Africa-Press – Liberia. Rules, Orders and Administration Chair Kolleh is being persuaded to leave session by colleagues and Sergeant-At-Arms
Instead of helping to maintain proper decorum in the sacred chambers of the House of Representatives, the Chairman of the Committee on Rules, Order and Administration was a perpetrator of disruptive behavior that saw him being asked out of session by the gable of Speaker Richard Nagbe Koon.
Bong County Electoral District 2 Representative was thrown out of plenary proceedings during the 10th day sitting of the first quarter of the 3rd session of the 55th Legislature on Thursday for an act not amenable to discipline or control.
The unanticipated situation occurred during the appearances of Liberia’s Minister of Education, Dr. Jarso Maley Jallah, and the Deputy Minister for Legal Affairs at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Cllr. Jeddie Armah, who was cited by the House of Representatives along with their lawyers to show why they should not be held in contempt for ‘gross disrespect.’
Following the presentation by both officials from the Executive, Speaker Koon requested a motion to be proffered for a way forward; hence, the first motion was made successfully, which relieved Education Minister Jallah of a possible contempt of the House. But when it came to the motion on the deliberation of Deputy Minister Armah, Rep. Kolleh premised his thesis on what seemed to be a conflict of interest issue.
The Bong County lawmaker in his kickoff statement described Deputy Minister Armah as his ‘own senior counsel,’ thus causing spiking uproar from the floor of plenary with members accusing him of being conflicted.
According to our legislative reporter at the House, Speaker Koon made a prompt intervention by asking the House’s Rules and Order Chair to succumb to the opportunity to proffer the motion, but he refused to stand down, arguing that he had done no wrong and that his position did not suggest any level of conflict of interest.
“I will not give out the mic. What have I done? What have I done that is conflicting with my interests? Mr. Speaker, you have to stop this; this is not fair, absolutely this is not fair to me. You should have allowed me to land my idea, but for people to insinuate that I’m conflicting for recognizing someone as a senior counsel is unfair,” argued Rep. Kolleh as he dared not lend the opportunity to anyone else.
The situation dragged on for several minutes, with the Bong District 2 lawmaker rejecting calls from the Speaker and other colleagues to give time to another member to make the motion instead.
On the heels of what many believe was an ‘embarrassing situation’ before the guests, Speaker Koon was left with no other alternative but to use his gavel to ask his Rules and Order Chair out of session, though he returned to session after several minutes of being outdoors.
Minister Jallah, Deputy Minister Armah being placed under oath before their testimonies
And when calm was restored to the floor, another motion was proffered and endorsed for the witnesses to appear in an executive session (secret session) due to what lawmakers believe was a sensitive matter that could not be discussed in the open.
But an outcome of the discussion was for the matter to be turned over to the Committees on Foreign Affairs, Education, and Judiciary to report to plenary within one week, but with the Foreign Affairs Committee taking the lead on the matter.
Accordingly, the Ministries of Education were invited by the House to appear before it on Tuesday to answer to issues regarding a Liberian student who was allegedly sodomized in India.
The initial invite comes on the heels of a communication from Margibi County Electoral District #2 Representative Ivar K. Jones in which he reported a dreadful incident of alleged sodomy perpetrated on a Liberian student studying in India.
In his letter, Rep. Jones disclosed that on Wednesday, February 4, 2026, his office received a distress call from a family alleging that their son, Tambason Samuel (NOT HIS REAL NAME), a student at Kalinga University in Naya Raipur, India, was drugged and sodomized by an Indian citizen.
But on the initial scheduled date for their appearance, Minister Jallah failed to show up on the grounds that she was attending a serious occasion with a foreign guest in the interest of the government’s ECEL program.
On the other hand, the Minister of Foreign Affairs submitted a written excuse, informing Plenary that her Deputy for Legal Affairs would appear in her stead. And although the Deputy Minister appeared, he unceremoniously departed the Capitol without notifying the House Secretariat.
It was based on this that the House of Representatives mandated the two officials to come with their legal team to show cause why they should not be held in contempt.
For More News And Analysis About Liberia Follow Africa-Press
