Capitol Hill, Monrovia – Early Wednesday morning, the annex hosting the rotunda, the Joint Chamber and other offices at the Capitol Building gutted fire, resulting in significant devastation.
The fire, whose source is still being investigated, destroyed the Joint Chamber, leaving the nation in total shock. It followed a march against a breach of the rule of law, which resulted in the arrest and incarceration of former Presidential Aide, Sekou Kalasco Damaro and many others.
Some Liberians are pointing accusing fingers at embattled House Speaker J. Fonati Koffa, who took to his social media handle (Facebook) and posted “Alamo” and immediately brought the post down.
The term “Alamo” reflects the February 23-March 6, 1836 event and military engagement in Texas. In an interview with the Voice of America on Wednesday, Koffa described the fire incident as horrible. “It’s a very unfortunate and horrible occurrence. We are thankful that no lives were lost,” he said.
He denied his involvement in the fire incident, stressing the need for international assistance to aid the ongoing investigation in identifying those liable for the devastating fire outbreak.
Koffa said, “we look forward to the investigation, I think we may also need the government to ask for international assistance to do more forensic investigation in this matter.”
The embattled Speaker averred that Liberia security has limited capacity to conduct a forensic investigation and that leaving it to the local security may lead to wanton speculations.
Speaker Koffa emphasized that a forensic investigation would be necessary to ascertain the actual cause of the fire accident and eradicate speculations in the public regarding the disaster.
He acknowledged the investigation initiated by the joint security but said the lack of sophisticated equipment to establish the trigger of the fire outbreak.
Koffa told the Voice of America that the rotunda engulfed by the fire was due to undergo renovation prior to the disaster as a result of risks reported by contractors hired to assess the facility.
He noted that renovation works began after the assessment but were later stalled and since then plans have been underway to restore the facility to its former status. Koffa, however, declined to comment when asked by VOA whether the unprecedented blaze was due to the current crisis at the House of Representatives over the speakership.
Speaker Koffa reemphasizes that he has filed a bill of information with the Supreme Court, seeking clarity into what he called the nuance interpretation of the court’s ruling by the Justice Minister.
