By By Staff Writer
Monrovia, Liberia – Former House Speaker Cllr. J. Fonati Koffa has taken the Bukonjedeh Group of Companies and its Chief Executive Officer, Elton Johns, before the Sixth Judicial Circuit, Civil Law Court in Montserrado County, seeking a massive US$4.5 million in damages for what he describes as a deliberate campaign of defamation and character assassination.
The lawsuit, filed through his lawyers at the International Law Group, was placed on the docket of the September Term of Court and is being presided over by Resident Circuit Judge J. Kennedy Peabody.
At the heart of the dispute are allegations broadcast on Punch FM on August 14, 2025, where Elton Johns reportedly claimed that Koffa owed him US$12,500 dating back to July 2024. The same allegations, according to the Speaker, were widely circulated on Facebook and other platforms, further fueling what he calls a “reckless smear campaign.”
“These statements were knowingly false and intended to subject me to ridicule, contempt, and disgrace both at home and abroad,” Koffa asserted in his complaint.
Koffa, who represents Grand Kru County District #2 and was elevated to Speaker of the 55th Legislature earlier this year, argues that the accusations falsely cast him as financially dishonest, a charge that undermines both his integrity as a lawyer and his credibility as a national leader.
The Speaker’s legal filing links the allegations to what it describes as personal vendetta. During his speakership, Koffa claims, he blocked Bukonjedeh’s “predatory lending practices” at the Capitol by enforcing rent payments for office space and restricting excessive interest rates on loans to staffers.
“This attack is nothing more than retaliation for reforms that cut off their exploitative activities at the Capitol,” Koffa maintained. “It is calculated to smear my name before my constituents and the wider public.”
Court papers reference Bakeh v. Greene (1960), a Supreme Court precedent that recognizes defamatory remarks that make a person “odious or ridiculous” in public or professional life as actionable per se. Koffa’s team says Johns’ claims fall squarely into this category.
The Representative is demanding US$4 million in special damages, representing lost business opportunities and broken partnerships, and an additional US$500,000 in general damages for reputational harm and emotional suffering.
The writ of summons, signed by Court Clerk Victor G. Gailor, directs the Sheriff of Montserrado County to serve notice on Johns and Bukonjedeh, compelling them to appear before the Civil Law Court on the third Monday of December 2025. Failure to comply could result in a default judgment.
Observers say the case could set a critical precedent on the limits of political speech and corporate accountability in Liberia. It also highlights the growing role of social media in shaping the reputations of high-ranking public officials.
If successful, Koffa’s claim would represent one of the largest court-awarded damages for defamation in the country’s history — a lawsuit that blends politics, business, and the fragile balance between free speech and personal reputation.
