"We Will Continue Working with the Quorum." President Boakai Reject Supreme Court
The President’s position on the Supreme Court’s ruling directly contradicts the final arbiter of the constitution’s authoritative ruling on the ongoing legislative standoff that has paralyzed the House of Representatives for months.
It can be recalled that in late 2024, Representative Richard Koon and a faction of lawmakers self-styled "Majority Bloc" sought to remove Speaker Koffa, accusing him of financial mismanagement, procedural violations, conflict of interest, and refusal to appear before his colleagues for investigations.
The Majority Bloc faction argued that Speaker Koffa’s actions undermined the House’s integrity, justifying his removal, as they convened sessions without the duly elected presiding officer, which happens to be Speaker Koffa, as stated in the high court ruling, raising concerns about the legitimacy of their actions.
However, on Wednesday, April 23, 2023, the Supreme Court handed down its final ruling in a Bill of Information filed by Speaker Koffa owing to the misinterpretation of the high court's December 6, 2024 ruling, which termed the action of the self-proclaimed majority bloc led by Representative Richard Nagbe Koon of Montserrado County Electoral District Eleven “ultra vires.”
The Supreme Court, after hearing oral argument in Speaker Koffa’s Bill of Information on April 23, 2025, ruled that the process leading to the removal of Speaker Koffa was unconstitutional, affirming the need for a valid quorum with the presiding office as Speaker Koffa in keeping with the 1986 Constitution of Liberia.
“Any action or sitting of the majority bloc in which the elected speaker is not presiding despite being present and is not absent or incapacitated is unconstitutional," Chief Justice Sie-A-Nyene Yuoh.
Despite acknowledging the Supreme Court's ruling on Thursday, April 25, 2025, President Boakai’s decision to engage with a disputed faction that failed to meet the legal requirement for quorum undermines the Court’s directive but also raises concerns about the constitutional integrity of his administration’s commitment to the ARREST agenda's pillar, which calls for upholding the rule of law.
“We will continue to work with the quorum that will ensure the full functioning of our government. Under my leadership, the government will not be held hostage by narrow interests or acts of lawlessness. The works of the government will continue, and nothing will distract us from our duty to serve the Liberian people," President Boakai stated.
Framed as a gesture of national unity and governance continuity, the president’s remarks suggest a calculated political maneuver that prioritizes political consensus over constitutional authority, potentially setting a dangerous precedent for executive interference in judicial matters if left unchallenged.
Against the backdrop of President Boakai declining to recognize Speaker Fonati Koffa, a cross-section of civil society organizations and political parties have raised concerns about the state of the rule of law and democracy in Liberia.
One such group is the Solidarity and Trust for a New Day (STAND), which has launched a stern criticism against President Boakai for his decision to continue working with a "quorum," which squarely suggests the majority bloc without a constitutionally recognized speaker is an affront to the democratic gains of the state.
STAND led the former National Chairman of the Coalition for Democratic Change, Mulbah Morlu, in a press statement on Thursday, April 24, to emphasize that President Boakai appeared not to be committing to upholding the rule of law under which he took an oath before assuming office.
STAND at the same time highlighted that an attempt by President Boakai to continue doing business with the self-proclaimed majority bloc, which has been deemed illegitimate by the Supreme Court, has the propensity to undermine constitutional orders and risk descending the country to its dark days.
"President Joseph Boakai’s outright refusal to recognize Speaker J. Fonati Koffa, despite a definitive and unambiguous ruling by the Supreme Court of Liberia, constitutes a brazen and deeply troubling assault on the rule of law.
"STAND fiercely and sternly rejects President Boakai’s unlawful actions. His refusal to fully honor the Supreme Court’s ruling is not just a constitutional breach but is a full-blown assault on our democracy," the group stated.
As dissenting views continue to mount against the President's willingness to "continue business with the quorum" in the House’s leadership impasse, the newly established Citizens Movement for Change (CMC) has demanded that President Boakai respect the high court ruling.
CMC, in its statement, noted that President Boakai went beyond the doctrine of separation of power and lacked the power to take a decision that redefines judicial rulings.
Nimba County District Seven Representative and CMC political leader Musa Hassan Bility at the same time has cautioned local and international partners to desist from cooperating with the Unity Party-led government for ignoring the Supreme Court ruling.
"While acknowledging the Court's decision, the President astonishingly chose to disregard it, introducing a fictitious and unconstitutional concept he termed a "Constitutional Quorum."
There is no provision in the Liberian Constitution that grants the president the authority to redefine judicial rulings. We call on political stakeholders and our international partners to reject this dangerous posture and urge the President to respect the Supreme Court's ruling and recognize the authority of the Speaker as duly affirmed by the Court," CMC indicated.
With the Supreme Court reaffirming that the legitimacy of legislative decisions hinges on strict quorum adherence, the president’s rhetorical stance of “continuing governance” with those already declared procedurally invalid shifts into disguised constitutional insubordination, one that mocks the very principles of legal supremacy while threatening to reintroduce the post-war ghosts of selective justice and unchecked executive authority.
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