Fonati Koffa Resigns As Speaker After Several Months Of Political Fight
May 13, 2025
Monrovia: Embattled Speaker J Fonati Koffa has resigned as speaker of the House of Representatives following several months of political fight. The former speaker lost significant number of his supporters thus rendering him ineffective as a speaker
The impasse at the Legislature which started October 2024, has caused a lot of controversy in the House of Representatives. During the situation, Liberia experienced the burning of the Capitol Building, disruption of legislative functions, difficulties in international recognition amongst others. National and international partners including ECOWAS led a decision twice to resolve the long-standing conflict, but all yielded no results.
During the conflict, former Koffa vowed not to resign if his colleagues from the majority bloc cannot get the number to remove him. Rule 9 of the House of Representatives Standing Rules states that a Speaker, Deputy Speaker and other Officers of the House, may be removed from office cause by a resolution of a two-thirds majority of the members of the House of Representatives.
Rep. Fonati Koffa in a statement during the impasse swore that he wasn’t going to resign from the post. But his walls came cracking when key members of his bloc finally switched to the other side of the corn.
Addressing the media today, the Grand Kru Lawmaker admitted that his strength gradually fades away when he started to lose key members of his bloc. “You see Fonati Koffa, but you don’t see people standing behind Fonati Koffa. We lost most of our strong men”, he said.
According to Rep. Koffa, his intention to uphold the rule of law could not materialized since he didn’t succeed in obtaining a quorum to operate a session at the Liberian House of Representatives. However, Rep. Koffa also told the public that there was a negotiation between his bloc and the Liberian Government to settle all salaries and benefits of suspended Lawmakers (his supporters) during the impasse.
“We had a meeting that my colleagues will be paid”. The Legislature returns to session tomorrow May May 13, 2025, after its first quarter break. The first quarter of the second session, 55th National Legislature operated from 15th January to 20th March 2025.
What was seen as a perpetual battle at the Liberian House of Representatives finally came to an end on Monday 12th May when Embattled Speaker J. Fonati Koffa officially stepped down from the Speakership.
Moments after resigning his post, Rep. Fonati Koffa revealed his next plan of becoming an Author. Koffa, in conversation with Journalists, said he’s in the process of launching a book that catalogue conspiracy at the House of Representatives. He said his book titled “from 1 to 73, the Conspiracy at the Capitol” will delve into the level of conspiracy by individual lawmakers at the House. “Next for me is my Book called from 1 to 73, the Conspiracy at the Capitol”, he said.
The Grand Kru Lawmaker didn’t state clearly if he will continue to work at the Legislature under the gavel of the next Speaker or retire his Representative post after losing the Speakership. But analyst says it would be a difficult decision for the lawmaker to return to his position as Representative of District #2 Grand Kru County. They fear, Koffa would face major challenge in obtaining Chairmanship to head any of the Leadership Committees at the House.
