{"id":50281,"date":"2024-01-13T15:01:59","date_gmt":"2024-01-13T15:01:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/liberia\/all-news\/us-citizenship-issue-clouds-controversial-speaker-race-ahead-of-jnb-inauguration"},"modified":"2024-01-13T15:41:28","modified_gmt":"2024-01-13T15:41:28","slug":"us-citizenship-issue-clouds-controversial-speaker-race-ahead-of-jnb-inauguration","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/liberia\/all-news\/us-citizenship-issue-clouds-controversial-speaker-race-ahead-of-jnb-inauguration","title":{"rendered":"US Citizenship Issue Clouds Controversial Speaker Race Ahead of JNB Inauguration"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"color: #ff6600\"><strong>Africa-Press &#8211; Liberia. <\/strong><\/span>As the Unity Party, the incoming government, gears up to challenge the citizenship of Deputy Speaker Cllr. J. Fonati Koffa, casting a shadow of uncertainty over the upcoming Speaker election, FrontPageAfrica has learned that some high-ranking members of the exiting Coalition for Democratic Change are preparing to challenge the citizenship of the Unity Party\u2019s Richard Koon, alleging him to be an American citizen with a strong tie to Nigeria.<\/p>\n<p>Cllr. Koffa is a member of the CDC and is vying to become the next Speaker of the House of Representatives, while Rep. Richard Nagbe Koon is supported by the Unity Party against Koffa. The Secretary General of the Unity Party confirmed to FrontPageAfrica on Friday that challenging Cllr. Koffa\u2019s citizenship is one of the options they are considering as a strategy to secure the Speaker post for Rep. Koon. This has prompted the CDC to take up a similar challenge against Koon.<\/p>\n<p>FrontPageAfrica has seen United States passports circulating on social media, particularly on Facebook, bearing the names and images of the two candidates. However, the authenticity of these passports has not been independently verified by FrontPageAfrica.<\/p>\n<p>The latest controversy arises from Koon\u2019s alleged admission of his citizenship at the age of 36, which some believe is a violation of the constitutional requirement that mandates declaration at the age of 23. Legal experts argue that this discrepancy could lead to a delay in the inauguration process if the Speaker\u2019s position remains vacant.<\/p>\n<p>Richard Nagbe Koon, born in Lagos, Nigeria, to a Nigerian mother and Liberian father, has lived a life straddling both nations. Despite permanently moving to Monrovia in 1992, Koon retained allegiance to Nigeria until 2008, according to sources. The revelation that he held both Nigerian and Liberian passports raises questions about the legality of him carrying a Liberian passport after the age of 23, a time when he had not perfected his Liberian citizenship.<\/p>\n<p>Furthermore, Koon is now alleged to be a US citizen. Documents obtained by this paper confirm his move to the US in 2008, where he lived in South Dakota. He obtained US citizenship and has maintained residency there, posing a significant challenge to the legal debate surrounding his Liberian citizenship.<\/p>\n<p>It is alledged that Rep. Koon has a Nigerian Passport. FPA tried reaching Rep. Koon to authenticate whether he has a Nigerian passport but could not get him neither did he return our call.<\/p>\n<p>A member of the House of Representative from Unity Party who spoke to FPA reporter only on condition of anonymity, said, \u201d There are members of the legislature who have foreign citizenship including American and British citizenships.<\/p>\n<p>The potential legal battle not only raises questions about the legitimacy of Koon and Koffa\u2019s candidacy but could also lead to a constitutional crisis, potentially delaying the inauguration ceremony if the Speaker election is postponed.<\/p>\n<p><strong>For More News And Analysis About <a href=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/liberia\">Liberia<\/a> Follow <a href=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/\">Africa-Press<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Africa-Press &#8211; Liberia. As the Unity Party, the incoming government, gears up to challenge the citizenship of Deputy Speaker Cllr. J. Fonati Koffa, casting a shadow of uncertainty over the upcoming Speaker election, FrontPageAfrica has learned that some high-ranking members of the exiting Coalition for Democratic Change are preparing to challenge the citizenship of the [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":50280,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,7,12],"tags":[233,237,234],"class_list":["post-50281","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-head-lines","category-policy","tag-africa-press","tag-africa-press-liberia","tag-liberia"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v26.1 (Yoast SEO v27.0) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>US Citizenship Issue Clouds Controversial Speaker Race Ahead of JNB Inauguration - Liberia<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"As the Unity Party, the incoming government, gears up to challenge the citizenship of Deputy Speaker Cllr. 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