MONROVIA – The office of President George Manneh Weah has ordered the reinstatement of the principal of the Booker Washington (BWI), Attorney Harris Fomba Tarnue, who was suspended by the Minister of Education and some members of the institute’s board a month ago, a source close to the presidency has told this paper.
It said the decision was made formal during a hastily- arranged meeting of the BWI Board of Governor at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs yesterday.
Mr. Tarnue’s reinstatement stems from finding that under the law creating BWI, only the president of Liberia, who is Chairman Ex-Officio of the institute’s board, has the authority to appoint and remove a sitting principal.
Since Tarnue’s controversial suspension and subsequent appointment of James Walker as acting principal, a group of high profile BWI alumni have been advocating and appealing to President Weah to use the law creating the institute as an instrument to undo the unlawful suspension of Principal Tarnue.
When contacted, one of the alumni spearheading the campaign to reverse the suspension decision, Jonathan Paye-Layleh, a former president of the BWI Alumni Association, said he could not speak to any decision made in the saga but said he had heard about celebration on the BWI campus.
BWI was set up in 1929 to train middle-level technicians and technocrats and has over the years produced some of the best the country can boast of.
Meanwhile, this paper has learnt that members of the BWI Board of Governors are expected to escort the suspended principal to the campus this morning (Thursday morning) to be reinstated at 11 a.m.
Support Independent Journalism
Your support helps FrontPage Africa continue delivering independent, credible, and impactful journalism. Every contribution strengthens our ability to investigate, inform, and hold power accountable while keeping quality journalism accessible to our readers.
Support our journalism or subscribe to receive the latest FrontPage Africa stories and updates.
