Monrovia — -As Senate concurs with Majority bloc on US$880.07m budget passage

The Liberian Senate concurrence with the House Majority bloc on the passage of the 2025 National Budget has raised questions of its legality amidst the recent controversial Supreme Court ruling.

Amidst the legality hanging over Representatives Richard Koon's "Speakership," the Liberian Senate over the weekend concurred with the Majority bloc of the House of Representatives on the passage of the Fiscal Year 2025 National Budget of US$880.07 million.

Members of the Liberian Senate took the decision late Friday, December 20, 2024, following a motion from Grand Kru County Senator Numene Bartekwa.

But embattled House Speaker Fonati Koffa, who remains the legitimate Speaker, has described both the Senate and the Majority bloc action as ultra vires.

Meanwhile, of the 30 senators, 19 voted in favor of the budget's passage.

Earlier, the majority bloc of the House of Representatives passed the budget during a special emergency session at the Monrovia City Hall (MCC).

The House members held their special session at the City Hall following a fire incident that ravaged the Joint Chamber of the Legislature, where they had been meeting throughout political turmoil with the minority bloc.

In November, the majority bloc voted to remove Speaker Jonathan Fonati Koffa, but he has termed his removal illegal.

The majority bloc subsequently elected Montserrado County Representative Richard Nagbe Koon as the new House Speaker.

A Supreme Court intervention did not resolve the political turmoil.

A violent protest ensued on Capitol Hill last week Tuesday in the wake of Koffa's removal before the fire destroyed the chamber a day after.

Following the passage of the 2025 National Budget by the two legislative chambers, embattled House Speaker J. Fonati Koffa labeled it as ultra vires.

When an action is considered ultra vires, it depicts that a person or an entity that took such action had done so without legal authority.