation today, weeks after the Supreme Court reaffirmed his speakership.

Monrovia, May 12, 2025: Sources within the corridor of the Rule of Law caucus told the New Dawn over the weekend that embattled speaker Koffa’s planned resignation follows a series of back-channel negotiations involving Catholic Archbishop Gabriel Blamo Snosio Jubwe and Sister Mary Laurene, among several prominent citizens here.

Our source said President Boakai contacted Archbishop Jubwe and Sis. Laurene followed a report that the Rule of Law Caucus had considered former President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf as the lead negotiator.

To be included in Speaker Koffa’s letter of resignation is a demand that Deputy House Speaker Thomas Fallah take over as acting Speaker pending an election to elect a speaker through legitimate means.

Although this part of Speaker Koffa’s resignation demand did not go down well with some members of the Majority Bloc, it was accepted as part of plans to bring the protracted dispute to an end.

According to our source, no monetary settlement for Speaker Koffa was discussed during the parties’ meeting, which took place at President Joseph N. Boakai’s residence on Friday, except for the salaries and benefits of members of his caucus that had been withheld for five months.

However, the discussion was said to have been going well until a hot exchange erupted between President Boakai and Speaker Koffa, forcing Speaker Koffa to leave the scene after he was advised by negotiators to take a break.

Meanwhile, his resignation is expected to end the prolonged impasse at the House of Representatives, which has, to a large extent, incapacitated the government’s function.

How it all started

The crisis at the House of Representatives began when Embattled House Speaker Koffa made a call for an audit of the 54th Legislature in which he served as Deputy Speaker, while his now Deputy Thomas Fallah served as Chairman on Ways and Means.

By the weekend of October 13, 2024, rumours spread that members of the House of Representatives were gathering signatures to remove Speaker Koffa, who was in the United States, joining President Boakai on a State visit. The pair later travelled to Rome together to meet the late Pope Francis at the Vatican.

On October 17, report emerged that about 47 members of the House had received an alleged sum of US15k each in advance bribe payment against US25k promised in bribe money to remove Speaker Koffa as part of the plot.

This led to heated exchanges among lawmakers, creating pandemonium on the Capitol grounds, with some lawmakers from opposing sides nearly engaging in fistfights.

Some members upon allegedly receiving their share of the bribe money, refused to sign the petition.

On October 25, 2024, Justice in Chambers, Associate Justice Yamie Quiqui Gbeisay, Sr issued a stay order on further proceedings to remove Speaker Koffa, after the latter filed a writ of prohibition.

But his invitation for a conference hearing was initially rebuffed by the Majority Bloc, raising concerns for their respect for the rule of law. They had argued that the matter was political rather than legal.

Meanwhile, on October 31,2024, the campaign to unseat Speaker Koffa gained traction when Deputy Speaker Thomas Fallah abandoned his boss and crossed over to Majority Bloc, upping the majority bloc from 43 to 44, but short of the constitutionally required 49 lawmakers to remove the Speaker.

On November 7, 2024, embattled House Speaker Koffa declared that he will not resign in the face of a callous disregard for the legal process by his colleagues. On the same day, Justice Gbeisay announced the lifting of the stay order.

On November 21, 2024, members of the Majority Bloc replaced Speaker Koffa with Regime Speaker Richard N. Koon on white ballot as new Speaker of the House.

Koon is Montserrado County District#11 Representative, who lost the race for the speakership to Cllr. Koffa during the inception of the 55th Legislature in January.

On the same November 21, 2024, Speaker Koffa filed a writ of mandamus before the Supreme Court, while remaining defiant that he was still the legitimate Speaker.

On November 22, the court added another twist to the House impasse, the Supreme Court ordered all parties involved in the leadership struggle to return to STATUS QUO, meaning they should return to their status as of October 15, 2024, before the rebellion, leaving members of the Majority Bloc and their new speaker frustrated.

All parties including the Minister of Justice were asked to file their returns on November 26, 2024.

On December 6, 2024, came the landmark verdict.

The Supreme Court, in its landmark ruling on Friday, December 6, said, “Any sittings or actions by members of the Legislature not in conformity with the intent of Articles 33 and 49 of the Constitution are ultra vires and void. “Ultra vires,” meaning it was beyond their power and authority to do so. Hence, members of the House of Representatives are to conduct themselves accordingly.”

Article 33 of the Liberian Constitution requires a quorum to hold sessions, while Article 49 refers to the presiding officers, including the election and removal from office of the Speaker, Deputy Speaker, and other officers.

Article 33 states: “Simple majority of each House shall constitute a quorum for the transaction of business, but a lower number may adjourn from day to day and compel the attendance of absent members…”

Article 49 states: “The House of Representatives shall elect once every six years a Speaker who shall be the presiding officer of that body, a Deputy Speaker, and such other officers as shall ensure the proper functioning of the House. The speaker, the deputy speaker, and other officers so elected may be removed from office for cause by a resolution of two-thirds of the members of the House.

However, while making clear its constitutional limitations on legislative proceedings and its authority to resolve such impasse, the Supreme Court maintained that any legislative action not in conformity with Articles 33 and 49 of the Constitution is “ultra vires” and void.

On the issue of mandamus to compel absentee lawmakers to come to session, the Supreme Court said that in the absence of a constitutional provision, it cannot intervene. That is, no mechanism within the constitution gives the court power to compel absentee lawmakers to go to session.

On December 8, 2024, Speaker Koffa issued a statement warning all spending entities not to honor a request from members of the majority bloc to appear for a budget hearing, but that warning was ignored, hence the impasse dragged on.

On December 10, 2024, in an opinion addressed to the Minister of State for Presidential Affairs, the Minister of Justice asserted that the Supreme Court ruling and final judgment on December 6, 2024, concluded that the Majority Bloc’s sittings, actions, and decisions are lawful.

On December 12, 2024, Speaker Koffa filed a Bill of Information before the Supreme Court asking the court to publicly recall the Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Liberia, N. Oswald Tweh, for misinterpreting the high court’s ruling.

Meanwhile, December 18, 2024, the Rotunda of the Capitol Building is engulfed with fire. The Rotunda is official seat of the Liberian Legislature. It was being used by members of the majority bloc from the House of Representative before the fire incident. 

January 6, 2025, some allies of embattled House Speaker J Koffa attend a legislative session conducted by the House majority bloc.

On January 30, 2025, the House of Representatives voted to forcibly remove embattled Speaker Koffa at its next sitting on Tuesday, February 4th.

On March 3, 2025, Embattle House Speaker Koffa filed another Bill of Information while mandating and ordering the majority bloc of “Regime Speaker” Richard N. Koon to respect the Court’s ruling of December 6, 2024, and act accordingly.

On April 23, 2025, the Supreme Court granted embattled House Speaker Koffa’s Bill of Information while mandating and ordering the majority bloc of “Regime Speaker” Richard N. Koon to respect the Court’s ruling and act accordingly.

However, the April 23, 2025, ruling has not been able to resolve the impasse. The situation was worsened by President Boakai’s declaration to work with the quorum, which in this case, the Majority Bloc.

The President’s statement received overwhelming condemnation, leaving members of the Liberian National Bar Association divided. Written By Othello B. Garblah.