Monrovia – The Home of Representatives on Tuesday took a controversial step by passing a decision that seeks to retroactively validate all legislative actions and selections made by the breakaway “Majority Bloc” earlier this 12 months, together with the 2025 Nationwide Price range.
By Emmanuel Weedee-Conway, [email protected]
This transfer comes regardless of the Supreme Courtroom of Liberia’s ruling that these actions had been unconstitutional and unlawful.
The decision, which was learn throughout plenary by Chief Clerk Mildred Siryon, confers full authorized legitimacy on all devices handed by the faction of lawmakers who operated beneath disputed management. This group tried to unseat former Speaker Jonathan Fonati Koffa and continued legislative operations with out an formally elected Speaker, an motion deemed unlawful by Liberia’s highest court docket.
The ratification contains the controversial 2025 Nationwide Price range, in addition to numerous legislative and administrative selections that the Supreme Courtroom invalidated in April 2025. By adopting this decision, the Home now seeks to formally acknowledge these actions as lawful and binding, successfully overturning the court docket’s prior ruling by legislative means.
Montserrado County District 16 Consultant Dixon Seboe, who was previously a part of the suspended bloc loyal to Speaker Koffa, moved the movement to go the decision and submit it to the Senate for concurrence. In his remarks, Rep. Seboe emphasised reconciliation and nationwide stability.
“A few of us, who had been suspended, had these suspensions rescinded and had been paid our salaries and advantages. At the moment’s motion solidifies and ensures each different motion we took is ratified for the sake of our nation Liberia,” Seboe acknowledged.
The movement obtained a second and handed unanimously with out debate, signaling a Home keen to shut a tumultuous chapter marked by inner divisions. The decision was promptly despatched to the Liberian Senate, which now faces the choice to approve or reject the contentious measure.
The decision has triggered robust criticism from the authorized group, with specialists warning it undermines the authority of the Supreme Courtroom and breaches constitutional rules. The Supreme Courtroom, beneath Article 65 of the Liberian Structure, is the final word arbiter of constitutional questions, and its selections are binding on all branches of presidency.
Former Solicitor Basic and constitutional skilled Cllr. Tiawan Saye Gongloe informed FrontPage Africa that the decision represents a harmful legislative overreach.
“The Supreme Courtroom beneath Article 65 is the ultimate arbiter of all constitutional points and no one can refuse its rulings,” Gongloe mentioned. “The correct response after the Courtroom declared the ‘Majority Bloc’ illegitimate was to redo the finances listening to course of—even when just for a single day.”
He emphasised that the Nationwide Price range is a statute that requires a proper legislative course of for enactment, together with hearings and public participation. “It can’t be validated by a mere decision handed after the actual fact,” Gongloe mentioned. “With out following the constitutional course of, the finances stays illegal.”
Authorized analysts warn that the Home’s decision units a harmful precedent for circumventing judicial rulings by legislative fiat, doubtlessly destabilizing Liberia’s fragile democratic establishments. Critics argue that this strategy erodes respect for the rule of legislation, weakens judicial authority, and dangers additional authorized chaos.
Cllr. Gongloe additionally famous that beneath the 2017 Public Monetary Administration Act, the federal government could solely legally disburse one-twelfth of the earlier 12 months’s finances when a brand new finances has not been duly handed by the Legislature. “Any expenditures past that restrict could also be thought-about unlawful,” he mentioned, highlighting the fiscal implications of the continuing dispute.
A famend lawyer, talking on situation of anonymity, acknowledged that the Home was nonetheless continuing wrongly. He emphasised that what the Supreme Courtroom has already declared unlawful can’t be made authorized.
“You can’t legalize what the Supreme Courtroom has already dominated as unlawful,” he mentioned. “However on the very least, their acknowledgment reveals that they now understand their actions had been illegal.”
Earlier this 12 months, the Home of Representatives grew to become embroiled in a management disaster when a faction often called the “Majority Bloc” tried to take away Speaker Jonathan Fonati Koffa and function beneath self-appointed management. This group performed legislative enterprise, together with passing the nationwide finances, regardless of missing constitutional legitimacy.
In response, members loyal to Speaker Koffa petitioned the Supreme Courtroom, which dominated that the breakaway bloc’s actions had been extremely vires and unconstitutional. The Courtroom ordered the restoration of reliable management and nullified the selections made by the faction, together with the 2025 finances.
Regardless of the Courtroom’s clear ruling, the Home now seeks to retroactively legitimize these actions by the newly handed decision, citing the necessity for nationwide stability and continuity of governance.
The decision is at the moment earlier than the Liberian Senate for concurrence. Observers await the Senate’s choice, which is able to both reinforce the Home’s place or uphold constitutional orthodoxy by insisting on adherence to the Supreme Courtroom’s ruling.
The Senate’s response might be carefully watched as a important indicator of the stability of energy between Liberia’s legislative and judicial branches, in addition to the nation’s dedication to constitutional governance.
