The dispute over leadership at the House of Representatives over the speakership has created factions, with the majority bloc imposing itself as the new leadership.
By Lincoln G. Peters
Capitol Hill, March 3, 2025/ Supreme Court Chamber Justice Ceaineh D. Clinton-Johnson has summoned Finance Minister Augustine Kpehe Ngafuan and the controller of the 55th National Legislature to appear and explain the justifications for the salary halt of some suspended House of Representatives lawmakers.
The lawmakers include Montserrado County District# 9 Representative Frank Saah Foko, Representatives Edward Papie Flomo of Montserrado County District #13, Abu Bana Kamara (District 15), and J. Marvin Cole of Bong County (District#3).
Eugene Kollie of Bong County (District#5), Alex Noah of Sinoe County (District #3), and Zinnah Norman of Gbarpolu County (District #1) are others.
Associate Justice Ceaineh D. Clinton-Johnson’s decision is based on a petition for a writ of mandamus filed by the suspended lawmakers against the government of Liberia regarding the halt to their salaries and benefits.
A mandamus is a court order instructing a government official to perform their duties or stop breaking the law. The term comes from the Latin phrase mandamus, which means “we command.”
” YOU ARE HEREBY COMMANDED to notify The Ministry of Finance & Development Planning, represented by Honorable Augustine Kpehe Ngafuan, and Mr. Emmanuel Kopi, Comptroller of the 55th Legislature, and all those under their control, also of the City of Monrovia, Montserrado County, Republic of Liberia, RESPONDENTS in the above entitled cause of action, to appear (by filing their returns) before Her Honor Ceaineh D. Clinton-Johnson, Associate Justice of the Honorable Supreme Court of the Republic of Liberia, presiding in Chambers, at the Supreme Court Room, Temple of Justice, on/or before the 10th day of March, A. D. 2025, at the hour of 9:00 a.m., to show cause why the PETITIONERS’ PETITION as prayed for should not be granted” she ordered.
The seven suspended lawmakers loyal to embattled Speaker J. Fonati Koffa recently sued the Government over unpaid salaries, unlawful treatment, and withholding their salaries.
The current “leadership of the House”, headed by self-declared “Regime Speaker” Rep. Richard N. Koon, suspended the lawmakers dubbed the minority bloc for refusing to report for sessions and asked the executive to withhold their salaries.
But the aggrieved lawmakers say they are being unfairly punished, thus seeking redress before the Supreme Court.
“Our salaries have been held for no reason, and this is unfair in keeping with the law; this is why we have come to the court”, one of the aggrieved Representatives explained.
The lawmakers complained that the Ministry of Finance and the Comptroller of the House of Representatives were illegally withholding their salaries and benefits.
They claim this decision was not based on any legal ruling but was influenced politically by the “Majority Bloc,” a group of lawmakers who illegally removed Speaker J. Fonati Koffa.
They argue that they were lawfully elected on October 10, 2023, and officially sworn in office on January 15, 2024, so by law, they should receive their full compensation as outlined in the national budget.
But instead, their paychecks have stopped coming.
Feeling cheated, they turned to the Supreme Court, filing a petition for a writ of mandamus, asking the court to force the Ministry of Finance to release their salaries.
The Minority lawmakers are insisting that the Minister of Finance and the Comptroller of Legislature have a clear duty to process payments for all lawmakers, regardless of political differences. -Edited by Othello B. Garblah.
