IPNews-Monrovia: The authoritative Independent Probe (IPNews), has reliably gathered that the former ruling Unity Party has dumped long-time educator and statesman, Nimba County’s District No. 9 Representative Johnson Gweikolo, as lead candidate for the post of Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives. The party instead has decided to put forth Lofa County’s Representative Clarence Massaquoi.

The HOR is expected this week to head into election to fill the void created as a result of Deputy Speaker Prince Moye’s ascendancy to the Senate. Senate-elect Moye was elected, along with others, in the recent December 8th Special Senatorial Election.

IPNews gathered that the decision to choose Massaquoi over Gweikolo was reached at a Sunday, January 3, meeting held in Monrovia by the UP.

According to legislative political analysts, UP’s selection of Rep. Massaquoi paves the way for Grand Kru County’s District #2 Representative Cllr. Jonathan Fonati Koffa. IPNews has learnt that Cllr. Koffa is favorite to winning the Deputy Speaker post.

Lawmarkers who spoke to IPNews said, a Speaker and Deputy of the House of Representatives should be people who can easily be accessibled by his colleagues. One added: “They should also be people who can resolve problems and critical issues confronting lawmakers and the public.

“I will tell you that Cllr. Rep. J. Fonati Koffa meets these criteria in uniting the Honorable House of Representative. He is very assessable to his colleagues and the Liberian populace. We will unanimously vote Fonati Koffa as the next Deputy Speaker.”

According to sources within UP, Rep. Gweikolo’s alleged rejection for youthful Massaquoi is because Gweikolo is alleged to have ties to Nimba County Senator Prince Y. Johnson. Sen. Johnson, who considers himself the ‘godfather’ of Nimba County, is at the moment a staunch supporter of the ruling Coalition for Democratic Change (CDC), even though he heads an opposition party. UP’s top stalwarts feel that such alliance could be a political suicide.

Rep. Massaquoi has served Lofa County, for over 15 years, since 2005, while Rep Gweikolo has served for nearly three years, since coming in in 2017.

Clarence Massaquoi is credited for proposing the criminalization of same-sex practices in Liberia, which was unanimously endorsed by the 54th Legislature in 2018.

Even though there was an amendment made by Maryland Representative Isaac Roland, Rep. Massaquoi said the “constitution makes it a binding duty for the Republic to preserve, protect, and promote positive Liberian culture and traditions. As a secular state, he said the act would obligate Liberia to protect its morality.”

“The proposed act would cause a person to be found guilty of same-sex practices if he or she has had sexual intercourse with a person of the same gender, with or without the consent of either person.”

The act would also find anyone guilty for purposefully engaging in such act or attempting to engage in the act.

While, Representative Johnson Gweikolo, before joining the Executive Branch of Government, was member of the Interim Legislative Assembly (1991-1992) which later evolved into the Transitional Legislative Assembly (1993-1994).

Hon. Johnson Gwaikolo served as Presiding Officer of the Legislative Assembly at which time he provided Administrative direction to the Legislative Body until a Speaker was designated by the appropriate Party.

Under his leadership, the structure of the Legislature was organized to reflect the unicameral nature of the Legislature.

While at the Legislature, Hon. Gwaikolo also diligently served as Chairman, Committee on Foreign Affairs, providing oversight responsibilities for agencies implementing the foreign policy of Liberia. He headed delegations that represented Liberia at several Inter-Parliamentary Union Conferences in Chile, Cameroon, Denmark, Sweden, France, India and Italy.

Hon. Gwaikolo further served as Chairman, Ways, Means and Finance with oversight for Government’s fiscal agents. As Chair, he directed and supervised approval of the National Budget as well as mobilized resources for the work of the National Legislature. Hon. Gwaikolo is now back at the Liberian Legislature were he represents District #9, Nimba County. He is Co-Chair of the Nimba County Legislative Caucus, Chairman, Committee on Education and Public Administration, House of Representatives, and Co-Chair, Committee on Public Works.

Hon. Gwaikolo has an Associate of Arts degree in Accounting from North Hennepin Community College in Minnesota (1982); Bachelor of Arts degree in Business Administration from Augsburg College (1984); Master of Arts in Leadership from Augsburg College (2005); completed doctoral candidacy (EdD(abd)) in Educational Leadership at Creighton University in Omaha, Nebraska (2017).

Private Sector Experience:
Prior to his election as Representative for District 9, Nimba County, Hon. Gwaikolo served in various capacities in the Non-Government sector. He worked with the United Methodist University, rising from Vice President for Business and Finance (2012-2014) to President (2015-2017). As President, he was the Chief Executive Officer for the University and had overall responsibility for the university. He provided leadership and oversight for all aspects of the university, including academics, finance, planning, student affairs, enrollment, advancement, athletics, and other key areas.

Hon. Gwaikolo worked closely with the Board of Directors to ensure that the strategic direction and policies of the university are aligned with its mission. Under his leadership, the United Methodist University established the Institutional Review Board (IRB) to govern research activities at the University.

General Government Experience:
In the Public Sector, Hon. Gwaikolo served in several government responsibilities, ranging from Executive Director of the National Investment Commission (1999) to Deputy Minister for Administration at several ministries, respectively: Ministry of Foreign Affairs (twice) (1997-1999; 2007-2009), Ministry of Labor (2000-2003), and Ministry of Public Works (2009-2011).

In those positions, he was responsible for the daily operations of the Ministries. He supervised the Divisions of Finance, Human Resource, Security, General Services, and other related divisions; he also insured that other programs of these Ministries were successfully implemented. He supervised the preparation of annual reports and annual budgets.

In addition, Hon. Gwaikolo served as Deputy Minister for Revenues (1995-1997) at the Ministry of Finance during which he directly supervised and directed the generation and collection of revenues for the Government. He insured compliance of the business community with relevant provisions of the Revenue and Finance Laws.

He designed ways by which to make compliance easy and reactivated revenue collectorates outside of Monrovia, e.g. Buchanan, Tubmanburg, after the civil war. As Deputy Minister, he participated in ECOWAS conferences regarding regional trade cooperation among ECOWAS countries.