Liberia: Speaker Koon Shuts Out Bility Loyalists in House Committees

Capitol Hill — Just hours after his election as Speaker of the House of Representatives, Montserrado County District 11 Rep. Richard Nagbe Koon is facing criticism over his initial wave of committee appointments, which exclude members of the Rule of Law Caucus--widely seen as loyalists to his defeated rival, Rep. Musa Hassan Bility and the just-resigned Fonati Koffa.

Koon won the gavel Tuesday, May 13, after former Speaker J. Fonati Koffa resigned. Koon secured 43 votes to Bility's 26, out of 69 ballots cast. While Bility benefited from an alliance with former Koffa loyalists, those same figures now find themselves entirely removed from key leadership roles in the new House committee structure.

Among the major appointments: Rep. Sekou Kanneh was named chair of the Executive Committee, with Rep. Emmanuel Dahn as co-chair. Other committees with newly announced leaders include Foreign Affairs; Ways, Means and Finance; Rules, Order and Administration; Public Accounts and Expenditure; Peace and Reconciliation; Gender; Investment and Concession; National Security; Health; and the newly created Natural Carbon Committee.

None of the Rule of Law Caucus members were appointed to leadership roles on these influential panels.

"This is where the tone of unity should've been set," said Lewis Young, a long-time Capitol staffer. "We understand it's politics, but to build a united House and avoid another impasse, the Speaker should have appointed at least some of the Rule of Law members to major committees."

Another Capitol insider, speaking on condition of anonymity, described the appointments as "a cleansing of the Koffa era."

"Those who stood with the former Speaker are now completely out," the source said. "That's not how you foster reconciliation after a political contest."

The absence of inclusivity has raised concerns among staffers and political observers about a deepening partisan divide at the Capitol.

A legislative protocol officer said that while elections have consequences, governance requires balance.

"People are watching," she said. "If reconciliation is truly the goal, you can't ignore nearly half of the House."

Read the original article on Liberian Investigator.