Monrovia – Renowned Liberian Economist and veteran politician, Dr. Togba Nah Tipoteh has termed as unacceptable the irony of Grand Kru County: gave birth to most of Liberia’s best brains and statesmen, yet it remains the poorest county in Liberia.
Dr. Tipoteh who hails from Grand Kru County said despite the county boasting of some of Liberia’s best brains and statesmen, nothing much has been done by these officials to give back to the county.
Citing the Afro Barometer 2020 report, the veteran Liberian educator noted that Grand Kru remains the poorest County in Liberia; adding it was now time for sons and daughters to join hands in giving back to their county and country at large.
He made the comments at a one-day strategic planning workshop aimed at setting the pace for establishing the Grand Kru Technical College.
“Why is it that in Grand Kru, we have a lot of well-schooled people- in my little village, we have two persons that hold a doctoral degree in Economic, we have five bishops, we have three persons with a medical degree and two of them are specialists in a small place… I don’t want to mention Barclayville…”
He continued: “But then how come that less than two years ago, data from there shows that over 80 percent of our people have less than US$1.5 a day? The poorest part of Liberia. How come? You have at the level of the presidency, somebody from there, at the level of the Senate and at the level of the House of Representatives, state managers.”
Speaking further, he said the best way to give back to society is through education. He thanked the Board of Trustees of the Grand Kru County Technical College headed by Professor Weade Kobbah-Boley for organizing the forum and pledged his unflinching support to activities leading to the establishment of the college.
The Grand Kru Technical College was established by an act of the Legislature in 2019. However, since the passage of the law, the college is yet to be fully established and opened for academic activities.
Giving the overview of the workshop, Prof. Kobbah-Boley thanked the stakeholders for attending the event and stated that the gathering was geared towards brainstorming ideas to set the pace for the full establishment of the college.
“Basically, the objective of this workshop is to bring people together –academicians and higher education experts and prominent citizens of Grand Kru to brainstorm on the direction for the establishment of the college,” she said.
Delivering the keynote address, the Deputy Commissioner of the National Commission on Higher Education, James Lablah explained the process of acquiring license and accreditation and called on the Board of Trustee and the administration to form a partnership with a mentor institution.
Also Speaking Grand Kru County Senator, Numene Bartekwa, who also serves as a member of the college’s Board of Trustees, pledged the County Legislative caucus’ support towards the process aimed at opening the institution.
“The University of Liberia’s Vice President for Academic Affairs, Dr. Moses Zinah pledged his commitment and expertise to the process; adding you can’t fail when you educate someone.”