GNN-Liberia Who’s Who 2020 Personalities Of The Year

As tradition dictates to honor those who honor due each year, the management of the Global News Network (GNN) is once again pleased to release the names of those who have captured this year’s Who’s Who personalities of the year, 2020.

With this, the management of GNN-Liberia is pleased to release the list of its personalities of the year 2020; their selections were made through a vetting process published two weeks ago through a thorough screening by a six-man team.

Now see our personalities of the year 2020:

Man of the year – The Chief of Staff of Armed Forces of Liberia (AFL), Major General Prince C. Johnson III is our Man of the Year, 2020; his professional services being impacted into the men and women of our military to be more obedience and professional have won him this title.

Our army has become to be most respectful force in the country; their intelligent behaviors at all times has won the hearts and minds of Liberians, even including our foreign residents, as a result of this several who submitted entries have agreed that this professional military officer be named as our ‘Man of year-2020’.

Woman of the year – Madam Clar Marie Duncan Weah, First Lady of the Republic of Liberia is GNN Woman of the year – 2020, her role during the year in review bringing relief to the most physically challenged  individuals in the Liberian society has been noticed.

Madam Weah is a businesswoman, philanthropist, advocate, and has always been at the disposal of the many unfortunate Liberians making sure that their needs are ably taken care of when necessary.

The Liberia First Lady has always been focused; debunking all negative criticisms which have the propensity to stop her from undertaking meaningful initiatives in the interest of the country (Liberia) and its people, especially the underprivileged.

Mrs. Weah’s services to the Liberian people include the construction of state-of-the-act City of Hope, a massive facility that is being constructed in Marshall, Margibi County, by her foundation when completed will ably educate and transform hundreds of underprivileged Liberians.

During the year under review, Mrs. Weah clarified that the budgetary support to her Liberian government was being used for its intended purpose of humanitarian interventions, indicating some of her efforts which she named as the Monthly Elderly Feeding Program which provides assorted food rations to over two thousand elderlies and other less fortunate people and the renovation and rehabilitation of several orphanages and schools as some of the humanitarian initiatives for which the government’s allotments are being used. It was also discovered that projects by her foundation are the provision of regular food and non-food supplies to orphanages, the construction of homes for some extremely poor people and the provision of scholarship.

Politician Of The Year – Our politician of the year, 2020 is one of Liberia’s fearless politicians, Abraham Darius Dillon, considered as a man who stood the test of time despite of criticisms from the ruling party based on his fight against ills in the Liberian Senate.

Senator Abraham Darius Dillon won the admiration of many Liberians for his determination to fearlessly compete with the ruling party Senatorial Candidate in the face of ‘Cash’ distribution to dethrone him from the Liberian Senate during the December 8, 2020 Special midterm senatorial election.

With all of the upheavals which has marked his election on the part of the ruling party, at the end of that election he overwhelmingly won that election with over 60%, defeating the strong man of the ruling party, Representative Thomas Fallah of Montserrado County District # 5 whose quest at all cost to capture the senatorial seat for Montserrado County was massively lost.

Lawmaker of the Year: Representative Jonathan Fonati Koffa of Grand Kru District # 2 is our lawmaker of the year; his numerous contributions to the growth and development of his county during the year under review has indeed won him this title as GNN Lawmaker of the year – 2020.

Prior to joining the lower House, according to information gathered has made impact towards the wellbeing of the people of Grand Kru County, and Liberia at large; providing financial and other needy assistance to the people regardless of their status in the society.

His huge scholarship drive towards the educational needs of the youthful population in the County and the country at large affording beneficiaries of his scholarship drive to attending any educational institutions in the country has added more impetus to be loved by his people in his county and the entire country, Liberia.

On the national scene, our Lawmaker of the Year-2020, through momentous effort at the House of Representative recently wrote his colleagues notifying them of “Discharge Petition” on the Liberia Empowerment and Economic Act of 2018.

This Act was introduced by Rep. Koffa and read in plenary on January 30, 2018, it seeks to empower local Liberian entrepreneurs, and is also intended to provide criminal penalties for violators of the 1973 Investment Act.

It also seeks to create fund to ensure that Liberian businesses in the subject category succeed.

