Liberia: Enforce the Court Ruling

Monrovia — The Center for Transparency and Accountability in Liberia or CENTAL urges President Joseph Boakai to immediately enforce ruling of the Supreme Court by restoring all rights and privileges accorded embattled Speaker J. Fonati Kofa as head of the 55th Liberian Legislature.

“Therefore, we call on President Joseph N. Boakai to ensure the full enforcement of the April 23, 2025 ruling of the Supreme Court by restoring the rights and privileges of Speaker Koffa, and sever any ties with the Koon bloc of lawmakers until the Supreme Court can rule otherwise”, CENTAL says.

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

Delivering the Court’s opinion, Chief Justice, Her Honor, Sie-A-Nyene Gyapay Yuoh, maintained that the bench stands by its December 6, 2024, ruling, describing the action of the Majority Bloc’s removal of Speaker Koffa as ultra vires.

Ultra vires or beyond the powers is a Latin phrase in law to describe an act that requires legal authority but is done without it.

President Boakai in a statement argued that the Liberian Constitution and the Supreme Court have defined what constitutes a quorum for the conduct of business in the Legislature.

“We intend to vigorously uphold this vital principle of our constitutional democracy. We will continue to work with the quorum that will ensure the full functioning of our government”

But reacting to the President’s statement, CENTAL Program Director Attorney Gerald D. Yeakula, told a news conference here that there can be no short-cut about this, as any will surely harm the country, just as it has been seen over the last few months, whereby there has been a near dysfunctional Legislature and slow pace of key decision-making on key national issues and documents.

“Ladies and gentlemen of the press, CENTAL believes that a pronouncement by the President of Liberia to sever ties with the Koon bloc after the unambiguous court’s unconstitutional declaration would have demonstrated full compliance with the court’s mandate”

He says President Boakai’s continuous engagement with the said faction only amounts to disregard for the Court’s opinion and represents a grave setback to the country’s improving democratic and constitutional credentials.

He notes that CENTAL recognizes the contention that it seems unlikely that members of the Koon bloc would return to sessions presided over by Speaker Koffa, as proponents of this contention argue that there is a need for the government to function and that the President has no alternative but to work with the Koon’s bloc since they meet legislative quorum.

“We find this argument troubling, since the Supreme Court has said that a quorum that is not presided over by the legitimately-elected Speaker is in effect, no quorum at all”, Atty. Yeakula argues.

He says CENTAL also considers the challenge that no rule has been promulgated by the House to enable Speaker Koffa to compel members of the Koon bloc to attend session.

He recalls that over 39 years ago, the Liberian Constitution mandated the Legislature to prescribe said rule to compel attendance of absent members, but it has allegedly failed to do so, saying the Legislature bears the burden of this failure to act, and hopes that this is addressed as soon as stability returns to the House.

In the absence of the law compelling attendance, however, CENTAL believes that it is incumbent on members of the Koon bloc to respect the ruling of the Supreme Court and attend session presided over by Speaker Koffa, adding that once in such proper forum, they can initiate any proceeding to remove Speaker Koffa, if they so wish, consistent with law.

The CENTAL program director clarifies that in the absence of such action, Speaker Koffa cannot be constructively removed by absenting themselves from their legislative duty. “We note also that a Petition for re-argument has been filed by the Koon bloc. In our opinion, the filing of said Petition is a recognition of the weight of the Court’s decision in the matter.”

Atty. Yeakula continues that in the absence of any communication from the court, nullifying its prior decision, CENTAL believes that the opinion of the Court remains valid until such time that it is overturned or invalidated by them. “Hence, we call on the Executive to proceed in respecting the Supreme Court’s decision until the Court says otherwise”, he urges.

By New Dawn.