Ambassador Thomas Ngombu Brima
By Geraldine Bass-Golokeh
Our fallen Ambassador was a devoted Christian and by denomination an Episcopalian. He was married with 13 children and several grand children. He attended the Holy Cross Mission School in Bolahun, Liberia and thereafter the Cuttington College and Divinity School, Bong County-Liberia where he graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree in Education.
Ambassador considered his life as one well spent. He often spoke of life on earth as a mission to serve mankind and indeed he spent his time fulfilling the desires of his family, Government, friends and colleagues. Ngombu connected with Sierra Leone, being half Liberian, half Sierra Leonean (that is Mother Sierra Leonean, Father Liberian). He loved his country and spoke of it with a passion.
The “Papay”, as he was affectionately called, reflected on the months he spent in jail in 1980 with other officials of the deposed regime in Liberia, as a period of enlightenment on how the human race manages power, strength and weakness.
The late Ambassador, His Excellency Thomas Ngombu Brima, served the Liberian people in the following capacities during the period covering 1967 to 2014:
- Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to the Republic of Sierra Leone
- Minister of Commerce and Industry, Republic of Liberia
- Executive Director, Office of the Vice Chairman, Council of State of Liberia
- Advisor to the Council of State, National Reconciliation and Reconstruction, RL
- Minister of Internal Affairs of Liberia
- Deputy Minister of Urban Affairs, Ministry of Internal Affairs, R.L
- Advisor to the Minister of Internal Affairs
- Superintendent, Lofa County, R.L
- Acting Minister of Rural Development, Ministry of Local Government, R.L
- Executive Secretary, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, R.L
- Administrative Assistant to the President and Member of Faculty, Cuttington University College and Divinity School, R.L
INTERNATIONAL EXPERIENCES
- Consultative Meeting of West African Civil Societies on small arm and ECOWAS
MORATORIUM, Accra, Ghana
- Liberia Peace Talk, Accra Ghana
- Consultative Meeting of West African Civil Societies to review the ECOWAS Moratorium, Dakar, Senegal
- Regional Consultative Meeting on Peace and Conflict Resolution in West Africa, Lagos, Nigeria
- Delegate, Liberia Peace Talks, Abuja, Nigeria
- Delegate, OAU Ministerial Meeting, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
- Delegate, ECOWAS meeting on Liberia, Accra, Ghana
- Head of Delegation, United Nations Environment Program Ministerial Meeting in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
- Special Consultant to Liberian Delegation, World Conference of Mayors, Washington DC, USA
- Guest- American Council of YOUNG Political Leaders, Washington DC USA
- Head of Delegation, Afro-Asian Rural Reconstruction Organization, Manila, Philippines
- Delegate, Ordinary Session of the OAU Council of Ministers, Rabat-Morocco
- Special Envoy to Delegation, Invasion of Guinea Conference, Lagos-Nigeria
The late Ambassador Brima’s official life cut across three phases of Governance in Liberia manned by people with diverse outlooks on life. While some see the Liberian situation as a revolution, “Papay” accepted it as “an evolution taking place the hard way.”
He believed in improving the capacity of his staff and personally sponsored training programs for deserving staff members to ensure that they met the required standards.
As recently as June, 2013 he delved into the personal lives of Liberians residing in Sierra Leone who were agitating to return home. He negotiated assistance from the Japanese Government, which enabled the International Organization for Migration (IOM) repatriate hundreds of Liberians.
Ambassador’s hobbies included reading, counseling and writing. Among his legacies is his book, “The Undoing of a Nation”, which will require painstaking effort to locate and compile.
Liberia has lost a dedicated servant, a patriot whose deeds will never be forgotten or erased in the footprints of time. May his Soul and the souls of the faithful departed rest in eternal peace.
On behalf of the Government and people of the Republic of Liberia, we express our profound thanks and appreciation to the Government and People of the Republic of Sierra Leone, the Diplomatic and Consular Corps for organizing this memorial service for the late Ambassador Thomas Ngombu Brima.
The Book of Condolence will be opened tomorrow, June 2 to June 9, 2014 from 10:00 to 15:00 at the Embassy, 2 Spur Road, Freetown. THANK YOU!!!
State Funeral Service and wake keeping in Monrovia 12th June, 2014 followed by family funeral service and the burial on 14th June, 2014 in Vahun, Lofa County-Liberia.
NOTE: Geraldine Bass-Golokeh is Deputy Chief of Mission and Charge D'Affaires at the Liberian embassy in Freetown. She gave this tribute during a Memorial Service organised by the Diplomatic and Consular Corps in collaboration with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, of the Republic of Sierra Leone; Sunday June 1, 2014 at the St. George’s Parish Church, Murray Town, Freetown.
(C) Politico 05/06/14
