It is becoming glaring that the Attorney General, Oswald Tweh, was representing the side of the Unity Party-led government instead of its official spokesperson when he declared Jonathan Fonati Koffa’s sitting illegal and unlawful.
With barely 48 hours since Tweh’s clarity regarding a majority sitting, information circulated by Speaker Koffa last evening said as of today, December 13, 2024, he ceases the right to state security protection as all assigned officers would by now be withdrawn.
Koffa, on the other hand, said the action on the part of the executive does not change anything as he remains the speaker of the House of Representatives stating, “This only further strengthens my resolve to fight for upholding the rule of law and the Liberian Constitution.”
“Whilst developments are unfolding externally, the majority under the gavel of Richard Koon has barred some of their colleagues from entering the building and even stated their suspension from 30 days of session which is unlawful and might degenerate if nothing is done,” says a legislative insider.
With the rigmarole amongst the Representatives, the lawyers representing the embattled speaker of the 55th Legislature, Arthur T. Johnson and Kabineh Ja’neh have taken Minister Tweh to task for what they referred to as an illegal interpretation of the Supreme Court’s December 6, 2024 ruling.
In his four-count bill of information, Cllr. Kofa asserted that Tweh’s clarity contributed to the respondent’s violation of the Court’s ruling by publicly issuing a legal opinion on December 10, 2024, addressed to the Minister of State for Presidential Affairs in which the Minister of Justice falsely asserted that the ruling and final judgment concluded that the sittings, actions, and decisions of those claiming majority were lawful.
“The action of the Minister of Justice has further exacerbated the situation” Cllr. Kofa expressed.
He added that the action of the Justice Minister by supporting the majority’s actions, emboldened unconstitutional behavior and deepened the legislative crisis.
They cited the case: In Re C. Abayomi Cassell [1961] LRSC 22; 14 LLR 391 (1961) (19 May 1961), wherein the Court of Liberia describes the proper constitutional role of the Minister of Justice and Attorney General as “The Legislature is only prime inter pares with the other two branches of government; none is more important than the others; none can function without the others and still maintain the objectives of the Constitution; and none, in this sense, is either weaker or more potent than the others.”
Kofa’s bill of information further stated that the judiciary is the anchor that holds stabilized government in balance; without it, vested interests might suffer, sacred rights might be violated, the constituted authority might be challenged, and in fine, administrative chaos could result.
The legal team explained that although the Constitution and the law do not require the Attorney General to give advice either to the President or to any head of a department without previous request, nevertheless, in the proper performance of his duties, he should advise on any matters which adversely affect public rights, whether asked to do so or not.
The bill of information indicated that the Attorney General must prepare opinions on all issues at the moment or that involve public interest.
However, they said these opinions might not be weighted in judicial decisions; they guide the government’s inappropriate and lawful administration noting that whenever the constitutionality of a statute is challenged, the Supreme Court must test the statute as applied to a given case by the Constitution, and the Court’s decision on such an issue decides that issue for all time.
“If such a decision is against the statute, the law immediately loses its authority, usefulness, and validity and becomes a nullity and in such cases, there is no necessity for legislative repeal or removal from the statute books to affect the statute’s invalidity,” Koffa’s team expressed.
This function also applies to the Supreme Court’s interpretation of the actions of any of the two branches of the Government.
Of the members of the President’s cabinet, the Attorney General is the only one who might professionally or technically disagree in opinion with the President on any issue and be within the proper, proprietary, and legal performance of his duty; every other cabinet member must agree with the policy of the administration or resign.
“Any Attorney General who is either unable to or who fails to advise against any acts of government which, in his opinion, infringe the constitutional rights of the citizens is useless to the administration” and
Informant Koffa reiterated the respondents’ deliberate violations of the high court’s December 6, 2024 ruling and their refusal to obey the same; the wrongful interpretation of the Court’s ruling by the Minister of Justice contributed to the respondent’s violation of the said ruling.
The informants respectfully request that the court declare the actions of purported Speaker Koon and members of the majority null and void ab initio and sessions, hearings, or decisions are in violation of the court’s ruling and final judgment, ultra vires and unconstitutional.
He contended that Koon and Deputy Speaker Thomas Fallah as well as members of the majority in defying the court’s ruling and final judgment are contemptuous.
He therefore requests that Minister Tweh publicly recalls his opinion misinterpreting this court’s ruling and grants any further relief that the court may deem proper to restore constitutional order and uphold the rule of law in Liberia.
