Editorial: The Return To Political Exile?

THE HORRIBLE REMINDER of the breakdown of democratic, rights institutions has hit the public with the report that the Speaker of the House of Representative, Cllr. Fonati Koffa, has fled Liberia to an undisclosed destination for fear that he is a target for assassination by serial killers brought into the country days ago. The information comes as a reminder of the days when people fled the country into political exile because of threat to their wellbeing and the security apparatus could no longer guarantee their safety. It is said that Speaker Koffa fled the country immediately after he received a tip-off about the assassination plot over the weekend.

ACCORDING TO THE information, the assassins were allegedly hired from Mali by operatives of the Boakai administration to murder Koffa, and that they have been in the country awaiting signal to carry out their job. Unverified information has it that the assassins are allegedly residing in a safehouse along the Robertsfield Highway, and they are approximately three in number.

THIS NEWS COMES amidst rumor that President Joseph N. Boakai has requested the “majority bloc”-elected Speaker, Richard Nagbe Koon, should ensure sanity on Capitol Hill and unite members of the 55th Legislature in order for the administration to properly implement its agenda and avoid national and international embarrassment.

POLITICAL PUNDITS HAVE expressed shock in Koffa’s alleged assassination threat, describing the allegation as troubling and calling on the security apparatus to investigate the matter. A security expert was concerned that “safehouses” are mainly associated with the National Security Agency (NSA), and for the assassins to be allegedly residing in a safehouse points fingers to a semi-conclusion that the agency may have some information pertaining to the matter.

THE VETERAN SECURITY operative defined a “safehouse” as a place where people can hide, take shelter, or conduct secret activities, and that it can be used by undercover agents, terrorists, or fugitive slaves. According to the veteran, individuals residing in “safehouses” are most times untouchable, but wondered if the information about the individuals being in a safehouse is actually correct.

“THIS IS NOT good news. If the Boakai administration sees Koffa as a threat, they should use the political and persuasive means to resolve their issues, but not hire hitmen to eliminate a statesman for personal aggrandizement. The consequences for such an action are enormous, and worse of it is that the action cannot be reversed when accomplished,” the security veteran observed.