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Claim: Breaking News: House of Representatives Rejects ECOWAS Mediation Delegates, says Shine Liberia.
Verdict: False! The House of Representatives has not rejected the delegation. The ECOWAS delegation met all parties involved in the ongoing impasse within the House of Representatives. Also, an independent journalist assigned to Capitol provided an account contradicting Shine Liberia’s claim.
Full Text:
A social media blog, Shine Liberia, posted on Facebook that the House of Representatives rejected the ECOWAS mediation delegates.
The blog alleged that members of the 55th Legislature expelled the ECOWAS delegation from the Capitol because the delegation did not acknowledge Representative Richard N. Koon as the Speaker of the House of Representatives.
According to Shine Liberia, when the delegation arrived at Speaker Koon’s office, they referred to him simply as “Honorable Koon” and requested that he leave his seat to welcome them.
The blog further alleged that this was perceived as an insult, prompting house members to insist on postponing the mediation meeting.
The ongoing tensions in the House of Representatives, which began in 2024, stem from allegations of conflicts of interest and the alleged illegal removal of a duly elected leader.
This situation has drawn the attention of ECOWAS and other regional parliamentary bodies.
The ECOWAS delegation, led by Professor Ibrahim Gambari, a former Nigerian foreign minister, engaged with stakeholders to foster stability and support Liberia’s democratic institutions amid rising tensions.
Given the significance of this claim, DUBAWA conducted a fact-check on the assertion made by Shine Liberia.
Verification
The Cambridge Dictionary defines “reject” as “to refuse to accept, use, or believe something or someone.” Based on this definition, DUBAWA set out to find out if there was any such rejection.
The claim that the House of Representatives “rejected” the ECOWAS delegation appears to be false
A communique issued by the ECOWAS Commission suggests that the House of Representatives was among the key stakeholders the Commission met with while in Liberia.
The House of Representatives stated that the ECOWAS mediation team’s visit to the Capitol on Monday, March 24, 2025, was not a formal meeting with Speaker Koon. Instead, an engagement was organised between the ECOWAS Commission delegation and the House’s Committee on Foreign Affairs.
“The purpose of the meeting was to establish the groundwork for a formal engagement with the Speaker of the House at a later time,” the House’s statement read.
If there had been any such rejection, as Shine Liberia claimed, the two institutions would not have issued statements.
Furthermore, DUBAWA cross-referenced the claim with an independent journalist assigned to Capitol, Nyantee Togba, to verify what had transpired.
“Following reports that the ECOWAS Parliament Delegation was rejected by the Majority Bloc Speaker, Hon. Richard Koon, for not addressing him as Speaker during their visit today, I reached out to both the Office of the Majority Bloc Speaker and the Protocol Team of the ECOWAS Delegation to verify the facts.
According to the information gathered, the ECOWAS Commission in Liberia informed the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the arrival of the ECOWAS Parliament Delegation to engage in discussions concerning the current political crisis.
In response, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs formally communicated with the House of Representatives about the delegation’s visit and their intention to hold a meeting.
The House Committee on Foreign Affairs, chaired by Representative Nehker Gaye, took charge of communication and scheduled a meeting with the delegation at 4:00 PM in the Speaker’s Conference Room.
Upon the arrival of the ECOWAS Parliament Delegation, there was no scheduled meeting with the Majority Bloc Speaker, Hon. Richard Koon. Instead, the delegation held a closed-door meeting with the Committee of Foreign Affairs.
Protocol sources confirmed that no formal meetings had been arranged in Hong Kong. Koon today. However, according to today’s engagement’s additional itinerary and outcomes, the ECOWAS Parliament Delegation is expected to meet with the House Majority Speaker, Hon. Richard Koon, tomorrow.
The ECOWAS mediation also met with all the stakeholders involved in the House of Representatives impasse, including past and current Liberian leaders, urging them to uphold democratic principles by accepting the Supreme Court’s pending ruling.
Conclusion
Based on DUBAWA’s verification of ECOWAS activities, no evidence supports the claim that the House of Representatives rejected the ECOWAS delegation. Shine Liberia’s claim was false.
