Embattled Speaker Koffa says the Liberia National Police’s questioning about the December 18, 2024, fire incident at the Capitol Building is irrelevant.
By Lincoln G. Peters
Monrovia, Liberia, March 7, 2025 –Embattled House Speaker Cllr. J. Fonati Koffa describes his interrogation by the Liberia National Police into the Capitol Building fire incident as irrelevant while raising critical questions.
However, he is tight-lipped about naming a lawmaker whom he considers a potential person of interest who was at the Capitol Building on the night of the fire incident but was never captured in the police list of persons of interest.
Speaking in an interview with reporters on Wednesday, March 5, 2025, following over two hours of police interrogation at the National Police Headquarters in Monrovia, Speaker Koffa noted that a lawmaker was at the Capitol Building on the night of the incident, who he says was identified but disappointingly was not called in by the Police for questioning.
“So, now my question will be, if you say the fire was an arson or whatever, what happened to the chairs to the Capitol Building that did not get burned? Who was at the building at midnight? The night before the fire, who is the lawmaker that was there and has been identified, but was never listed as person of interest? These are some of the questions I have. Meanwhile, I look forward to them (Police) concluding the investigation and doing what they have to do and make the findings available to the Liberian people. Regarding their questions not in line with arson, I don’t know, but I found the question to be irrelevant. But I guess they know what they are going with”, a rather disappointed Koffa says.
The embattled Speaker discloses that the Police interrogated him for about two hours on questions that he sees as unrelated to the press. On the surface, he was asked about his arrested employee and comments on his (Koffa’s) Facebook page, ‘alermom.’
Explaining why he does not trust the Police investigation but had to turn himself in for investigation, Koffa notes that despite not trusting the process, he had to avail himself because the Police had him as a person of interest; therefore, he sees it as his duty to collaborate.
On the other hand, he reechoes that he regrets the burning of the Joint Chamber of the Capitol, which he describes as unfortunate. The investigation was conducted haphazardly, with charges made and firefighters brought in from the United States who, he said, made an ultra vires finding.
“Their investigation continues. They didn’t give or tell me a particular time they will get back to me. I have not seen the full details of the U.S. firefighter report, but from the fact that some say the cause of the fire is insulation, I think the firefighters were meant to be at us. I’m not sure what the process was, but will comment further if I see the report”, he adds.
Embattled Speaker Koffa says he won’t be like those who automatically announced what happened, saying, “I did not do the investigation. The police and the fire service conducted their own investigation, but I have my own questions. They say it’s arson or some group says it seems here; I will take that at face value.”
During the early hours of December 18, 2024, fire broke out at the Capitol Building, the seat of Liberia’s Legislative Branch of government, destroying the Joint Chamber in what Police say was an arson attack. Editing by Jonathan Browne
