By Precious D. Freeman
Sinoe County Senator and Chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, Augustine Chea, has launched a scathing critique against the Inter-Religious Council of Liberia, accusing it of betraying both national and spiritual responsibilities over a controversial statement attributed to the Council on the ongoing leadership dispute in the House of Representatives.
Posting on his official Facebook page, Senator Chea questioned the timing and authenticity of a widely circulated statement purportedly released on April 7, 2025, by the Liberia Council of Churches (LCC), the National Muslim Council of Liberia, and the broader Inter-Religious Council.
The statement called for unity and recognized majority block speaker Richard N. Koon as Speaker of the House, urging minority lawmakers to cooperate with him.
“The Liberia Council of Churches and the Liberia Muslim Council… have done a great disservice to our country and their faiths,” Chea wrote. “Why didn’t they just remain quiet and unconcerned as they did throughout this six-month crisis?”
Chea further criticized what he termed a last-minute intervention, calling the statement hypocritical and baseless.
He challenged the notion that recognition by the President or the passage of bills under a disputed Speaker’s leadership could legitimize the office. “Neither President Boakai nor the ‘passage of budget and bills’ can confer legitimacy,” he argued.
The Senator also invoked the legacies of past religious leaders like Bishop Michael Kpakala Francis and Imam Kafumba Konneh, questioning how they would perceive the current leadership of the Inter-Religious Council.
Amid the backlash, the Liberia Council of Churches (LCC) and the National Muslim Council swiftly distanced themselves from the statement.
LCC Secretary General Rev. Christopher Toe publicly declared the release as “fake,” asserting that neither body had issued or endorsed the contents.
The disputed statement, which praised Fonati Koffa for his service and recommended unity in the House, also called for the suspension of Yekeh Y. Kolubah to remain in effect for a year or more.
It advocated for resumption of legislative sessions and resolution of constitutional and procedural issues that led to the leadership crisis.
However, Senator Chea dismissed the statement as uninformed and misleading.
He argued that the Constitution clearly states that the Speaker and Deputy Speaker of the House must be elected by the body and can only be removed by a two-thirds majority—standards he says were not met in the case of Koon’s election.
“They’re dead wrong like the others,” Chea concluded. “The constitution—not a press release or presidential recognition—defines legitimacy.”
The leadership crisis in the House of Representatives remains a contentious issue, with ongoing debates in both legislative chambers and the Supreme Court’s ruling still pending.
