ECOWAS Mediation Team Fails to Resolve House Stalemate

Monrovia – The high-level ECOWAS parliamentary mediation team has failed to break the deadlock in the House of Representatives, as the pro-Koffa and anti-Koffa factions remain locked on their stance without reaching a consensus.

The mediation mission, which ran from November 11 to 16, 2024, was led by the Speaker of the ECOWAS Parliament, the Right Honourable Hadja Memounatou Ibrahima. Despite several rounds of negotiations with key stakeholders, including members of both the “Majority” and “Minority” blocs of the House of Representatives, no agreement was reached during the delegation’s stay in Monrovia.

The ‘majority bloc’ comprising 43 lawmakers has been pushing for the resignation of the Speaker, Cllr. J. Fonati Koffa and have vowed not to sit under his gavel. The Speaker on the other hand maintains that he would not resign and has urged his colleagues to conduct themselves in line with the Constitution.

The ECOWAS team, deployed on the directive of Chairman Ahmed Bola Tinubu, President of Nigeria, expressed disappointment but stated its commitment to achieving an amicable resolution.

During the mission, the delegation engaged President Joseph N. Boakai, Chief Justice Sie-A-Nyene Gyapay Yuoh, Minister of Foreign Affairs Sara Beysolow Nyanti, and Senate President Pro-Tempore Nyonblee Karnga-Lawrence, among others. They also held consultations with civil society organizations to understand the wider impact of the gridlock.

The delegation stressed the need for all parties to adhere to the legal frameworks outlined in Liberia’s 1986 Constitution and the House’s Rules of Procedure. They urged lawmakers to prioritize the interests of the Liberian people, whose trust and expectations are at risk due to the prolonged impasse.

“Although it successfully brought both parties to the negotiating table and after several rounds of in-depth discussions with stakeholders on the contending issues, in an effort to reach an amicable settlement, the parliamentary delegation notes that the parties were not able to arrive at a favourable conclusion within the timeframe of the mission. However, the parliamentary mediation delegation remains fully seized of the issues at stake and continues to engage with the parties concerned to ensure that the desired outcome is achieved,” the communique stated.

While acknowledging Liberia’s legacy as Africa’s oldest parliamentary democracy and its peaceful transfer of executive power in the 2023 elections, the delegation warned that the current crisis threatens to erode the nation’s hard-earned democratic progress.

“The parliamentary delegation remains optimistic about the willingness of the Members to find an honourable resolution to the current impasse in the best interest of the Liberian people and the people of the Community,” the team stated in its closing communiqué.