By Precious D. Freeman
The Judge of the Civil Law Court “A” at the Temple of Justice in Monrovia, Golda Bonah-Elliott, has summoned the newly elected Speaker of the House of Representatives, Jonathan Fonati Koffa, due to a complaint filed by the Unity Party National Chairman, J. Luther Tarpeh, and others.
Judge Bonah-Elliott’s decision comes as a result of UP’s six-count petition filed on January 15, 2024.
The Judge’s writ commanded that Speaker Jonathan Fonati Kofi appear before her sitting in its December Term, 2023, to answer to UP’s petition.
She mentioned that, failure to appear, judgement by default will be rendered against him.
UP’s six-count petition declares that Koffa is not qualified to occupy an elected position under the law.
The UP stalwart submitted that it is a political party that won the presidential elections and the incoming government with legislative agenda to be pursued, and that its National Executive Committee, by a resolution, authorized the National Chairman and the Secretary General to institute the legal and other legal recourse to nullify Speaker Koffa’s (2nd Respondent) election as Representative of Electoral District #2 of Grand Kru County.
According to the Unity Party’s complaint, the National Elections Commission (NEC, 1st Respondent), in keeping with the Constitution of Liberia, conducted the presidential and general elections as the result of which Koffa was duly elected and certificated by the NEC.
Chapter 43 of lLCL Revised Section 43.1 provides that “courts of records within the respective jurisdictions shall have the power to declare rights, status, and other legal relations, whether or not further relief is or could be claimed…”
Also, section 43.2 of the Civil Procedure Law provides that any person interested under a deed, will, written contact, or other writing constituting a contract, or whose rights, status, or other legal relations, are affected by a statute, municipal ordinance, contract, or franchise, may have determined any question of construction or validity arising under the instrument, statute, ordinance, contract, or franchise, and obtain a declaration of rights status, or other legal relations thereunder.
Petitioner claimed that Article 4 sectional of the act to amend and/or nullify certain provisions of the Aliens and Nationality Law Relating to citizenship and restoring the citizenship rights lost as a consequence of those provisions provides that “A Liberian citizen who holds the citizenship of another country shall not be eligible for any elective public office while still a citizen of another country. Should such a person desire to contest for elective public office, the person must renounce the citizenship of the other country at least one (1) year prior to applying to the National Elections Commission to contest for an elective public office and such documentary evidence of such renunciation of citizenship of the other country shall be filed with a circuit court in Liberia and with the National Elections Commission at least one (1) year before application to the National
Elections Commission to contest for the elective public office.”
The Petitioner submitted that Koffa is a citizen of the United States of
America, holding a passport with number 489973788, issued on February 13, 2012.
