“Koffa Removal Is Allowed Under the Political Question Doctrine,” North Central Alliance Argues

Monrovia, Liberia: The North Central Alliance (NCA), a regional citizen movement with detachments in Gbarpolu, Lofa, Bong, Nimba, and Margibi Counties, has contended that the removal action against embattled House Speaker Cllr. Jonathan Fonati Koffa by the majority members of the House of Representatives is an acceptable norm under the “political question doctrine.”

In a press statement issued in the late evening of Sunday, February 23, 2025, by NCA National Secretary General L. Moses Kiyean Kwehai with the approved signature of NCA National President Cllr. Jamah Allison Barco, the group argues that the process that precipitated Koffa’s removal and the subsequent election of Richard Nagbe Koon is a common practice in democracies across the world.

NCA National Secretary General pointed out that under such doctrine, the courts are restricted, mainly in a federal system of government, as in the case of the United States of America, from hearing certain cases even if said cases are justiciable.

Kwehai noted that, like the case involving Cllr. Koffa, the “political question doctrine” was applied more appropriately because the Supreme Court of Liberia requested the majority and minority blocs to go back and determine the best option in settling their political dispute.

In this light, the NCA therefore calls on embattled Speaker Koffa and his minority bloc loyalists to allow calm and peace to reign in the House of Representatives for the smooth conduct of legislative function for the sake of Liberians.

According to Kwehai, the House's rules and tradition were applied in the removal of Cllr. Koffa as speaker of the House of Representatives.

He also noted that widespread insinuation that Koffa removal was illegal, as it has been interpreted in other quarters of society, is ridiculous and tantamount to undermining the stability of the state.

According to NCA, Cllr. Koffa has lost the legitimacy of his mandate, which allowed the majority of his colleagues to slip out of his control, as democracy is a number game, and a speaker who failed to acquire the quorum for the transaction of business for several sittings could not have been allowed to continue.

According to the NCA National Secretary General, Cllr. Koffa holding onto the Speakership position when he had lost the confidence of the majority of his colleagues would have stalled the development of the country.

The group urged embattled Speaker Koffa to give peace and chance.

However, the NCA has in the same vein beseeched controversial Speaker Richard Nagbe Koon to objectively seek to reconcile the House and called for his actions to be genuinely demonstrable of involving Cllr. Koffa and members of his minority bloc team in foreign travels.

According to NCA, the participation and involvement of the Koffa’s bloc in key decision-making in the House, including their representation on international legislative bodies to which Liberia is a member, is important to quell the political tension.