-Saifuah Mai-Gray goes to NOCAL, Moses Brown grabs IMO,
Integrity stained Cllr. Charles Gibson has resurfaced among the latest batch of appointees that President George Weah has nominated to head the Board of Directors of the corruption prone National Oil Company of Liberia (NOCAL).
Cllr. Gibson was among the first batch of nominees named by the president on Jan 22 as Attorney General and Justice Minister but this was greeted with condemnation from the general public for what many noted was lack of remorse for his misdeeds.
He’s on record for misappropriating US$25,322.00 from a client, a lady identified as Freda Mensah, which led to his two-month suspension from direct and indirect practice of law by the Supreme Court. This was after it was established by the Grievance and Ethics Committee that Cllr. Gibson misappropriated US$25,322.00 from a client.
Investigation also discovered that Gibson lost his job at the United Nations Mission in Liberia for allegedly shortchanging one of his clients in a land deal.
The public-sphere was buzzing with agitations that such a man could not head such a high profile post that is primarily meant to fight graft.
However, President Weah withdrew Gibson’s nomination following multiple staining media reports on his integrity. The withdrawal was done on February 7, 2018 in an official communication to the Senate Pro-Temp Albert Chie.
The Supreme Court swiftly lifted his suspension after it was reported that he had restituted the amount.
Cllr. Musa Dean, who served as lead lawyer for the National Elections Commission (NEC) during the October 2017 election impasse, was then named as Justice Minister-designate.
Liberians have raised concerns about many top officials in government who have integrity issues. Recently, the political leader of the Alternative National Congress, Alexander B. Cummings questioned the quality and abilities of many of the top officials that the president has appointed so far.
“Look at the qualities of most of the officials who have been appointed in government. These are not encouraging at all. How can these people represent a country that needs to be taken seriously?” he rhetorically asked at a Rotary event in Monrovia.
He noted that the quality of some of the appointments so far by President George Manneh Weah, lack integrity, qualification and no semblance of moral rectitude.
But early Tuesday morning, Cllr. Gibson’s name resurfaced again among appointments announced by the office of the president as a nominee to serve as Chairman of NOCAL’s Board of Directors. Other members of the Board are: Christine Hoff Williams, member, Christina Harmon member and Dr. Moses C. T.Jarbo, member.
According to an Executive Mansion release, the additional appointments/nominations in government affected the National Oil Company of Liberia (NOCAL), the Liberia Telecommunications Authority (LTA), the National Security Agency (NSA), the Liberia Agriculture Commodities Regulatory Agency (LACRA), the National Lotteries Authority, the Ministry of Information Culture Affairs & Tourism (MICAT), the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Governance Commission, Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) among other agencies.
Some of the notable nominees are Saifuah Mai Gray, a young attorney, as President/CEO of NOCAL; Dr. Lester Tenny, a staunch CDC progenitor, as NOCAL’s Vice President of Technical Services and Amb. Moses Browne nominated as Liberia Permanent Representative/IMO-London.
Immediately upon the pronouncement, congratulatory messages began pouring in for the nominees on social media, especially the ones that are considered the most loyal to the CDC course
Amb. Moses Browne, on his facebook page upon hearing of his preferment, lauded the President for the explicit confidence reposed in him.
”Please accept my sincere compliments and honor for my preferment as Liberia’s Permanent Representative to the International Maritime Organization (IMO) in London.”
“Thank you for the explicit confidence reposed in me to serve this Diplomatic Mission in such capacity. I am grateful and remain humble in the discharge of my duties to ensure your ‘Pro Poor Agenda’ is achieved.”
However, all the latest appointments/nominations are subject to confirmation by the Liberian Senate where applicable.
National Oil Company of Liberia
Saifuah Mai Gray President/CEO
Eric Daniels Vice President for Finance
Dr. Lester Tenny Vice President of Technical Services
Carmena C. Yeke General Counsel
Board of Directors-NOCAL
Cllr. Charles Gibson Chairman
Christine Hoff Williams Member
Christina Harmon Member
Dr. Moses C. T. Jarbo Member
Minister of Finance & Development Planning Member
Minister of Mines & Energy Member
Minister of Justice Member
MD, Liberia Petroleum Refinery Corporation Member
Liberia Telecommunications Authority
Maria Harrison Commissioner
Civil Service Agency
Laurine Johnson Director General
Liberia Agriculture Commodities Regulatory Agency
Dr. John Flomo Managing Director
Ronald Mendscole Deputy Managing Director/Administration
National Security Agency
Gerald F. Smith Deputy Director/Administration
Stephen B. Dolo Director of Field Offices
National Lotteries Authority
Reginald Nagbe Director General
Neved Kortu Deputy Director General/Operations
Liberia Permanent Representative/IMO-London
Moses O. Browne
Ministry of Information & Culture Affairs
Margaret Cooper Frank Assistant Minister for Culture
Ministry of Foreign Affairs
Yaba Freeman-Thompson Assistant Minister for International Organizationals-Ministry of Foreign Affairs
Governance Commission
Elizabeth W. Dorkin Commissioner
Corporative Development Agency
Regina Sokan Teah Deputy Registrar General/Administration
Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA)
Marcus Soko Director General
Marcus Zehyoue Deputy Director General for Administration
Melvin Sarko Deputy Director for Operations
County Attorneys
Cllr. Edwin Martin Montserrado County
Cllr. David Woah Grand Bassa County
Cllr. Deddeh Wilson Margibi County
Atty. Jonathan Flomo Bong County
Cllr. Aloysius Allison Maryland County
Atty. Gabriel Wleh Gbarpolu Count
Cllr. J. Adolphus Karnuah Sinoe County
Atty. Nyonkpao R.G. Daye Grand Kru County
Atty. Isaac B. Williams Grand Gedeh
Atty. G. T. Harris Wowoah Grand Capemount
Cllr. Jomah karnely Bomi County
George Wean must be indebted big time to these Gibson people. One is ambassador to the US, one is deputy I believe at FDA and now this same rotten one. Some of us keep echoing the point this is how our governance system gradually got rotten over the years, thereby leading to our senseless war. By these same nepotistic tendencies, cronyism and heedless practices. Everybody is telling this Oppong man that this Charles Gibson man is bad news for Liberia, yet and still he keeps appointing the man to very important positions. Why? Is this man the only CDCian versed in law? The same way people decried the appointment of Emmanuel Shaw, Charles Bright and some other unscrupulous people in government but George Wean defied those outcries and appointed those people regardless. This is how it usually starts. From these simple defiant tendencies to arrest and incarceration of critics and journalists and the outright flogging and killing of critics as perceived enemies. But even more worrisome, these are the very tendencies that give birth to coup d’état as quick remedies. Nobody, no Liberian in their heart of hearts wants to ever entertain the thought of a coup anytime soon, if not forever and because of the horrific experience we just came from recently. But the fact of the matter is that our president, our leaders have to be responsive to our cries and aspirations. Otherwise people become disenchanted and start entertaining all kinds of thoughts. Nobody is saying the president must respond or reverse every action because of every criticism, no, we know better than expect that. We happen to know that some citizens will criticize no matter whether the policies or actions of government is good or bad, that’s their pet peeve. But there are some criticisms that the government ought to consider as well-meaning, and respond to them accordingly. To dismiss every criticisms as nothing is a recipe for disaster. That’s all I am saying. I hope I am wrong.
Only in Liberia here such can happen !
The more things change, the more they stay the same.