CENTAL Calls for Full Adherence to Supreme Court’s Ruling Amid Legislative Impasses  

April 28,2025

Monrovia: An Anti-Corruption Institution, the Center for Transparency and Accountability in Liberia has echoed calls to the to the Legislature and Executive for full adherence to recent Supreme Court’s ruling.

In a press conference Monday Atty. Gerald D. Yeakula, Program Manager of CENTAL argued that turned the majority bloc action to file a request for re-argument as a sense of acknowledgment of the court’s ruling. “We call on the Executive to proceed in respecting the Supreme Court’s decision until the Court says otherwise”.

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. Instead, continuous engagement with the said faction only amounts to disregarding the Court’s opinion and represents a grave setback to the country’s improving democratic and constitutional credentials.

According to Yeakula, CENTAL recognizes the contention that it seems unlikely that members of the Koon bloc would return to sessions presided over by Speaker Koffa. 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 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.”

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 the session. Stressing that over 39 years ago, the Constitution mandated the Legislature to prescribe said rule to compel attendance of absent members but have failed to do so.

 “The Legislature bears the burden of this failure to act and it is our hope 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 the session presided over by Speaker Koffa.

Adding, once in such proper forum, they can proceed with any proceeding to remove Speaker Koffa, if they so wish, consistent with law. 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. In the absence of any communication from the court nullifying its prior decision, we believe that the opinion of the Court remains valid until such time that it is overturned or invalidated by them”.

Meanwhile, CENTAL has pointed out that election-related disputes, which are speedily handled by the Supreme Court, must use similar urgency to address matters that have serious implications to the governance of the country. “We believe that the court’s undue delay in ruling on the Bill of Information filed by Speaker Koffa contributed to prolongation of the conflict, which continues to hurt the country”.

The non-governmental organization call on the legislature to lead by example as the direct representatives of the people. He said the example should firstly  be set by the adherence to the rule of law, including through respect for laid down procedures on removal of a sitting Speaker.

“There can be no short-cut about this, as any of this will surely harm the country, just as we have 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.

“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 undo any ties with the Koon bloc of lawmakers until the Supreme Court can rule otherwise” he said. CENTAL is a civil society organization with a focus on execution of transparency and accountability in governance.