Early this week, the President-elect, Ambassador Joseph N. Boakai, invited members of the 55th House of Representatives to his Du-Port Road residence in order to amalgamate forces to secure the Speakership position for Montserrado County’s district #11 Representative, Richard Koon. It was reported that about 31 of the 73 representatives attended.
Information coming out of the meeting is that the President-elect, in an effort to have an early control over the first branch of government, has allegedly promised each lawmaker a certain amount for them to cast their votes for Koon on Monday.
Majority of the lawmakers in attendance were members of the Unity Party (UP) and its alliance parties. Howbeit, there were other lawmakers who have pledged support for Deputy Speaker Fonati Koffa at the meeting, sparking a debate about their true allegiance.
However, some lawmakers who attended the meeting with the President-elect are beginning to clarify that their presence at the meeting in no way signify their support for Representative Koon’s Speakership bid; instead, they went to honor the call of the President-elect and to congratulate him and raise pertinent issues relating to their districts and constituents.
Grand Gedeh County’s district #3 Representative-elect, Jacob C. Debee, one of the attendants of the meeting, is among those who have clarified that his presence was not intended to support Koon’s Speakership bid. According to him, he had gone there to congratulate Ambassador Boakai and to ask him to help them know the status of Putu Mining Company, as its operation will accelerate economic growth, as well as social and political stabilities.
“Good afternoon everyone. I was part of 31 lawmakers that met the President- and Vice President-elect yesterday not necessarily to pledge support to his candidate for the Speakership but, rather, an opportunity or privilege to meet, congratulate and explain to him and team what we stand for as a district and county,” Representative-elect Debee stated.
This indicates that all is not well with the Koon’s bloc for speakership. Even with the intervention of Ambassador Boakai, the bloc could not secure a meeting with the required thirty-seven (37) representatives to win a two-man election at the House, which he and Cllr. Fonati Koffa are headed to on January 15. Worse of it, even among the less than 32 lawmakers who attended the called meeting, there are more than three persons who have distanced themselves from Koon’s speakership bid, affirming that they are in support of Cllr. Koffa, and that their attending the meeting was to honor the call of the President-elect.
Research conducted by the Hot Pepper Editor is that Representative Koon was a strong proponent of a Koffa speakership up to a few months ago. This fact was recently confirmed by Montserrado County’s district #10 Representative, Yekeh Kolubah, who accused Koon of betraying Koffa.
In a press conference recently, Representative Kolubah bashed at Koon for being a “hypocrite”—backstabbing Koffa after all the years he claimed to have supported the man to lead the House of Representatives.
Regrettably, the betrayal is not only with Representative Koon. Investigation reveals that after the November 14, 2023 presidential run-off election, Boakai left the country for the United States of America. Deputy Speaker Koffa later flew to the US, met with him and informed him about his ambition to contest the House’s Speakership position.
The investigation revealed that Boakai and Koffa held a fruitful discussion, assuring each other that they will support each other’s agenda, as their agenda on the fight against corruption, the reversal of the harmonization made on lawmakers’ salaries, etc. aligned. Boakai reportedly told Koffa that he did not even know the individual the Unity Party (UP) was fielding in the race for Speakership, and assured him that he had his support.
Unfortunately, on Tuesday, January 9, 2023, Cllr. Koffa allegedly received a call from President-elect Boakai requesting that he back off from the Speakership race and give chance to Representative Koon for the smooth coordination of activities between the Executive and the National Legislature. Allegedly feeling surprised and frustrated, Cllr. Koffa asked why should he back off at this time when, in fact, it was less than a week to the election, only to be told by Ambassador Boakai that there was a mounting pressure from the UP for him to support Koon.
Reluctantly, Koffa refused to heed the request to back off from the race, categorically stating that he cannot let his colleagues down after all the effort, support and unison. He said Koon reserves the right to contest and he, Boakai, has the right to support anyone, but he would not back off from the race—not for anyone or anything.
The Speakership and Deputy Speakership election is scheduled for Monday, January 15, 2024, and as it stands Cllr. Koffa’s bloc can arguably boast of more than 40 supporters, while the Koon bloc can be said to be down with less than 30 supporters. Whether there will be a swing on election day is squarely left to those with the right to cast a ballot on that day.