Veteran Liberian female musician, Miatta Fahnbulleh, has hailed the International Maritime Organization (IMO) on Liberia’s recent election to Category ‘A’ of the Council in London, the United Kingdom.
Fahnbulleh served as guest performer at a special musical concert organized in London, which coincided with Liberia’s election to Category ‘A’ of the Council of IMO, where she, through her popular songs, helped in further raising the flag of Liberia in the shipping world.
She said in an exclusive interview at her residence with the Hot Pepper in Monrovia that Liberians should take pride in the nation’s category ‘A’ place within the IMO Council for the next 2024—2025 Biennium, which has restored Liberia’s lost dignity amongst the comity of nations, especially in the Council of the IMO.
The acclaimed female music icon voiced that Liberia has the highest fleet of ships flying its flags and that retaining Category ‘A’ within the IMO is highly commendable, though she underscored the importance of the employment of Liberian seafarers on board these vessels carrying the country’s flags on international waters.
Liberia last served Category ‘A’ of the Council of the IMO in 1995, but lost the position due to protracted civil wars and got elected to under-Category ‘C’ in 2011 for the 2012 and 2013 biennium. It was not until recently at the IMO 33rd Assembly Session of the organization in London on Friday, December 1, 2023 that Liberia was elected to Category ‘A’ during hotly contested election along with nine other countries: China, Greece, Italy, Japan, Norway, US, Panama, the Republic of Korea and the United Kingdom.
She emphasized that Liberia, with 14 percent of the world’s oceangoing fleet, that is some 5,000 vessels, neatly fits in this category.
Regarding the concert, Fahnbulleh explained that her yesteryear songs, such as, Everybody Likes Saturday Night and Amosakesa, among others, did not only thrill the ships’ owners or members of the shipping arena; they also attracted Lenn Eugene Nagbe, Commissioner of the Liberia Maritime Authority (LiMA), alongside scores of Liberians in London to their feet in celebration of the nation’s election to the IMO Category ‘A’ position of the Council.
“I am highly impressed by Liberia’s maritime program retaining once more its Category ‘A’ post with the Council of the IMO,” Fahnbulleh stated. She then took off time to extol the entire crew at the LiMA that worked overtime to ensuring that the country got elected during the IMO 33rd Assembly Session.
On the country’s just-ended election, the Liberian female music star also commended fellow citizens for voting Liberia “as our common denominator, above religion, tribal connection and lest to add party line”.
She further noted that the citizenry demonstrated a high degree of maturity during the polls conducted by the National Elections Commission (NEC), headed by one-time ELBC journalist, Davidetta Browne-Lansana, which results were qualified by international elections observers, foreign nations, including the US and the EU, among others, as free, peaceful, fair, credible and democratic.
Fahnbulleh used the occasion to entreat every Liberian at home and in the diaspora to rally their support around the President-elect, Ambassador Joseph Nyuma Boakia, Standard Bearer of the United Party, for the rebuilding of a vibrant society under the new political dispensation.
She also hailed out-going President George Weah for peacefully conceding defeat in the presidential election of November 14, 2023, which saw Ambassador Boakia as the victor in the race which political pundits considered to be competitive and peaceful.