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True! Representative Koon was invited by Ghana’s Speaker of Parliament for inauguration

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Claim: OKFM 99.5, a local radio station in Liberia has said Ghana’s Speaker officially invited Representative Richard Koon for the Inauguration of Ghana’s president. Koon is one of the two personalities holding himself out as the legitimate Speaker of the Liberian Parliament.

True! Representative Koon was invited by Ghana’s Speaker of Parliament for inauguration

Full Text

The controversy over who the official and legitimate Speaker of the Liberian Legislature is has taken a different twist.

On Monday, January 6, 2025, the social media space in Liberia was flooded with communication (official invitation) believed to have come from the office of the Ghanaian Speaker of Parliament to one of those claiming the legitimacy of being the official head of the Liberian House of Representatives, Representative Richard Nagbe Koon.

Among those posting such information was a local radio station, OKFM 99.5,. The station reported that Representative Koon, who heads the members of the ‘Majority Bloc’ in the ongoing crisis within the House of Representatives of Liberia, was officially invited to the inauguration ceremony of Ghana’s new president, John Mahama, and the opening of the ninth Parliament in Ghana’s fourth republic.

The station took to its Facebook page saying, “Breaking,” and posted the full details of the invitation letter to representative Koon. 

True! Representative Koon was invited by Ghana’s Speaker of Parliament for inauguration

There have since been claims and counterclaims about the authenticity of the invitation. Whilst some think it is original, as can be seen here, and here, others believe it to be fake, as seen here

Whilst DUBAWA cannot say on authority who the legitimate Speaker is, getting validation from countries and other international organisations is considered a big deal to either of the two factions.

DUBAWA, therefore, decided to find out if the viral letter was authentic.

Verification

To verify the legitimacy of this communication, the researcher quickly contacted the Speaker’s office in Ghana. One of the officers there, David Damoah, confirmed to DUBAWA that the letter was authentic.

“It’s correct according to my protocol department,” he said.  

To be sure, DUBAWA further monitored the inauguration proceedings. In the picture below, Representative Koon is seen shaking hands with Liberia’s head of delegation to the Economy Community of West African States (ECOWAS) parliament, Senator Edwin Melvin Snowe.

True! Representative Koon was invited by Ghana’s Speaker of Parliament for inauguration

Photo source: Senator Snowe’s Facebook page

Conclusion

Based on the authentication provided by the Speaker’s office in Ghana, the communication parading social media (Facebook) in Liberia that Representative Richard Nagbe Koon, speaker of the “Majority Bloc” of the Liberian parliament was invited by the Speaker of the Parliament of Ghana to attend the inauguration of President John Mahama is true.

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