MONROVIA – Legal expert Cllr. Taiwan S. Gongloe has condemned the removal of House Speaker J. Fonati Koffa’s belongings from his office, calling the action “illegal.”
By Francis G. Boayue, [email protected]
In an appearance on the Spoon FM show Wednesday evening, Cllr. Gongloe described the eviction as politically motivated, suggesting an effort to establish a one-party government system.
“The removal of House Speaker J. Fonati Koffa and his belongings from the office is illegal and undermines the governance structure of Liberia,” Gongloe said.
The eviction, which occurred on February 11, was led by the Majority Bloc, which is backing Representative Richard Koon as the new Speaker.
It happened when the President Julius Maada Bio of Sierra Leone was delivering the keynote address at the 68th Armed Forces Day celebration a few miles away at the Barclay Training Center. Rep. Kolleh ordered the maintenance team and the House’s Sergeant-at-arms to break the door.
And they did. Cllr. Gongloe said the action was an act of hooliganism.
He said: “This is an early warning sign of conflict. Yesterday, on a holiday, when the government should note functioning, hooliganism was at a display where some people went and broke into the speaker’s office. That is wrong. Very bad example, coming from the lawmakers. I started calling them lawbreakers a long time ago. And that is an honorable place that has been desecrated all because of corruption.”
Gongloe is the second prominent figure to publicly speak out against the action, following Representative Musa Bility, Chairman of the Rule of Law Caucus, who described the event as unlawful and dangerous.
Bility criticized the eviction, noting that it was carried out without any legal authority or court order, calling it reckless and a threat to the country’s security and stability. “While Liberians are celebrating Armed Forces Day and welcoming the Head of State of Sierra Leone, Representative Kolleh, leading a group of individuals, unlawfully stormed the Capitol, vandalized the Speaker’s office, and desecrated it—all in an attempt to evict him without any court order or legal authority,” Bility said.
Bility also warned that such actions could escalate into a national crisis and urged President Joseph Boakai to take immediate action.
He called on the Minister of Justice to hold those responsible accountable and criticized the reckless conduct, suggesting that those involved might have been emboldened to act with impunity.
The Rule of Law Caucus Chairman emphasized that such lawlessness has never been tolerated in Liberia’s democratic history and called for intervention from the government, international community, and civil society organizations to prevent further escalation.