Legislative Politics Again:

Legislative Politics Again:

From  Koffa To Fallah

“Deputy Speaker Fallah is not just an ordinary legislator. Having served continuously in the Liberian Legislature since 2005, he is widely respected by colleagues and fondly referred to as the “Doyen of the Legislature.” He continues to enjoy the full confidence and support of Speaker Koon and members of the Honorable House of Representatives,” this is the vehement rejection of the Richard Nagbe Koon-led leadership of the House of Representatives against the claim the august body has attributed to the media as propaganda.

Again, this is the same claim and counterclaim which emerged at the House of Representatives in 2024 when some members of the Lower House planned to remove Grand Kru Representative, Cllr. Jonathan Fonati Koffa as House Speaker.

The rigmarole dragged the House into public ridicule for months when members of the august body were factionalized as they could not sit in one chamber to serve the Liberian people who elected them to ensure oversight, lawmaking and representation as constituents of the first branch of government.

“The House of Representatives has strongly rejected so-called media report that allegedly implicated members of the House of the Representatives over the removal of Deputy Speaker Thomas P. Fallah to replace him with Hon. Sekou Kanneh. The report is baseless, it is not factual, and only found to undermine the unity of the House,” a recent statement from the House’s Leadership has indicated.

“In fact, at present, Speaker Hon. Richard Nagbe Koon and Chairman on Executive, Hon. Sekou Kanneh are out of the country on legislative duties, while Deputy Speaker Fallah is serving as Acting Speaker,” the statement also clarified.

Deputy Speaker Fallah and former Speaker Koffa took the House’s top portfolios when they were members of the former governing Coalition for Democratic Change (CDC), but the removal of Cllr. Koffa as Speakership of the House led to a beef between them (Koffa and Fallah) because the Deputy Speaker later aligned allegedly with current Speaker Koon’s faction to remove him (Koffa).

The house’s leadership tussle further degenerated into Deputy Speaker Fallah’s expulsion from the Coalition for Democratic Change  for what the former governing party termed as ‘betrayal’ against its stance as opposition political party. It was alleged at the time that Deputy Speaker Fallah wanted to control the House’s Ways, Means and Finance Committee, a committee he once chaired during the CDC regime, but former Speaker Koffa rejected that request.

The Temptation of Legislative Agenda

Though the leadership of the House has refuted any planned removal of Deputy Speaker Fallah, the name Sekou Kanneh, a member of the governing Unity Party, surfacing  to replace  him (Fallah) seems to suggest a pursuit of  UP’s legislative agenda. While the House has sharply debunked media report about Deputy Speaker Fallah’s removal being in the making, critics say the governing Unity Party intends to control the Lower House for easy passage of bills and other legislative enactments in favor of President Joseph Nyuma Boakai’s ARREST Agenda.

“They will do everything in their power and influence to dismantle all potential opposition lawmakers from being critical voices in the House. So long Koon succeeded and he is now House Speaker, a UP Deputy Speaker will emerge one day,” one inside source who begged not to be named claimed.

Another source narrated that Deputy Speaker Fallah is eying the speakership while Speaker Koon too is allegedly maneuvering to support the removal of the Deputy Speaker in favor of either Representative Kanneh or Representative Pricilla Cooper, who are both from Unity Party.

The Koffa-Koon Leadership dust settled, but

Former Speaker Koffa, a lawyer, insisted that the right thing be done before he would be removed. It then came to past with the rule of law being on his side when he won his legal argument against the then Koon-led faction. Finally, the House went to election and Koon became legitimate Speaker.

However, the impasse of the power struggle at the time led to arson attack on the Capitol Building. Accusing fingers were pointed at former Speaker Koffa and some of his bloc members for the fire incident.  When the Koon leadership took over, Cllr. Koffa, Representative Saah Foko and others were invited at the Police Headquarters for investigation on allegation of their link to the fire incident. Representative Foko was acquitted for lack of evidence of his involvement, but Cllr. Koffa and others spent nights at the Monrovia Central Prison from Friday-Monday, before their lawyers could secure valid bonds to release them before facing the ongoing prosecution at the Temple of Justice.

Meanwhile, it is still unclear who are those allegedly hatching the removal plan of Deputy Speaker Fallah. It is also still unclear whether those booted out of committees’ portfolios under former Speaker Koffa would align with any anti Fallah’s bloc to ensure that he does not maintain the deputy speakership, if the reported plot comes to fruition.

Koon, Koffa, Fallah, Kanneh, Cooper