Liberia: Concerned Community of BWI Alumni Hails President Weah for Re-instating Institute’s Principal

Monrovia – The Concerned Community of BWI Alumni, the group that worked to ensure a corrective administrative measure at the institute, is commending President George Manneh Weah for exercising a sound leadership skill and using the law creating the institute to reinstate the Principal, Attorney Harris Fomba Tarnue.

The BWI alumni hail President Weah for not allowing the presidency to be misled by those who wanted the Principal out by all means for personal reasons.

The group says it is pleased that Mr. Tarnue has returned to restore order to an institution that was on the brink of collapse following his unlawful suspension.

Mr. Tarnue was in May unlawfully suspended by the minister of education and some members of the institute’s board, a task that under the law creating the school, should be performed by only the President of the Republic.

At the same time the group  says  its investigation has established that during the one-month period of the absence of the institute’s principal, a small group of students and about four recent graduates  residing in the Kakata area,  were recruited  and incited to resist the return of Principal Tarnue.

The BWI alumni say they do not understand why individuals who have graduated from the school and now living on their own could join a small group of current students to stage a clearly meaningless protest.

The concerned alumni are, therefore, advising parents of students attending BWI to take the necessary measures to ensure that their children who are sent to learn for  their future and help build Liberia  are not used by individuals who are opposed to stability at the institute.

On Thursday, June 20, police in Margibi County used tears gas to disperse protesting students of the Booker Washington Institute and rounded several of them over the reinstatement of the school principal.

The students were furiously protesting the reinstatement of dismissed principle Harris Fumba Tarnue. 

Mr. Tarnue was reinstated by President George Manneh Weah but the students have rejected the decision.      

The office of President Weah on Wednesday ordered the reinstatement of principal Tarnue, who was relieved of his position by the Minister of Education and some members of the institute’s board recently.

Earlier, the Board of Governors submitted a formal complaint against Mr. Tarnue to the Education Ministry alleging several counts including nepotism, administrative improprieties and gross disrespect to the Board.