Monrovia – Ahead of her annual UN General Assembly trip, Liberian President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf has commenced number major changes to her administration.
Late Wednesday, the President named Mr. James N. Kollie as the new Commissioner and Chief Executive Officer of the Liberia Maritime Authority.
Mr. Kollie replaces former Commissioner Binyah Kesselly who stepped down earlier in the year after his second tenure came to an end.
Mr. Kollie, the first Deputy Minister for Fiscal Affairs, Ministry of Finance and Development Planning, previously worked in the private, non-profit, and public sectors, in the areas of accounting and finance, policy analysis and program evaluation, with significant cross cultural background, special interest in development programs, poverty reduction strategy, and pro-poor policies; public sector financial management and budgeting; as well as public sector reform processes, and grassroots democratic empowerment.
As Deputy Minister for Fiscal Affairs (DMFA) of the MFDP, Dr. Kollie, has been responsible for developing fiscal policy, manage the financial resources of Liberia, develop and administer the financial rules and regulations of Liberia as well as overseeing and executing all matters relating to government accounting, including pay, pensions and other allowances.
Since 2012, Mr. Kollie has served the government of Liberia as Deputy Minister of Finance for Revenues at the erstwhile Ministry of Finance, in which capacity he supervised implementation of the country’s revenue and finance law relative to all revenue generating activities including Customs and Excise, Real Property and Internatal Revenue.
As Deputy Minister of Finance for Revenues, Dr. Kollie also represented the Minister of Finance at negotiations involving fiscal issues relative to revenue generation. Mr. Kollie holds an MBA in Corporate Finance from the University of St. Thomas, Minneapolis (2004).
The Liberia Maritime Program is one of the pre-eminent driving force of the national economy, developing avenues for strategic partnerships and infrastructural development directly related to the growth objectives of the Liberian Government.
The President also reappointed a number of current staffers at the LMA: Mr. Charles A. Gono, Jr. maintains his position as Deputy Commissioner for Vessel Registration and Safety, Monrovia office as did Ms. Yvonne Clinton, Deputy Commissioner for Vessel Registration; Cllr. Margaret Ansumana – Deputy Commissioner for Maritime Operation and and Mr. Emmanuel N. Reeves, Deputy Commissioner for Financial Affairs.
Atty. Isaac Jackson, the current Deputy Minister of Information is now the new Permanent Representative to the International Maritime Organization while Mr. Harry Conway becomes Alternate Permanent Representative to the IMO.
FrontPageAfrica has also gathered that the President is expected to make more appointments toward the end of the week, probably on Friday prior to her departure for the UNGA.
Those changes, according to sources are expected to affect the security sector with Mr. Gregory Coleman said to be in line to replace Police Director Chris Massaquoi while Abe Kromah is expected to return to his former role as Deputy Police Director for Operations.
Several other changes are also expected to be announced when the president addresses the media Friday, an executive mansion source told FrontPageAfrica Wednesday.