The bill, according to its framer, was necessitated by the finding of the Legislature that the “Liberianization” has minimally achieved its objectives due to circumvention and limited access to capital by Liberian.

Speaking its establishment, Representative Koffa noted that the need for the creation of a more restrictive environment and a stronger enforcement mechanism so that Liberianization as envisaged by the government and people of Liberia becomes full-fledged reality.

The introduction of this Bill by Representative Koffa was captured by those who submitted entries in his favor to be named as GNN Lawmaker of the Year, noting that is good for all Liberians, lauding his stands on it.

Minister of the year: His commitment of upholding the rule of law has made him as our Minister of the year-2020, Cllr. Frank Musa Dean, according to entries submitted has made a significance progress at that very important government institution upholding the rule of law during the year in review.

The police under his watchful eyes of the Minister of Justice who is the chief overseer of the Liberia National Police (LNP), the Liberia Immigration Services (LIS), and other law enforcement agencies in the Country, during the year under review law and order has been maintained without reported incident despite public outcry for the law and order.

As Minister of Justice and the Attorney General of the Republic of Liberia, Cllr. Musa Dean has been trying during the year under review to maintain his professional credibility as a learned legal practitioner to avoid his institution misrepresentation of the Liberian Government legal policy.

Comptroller General of the Year – is Janga Augustus Kowo; his effort of bringing reform to the office of the Comptroller General has won the aspiration of Liberians who overwhelmingly named him as GNN Comptroller and Accounting General of the year-2020.

His quest to ensuring genuine Policy Financial Management at the Ministry Of Finance And Development Planning during the year under review has given rise to his nomination and subsequent selection as the Comptroller and Accounting General of the Republic of Liberia.

Under his watchful eyes, the establishment of the comptroller and Accounting General Department is a key reform that has been requested by the International community for several years, under this new reform, public officials appointed will have little control over the Comptrollers and Accountants in their offices and will also be unable to bring in and remove comptroller and Accountants at will.

All government Comptrollers and accountants in the Republic will now be under the direct supervision of the Comptroller and Accountant General of the country, this new initiative has been lauded by the Liberian people including the international community; it is indeed commendable and welcoming.

Businesswoman of the year – due to her commitment to the growth and development of Liberia’s economy, and introducing a new dynamism the money transfer services, a woman who has been on the front-line for such is Madam  Laureine Guilao, the Chief Executive Officer of  TipMe Liberia.

Amid difficulties in receiving cash from commercial banks in Liberia due to shortage, TipMe Liberia has taken the bull by the horn solving these difficulties being encountered with by many Liberians including business people through its cash transfer system.

Her institution for the shortest period of time of its launch has drastically overtaken the money transfer services, making regular users to be glued to this system due to the unique and professional services been provided by its professional staff. TipMe me has become the household name in Liberia.

Businessman of the Year – Mr. Abdullah L. Kamara, Chief Executive Officer and Founder of Tamma Corporation and also Chief Patron of Network For The Development Of Liberia (NetLib), a charity based organization that focuses on Vocational Training for the youth of the Republic Of Liberia, enabling them to get affordable quality training and preparing them for the job market and entrepreneurs.

His institutions have helped to shape the unemployment of Liberians to a fully employed status, providing vocational training for the country’s youthful population and making them useful in the society for a better tomorrow.

Mr. Kamara’s Tamma Corporation provides Offshore IT services in the areas of Application Development (using .Net and C#,), Systems administration and Monitoring, Remote user support, Helpdesk services; this corporation has indeed made Liberia to be on the map of the technology worldwide.

Our businessman of the year has a vast experience in the telecommunications world, making sure that his contribution to this sector is meaningful to all Liberians.

Advocacy Institution of the year – the Liberia Chamber of Commerce (LCC) has been named as the advocacy institution; its role to stand in the gap of business houses in their defense has won the feelings of the business community, thus making it to receive this year’s institution of the year.

During the year under review, the Chamber of Commerce has made sure that the interest of its members and their businesses entities are overwhelmingly are protected.

LCC’s advocacy over the years has also created what many considered as a very conducive environment amongst business owners which include Liberians and non-Liberian businesses to have a cordial working relationship with the Liberian Government and the entire business community.

