Liberia: Senate to Vet Controversial Liberia Airport Authority Nominee Darlington Karnley Today

MONROVIA – The Liberian Senate is expected to conduct confirmation proceedings of the Managing Director -designate of the Roberts International Airport, Darlington  Karnley, today.

According to the Chairman of the Senate Transport Committee,  Gbarpolu County Senator, Daniel F. Naathen, the exercise on Monday will commence at  2:00 pm in the Senate Chambers.

Karnley was nominated by President George Manneh Weah on May 4, 2022 , subject to confirmation by the Liberian Senate, but his nomination has drawn mixed reactions over him being unqualified due to his academic credentials.

At first, a release from the Liberian presidency claimed that Karnley has “a rich background in the field of Aviation and is a Master’s Degree Candidate in aviation management from the Aviation Institute of Maintenance in Philadelphia (AIM).”

However, It was further established that AIM was more of a technical school and not a degree-granting institution, as Karnley claimed when he submitted his curriculum vitae to the Liberian Presidency.

Courses offered by the school include  Aviation Maintenance Technician (AMT), Aviation Maintenance Technician Avionics (AMTA), Maintenance Technician, Professional Aviation Maintenance Certification Online Course, and unmanned aircraft systems.

FrontPageAfrica would later learned that Karnley earned a professional certificate in aviation maintenance from the Aviation Institute of Maintenance and is not a Master’s candidate in Aviation Management in Philadelphia as claimed.

Karnley’s profile, released by the Weah’s administration, also failed to state where he completed his undergraduate studies. However, it  has been gathered that he attended Cuttington University for three years before leaving for the United States. His time at the university was between 2010 and 2013.

He is believed to have worked at Radio Advent as Program Director, before traveling to the United States in 2014.

On his work experience, the Weah Administration said Karnley works at Boeing, America’s leading aircraft manufacturer as an avionics tech specialist manager, managing all installations, inspections, tests, adjusting, or repairing avionics equipment, such as radar, radio, navigation, and missile control systems in aircraft or space vehicles.

This, also, could not be verified. Another search using Boeing Zoominfo Directory where the names and titles of all their employees/contractors are uploaded as per region did not show Karnley or anything similar to it.

In the directory, a single name did not appear matching President Weah’s appointee’s full name or his position title, “avionics tech specialist.

It was also discovered that Karnley works for Duncan Aviation, the largest privately owned business jet service provider in the world. However, even this information is yet to be verified.

Duncan Aviation’s services involve complete maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) service offerings at three US facilities, strategically placed regional shops, and mobile technical teams able to provide services worldwide and, at the same time, provide maintenance, repair, and overhaul services for Boeing.

Karnley’s appointment comes as President Weah administration has been in search of qualified  and experienced personnel to run the Roberts International Airport, which has been in crisis.

One such crisis has been  power outage problems — the latest instance being the power outage on the night of April 27, which forced an inbound Brussels Airlines flight to return to Freetown, after attempting to land.