-Reveals His Resignation was filed Sunday.
By Jerromie S. Walters
Monrovia, Liberia – Liberia’s 55th National Legislature
Speaker J. Fonati Koffa has confirmed his resignation from his position. Koffa made the confirmation mid Monday, May 12, 2025, at a press conference held at Murex Plaza in Sinkor, Liberia. His resignation comes following months of leadership dispute within the House of Representatives after majority members of the House insisted that they had lost confidence in him.
The House crisis began on October 17, 2024, when a group of lawmakers initiated moves to remove Speaker Cllr. J. Fonati Koffa over several allegations. The situation escalated on November 21, 2024, with the controversial election of Richard Nagbe Koon as Speaker. Koffa’s supporters rejected the outcome, labeling it as fraudulent and unconstitutional.
On Wednesday, April 23, 2025, Liberia’s Supreme Court declared all actions taken by the majority bloc of the House of Representatives unconstitutional if conducted without the elected Speaker presiding—unless the Speaker is formally absent or incapacitated.
At the press conference on Monday, Koffa didn’t state clearly as to whether he would sit under the next leader as a lawmaker, or take his exit from his post as Representative. He however noted that in the meantime, he’s writing a book titled: “1-73, Consporicy in the House of Representatives”
The Rule of Law Caucus, a strong Bloc of Representatives who has since stood by Koffa, has endorsed his resignation. The Caucis noted in a statement late Sunday, “We as a caucus endorse this decision with deep sadness for the following reasons:
1) The continuous defiance of the Rule of Law by the Executive despite one Supreme Court ruling and its reaffirmation shows that we are confronted by a much more alarming constitutional dilemma than the Office of the Speaker.”
It further noted: “2) The loss of a significant number of members willing to sit under the Speaker’s gavel makes his effectiveness less tenable for the incoming floor fight. 3) The need to reconstitute the house through elections by Article 49 to return the house to constitutional order in the shortest possible time. It is our pleasing duty to have served alongside Speaker Koffa and under his gavel and welcome him on the floor as a member of our caucus.”
