“I AM NOT BEHIND SPEAKER KOFFA’S REMOVAL” -VP Koung Says Fonati Did Not “Play his Cards Well”

MONROVIA – The Liberian Legislature has been embroiled in a bitter leadership battle for the past nine months, with no resolution in sight. Amid huge public outcry that the Executive branch of government is fueling the House conflict to install its choice of leadership, and that the Vice President of Liberia, Jeremiah Kpan Koung, is leveraging his influence within the Legislature and the Executive branches to ultimately dethrone embattled Speaker Fonati Koffa, VP Koung says he has absolutely no interest in Speaker Koffa’s removal, and that Koffa did not play his cards well with his colleague lawmakers.

“I am hearing that I am one of those behind the Speaker’s removal. What will be my interest? Do I want to be Speaker? I passed that level long ago. I was a member of the House of Representatives, I played my part. I was a member of the Senate, I played my part. I have passed that level. I have no interest. The Legislature is a political hall and the Speaker is first among equals. You are not the boss. Once you reach the point where you feel you are a boss in a group, you are running into trouble,” VP Koung said.

Speaking to a group of panelists from The Closing Argument Talk Show recently when he visited the United States of America, VP Koung said a lot of Speakers have been removed but the situations did not degenerate into the ongoing chaos that is being experienced with Speaker Koffa’s ouster by his colleagues.

“When I was in the House, Speaker Tyler was removed. I wasn’t there when Speaker Snowe was removed. You get elected in your district as a representative and you come to Monrovia, because there must be a leadership, your friends come together and trust one of you and say you are first among equals, and so, the simple majority gets two-third. If that group believes their interest is at stake by the leadership, they can pull back any time. I say so because I am part of a group, when we felt that we could not move forward anymore with Speaker Tyler, we removed Speaker Tyler as Speaker and brought in Emmanuel Nuquay. At that time we were involved. Right now, I am not involved with the House of Representatives. And so, if you look at some of the people who are signing are people from Speaker Koffa’s party. Am I in control of opposition? If that is the case, then I am a very powerful guy. If I am controlling the CDC people, all of the opposition bloc, giving instructions, we’re praying to see that day. They have their own issue, they need to solve it. As first among equals you have to pay attention to your friends when they have issues, address it.

“When Tyler was Speaker, he spent nine years as Speaker. One of the things I observed, most times during the break that’s when these issues start because once you’re not meeting everyday then people decide to meet. This is a political game. Nobody is stupid over there. Whether you went to school or not, you have to convince over 10,000 people to be elected. You’re not a fool. They may not be expressive, they might not have gone to school, but there is no fool in that place. The least man in that place convinced over 20,000 educated and uneducated persons to get them in the House, so they are not fools. So don’t take them for granted.

“During the break, the leadership of the House runs between 28 to 30 persons. What Tyler used to do, because 29 is far less than a simple majority, Speaker Tyler would nominate an additional 10 from the floor to make sure there are some 40 persons seated while the break is on because he wants to interact with those people. So, if the 33 or 35 out there come from the break with something, this group can resist that group because the Speaker must always fight to have a quorum. The day you lost quorum, you lost it. So I think Speaker Koffa needs to talk to his friends, reach out to them and see how he can resolve these issues instead of scapegoating somebody like me; instead of saying I am controlling CDC, I am controlling UP, I am controlling everybody. I have reached,” Koung said.

Quizzed on the Supreme Court’s 2024 ultra vires decision against the Majority Bloc, and former President Sirleaf’s criticism of the Supreme Court’s ambiguous ruling which did not specify a definite solution to the House crisis, Vice President Jeremiah Koung said while it is common knowledge that the Supreme Court is the final arbiter of our laws which other branches of the government must adhere to, there has been some issues of interpretation for which the Executive had to refer to the Justice Minister for legal interpretation.

“The Justice Minister who is the chief legal advisor, who is the only minister in government that disagrees with the President; and so, the Justice Minister being the Dean of the Supreme Court, came out with an opinion. And I agree with his opinion. The Chief Justice interpreted Articles 33 and 34. Article 33 is clear. It says, a simple majority shall constitute a quorum for business. The minority may compel the absent members to come to session. The court said a quorum is a simple majority. How do you conduct sessions?

“To conduct a session or business, there must be a sergeant at arms that will cry the session to open. There must be a chaplain to pray. There must be a clerk to call roll to find out whether there’s a quorum. Was there a quorum in any of the both sittings where the lawmakers were? Yes, there was a quorum where the deputy speaker presided. There was a sergeant at arms, a chaplain and a clerk. The minority was sitting in the session. Was there a quorum? No. Was the sergeant there? No. Was the chaplain there? No. Was the chief clerk there? No. So, anywhere you find these things, that is the sitting. So, the Supreme Court comes back and says anyone who doesn’t have these things, you’re acting out of the way,” VP Koung said, noting that the SC’s ultra vires decision actually countered the minority bloc’s sittings which did not meet any quorum and violated all of the House rules and procedures governing legislative sittings.

Vice President Koung’s statement comes as the Supreme Court is shortly expected to give a ruling into the Fonati Koffa bloc’s Bill of Information writ filed against the Majority Bloc.