By Gideon Nma Scott, Jr.
Since the April 23, 2025 opinion of the Supreme Court, establishing the legitimacy of Jonathan Fonati Kofa as Speaker of the House of Representatives of the 55th National Legislature, there have been tittle-tattles in many quarters, especially within sectors of the ruling establishment of the impeachment of Chief Justice Sie-A-Nyene Youh and three Associate Justices on the full Bench of the Supreme Court because of their opinion on the Bill of Information filed by the Koffa.
First, I decided to sit in my little corner and enjoy the political wrestling on Capitol Hill where the referee (Chief Justice Youh) had issued a red card to one of the players (Koon) for an infringement of a rule that govern the legal playing field of the political game. Koon is now contesting Youh’s decision and have threatened an impeachment against her and three others of her colleagues who sat on the case.
But as I to different commentaries coming from some people on the Hill, I am coerced to read the game myself and see how it plays off. Following the April 23 ruling of the Court, the Majority Bloc filed a petition to the court for re-argument of the judgement that recognizes Koffa as legitimate Speaker of the Lower House; and have raise concern about the Justices receiving benefits from the action of the Majority Bloc that is operating illegally and unconstitutionally through budgetary allocation. The ‘unconstitutional and illegal group’ threatened to hold the Justices and impose appropriate sanctions on each of them for benefiting from the political and financial spoils from an illegal group. They called on the justices to disgorge any compensation received from the Majority Bloc that was deemed as an illegal and unconstitutional assembly by the Supreme Court.
“Then the entire budgetary process is unconstitutional, null and void; and that all payments and settlements of obligations owed to all employees of the Liberian Government and to all persons who provided services and sold properties to the Liberian Government are also unconstitutional, illegal, null and void and these payments and settlements should be reimbursed to the Government,” the April 28 edition of the Daily Observer quoted Cllr. Varney Sherman’s petition to the Supreme Court to have said.
Since the birth of this case and many other cases that have gone to the High Court for redress or interpretation, parties involved, plaintive and defendants would leave out the merits of the issues and politized them for their own benefits. A classic example of people politicizing cases would be the Cllr. Gloria Musu Scott case where she was accused of killing her niece, Challot Musu in their Brewerville residence. Despite no trace of the Cllr. Scott to the crime, and in fact that a male gene was noticed in the autopsy report, the government at the time politicized the case and brought down a guilty verdict against the former Chief Justice of the Republic. A verdict that was seen by many citizens as an afront to and the miscarriage of justice in the motherland.
It is the same here that the Supreme Court’s opinion in the Minority Vs. the Majority Bloc Bill of Information case where one party disagreed with the opinion of the Court and thereby threatened impeachment proceeding against those involved in handling the ruling.
Though the group of the ‘illegal and unconstitutional Assembly’ may have some reasons to institute such politically motivated proceeding against the Justices; that while claiming that the majority bloc is operating unconstitutionally, illegally and their actions were declared null and void, the very Chief Justice and Associate Justices and staff at the Supreme Court benefiting are benefiting from salaries and operational funds from the national budget that was passed by the Assembly that is declared as unconstitutional; but I don’t believe these reasons are strong enough to hold Justices of the High Court with such contempt as their opinion was based on the constitutionality of the law. Even though I stole and you benefitted from my stealing does not make stealing right. It is wrong and will always be wrong. This is while I believe that while the Supreme Court itself encouraged the unconstitutional and illegal operation of the Majority by her appearance in the chambers of the illegal and unconstitutional group to defend her budget in no way validates the operation of the Majority Bloc as legal. The law is the law!
While I uphold the decision of the Court that validates Koffa is the constitutional Speaker of the House of Representatives, he too must know now that his colleagues, over 43 of those who are supposed to sit under his authority, have loss every drop of confidence in him and have labeled him as ‘person of no interest’. Whether he walks shoulders high and bluff with whatever the vestment that Court has clothed him with, it will in no way force his colleagues to sit under his clout. By now, I would think that he-Koffa- has an exit plan, because neither the Constitution nor the Court that he is shielding under can or will compel any of those in that House to sit under him. If they will, it will be by their own choosing and not be based on the decision of the court. And the Court herself is not in the position to answer the political question or disrespect the principle of the separation of power to force members of the House of Representative to sit under a Koffa leadership. Also too, the response by the Executive following the ruling is an indication that Koffa should pack his few belongings and leave. He however remains a member of the House of Representatives of the 55th National Legislature of the Republic of Liberia and should focus on working for his people who elected him in Grand Kru County. Except for reasons best known to himself other than keeping the country politically, developmentally, financially and socially hostage, I think his days as speaker are numbered and he should leave as a hero rather than to kill his political career…
I also encourage those that are thinking on impeaching Justice Youh and her colleagues to redirect their attention to doing the right thing; by gathering the number needed as enshrine in Article 49 of the 1986 Constitution of Liberia, accord him due process and the deal is done.
Remember, removing the Chief Justice and her colleagues will never defeat the fact that they have ruled in favor of Koffa based on the constitutionality of the law and that Koon and his guys should focus on the bigger game using the advice of the court. I am waiting and listening.
The thought of the son of a professional Kru woman.
