Liberian Engineers Proposes Government-Owned Mining Company

MONROVIA – The Liberian government, led by President Joseph Nyuma Boakai, is about to receive a petition to create a mining business that it alone will control and run. This will encourage more job prospects for qualified Liberian geologists and mining engineers.

The National Mining Company of Liberia—the acronym for which will be chosen at the time of the recommendation presentation—is a proposed name that aims to improve the employment market and promote Liberian engineers and earth scientists to mainstream positions in their field. The proposal is a flagship project that Sumo Momolu, the newly appointed Executive Chairman of the Liberia Society for Earth Scientists and Engineers (LISESE), and his team of administrators will pursue with the appropriate Government of Liberia authorities to ensure that the nation [Liberia] owns and runs its own mining company.

According to LISESE’s boss, Momolu, if this is accomplished by a legislative act, it will give the government greater revenue streams and, as a knock-on effect, direct economic benefits for the populace rather than the millions of dollars the nation’s mineral sector generates going to foreign corporations. According to LISESE, the society of earth scientists and engineers, mineral concessions and other forms of mining in Liberia are giving less priority and attention to Liberian geologists, mining engineers, petrologists, and electrical engineers, among other professionals, when it comes to placing them in jobs.

Through its new Executive Chairman, Sumo Momolu, the Earth Science and Engineers Society (LISESE) has also revealed plans to ensure that all engineers are placed under one umbrella organization. More significantly, through a strict licensing regime, each engineer will take a professional aptitude exam to determine eligibility status. LISESE is modeling itself after the Bar Association, which regulates law practices here. Momolu underlined that this strenuous exercise will be done yearly and that top performers and underperformers will be grouped for additional action. At the induction ceremony held on National Unification Day in Monrovia, special mention was made of the Ministry of Mines and Energy’s support in working with the Earth Science and Engineers Society to prioritize the knowledge of Liberian scientists. Cooper Pency from the Cadastre unit of the Mines and Energy Ministry represented William Hines, the Deputy Minister for Operations at the Ministry, who promised friendly relations between the government and the Engineers.

Senior Engineer E.C.B. Jones also offered special statements on behalf of the cooperative, as did other dignitaries from the earth sciences, such as Assistant Ministers for Mines Carlos Tingban Edison and Mineral Exploration and Environmental Research Oliver Gbegbe. Alphonso K. Hina and Adolphus M.G.D. Gleekai, two more LISESE leaders inducted on May 14, 2024, will each serve two-year terms. Gleekai, the Deputy Inspector-General of the Ministry of Mines and Energy, is the Secretary General of LISESE, with Hina serving as Co-Chairman.