Liberian speaker denies links to parliament fire

The speaker of Liberia’s House of Representatives has denied being involved in a huge fire at the West African nation’s legislature.

Speaker Jonathan Fonati Koffa was among those questioned by the police after the Capitol building was set alight.

No-one was in the building at the time of the fire but the authorities have launched an investigation and offered a $5,000 (£3,900) reward for anyone with more information.

Koffa told the BBC he had spent a total of nine hours at the police station, but insists he was just there to accompany a colleague, Representative Frank Saah Foko.

The fire occurred on Wednesday morning – a day after plans to remove Koffa from his speaker role sparked a tense protest.

Several demonstrators, including an aide to former President George Weah, were arrested during the protest.

Following the fire, which saw thick black smoke rising above the capital, Monrovia, police said they had brought Koffa, Foko and two others in for questioning.

Police chief Gregory Coleman referred to a Facebook post Koffa made during the protests, saying that the speaker must explain it.

Koffa said he would give a written statement about the post but that he had not actually been questioned.

He told the BBC the fire could have broken out for any number of reasons.

“If it was arson, that would have been a horrible thing,” he said, adding that he had “never been, and would never be, associated with that kind of violence”.

He said that the part of the building damaged by the fire was old and that a contractor had previously warned officials they were “sitting on a time-bomb”.

Koffa also called for a “neutral”, international investigation into the fire.

Liberia’s House of Representatives has been beset by a power struggle, in which a faction of lawmakers claims to have removed and replaced Koffa as speaker.

Another group has resisted the action, calling it unconstitutional.

A Supreme Court ruling has failed to solve the internal dispute.