By Mark N. Mengonfia mmenginfia@gmail.com
The Congress for Democratic Change (CDC) representative Cllr. Fonati Koffa won the deputy speakership position following a tough race.
This means the Speaker, Dr. Bhofal Chambers and Cllr. Koffa head the lower house of parliament.
The decision was reached after a process of voting in the Chambers of the House of Representatives.
Members of that body on Tuesday, January 12, 2020 elected Cllr. J. Fonati Koffa of Grand Kru County District two to deputize CDC Speaker, Bhofal Chambers for the remaining period in office.
The Grand Kru lawmaker won his opponents with the total of 45 votes out of the total of 68 ballot papers printed.
Out of the total of 68 ballots cast, Representatives Moima Mensah received the total of two votes, while Lofa County District three lawmaker, Clarence Massaquio got 20 votes.
In his acceptance speech, the Deputy Speaker promised to work in close connection with the Speaker of the House of Representatives.
The Deputy Speaker who was very emotional when he was having his brief statement, thanked his colleagues for trusting his ability to work as Deputy Speaker.
The just ended election is as the result of the vacancy created by the election of former Deputy Speaker, Prince Moye as Senator of Bong County.
Hon. Koffa chairs the House Committee on Judiciary. By that, he was seen as the fifth person in line. With his election, this brings him closer as the number two person.
The Man Representative Fonati Koffa:
Normally, when the name is called to many people in Liberia, the first thing that comes to mind is, a young lawyer with vast wealth of experience. For his peers, some consider him as a young and smart ‘pekin’. One judge told this paper recently when he heard that he was contesting for the position of Deputy speaker.
He lived in the United States for some time where he graduated from the University of North Carolina School of Law at Chapel Hill. There, he obtained a Juris Doctorate (JD) degree in Law. Not only that, but also he went to Raleigh, North Carolina State University and 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.
Upon his return, he decide to become active in politics in Liberia. So, he helped set up the Liberty Party(LP). After that, he was elected as Chairman of the same party from 2011 to 2014. His stewardship led to the expansion of the party to other parts of the country; rather than Grand Bassa County, which is seen as the home of the party.
As a smart politician, one lawyer said, he resigned from the Liberty Party in 2018 and joined the Coalition for Democratic Change. He is currently an Executive Council member.
According to documents, he started 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). According to Supreme court records, he was admitted to the Supreme Court Bar of Liberia as valedictorian of its Class of 2014.
He was appointed by former president, Ellen Johnson Sirleaf as Minister of State without Portfolio and Legal Advisor to her from 2014 to 2016. Later, head of the Special Presidential Task Force
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