This week as our monthly slot, we once again profile one of Liberia’s most committed public servants, who have been providing his youthful skills and talents for the beautification of one of Africa’s oldest cities, Monrovia as its youngest City Mayor, and currently serve as President of mayors around the country.
The City of Monrovia Capital City with 29% of the total population of Liberia (1,010,970 according to 2008 census) it is the most populous city; founded on April 25, 1822.
Its youthful Lord Mayor, Jefferson Tamba Koijee is our Profile of the Month, his success story since ascending to this prestigious position will be embedded as we capture his academic, political, administrative and professional impetus being the youngest ever to occupy this momentous and well-suited position.
Prior to his appointment as Lord Mayor of the City of Monrovia (Monrovia City Corporation) in August of 2018, ‘Jeff’ as he is affectionately call by many of his peers and admirers, served and fought for the existence ‘Mighty’ Congress for Democratic Change (CDC) now the ruling Coalition for Democratic Change (CDC) as its youth Chairman, a position he holds with nationalism. ‘Jeff’, due to his intelligence and his uprightness has been locally and internationally admired as Liberia’s ‘Best Dress’ public official.
Mr. Koijee worked between 2008 and 2010 as County Coordinator, Montserrado for the Federation of Liberian Youth, the umbrella organization for all youth groupings in Liberia. He is a candidate of Bachelor of Business Administration (BBA) in Management of the Stella Maris Polytechnic and also a candidate of Bachelor of Science (BSC) in Political Science of the University of Liberia.
On the international scene, Lord Mayor Koijee was elected to the Executive Committee of the Global Parliament of Mayors during its Conference held in Bristol, the United Kingdom last year; has been credited as the second African Mayor to be elected to such position.
His election at this prestigious international Conference brought smiles on the faces of Liberians, and even put to shame to many of his detractors who did not expect to see such from this illustrious young Liberian to be honored outside the country for his splendid performances during the GPM Conference where he publicly presented the position of the City of Monrovia highlighting issues of health, security, agriculture, youth and employment, infrastructure, and education.
Mayor Koijee is also a member of Concordia, one of the world’s leading global conveners, bringing together its expansive membership community of institutions and individuals to address the most complex and challenging issues of our time.
Its membership community provides the foundation of all that they do; spanning industries, geographies, and causes, this community represents a diverse and inclusive network of organizations and individuals committed to elevating and advancing positive social impact. Its membership allows individuals and organizations the ability to convene at Concordia’s year-round events, connect within our diverse global network, and create partnerships that advance individual and organizational objectives.
In his bid to fight the COVID-19 pandemic which has ravaged our global community, the Monrovia Lord Mayor provided huge financial opportunities to over 6,000 Liberian youths from various communities in Monrovia and its environs by allowing them to be empowered through a recruitment process to become “active case finders” to help the National Public Health Institute of Liberia (NPHIL) and the Ministry of Health in carrying out contact tracing which has now made them to secure finances for their livelihood.
Jefferson Tamba Koijee’s administrative leadership at the Monrovia City Corporation (MCC) has been overwhelmed; understanding fast and perfectly the governance of the City of Monrovia and many of its ordinances, a move that have made Monrovians and other nationalities to uniquely applaud the Lord Mayor for a job well done.
One of his most admirable stances taken under the administration of Jefferson Tamba Koijee was the takeover of the City Parking Services in some parts of the City helping to provide job opportunities to jobless Liberian young people.
Recently it was also noticed that the Monrovia City Police (MCP) under the City Government headed by Mayor Koijee has provided professional services as required by law to engage and maintain security, also backing the Liberia National Police in directing traffic in Monrovia and its environs.
Last year, 2019, the Monrovia City Cooperation (MCC) lunched one of its mayor exercises; the waste management system called the house to house garbage collection pilot project was vigorously carryout in four districts in Monrovia. As a result of this, residents in Monrovia say they are not getting the full impact of the much talk about “Weah for Clean City”.
Despite rebranding its waste collection campaign, MCC faces serious challenges with the handling of waste in country.
Speaking at the event, Monrovia City Mayor Jefferson T. Koijee says he has listened to all of the many concerns about the handling of waste, adding it is time for residents of the four districts corporate with the MCC waste management team for a clean environment.
Mayor Koijee said his vision is to ensure that Monrovia becomes a ‘smart’ city, adding that software named and styled “Ducor Software” has also been developed for waste tracking and household locations.
“Every day you say the city is dirty, the City Major is not working, the Mayor can wear bow tie, the Mayor just sitting behind his desk; I want to say thank you ever so much,” Mayor Koijee said.
Recently the Monrovia City Mayor Jefferson T.Koijee showed his maturity as a leader by publicly condemning the Liberia National Police for what he called a clampdown on protesters during the third day of the much-publicized Match for Justice Protest.
He also frowned on some of the protesters for disrespecting and publicly mocking the Minister of Gender, Children, and Social Protection on Day one of the protests after she had gone to receive the protester’s petition on behalf of the President.
Follow us for our next profile of this month
Writes: Joel Cholo Brooks
