A COMMENTARY By Cllr. Tiawan Saye Gongloe
Human Rights Advocate & Defender of Free Speech for Over 30 Years
Liberia woke up to headlines that Speaker Richard N. Koon has apologized to journalists for threatening to order their arrest. Some government officials are already praising him as if an apology erases the abuse of power.
Let us be clear:
Apology is not enough.
Threatening journalists is not a small matter. It is a constitutional violation, an unlawful act, and a dangerous step backward into a past that Liberia must never revisit.
HISTORY WARNED US—AND WE MUST LISTEN
This kind of intolerance and bigotry is not new in Liberia. It has a long and painful history: It is this same attitude that put journalist Tuan Wreh in jail; that sent Pamphleteer Albert Porte to jail many times;that imprisoned Stanton Peabody, Isaac Bantu, Kwame Clement, Cyrus Bad, and many other journalists;that led to the jailing, beating, silencing, and sometimes killing of of jounalists, student activists, labor union leaders, and opposition voices during Liberia’s most repressive years.
Every time a government official threatens the press, Liberia remembers the imprisonments, the crackdowns, the fear, the intimidation, and the voices that disappeared forever.
Is that where we want to go again?
Threats are not harmless. They are the first signs of tyranny.
ANGER REVEALS CHARACTER — AND THIS ONE DID
Speaker Koon did not merely “misspeak.”
He revealed his mindset.
He exposed a deep intolerance for dissent and for the press.
He showed: Disbelief in press freedom;; Ignorance of constitutional limits, Forgetfulness of the laws repealed in 2018; and complete disregard for Liberia’s painful history with oppression.
THE LAW HAS SPOKEN — AND HE VIOLATED IT
Speaker Koon swore an oath to uphold the Constitution. His threat violated that oath.
Article 15(c) of the Constitution:
There shall be no limitation on the public right to be informed about the government and its functionaries. How can journalists inform the public when the Speaker threatens to arrest them? The Kamara A. Kamara Act of 2018
This law abolished criminal speech offenses.
It strengthened press freedom.
It forbids the very thing the Speaker threatened.
By his conduct, the Speaker violated both constitutional and statutory guarantees.
That is dishonorable conduct from the head of the House of Representatives.
APOLOGY WITHOUT COMMITMENT IS EMPTY
If the Speaker truly regrets his actions, he must:
- Publicly commit never to threaten journalists again;
- Respect the constitutional rights of all Liberians;
- Uphold the dignity of his office;
- Read and understand Article 15(c);
- Study the Kamara A. Kamara Law;
- Demonstrate a conduct worthy of the Speaker of the “Honorable” House.
A simple apology does not restore damaged trust.
Only a commitment to lawful behavior can.
DEMOCRACIES DO NOT TOLERATE SUCH MISCONDUCT
Elsewhere in the world: In the UK, a minister resigned for insulting a police officer—a smaller offense; In Germany, a minister left office for trying to influence media content; and
In the US, officials who threaten journalist freedoms face public backlash and legal scrutiny.
What Speaker Koon did would be intolerable in any serious democracy.
Why should Liberia accept less?
A MESSAGE TO MR. SPEAKER
Mr. Speaker, Liberia has suffered greatly because of intolerance. We buried those old habits in 2018 when the Legislature repealed the anti-speech and anti-press laws.
Do not resurrect what Liberia destroyed.
Heal the wound you created by committing to never threaten journalists again.
The House you lead is called Honorable House of Representatives —your behavior must reflect it.
LIBERIA WILL NOT GO BACKWARD
Liberians have endured too much to tolerate new threats from old mindsets.
Backward never. Forward ever.
A better Liberia is possible—one where journalists are free, the law is respected, and leaders model the democracy we claim to build.
Let the press do its work.
Let democracy breathe.
Let Liberia move forward—never back into the darkness.