MONROVIA – In the wake of heighten tension in Liberia following the charging to court of former House Speaker, Cllr. J. Fonati Koffa, Reps. Abu Kamara, Dixon Seboe, Jacob Debee and Priscilla Cooper, in connection to the Capitol Building alleged arson of December 2024, the former President of the Liberia Council of Churches (LCC) and Bishop of the New Water in the Desert Apostolic Pentecostal Church in Brewerville, has called on the governing Unity Party-led (UP) government of President Joseph Nyuma Boakai and opposition politicians to avoid unnecessary tension in the country.
In conversation with journalists in Brewerville, Montserrado County, Bishop Kortu Brown advised all political actors to refrain from politicizing the trial of the lawmakers and to allow the legal process to proceed independently and peacefully. “We should be able to find the culprits; we should bring them to justice; I am very clear about that. We are hoping that we do all of this within the confines of the rule of law,” he hoped.
The case stems from a fire that gutted the Joint Chambers of the Capitol Building on December 18, 2024. Authorities concluded the incident was an act of arson following investigations by the Liberia National Police (LNP) and the Liberia National Fire Service (LNFS) and with additional investigation conducted by former United States fire experts, though their inclusion into the investigation sparked mixed reactions.
Commenting further, the former LCC President emphasized that the government must ensure fairness and transparency throughout the proceedings and should take extra care to avoid actions that could be interpreted as politically motivated. “The trial must be carried out in a way where the majority of the citizenry would see and believe that it is not intended to go after one group of people or individuals,” he said. “This should not be a Unity Party or CDC issue — no.”
The prominent outspoken prelate further warned that allowing partisan narratives to dominate the case could heighten political tension. “We need to do all we can to keep the place calm,” Bishop Brown cautioned.
Bishop Brown also voiced out his disappointment that the arrests and subsequent detention of the lawmakers overshadowed what he described as a week filled with significant national accomplishments.
He referenced Liberia’s election to the United Nations Security Council as a non-permanent member, President Joseph Boakai’s decision to waive tariffs on rice imports, the removal of Liberia from a U.S. visa restriction list, and the inauguration of ArcelorMittal’s iron ore concentrator in Nimba County.
“Liberia made big marks last week; I thought we were to celebrate those marks the whole of last week. But the music for the celebration was stopped,” Bishop Brown intoned. “I am wondering why the government stopped the celebration tape?”
He described the timing of the lawmakers’ arrests as “not timely,” and argued that the government could have delayed the action to preserve national unity during a moment of celebration. “I still don’t understand why we had a good week, but that week was interrupted with something that could be done next week or another time,” he noted.
Bishop Brown, however, reiterated his commitment to legal accountability and condemned the attack on the Capitol Building as “a bad act of lawlessness.” “It is unacceptable and condemnable for someone to go and burn the Capitol Building,” he stated. “We religious people stand with and by the rule of law. We don’t want Liberia to be a reckless or lawless country.”
However, he emphasized that due process must be followed. “No one is guilty until proven by a court of competent jurisdiction,” he averred. “We should not personalize this court issue.”
The former LCC President also condemned the physical assault and arrest of Janga Kowo, Chairman of the opposition Congress for Democratic Change (CDC), who was apprehended when he and some of his supporters were on their way to the Monrovia Central Prison while expressing solidarity with the detained lawmakers. Video footages on social media showed Kowo being thrown into the back of a police twin-cabin pickup truck by officers of the LNP and later released without charge.
“They took the Chairman of a major opposition political party and just threw him in the back of a pick-up. I think it was just reckless,” the Bishop said. “We need national engagements. There’s a way to address these issues that people will not think that we are trying to go after them.”
Describing the incident as “troubling,” Bishop Brown called for a full investigation into the actions of the police. He then called for peaceful engagement, urging politicians on both sides to reduce inflammatory rhetoric and prioritize national unity.
