Liberia: Senate Confirms 2nd Batch of Nominees

The Senate has confirmed the second batch of presidential nominees after they were examined by Senators on their competence, credentials, and experiences at a confirmation hearing held on Wednesday.

Liberia National Police Inspector General-designate, Col. Gregory Coleman, and Director General of the Liberia Drug Enforcement Agency, Abraham A. Kromah were yesterday unanimously confirmed along with several other nominees, by the Plenary of the Liberian Senate.

The decision by the Liberian Senate presided over by the President of the Senate, Vice President Jeremiah Kpan Koung, to confirm the nominees was based on reports from various Statutory Committees and Standing Committees of the Liberian Senate including, Ways and Means and Finance, Defense, Security Veteran Affairs, Education. Agriculture, and Commerce.

Those confirmed are Dr. J. Alexander Nuetah, Minister of Agriculture, and Amin Modad, Minister of Commerce, Trade and Industry, and Dr. Jarso Meley, Minister of Education. 

Dr. Nuetah is an agricultural economist. He is currently a full-time consultant for the World Bank’s Food Security Crisis Preparedness Plan Development, Liberia. 

Nuetah has also served for several years as an Assistant Professor of Agricultural Economics at the University of Liberia. Prior to these jobs, he worked with the United Nations World Food Programme as a Value Chain Food System Expert, a Program Policy Officer, and a Livelihood Consultant. 

Nuetah holds a Master’s Degree in Regional Economics and a PhD in Agricultural Economics, both from the China Agricultural University. He also holds a certificate of completion from the Oriental Scholar Program on Governance, at China Peking University. 

Amin Modad is a hotel and food processing entrepreneur. He is the CEO of Bella Casa Hotel and Suites, founded in 2005, as well as CEO of Atlantic Foods Company, founded in 2015. He once served as a consultant at the Ministry of Commerce during the administration of President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf. He is chairman emeritus of the ruling Unity Party and a member of the Board of Directors of the African Methodist Episcopal University. 

Modad obtained his Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science and Government from the University of Liberia and his Master’s Degree in Business Administration and Management from the University of Phoenix (Arizona, USA). 

Dr. Saygbe, has a PhD in Higher Education Leadership from Delaware State University, USA. She is currently Associate Vice President, Academic Affairs-Student at Delaware State University. Prior to joining the faculty at Delaware State University, Dr. Saygbe served as Deputy Director General for Training and Manpower Development at the Liberia Institute for Public Administration (LIPA). She also served as an academic advisor and adjunct faculty at the University of Rhode Island. 

The Liberian Senate also confirmed Gregory Coleman as Inspector General of the Liberia National Police, Abraham S. Kromah as Director of the Liberia Drugs Enforcement  Agency (LDEA), and Sam Gaye as Director of the Executive Protection Service (EPS).

Coleman is a renowned security executive, public policy manager, and administrator with risk mitigation and analytics capabilities, a community relations expert with extensive orchestrating securities enforcement activities, and developing outreach plans while devising sensitive strategies and tactics. In 2016, Greg previously served as Inspector General of the LNP and Chairman of the West African Police Chiefs Committee (WAPCO). 

Also confirmed for their respective posts at the Ministry of Finance and Development Planning are; Bill McGill Jones, Deputy Minister for Administration; Elwood T. Nettey, Comptroller and Accountant General; Anthony  G. Myers, Deputy Minister for Fiscal Affairs; Dehpue Y. Zuo as Deputy, Minister for Economic Management Planning; and Tanneh G. Brunson, Deputy Minister for Budget and Development Planning.

Also yesterday, the Senate plenary endorsed a joint report by the Committees on Public Account and Audit, and Banking and Currency, mandated to investigate the conflicting turnover of the Government consolidated account to President Joseph N. Boakai, by former President George Manneh Weah. Former President Weah, in a national broadcast, disclosed that his government was leaving the amount of US$40 million in the country’s consolidated account. But a week later, President Joseph Boakai reported that the amount in the turnover was US$20.5 million.

But in their report yesterday, the joint committee, among several observations, concluded that the neat way to put the matter to rest was to institute a comprehensive audit of the consolidated account. Endorsing the report, the Senate, through Vice President Jeremiah Koung, mandated that President Pro Tempore of the Senate, Nyonblee Karnga Lawrence, authorize the General Auditing Commission to proceed with the audit.