By Pascal Ibe

Clsim

An X user, @jimNjue, claimed that Liberia’s protesters ( Gen Z) have completely burnt down their Senate & Parliament buildings.

Verdict

This claim is UNPROVEN. A credible news report confirmed a fire broke out in the Parliament building in Monrovia on Wednesday. However, the origin of the outbreak was unclear.

Full Text

Since the beginning of 2024, protests against bad governance and corrupt leaders have taken place in African countries.

In Kenya, the protest by mostly youths forced the key top leaders of the Kenya government to step down. Violence, killings, and intimidation of citizens were also seen during protests.

Nigeria in West Africa, also experienced this mass action in August.

An X user, @jimNjue has claimed that Liberia’s protesters ( Gen Z) have completely burnt down their Senate & Parliament buildings.

The post reads, “Liberia’s Gen Z have completely burnt down their Senate & Parliament buildings

Gen Z is a word attributed to young and vibrant youths.

This post by @jimNjue garnered over 270k views, more than 3k reposts, and 11k likes, according to X analytics.

Verification

In a report by the Associated Press(AP), a fire broke out in the Parliament building in Monrovia on Wednesday, but how the flames originated was unclear.

According to BBC, four individuals, including Speaker Jonathan Fonati Koffa and Representative Frank Saah Foko, have been arrested for questioning, Liberia’s police chief Gregory Colman said.

Politically motivated protests

The Parliament is burning while the country is shaken by protests against the attempt by the presidential majority to depose the Speaker of the House of Representatives.

The mysterious incident occurred after clashes between the police and demonstrators of the opposition alliance “Coalition for Democratic Change” (CDC) led by former President George Weah, who were protesting against the attempt by the presidential majority to oust the current Speaker of Parliament, Jonathan Fonati Koffa (a member of the CDC). During the clashes, Weah’s former assistant Sekou Kalasco Damaro was arrested, among others. The drive to remove the Speaker of the House of Representatives began on October 17, when 47 MPs signed a resolution to remove Koffa, who was accused of corruption. This led to a brawl with Koffa supporters. Tensions were then fueled by news circulating on social media that Deputy Speaker of Parliament Thomas Fallah and Deputy Speaker of Parliament Jeremiah Kpan Koung had bribed MPs to remove Koffa, while those directly involved denied this claim.

The legally required two-thirds majority to remove the Speaker of the House of Representatives was not achieved, which resulted in the delay in the passage of the national budget.

This then led to rallies in the streets of the capital, where CDC protesters called on President Joseph Nyumah Boakai and Vice President Koung to stop interfering in the work of the legislature and to abandon the unconstitutional attempt to remove Koffa. Yesterday’s fire is already the second fire in the Parliament building within a week.

Speaking to a journalist who resides in Monrovia, Prince Jefferson told FACTWATCH that as of this moment, no group of people was linked to the burning down of the Liberian parliament.

Conclusion

There’s no strong evidence that supports the claim that protesters (Gen Z) burnt the Liberian parliament.