The recent election of Cllr. Oswald Tweh as President of the Chamber of Commerce has added more impetus to the professional workings of this institution due to his rich credentials, and his ability to relay to membership of this Chamber has been extoled by many Liberians who submitted the name of the Chamber as advocacy institution of the year-2020.

Corporation of the Year – The National Social Security & Welfare Corporation (NASSCORP) is our corporation of the year; its numerous contributions to the people of Liberia gave rise to its selection for this year, 2020.

Its infrastructural and human development around the country, and meeting up with its statuary obligation to pensioners has been admired, and recognized by all Liberians and those who are its direct beneficiaries.

The corporation under the management team headed its Director General Mr. Dewitt Von Ballmoos is doing excellently well in providing unique services to te people of Liberia.

Due to the dynamic and professional services being offered by the management team of NASSCORP, a local civil society group, the National Civil Society Network this year publicly debunked a smear campaign against its Director General, describing him as a progressive public servant who is not interested in cheap politics but rather focused on service delivery.

During the year under review, a local youth group, the Liberian Youth initiative (LYI) honored NASSCORP boss in recognition of his impact on society and his tireless effort in reforming the entity, according to LYI this special recognition was given to vonBallmoos because of his honest contribution to national development.

Non-Governmental Organization of the year – Naymote Partners for Democratic Development has won GNN NGO of the year; its committed contributions during the year  under review to the development of the country’s democratic value has made many to submit its name as our NGO of the year.

Its vision for 2020 as a leading national capacity building institution advancing democracy and governance in West Africa with innovative programs for young people who are making long-lasting positive impact in society also gave rise for its nomination and selection.

NAYMOTE’s recently introduced ‘President Meter Project’ aimed at improving  public accountability and transparency in the management of the country’s governance processes under the CDC-led government has been captured by many who finds this initiative by NAYMOTE as very impressive.

Accordingly for the last two years, January 2018 to January 2020, the institution has tracked and rated 92 promises of which 7 promises were completed constituting 8%, 38 promises are ongoing constituting 41%, and 47 promises have not started or not rated constituting 51% due to the lack of information to assess progress made towards implementation. This tracking was undertaken against the assumption that citizens care deeply about whether their government has followed through on what it originally promised. This independent assessment provides citizens the tools to cut through the misinformation that so often plagues political discourse surrounding the status of government programs and processes. Please read the PMP two years report here.

NAYMOTE also has a Youth Legislative Policy Dialogue to promote the culture of legislative openness and responsiveness in Liberia. Over 1000 youth leaders across Montserrado, Grand Bassa, Margibi, Bong and Nimba Counties participated in 30 dialogues held since 2018 and 30 lawmakers attended and spoke at these events. Young people are actively engaging in legislative advocacy, lawmakers are hosting town hall meetings, producing annual legislative reports to their constituents because of the opportunity provided them through these dialogues.

It was through these dialogues, the institution realized that young people need to deepen their understanding of the workings of the Legislature to be able to hold their elected officials accountable which led to the development of the legislative advocacy handbook. The Legislative Advocacy Handbook is educating citizens on the workings of the legislature and providing them effective advocacy strategies.

Like the President Meter project, the institution is monitoring and tracking 12 lawmakers’ campaign promises across five counties; Montserrado, Bong, Nimba, Grand Gedeh and Rivergee. During the first year in 2019, the institution identified, monitored, tracked and rated 97 campaign promises from the 12 lawmakers, of which, 10 are rated completed, 65 promises are ongoing, 9 promises have not started and 13 campaign promises are not rated due to lack of available information. Among the 10 completed promises, community roads, bridges’ rehabilitations and construction of town halls accounted for 6 of those completed projects, while the formation of district development councils accounts for 3 promises and the construction of one health center accounts for 1 of the many promises.

With all of these initiatives, and to adequately alerting the people of working of the government, many lauded NAYMOTE for such initiative and subsequently submitted it to be our NGO of the year.

Radio Station of the year – Liberians and foreign residents who spoke to the GNN agreed and named one of the local radio stations, the OK 99.5 FM as radio station of the year, terming the station as the rising star on the Liberian media landscape.

Many of the entries submitted described the station as the people’s radio station with the vision of providing affordable Media services professionally and objectively; it contents, according to them allows people to get the clear understanding of what is happening nowadays in Liberia, and is a radio station without borders.