Claim: Bryon Bryon, a staff member in the office of Ex-Speaker Fonati Koffa, took to Facebook claiming that Koffa and other lawmakers were denied bail on the influence of Vice President Jeremiah Kpan Koung.
Verdict: Misleading! The lawyer representing Koffa and others, Cllr. Jonathan Massaquoi said that no application for a bond has been filed before the court for the four lawmakers to be offered bail.
Full Text
The Capitol Building, office of the Liberian Legislature, was gutted by fire on December 18, 2025. The incident happened during an impasse at the House of Representatives over the removal of then-Speaker Fonati Koffa. The Capitol building disaster occurred less than 24 hours after a protest staged by pro-Koffa groups against his removal. The Liberian National Police (LNP) has since investigated the matter.
LNP preliminary findings in 2024 attributed the Capitol’s burning to an arson attack. Furthermore, on June 6, 2025, Police Inspector General Gregory Coleman released additional findings in the case. IG Coleman in a press conference named ex-speaker Fonati Koffa, Representative Jacob Debee of Grand Gedeh, Rep. Abu Bana Kamara of Montserrado, Rep. Dixson Sieboe, and Rep. Prescilla Cooper of Montserrado County, as high-profile persons involved in the Capitol building arson attack.
Their charges include Arson, Criminal Mischief, Criminal Facilitation, Reckless Endangerment, Criminal Attempt to Commit Murder, and Criminal Conspiracy. The lawmakers were detained at the police headquarters on Friday, June 6, 2025, and later transferred to the Monrovia Central Prison awaiting trial.
However, former Speaker Fonati Koffa’s office staff posted on June 7, 2025, claiming Cllr. Koffa and others were denied bond based on the interference of Vice President Jeremiah Kpan-Koung.
The poster said, “As you can see, the Chief is being taken to Monrovia South Beach along with his colleagues. We had the bond, but he was denied through Jeremiah Kpan Koung Sr.’s instructions, and the judge had to abide.”
Screenshot of the claim.
The claim created mixed reactions among internet users. Some argued that the claimant was lying, while others aligned with his post. The post generated 171 comments, 63 shares, and an uncountable number of reactions. The mixed responses led DUBAWA to initiate a fact-check.
Verification
DUBAWA contacted the Police Spokesperson, Cecelia Clarke, to ascertain whether a bond was filed and denied, but didn’t get a response.
However, video footage obtained by DUBAWA shows former speaker Koffa and the three other lawmakers (Jacob Debee, Abu Bana Kamara, and Rep. Dixson Sieboe) interacting with journalists at the Court’s ground on Saturday, June 7, 2025. In the video, Cllr. Jonathan Massaquoi (the lawyer) told journalists that the legal team has yet to provide an application for bail to the court.
According to Massaquoi’s statement, his team is still in the process of preparing a bond to be filed by them in the coming weeks. He said the Court didn’t receive a bond from the four lawmakers’ legal team, nor did the court deny ex-speaker Koffa and others bail. The video can be found here.
Conclusion
Our findings show that the lawyer of the four lawmakers has not filed a bond with the Monrovia City Court. As such, the claim is misleading.