From a Humbled Beginning To A National Hero –
The Profile of Hon. Joseph Nyuma Boakai, Standard Bearer of the Unity Party and Vice President of the Republic of Liberia:
His Excellency Joseph Nyuma Boakai, Sr. is a genuine people-centered nationalist, patriot, and dedicated public servant who has served his country and people diligently for more than thirty-five (35) years. Hon. Boakai served in several positions in government and the private sectors, where he left immaculate records of performance and dedication. He is a profound family man and a devout Christian – a deacon in the Baptist faith. Throughout his years of service to the motherland, Vice President Boakai has been very meticulous and demonstrated exemplary qualities of enviable magnitude left unmatched by most of his successors. Hon. Boakai was born in a very remote village called Worsonga in Foya District, Lofa County, on November 30, 1944. Our leader is a character of extraordinary personality and unwavering determination; he has very exceptionally withstood the test of time, challenged too-hard-to-surmount situations from a humble beginning to rise with radiance into venerated national hero. He symbolizes the struggle of the ordinary Liberian child and epitomizes the virtue in courage, determination and perseverance as a boy from the farmland.
The immense contributions of Hon. Boakai to the nation triggered his selection by Madam Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf as Vice Standard Bearer of the Unity party in the 2005 General and Presidential Elections and subsequently elected as Vice President of the Republic to Madam Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf as President. They have both won two elections and have since been tremendously instituting a number of structural reforms in the politics and governance of the state. The magnificent leadership prowess they brought to bear on statecraft saw Liberia unshackling from the dungeons as a failed and collapsed state into a recognizable place within the comity of nations. Vice President Boakai has continued to work along with Mrs. Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf restoring law and order; reconstructing the country; restoring and improving basic social services; and improving the country’s investment climate.
As Vice President, Hon. Boakai is President of the Liberian Senate and he presides over the Senate Plenary two days a week. Prior to his incumbency as Vice President of the Republic, Hon. Boakai served Liberia in the following positions:
Resident Manager of Liberia Produce Marketing Corporation (LPMC) – 1973-1980
Managing Director of Liberia Produce Marketing Corporation (LPMC) – 1980-1982
Managing Director of Liberia Petroleum Refining Company (LPRC) – 1992
Ministry of Agriculture/1983 – 1985
Critical Achievements as per Assignment
Obviously as Minister of Agriculture, Hon. Boakai was responsible for national agricultural policy formation and implementation, support, research, and regulatory services in the sector. He monitored activities and chaired boards of over twenty (20) agricultural development projects, including the Agricultural Cooperative Development Bank and support institutions. In a period of one year, Hon. Boakai chaired a fifteen (15) nation West African Rice Development Association (WARDA) and toured research projects of WARDA in Sierra Leone, Ivory Coast, and Guinea Bissau. He also toured several agricultural projects in Denmark, Belgium, Great Britain, Malaysia, and Ivory Coast in connection with poultry, cattle grazing, rubber, and oil palm production and processing and assisted in the first PL-480 program evaluations for Liberia.
His first services at LPMC were marvelous; he served as the Chief Executive Officer and the first Liberian Managing Director of that entity. He was responsible for export and of marketing coffee, cocoa, and palm kernel oil; and arranging purchases, shipment, and handling of the PL-480 programs from 1980 – 1984.
Counting on the depth of knowledge and expertise of Hon. Boakai, he was required to undertake short term consultancies in several institutions including the following:
He served as Chief Technical Advisor on Agriculture Policy, Ministry of Agriculture;
He reviewed and evaluated the Liberian 1986 proposed Green Revolution;
He reviewed FAO/World Bank 1986 Agricultural Sector Review Document;
He evaluated AMSCO, Amsterdam Funded training program projects in Uganda in 1994 and Tanzania in 1996.
Vice President Boakai is also a great humanitarian and philanthropist. In the civic and self-help sector, Hon. Boakai supervised and personally financed up to 75% of a 7-mile rural village road construction to his home town of Worsonga. He worked with the Federation of Liberian Youth and the Danish Youth to construct a school for 150 students and clinic for a community of 10 villages. He influenced the erection of OIC projects in Foya Kama and organized and headed fundraising for rural electrification of Foya Kama in Lofa County.
Hon. Boakai has served as member and chairman of many boards including Chairman/Liberia Finance and Trust Corporation; Chairman of the Board of Star Radio; Member of the Board of LOIC; member of the board of the Liberia Baptist Theological Seminary; founding member of Bethesda Christian Mission; founding organizer, African Methodist Episcopal University; founding organizer of the C.W.A. Methodist University; President of the Monrovia YMCA; President of LUSU Resource Corporation; and Ex-President of the Monrovia Rotary Club.
He has been happily married since 1972 to Kartumu Y. Boakai. This union is blessed with four (4) children: three (3) sons and a daughter. He is the owner of LUSU Resource Corporation and Co-owner of AGROMACHINES-Liberia.