Monrovia – Mr. Ambulai “AB” Johnson Jr., the first Minister of Internal Affairs in the Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf-led government has died.
Family sources confirmed to FrontPageAfrica Wednesday that the former Minister who has been battling cancer died in the U.S. State of North Carolina Tuesday.
Mr. Johnson served as MIA minister from 2006-2009. While at the Ministry of Internal Affairs, Mr Johnson was the grandchild for the County Development Fund.
Along with his Cabinet Colleague, Toga McIntosh, they set up Liberia’s first County Development Agenda which laid out Development Plans and Government’s decentralization action plan for each county.
Mr Johnson also served a Research Analyst at the Ministry of Planning and Economic Affairs under Minister Cyril Bright during the Tolbert era and after the 1980 coup, he became Deputy Minister of Labour up to 1984.
In the 1985 elections, he contested the senatorial seat for Bomi County on the Liberia Action Party ticket and lost the elections to Senator H.Q. Taylor, Sr.
Mr. Johnson is a former professor of Economics at the Cuttington University and the University of Liberia.
He attended and graduated from the Lott Carey Baptist Mission School where he also served as Superintendent. Upon graduation from Lott Carey, AB entered the State University of New York (SUNY) where he earned his BA and MA in Economics.
He also earned an MBA from the Wharton School of Finance, University of Pennsylvania. A few years later, AB entered Pfeiffer University and obtained additional masters degrees: Masters in Health Administration and an MBA in Business Administration from Pfeiffer University.
He says, “My advanced degrees in Finance and Economics have been instrumental in tailoring my life to support international relations and national development initiatives in Liberia.”
With a hectic schedule, AB found time to provide volunteer services at his Alma Mater, Lott Carey Mission, for a year, teaching mathematics.
He believes, “This spirit of giving back should form the institutional mantra of many, if not all of our (Liberian) institutions.” AB Johnson has held several key positions with the Government of the Republic of Liberia: Minister of Internal Affairs, Deputy Minister of Labor, among other important roles.
Following his exit from government Mr. Johnson served as Chairman of the Board of Directors of Lone Star Oil and Gas (an oil and gas exploration conglomerate) and as Chairman of the Board of Directors for “T” Enterprise, Inc., a business development and consultancy company, he established along with his wife, Thelma Sedia Johnson.
His death came as a hard loss for many who knew him. Mr. Ansu Konneh, who worked with Mr. Johnson at Western Cluster Limited, posted on his Facebook page Wednesday: “I learned a lot from him in the last five years as we interacted at workplace.
Everyday was something new to learn from him in practical organizational management. I drank from his fountain of rich knowledge and experience as his former students from Cuttington, Cllr Varney Sherman, Cyril Allen, S. Alfred P. Harris, former LWSC Managing Director Charles Allen and others did.
His former students at the UL in the 1980s like the late Tarnue Marwolo, former Minister of State Without Portfolio and Allison Barco, former Director General of the Liberia Broadcasting System and many others.”