By John H.T.Stewart
In light of disclosures on Spoon Talk, it is clear that aside from Koffa’s blind ambition to remain Speaker of the House of Representatives even when he has fallen out of favor with a majority of his colleagues who want him to go, there are indications that there is much more than that which meets the eye.
This is particularly so in view of the much publicized demonstration scheduled to be held on Tuesday, December 17, 2024. Koffa’s behind the scenes attempts to secure a safe landing has not materialized as his demands have not been met. And now a Plan B intended to keep him in power is now being operationalized beginning with a call for a public protest demonstration.
According to media reports, one of the sponsors of the planned Tuesday demonstration is an amorphous group of social misfits and thuggish elements who call themselves “Foot Soldiers” of the Coalition for Democratic Change(CDC).
These developments according to analysts should be seen as part and parcel of a detailed plan to foment instability which the CDC foot soldiers hope can provoke the intervention of the military.
Lest it be forgotten Representative Koffa is a not only a member of the CDC but he ranks high in its hierarchy. He is allegedly being supported by CDC top guns Acarous Gray, Saa Foko, Jefferson Koijee, Marvin Cole and others who are to implement the alleged plan of destabilization intended to provoke the intervention of the military that will overthrow the Boakai government and replace it with a junta.
This has been the resounding call of journalist Charles Yates, a major Koffa supporter and alleged PR officer for some time now. It can be recalled that following the conduct of the 2023 elections, a number of top CDC officials had called on then President Weah to reject the results of the elections whose results had declared Joseph Boakai as winner.
But George Weah in an uncanny display of political sagesse had to the surprise of his top officials called Joseph Boakai to congratulate him as winner although the final figures had not been released. It was however clear that Joseph Boakai had acquired a margin which the CDC could not best even if all the remaining votes were in Weah’s favor.
Had George Weah followed Koffa’s example of failing to yield even when it is clear that the majority of his colleagues have charged him with a host of accusations of impropriety and corruption, no longer desire his leadership, Liberia, according to analysts would by now be engulfed in conflict of unimagined proportions and consequences.
It all began when the majority of his colleagues asked him to step aside owing to a host of violations of financial integrity and impropriety. He refused citing technicalities that their numbers were below the thresh-hold of a two-thirds majority, preferring instead to cause a paralysis in government.
But the fact remains that despite his stentorian claim that he remains Speaker, he has not been able to attain a Quorum which would qualify as a “SITTING” and as a consequence, has been unable to conduct business of the House neither preside over a single SITTING. And now the Supreme Court erroneous reference to what it termed a SITTING MINORITY, appears to have fired up Koffa and his supporters.
To recall, his supporters in their first move, barricaded the Chambers of the House in order to prevent his colleagues from holding session. When his colleagues attempted to relocate to another room, his supporters surreptitiously removed the chairs under the pretext that renovation work had commenced.
When his colleagues retreated to another room in the Capitol, his key supporters Representatives, Marvin Cole, Eugene Kollie and Edward Papie Flomo at the head of a thuggish gang violently stormed the venue using a variety of weapons including teargas cannisters. The action which was captured on video went viral on social media.
Having failed in all such previous attempt, it appears that Koffa and supporters including the self-styled CDC foot soldiers are prepared to up the ante and provoke instability and insurrection under the guise of a protest demonstration. And as announced the CDC foot soldiers will be leading the charge. This time according to reliable sources, Koffa’s supporters will be hoping to provoke a crisis situation which will require military intervention.
This must never be allowed to happen. Analysts maintain that the failure of the Justice Minister to apprehend and criminally charge those Representatives and their hired thugs who stormed and attacked the Capitol has only served to embolden them to undertake further rash actions. They believe that they are above the law and can act accordingly without repercussions.
Such would have been the developments yesterday had George Weah not reined in the likes of Acarous Gray and others who were prepared to set the nation ablaze all in the name of the man-George Weah. But George Weah was smart enough to recognize that his colleagues were inadvertently placing him in the line of fire and national outrage and decided against rewarding their wish to make Liberia ungovernable under the pretext of a so-called peaceful demonstration.
If it is their wish to revisit the April 14, 1979 “Rice Riots”, they are in for a big surprise because Koffa and company have not and will not succeed in arousing national passion akin to that of 1979. And the military intervention craved by Charles Yates and others will not happen because Liberians know what life is like under a military junta.
For Koffa, resigning is not an option because he is clearly determined to fight to the bitter end. The thought of losing overnight all those fat legal retainerships which he allegedly had acquired through influence peddling and most of all, the cash cow-the wah million dollar budget allocated to the office of Speaker can be a very heart-rending and disconsolate affair. It can lead to desperation as we are now witnessing.
Representative Koffa casts the appearance and figure of an angry yet down-crested Indvidual. The generality of all Liberians could even be, for the sake of the argument, favorably disposed towards his cause but never in a thousand chances are they prepared to return to the violent past all in name of supporting Koffa’s shameless unbridled and lofty ambitions.
But as it is often said, “to every action, there is always an equal and opposite reaction. If Koffa truly means to actualize his intent to take Liberia down a slippery slope let him make no mistake that Liberians-patriotic Liberians will be there to meet him at the very top of the incline to stop his madness and waylay his wicked plans.
His desperate gamble to make Liberia ungovernable is doomed to abject failure!
