Monrovia – The Unity Party (UP) has submitted a petition for a declaratory judgment to the Civil Law Court challenging the eligibility of the newly elected Speaker, Cllr. J. Fonati Koffa, to hold his position. The party contends that Cllr. Koffa is ineligible due to claims that he holds U.S. citizenship.
By Lennart Dodoo, [email protected]
The petition, filed by the Unity Party through its National Chairman, Rev. J. Luther Tarpeh, and National Secretary-General Amos Tweh, asserts that Cllr. Koffa’s election as the Representative of Electoral District #2 of Grand Kru County should be nullified based on his alleged failure to comply with Article 4 Section 1 of the Act To Amend And/Or Nullify Certain Provisions of The Aliens and Nationality Law Relating To Citizenship.
According to the Unity Party, Cllr. Koffa allegedly misrepresented his citizenship status during the October 10, 2023, General and Presidential elections. The Unity Party claims that Cllr. Koffa failed to renounce his alleged United States citizenship at least one year before applying to the National Elections Commission, as required by law.
The Unity Party’s legal team pleaded with the court through their petition that Cllr. Koffa’s certification should be nullified, and he should subsequently be disqualified as a member of the 55th Legislature.
At the same time, FrontPageAfrica has gathered that the Coalition for Democratic Change (CDC) would be filing a similar petition against Senator Nyonblee Karnga-Lawrence, who was also elected President Pro-Tempore of the Liberian Senate on Monday, on claims that she also holds U.S. citizenship.
However, the issue of contesting dual citizenship remains a controversy in Liberia. Legal pundits believe the respondents in the petition filed by the Unity Party – the National Elections Commission and Cllr. Koffa – are likely to file a motion to dismiss on grounds that the petitioner, not being the Attorney General, lacks the legal standing, and the Civil Law Court, as per the Dual Citizenship Act, lacks jurisdiction over the subject matter.
The Alien and Nationality Law of 1973 stipulates that the Attorney General is charged with the duty of administering the provisions of all laws relating to immigration and naturalization and shall have full power to accomplish effectively its aims and objectives, except that the Secretary of State [Foreign Minister] shall be charged with the administration and enforcement of the provisions of this title relating to the powers, duties, and functions of diplomatic and consular officers, and shall perform such other duties as are expressly assigned to him by this title.
In 2019, the Liberian Supreme Court ruled that the statutory provision for automatic loss of Liberian citizenship in case of acquisition of another citizenship was unconstitutional.
“…Section 22.2 of the Aliens and Nationality Law, to the extent that it provides for the loss of citizenship solely on account of the performance by a citizen of acts or fulfillment of the conditions specified in Section 22.1 without the institution by the Government of any proceedings to nullify or cancel citizenship in violation of the due process clause under Article 209(a) of the 1986 Constitution, is hereby null and void without any force and effect of law,” the Supreme Court ruled in the Teage Jalloh Vs. The Government of Liberia in September 2019 when he challenged the Liberian Embassy in Washington for denying him a Liberian passport.
