Background
He was born on July 29, 1929 in Liberia.
- Photos
- Works
- Photos
- Works
James Y. GBARBEA
Edit Profile
An administrator and lawyer and one of the few Liberians from the hinterland who has risen to full cabinet rank. He worked his way up from modest beginnings to become Superintendent of Bong County, only to be removed following a treason plot, in the Tubman era. No charges against him were proved and his appointment as a minister by President Tolbert is seen as “righting a wrong”. It also gives a man from the interior a chance to prove himself.
Education
He educated at a Lutheran school, the People’s College and at the University of Liberia, where he graduated with a BA in Political Science.
Career
He started work on the Kpelle illiteracy programme in 1946 and became a secretary in the Education Department from 1951 to 1956, afterwards working as an accountant in the Bank of Monrovia.In 1959 he started work in the Registrar’s office in the University of Liberia, finally joining government service to become a coordinator in charge of rural area development in the Internal Affairs Department from 1961 to 1963. This gave him his first real chance to work for the hinterland people and his success in his job resulted in his appointment as Superintendent of Bong County from 1964 to 1968. In 1968, following a treason enquiry brought by President Tubman, he was dismissed from his post, though no charges against him personally were ever proved.
Politics
He then took up law, worked with Monrovia law Firms and was admitted to the Bar of the Supreme Court in 1970. On the accession of President Tolbert, he was made Deputy Director of the Bureau of Natural Resources in 1971, and later called to become a full cabinet minister in the President’s new government of January 1972.
As Minister of Mines he has had to tackle the problems caused by the world recession in the iron ore industry and the disappointments in getting the Wologisi iron ore project under way on schedule.
