Monrovia, Liberia – In response to a Bill of Information filed by the embattled Speaker of the House of Representatives, J. Fonati Koffa, against the Majority Bloc, the Supreme Court of Liberia has set a hearing for March 14. The Majority Bloc is accused of violating the court’s December 6, 2024, verdict and for not following its orders, which is the basis for the complaint.
Speaker Koffa, who was represented by Cllr. Arthur Johnson, petitioned the Supreme Court in December 2024 to take corrective action in response to what he saw as the Majority Bloc’s willful violation of the verdict. According to the lawsuit, Cllr. Oswald Tweh, Liberia’s Justice Minister and Attorney General, allegedly assisted in the breaches by providing a legal opinion on December 10 that incorrectly construed the court’s final ruling.
Cllr. Koffa’s legal team claims that Cllr. Tweh’s view, which wrongly claimed that the Majority Bloc’s choices and activities were legitimate, made the unlawful processes in the legislature more worse. Majority Speaker Richard N. Koon and Deputy Speaker Thomas Fallah were among the Majority Bloc officials whose acts the petition asked the court to declare invalid.
In addition, Cllr. Koffa and his supporters want all meetings, hearings, and rulings made by the Majority Bloc to be ruled against the court’s judgment.
The Majority Bloc has been asked by the Supreme Court to provide their formal replies by March 14, 2025, outlining the reasons why Speaker Koffa’s and the informants’ petitions should not be approved in response to the petition.
Before making a decision, the court will hear arguments from both parties. In Liberia’s 55th Legislature, the legal dispute between Speaker Koffa and the Majority Bloc has generated a great deal of political drama and attention.
The case is especially important because it brings to light the continuous power struggle in the legislature and raises issues of legality, governance, and adherence to court decisions. On March 14, the hearing is set for 9:00 a.m., and both the public and political observers will be attentively monitoring it.
The Supreme Court’s decision in this case and its potential wider ramifications for Liberia’s legislative and judicial processes are still up in the air. The nation awaits information on the House of Representatives’ future and the possible repercussions of the Majority Bloc’s ongoing disregard for the court’s authority as the legal processes progress.
Credit: Willie N. Tokpah
