Harry Moniba

Harry F. Moniba was born on 22 October 1937 in Kolahun, Lofa County, into a family of modest means; his father was a farmer. During his early education, Moniba achieved the highest score in Liberia on a USAID-administered examination, which helped enable him to pursue further studies abroad.^[1][2]

Moniba earned his PhD in International Relations and African Studies at Michigan State University. He received his MSc in Secondary Education with a minor in Nineteenth Century European Studies at New York University and received his Post master's degree in International Relations and European Studies at State University of New York. His bachelor's degree in Secondary Education (Cum Laude) was earned at Cuttington University College in Liberia.

Vice presidency

Moniba served as interim vice president of Liberia from 1984 to 1985 and was later elected vice president following the 1985 Liberian general election. He took office on 6 January 1986 and served until September 1990 during the administration of President Samuel Doe. Prior to assuming the vice presidency, Moniba had held several diplomatic and government positions, including service in the Liberian foreign service and academic roles in Liberia and abroad.^[3]

During the attempted coup of November 1985, Moniba was captured by dissident soldiers and taken to a radio station where he was ordered at gunpoint to announce the resignation of the government. He refused and instead appealed to Liberians to refrain from violence and to resolve political disputes peacefully.^[4]

In her memoir This Child Will Be Great, former president of Liberia Ellen Johnson Sirleaf describes the general election of 1985 as rigged, claiming that the results were 'utterly, utterly false'. Sirleaf ran for senator in the election, winning a seat, but along with others protesting the widespread election fraud, refused to take it.^[5]

During the early stages of the First Liberian Civil War, Moniba also called for a peaceful resolution to Liberia's political crisis. After the end of the civil war, Moniba ran as a candidate in the 1997 presidential election, finishing behind Charles Taylor and other candidates.

As ambassador

Moniba served in the posts of Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Republic of Liberia to the Court of St. James and the Sovereign Military Order of Malta. Moniba also held the posts of Assistant Minister of Foreign Affairs, Director of Research at the Ministry of Education in Monrovia, Liberia and First Secretary and Consul to the Embassy of Liberia in Washington, D.C., US, and Ottawa, Canada.

Moniba received an award from the Liberian Human Rights Chapter in 1994 in honor of his human rights activism. The Chapter stated that along with not supporting any faction in the civil war, "Moniba always valued equality and justice for all and felt as if this was a sign that their fellow Liberian countrymen and women were acknowledging his hard work in his fight against human suffering."

Moniba died on 24 November 2004 in a two-vehicle traffic accident in the United States.^[6] Funeral services were held in Washington, D.C., before his remains were returned to Liberia.^[7] In Monrovia he was honored with a large state funeral service at Trinity Cathedral, after which he was buried at his residence in the ELWA area of the city.^[8]

Following his death, Michigan Congressman Nick Smith delivered a tribute in the United States Congress honoring his legacy and contributions to international diplomacy. The Congressman stated: "Dr. Moniba loved his country, and worked tirelessly to establish peace and prosperity for Liberia. He understood well the true role of a politician in a democratic society."^[9]

A room was dedicated in Moniba's honor at the Liberian Embassy in Washington, D.C., in February 2007. A primary school in Monrovia was also named in his honor.

• Booker T. Washington, Tuskegee Institute, and Liberia: Institutional and Moral Assistance, 1908-1969 (1975)
• Liberian Politics Today: Some Personal Observations (1992)
• A Vision of the Future (Publication date unknown)

• Samuel Doe
• National Democratic Party of Liberia
• 1985 Liberian general election
• First Liberian Civil War