Monrovia – Leading Liberian human rights lawyer Cllr. Tiawon Saye Gongloe along with other newly elected officials of the Liberia National Bar Association (LNBA) are to be inducted into
Report by Kennedy L. Yangian, [email protected]
Others to be inducted into
The ceremony, expected to be attended by Chief Justice Francis Korkpor and Associate Justices of the Supreme Court and other dignitaries, will begin at 3:00 PM at the Paynesville Town City.
Resident Coordinator of the United Nations Office in Liberia Yacoub El Hillo will served as keynote speaker, while former Associate Justice of the Supreme Court George E. Henries will served as installing officer.
The new LNBA President started his education at the G.W.Pearson School in Ganta, onward to the Tappita Public School, St Francis all in Tappita, St,Mary Catholic School and later matriculated to the University of Liberia upon graduation and earned a degree in Economics in 1981 followed by a law degree from the Louis Arthur Grimes School of Law in 1988.
The Liberian astute lawyer was admitted to the Montserrado County Bar Association in 1988 and subsequently admitted to the Supreme Court Bar as Counselor at law in 1994.
He owes a law practice and interest in human rights and public interest law through a mentorship provided by two outstanding Liberian lawyers Cllrs. Laveli Supuwood and the late Francis Garlawolo.
Though, Gongloe law practice covers all legal services in Liberia he is best known by the public more for his defense of the poor and those faced with challenging legal situations that most lawyers fear because of the potential risks for retaliatory oppressive action from government or powerful forces in the Liberian society.
Gongloe has received several accolades for his works as a human rights lawyer, at home, he has received awards as lawyer of the year, human rights advocate from the News Newspaper, the Inquirer and many other media entities in the country from the 1990s to 2002 and from 2011 up to present.
On the international scene, Cllr. Gongloe has received a batch of awards as United States Human Rights Defender 2003, Human Rights Watch, A Philip Randolph Institute Freedom Award among several others.
In government, Cllr, Gongloe has served as Special Assistant in the Office of the then Interim President Amos Sawyer, Labour Minister, and lately Solicitor General of Liberia , the positions he had served and resigned voluntarily with honor.
Cllr. Gongloe first declared his intention for the Bar Presidency in 2015, narrowly losing to the incumbent president Cllr. Moses Paegar due to what many legal luminaries have contributed as declaring his intention lately.
The Liberia foremost human rights lawyer and advocate again joined the Bar Presidential race in 2018 when he was rated by his peers as the most congenial candidate in the race to defeat presidential contenders, Bima Lasanah former LNBA Vice President and Swahilo Sesay to clinch unto the bar presidency.
However, in his upcoming three-year-term, Cllr. Gongloe has promised to produce the LNBA Journal as an avenue for promoting legal education and scholarship for bar members and secure an insurance for the bar and continue legal aid and education for the general public.