Monrovia-Liberia’s former Vice President Jewel Howard-Taylor has predicted a chaotic situation in the country if the Joseph Nyuma Boakai administration continues to violate the rule of law.
Monrovia-Liberia’s former Vice President Jewel Howard-Taylor has predicted a chaotic situation in the country if the Joseph Nyuma Boakai administration continues to violate the rule of law.
The former Vice President’s prediction of chaos comes in the wake of the recent ruling of the Supreme Court of Liberia in the impasse at the House of Representatives over attempt to remove embattled Speaker J. Fonati Koffa and the illegal sitting of the self-styled Majority Bloc of the House headed by District #11 Representative Richard Nagbe Koon.
Speaking at the gathering of opposition political parties over the weekend, Madam Taylor whose husband served as leader of the rebel group-the National Patriotic Front of Liberia (NPFL) said, “I’ve never expected we could be here that the first citizen will play politics of the constitution. We can agree to follow a path of chaos or we maintain calm, but the choice is in the hands of the president.
Former Vice President Jewel Howard-Taylor went on, “He can choose to achieve a country or open a pandora box that will lead us to chaos.”
Over the weekend, four opposition political parties-the Congress for Democratic Change (CDC), the Alternative National Congress (ANC), the Movement for Economic Empowerment (MOVEE), and the Citizens Movement for Change (CMC)-along with Mulbah Morlu, Chairman of the political advocacy group STAND, issued an ultimatum to President Joseph Nyuma Boakai.
Their meeting is a result of recent statement made by President Boakai promising to do business with the majority bloc.
President Boakai, in a national address last Thursday evening, stated his intention to work with the group led by Representative Koon, citing the need for a functioning quorum.
But Janga Kowo, Acting Chairman of the CDC, addressed the gathering, urging President Boakai to respect the Supreme Court’s ruling or face legal consequences. “We have come to tell you today that you still have the opportunity to go back and respect the Supreme Court ruling,” Atty. Kowo stated.
He emphasized that the issue transcends Speaker Koffa’s position and is about preserving Liberia’s democracy. “We can assure President Boakai and his team that they have gotten the Liberian people to deal with. From now to Tuesday, there will be no sleep; we will mobilize the people,” he declared.
They demand the President retract his statement that downplays the Supreme Court’s ruling, which declared the actions of Representative Richard Koon’s group illegal, by next Tuesday.
Despite the absence of the parties’ political leaders, prominent figures such as former Vice President Jewel Howard Taylor and former Montserrado County District #8 Representative Acarous Moses Gray attended the press conference.
Recently, the Supreme Court of Liberia delivered a decisive ruling in the ongoing power struggle between the House of Representatives’ self-declared Majority Bloc and embattled Speaker J. Fonati Koffa, declaring the group’s actions unconstitutional and effectively ending Representative Richard N. Koon’s controversial campaign to unseat the Speaker.
In its final judgment, the Court described the Bloc’s actions as a “flagrant disregard for constitutional order” and nullified all decisions taken during their unsanctioned legislative sessions.
The political impasse began in late 2024, when the so-called Majority Bloc, led by Rep. Koon, launched an initiative to remove Speaker Koffa, citing a loss of confidence in his leadership. The effort quickly drew legal scrutiny after the Bloc began holding parallel sessions without meeting the quorum or procedural requirements outlined in the Liberian Constitution.
In December 2024, the Supreme Court issued an initial ruling declaring those actions unconstitutional. Despite that decision, the Bloc continued to operate outside constitutional bounds, prompting Speaker Koffa’s legal team to file a Bill of Information earlier this year, seeking enforcement of the Court’s ruling.
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