Background
He was born on August 28, 1913, at River Cess in Grand Bassa County.
He was born on August 28, 1913, at River Cess in Grand Bassa County.
Educated at the College of West Africa and Liberia College, where he took a BA in 1938.
His excellent work as governor was noticed by President Tubman, who brought him to Monrovia as Assistant Secretary of Public Works and Utilities in 1956 and the same year sent him as Liberia’s Consul-General to London, where he stayed between 1956 and 1960. Afterwards he became Ambas-sador to Ghana for ten years, arriving in 1960 at the height of the Nkrumah era, when the two countries were pulling in opposite directions with Ghana in the radical Casablanca bloc and President Tubman as a leader of the Monrovia group, which led to the founding of the Organisation for African Unity after the Monrovia meeting in 1962.
He was sent to the Congo (Zaire) as head of a special mission during the crisis years of 1960-1. He handled the Ghana problems with delicacy and witnessed the military coup of 1966 and the coming of civilian rule with Dr Busia, when relations improved dramatically. In 1970 President Tubman recalled him as Secretary for Education (equivalent to Minister). The work he was doing in a rapidly expanding ministry was recognised by President Tolbert, who did not move him when he carried out his first major reshuffle in January 1972.
A quiet, unobtrusive man from the provinces, who has worked his way up from local schoolmaster in his home district, to a distinguished diplomatic and ministerial career. Though demanding the highest standards in his ministry, he is highly accessible. An early challenge came with his appointment as Ambassador to Nkrumah’s Ghana; now his main task is to continue the rapid expansion of the educational system.
