Monrovia — The National Patriotic Party (NPP) Chairman Emeritus, Chief Cyril Allen, frowns at members of the House of Representatives for ridiculing the House publicly.
Speaking in an interview over the weekend in Monrovia, Chief Allen noted that the House of Representatives is allegedly composed of uneducated lawmakers and honorable members who want the right things done in the interest of the Liberian people.
According to him, the uneducated group of representatives does not mean well for Liberia. He notes that they wear sharp-nose shoes and mixed-colored clothes only to impress their constituents.
Chief Allen continues that this kind of people were elected on tribal lines, and they lied to their people to have them elected as representatives.
He adds that most of them are high school dropouts, and the rest obtained fake degrees from unrecognized institutions, thus causing the country and its citizens serious embarrassment.
He points out that the good lawmakers in the House of Representatives face serious challenges because they sit among people who don't understand legislative processes.
However, he notes that there are more qualified and well-educated Liberians who want to serve their country, but they have been stabbed in the back by the uneducated, who are seriously embarrassing the country by dishing out money during elections to the detriment of ordinary citizens yearning for good leadership.
On Thursday, October 17, 2024, the Capitol was a scene of drama when a group of lawmakers signed a resolution to remove Speaker Koffa from office. They accused him of serving as legal counsel for major concessionaires in Liberia, a move they claimed violated the Constitution.
The lawmakers came from various political parties, including the ruling Unity Party and the opposition Coalition for Democratic Change (CDC), to which Speaker Koffa belongs.
Rep. Nyan Flomo (District #2, Nimba County) read the petition outside the Capitol Building after pro-Koffa lawmakers led by Rep. Marvin Cole of Bong County shut down the chamber.
The situation took a surprising turn when one of the dissenting lawmakers, Rep. Luther Collins (Gbarpolu County), confessed that he and other signatories were bribed with US$25,000 each to support the resolution, with US$15,000 paid upfront or in advance.
Displaying a large sum of cash in a video, Rep. Collins said he joined the group only to expose their corrupt plan. According to him, he has no intention of supporting the Speaker's removal.
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"Lawmakers that signed to illegally remove the Speaker. This is the money and Rep. [James] Kolleh took US$200 from it; Hon. Thomas Fallah and VP Jeremiah Koung have sponsored this. They are against the audit of the House", Rep. Collins explained.
But Chief Allen, an elderly statesman, laments that Liberia is retrogressing daily because of Lawmakers' actions, noting that neighboring countries in the sub-region are moving forward, while Liberia lags behind in terms of development.
Political pundits term actions of about 47 out of 103 lawmakers who signed the resolution calling for the removal of Speaker Fonati Koffa as being insensitive to the plights of the Liberian people.
