Monrovia – The opposition Coalition for Democratic Change (CDC) has referred to as on its members and allied opposition events to assemble in mass on the Monrovia Metropolis Court docket on Monday in solidarity with former Speaker J. Fonati Koffa and three different lawmakers who’re at the moment detained on the Monrovia Central Jail.
By Gerald C. Koinyeneh, [email protected]
Talking on Saturday on the CDC headquarters in Congo City, the occasion’s Secretary-Normal, Janga Kowo, condemned the Unity Get together-led authorities, accusing it of political persecution and labeling the detained lawmakers as “political prisoners.”
“The Unity Get together authorities has crossed a harmful purple line by unlawfully incarcerating opposition lawmakers who voluntarily offered themselves on the police headquarters for questioning,” Kowo mentioned.
The 4 lawmakers—former Speaker J. Fonati Koffa, Representatives Dixon Wlawlee Seboe, Abu Bana Kamara, and Jacob Debee—had been arrested and charged in reference to the current hearth incident on the Capitol Constructing. After being held in a single day on the Liberia Nationwide Police headquarters, they had been arraigned earlier than Choose Ben Barco on the Monrovia Metropolis Court docket on Saturday and subsequently remanded on the Monrovia Central Jail.
Following their incarceration, Kowo led a bunch of CDC partisans to the Monrovia Central Jail in protest however was himself arrested for allegedly obstructing justice. Video footage circulating on social media exhibits Kowo being forcibly detained by cops, handcuffed, and positioned behind a police pickup. He was briefly held on the jail earlier than being launched.
“Final night time, our political leaders issued a powerful assertion condemning the arrest of Speaker Koffa and the three lawmakers,” Kowo instructed partisans. “At the moment, once we went to the Monrovia Central Jail in solidarity, the police manhandled me. I’m wounded in a number of locations as I communicate to you now.”
Kowo alleged that the fees and detention of the lawmakers are a part of a broader political conspiracy orchestrated by the ruling Unity Get together.
“Even after coercing the Speaker to resign, after illegally holding onto the speakership for eight months, and after vandalizing the Speaker’s workplace, the Unity Get together authorities of President Boakai is now inviting chaos into the nation,” he mentioned.
He emphasised that the CDC’s silence since its electoral defeat in 2023 shouldn’t be mistaken for weak point.
“We conceded the election peacefully with a margin of simply 17,000 votes. That tells you the CDC is a celebration of the rule of regulation. No quantity of propaganda can paint us negatively. However the authorities has now crossed a harmful purple line.”
Kowo warned President Joseph Boakai and his administration that Liberia’s peace and stability should not sustained by the weapons carried by police or the military, however by the civility of its individuals.
“We’ve got reached a degree the place the individuals should take their future into their very own fingers. On Monday, we’re calling on all CDCians and members of the opposition neighborhood to hitch us as we march to the Monrovia Metropolis Court docket in solidarity with Speaker Koffa, Dixon Seboe, Abu Kamara, and Jacob Debee,” he mentioned.
He concluded with a direct message to the federal government: “The protection of Speaker Koffa and the three lawmakers is now your duty. We demand their quick and unconditional launch.”
