Citizens from all walks of life are expected to peacefully assemble at the Capitol Building on Tuesday, November 5, 2024 at 10:00 a.m. to demand the “majority bloc” of the House of Representatives to return to session under the gavel of the Speaker, Cllr. J. Fonati Koffa.
Coined, “March on the Capitol”, and headed by prominent activist, Vandalark R. Patricks, the march is intended to prevail on the 43 lawmakers wanting to remove the Speaker to proceed legally and, in accordance with Article 49 of the Constitution, which states that to remove the Speaker there should be 2/3 majority or 49 members of the House of Representatives.
According to the organizers of the march, they are not questioning the removal of the Speaker, but are requesting the 43 lawmakers to use the Constitution of Liberia and the House’s own rules to remove him. “Liberians are interested in the allegations levied against the Speaker and articulated in their ‘Resolution’. We are of the strongest conviction that when the Speaker is removed in line with our Constitution, and accorded due process, a lot of things will be exposed. This would lead to a serious reform of the National Legislature. This will be in the best interest of all Liberians,” the leader of the march, Patricks, noted.
He drew the attention of the 43 lawmakers to a recent scenario in Ghana, where a group of civil society organizations (CSOs) wrote the U.S. government, taking the complain of certain government officials wanting to subvert the Ghanian Constitution by engaging in acts that are undemocratic. Interestingly, he said, the U.S. Department of State has issued visa restrictions for those individuals.
“This shows our ‘March on the Capitol’ is in line with the United States government’s policy to defend and protect the rule of law and democracy! We’re winning bigly. Get ready to show up in your red, white and blue colors on Capitol Hill. Monday, there will be a big announcement and several endorsements.
He disclosed that they, too, have submitted the names of the 43 lawmakers, whom he said are also subverting/violating the Liberian Constitution by refusing to uphold the rule of law in removing the Speaker. “They have good claims, but why they don’t want to use the Constitution to remove the Speaker? Our claim or planned ‘March on the Capitol’ is not against them. We just want them to proceed according to what the Constitution says,” he observed.
Meanwhile, the Supreme Court is expected to hold a conference meeting on Monday with both blocs of the House of Representatives: Speaker Koffa bloc and anti-Koffa bloc, in order to make legal determination in the case for a possible way forward.
On Friday, October 25, 2024, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Cllr. J. Fonati Koffa, and officers elected under the House’s Standing Rule petitioned the Temple of Justice for a writ of prohibition against the self-styled “Majority Bloc” of the House of Representatives, Chaired by Nimba County’s district #5, Representative Samuel G. Kogar.
Subsequently, the Associate Justice presiding in Chambers of the Supreme Court, His Honor Judge Yamie Quiqui Gbeisay, Sr., cited the two parties to a conference with him on Monday, November 4, 2024 at 10:00 a.m. in connection with the conflict. He ordered that the parties stay all further proceedings and/or actions in the matter pending the outcome of the conference.
But the Supreme Court’s order was received on deaf ears, with members of the “majority bloc” challenging the legal authority of the court to interfere with the activities of the House of Representatives.
Since the legal notice was issued, the “majority bloc” has continued with its sessions, and even threatened to oust the Deputy Speaker, too, if he failed to heed their call to appear in their sitting, a call the Deputy Speaker has succumbed to since Tuesday, October 29, 2024 when he officially wrote asking for permission to be absent until he consults his lawyers. He however made his official debut in the “unofficial” session on Thursday, October 31, 2024.
The “majority bloc” has also warned the Supreme Court and the third branch of government to stay far from the activities of the Capitol, or they may be left with no alternative but to initiate impeachment proceedings for judges involved in dictating their political decisions.
However, members of the Speaker’s bloc have disclosed that some of their members will be joining their team of lawyers to honor the Supreme Court’s conference, after which they will make the final decision on the way forward. They threatened that, should the Supreme Court rule that the activities of the “majority bloc” are un-Constitutional, they will shut the doors of the Joint Chambers where the “majority bloc” had been holding its session, and there would be no more sittings there.