By: Siafa Jallah

IPNews-Capatol Hill, Monrovia: As Lawmakers return from their annual break on Monday January 12, 2021, activities to fill in a leadership vaccum at the House of Representatives will be one of the first most priorities.

A vacancy for the post of Deputy Speaker was created as the result of the election of Representative, Prince K. Moye as Senator of Bong County in the December 8, 2020 Special Senatorial Elections.

Moye was elected as Deputy Speaker in January 2018, and decided to move to the Senate based on what he called , “respecting the wills of the people” of Bong County.
With Elections expected between 12th to the 16th of January, one of the contenders in the ensuring race is believe to have gotten majority of the member’s blessings.

Several Lawmakers, who chose not to be named confided in the Independent Probe that Grand Kru County Electoral District # 2 Representative, J. Fonati Koffa has so far obtained the required number of Representatives to be the next Deputy Speaker.
A simple majority votes out of the 73 Members of the Lower House to be declared winner.

In the same vein, Rule 8.2 also states that: the Deputy Speaker shall assist the speaker in the discharge of his/her functions, and he/she shall perform such duties as the Speaker shall delegate or deem appropriate and shall also initiate financial and other transactions prior to the approval of the Speaker.”

The Deputy Speaker election is to also accompany the President’s address to the Liberian legislature, an event which takes place on the fourth working Monday each year, according to the 1986 Liberian constitution.

Rep. Koffa, who chairs the House Statutory Committee on Judiciary, according some of his Colleagues is preferred by the majority Bloc based on his influence as well as his vast experience with respect to the Country’s body Politics, as well as International contacts.

With his rich credentials, majority Lawmakers considered Cllr. Koffa as the most qualified, competent, experienced, and very accessible amongst his Colleagues who have so far declared intents for the Deputy Speaker Post.

So far , House’s ECOWAS Parliament member, Lofa County District #3 Representative Clarence Massaquoi; Education Chairman, Rep. Johnson Gwaikolo of Nimba County District #9; Commerce Committee chairman Rep. Samuel Kogar (Nimba County District #5); Rep. Moima Briggs-Mensah of Bong County District #6 and Rep. Richard Koon of Montserrado County District #12, along with Montserrado County District 4 Representative Rustonlyn S. Dennis have expressed their intents for the Deputy Speaker Post.
In addition to his Chances of winning, IP take a critical look at the Resume of Cllr. Jonathan Fonati Koffa.

Hon. Cllr. J. Fonati Koffa, is a Liberian who hails from Sasstown, Grand Kru County. Hon. Koffa is a member of the 54th Legislature of the Republic of Liberia and where he serves in leadership as Chair on the Judiciary and is a member of the Committee on Elections & Inauguration and the Committee on Human & Civil Rights. He represents the people of District 2, Grand Kru County.

Government
Prior to his election as representative he served as Minister of State without Portfolio and Legal Advisor to former President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf from 2014 to 2016. During that period, he was also tasked by former President Sirleaf as Special Prosecutor and Chairman of a Special Task Force Investigating and prosecuting official corruption across all levels of government.

Politics
He began his entry into politics as a founding member of the Liberty Party, the third leading opposition party in Liberia where he was eventually elected as Chairman from 2011 to 2014. During his time as Chairman he oversaw the growth and expansion of the party including the increase of seats the party held in the National Legislature. He resigned the Liberty Party in 2018 and joined the Coalition for Democratic Change where he serves as a member of the Executive Council.

Legal Career
Hon. Koffa began his legal career in the United States in 1998 in private practice and then moved to Liberia in 2009 and became a founder and Managing Partner of the International Law Group(ILG), now one of the emerging corporate and government firms in Liberia. He was admitted to the Supreme Court Bar of Liberia as valedictorian of its Class of 2014.

Education
Hon. Cllr. Koffa is a graduate of the University of North Carolina School of Law at Chapel Hill, where he obtained a Juris Doctorate (JD) degree in Law. His educational pursuit took him to Raleigh, North Carolina State University, where he obtained a Master of Public Administration (MPA) and a Bachelor of Public Administration (Cum Laude) with concentration in Urban Planning, from Shaw University, Raleigh, North Carolina, USA.

Awards & Honors
Best Oralist Moot Court, University of North Carolina School of Law, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, United Negro College Fund Meritorious Leadership Award, Shaw University Distinguished Leadership Award, Valedictorian, Supreme Court Bar, Class of 2014.

Publication
Land of My Father. A Pictorial Anthology of Grand Kru County, Liberia. Published by Burd Book Publishing Company, Copyright 2010.