Published: October 25, 2025
Maryland, USA — Finance Minister Augustine Kpehe Ngafuan has paid glowing tribute to Liberian journalists, crediting the nation’s media for molding his intellect and leadership during his formative years. Speaking as keynote at the Association of Liberian Journalists in the Americas (ALJA) convention in Greenbelt, Maryland, Ngafuan said he owes much of who he is today to the influence of Liberia’s print and broadcast media.
A Tribute Rooted in Memory and Gratitude
Delivering an address titled “The Positive Impact of the Media on Me During My Formative Years,” Ngafuan spoke not as a policymaker but as a grateful son of Liberia’s newsroom culture. His remarks were both nostalgic and deeply personal, tracing his intellectual awakening to the influence of the Liberian press.
He began by recalling his late father, Dennis Ngaima Ngafuan, who, despite earning modest wages and never finishing high school, instilled in his children a devotion to news and learning. “My father would spend his last dime every day to buy at least two newspapers,” Ngafuan said. “He also bought a small Sony radio.”
It was through that ritual, he said, that he and his siblings were first introduced to the world of ideas, current affairs, and public debate. “Even when we had little,” he continued, “my father made sure we had access to information. That was his way of investing in our future.”
Ngafuan vividly described his childhood in Logan Town, where the historic April 12, 1980 coup forever altered Liberia’s political landscape, and his own worldview. Instead of shielding his family from the upheaval, his father brought the world inside their zinc-roofed home, borrowing money to buy a black-and-white television “just so we could watch Action News on the Liberia Broadcasting System.”
That exposure, Ngafuan said, transformed his understanding of the world. “Intently following the media during those formative years put me in a practical school where I learned a whole lot beyond what I was taught at A.B. Tolbert Elementary and Booker Washington Institute,” he told the gathering.
Honoring the Titans of the Press
Ngafuan honored the journalists whose words, courage, and clarity helped mold his character. He named Rufus Darpoh, Stanton Peabody, Kenneth Y. Best, Phillip Wesseh, and Tom Kamara as the writers whose columns sharpened his intellect, and celebrated broadcasters like Charles Gbenyon, Kwame Clement, Welma Mashinini, Jestina Gibson, Olivia Shannon, and Victoria Christopher for refining his speech and articulation.
“I am what I am today,” he declared, “because of the very positive impact the Liberian media had on me in my formative years.” Quoting philosopher John Locke, Ngafuan likened his young mind to a tabula rasa, a blank slate upon which the media inscribed knowledge, discipline, and civic consciousness.
A Salute to the Diaspora and the Craft
In remarks not read due to time, the minister also recognized veterans in the audience, including James Butty, Al-Jerome Anastas Chede, Sam Abu, Moses Sandy, and Joe Mason. “I doff my cap to you,” he wrote, “in profound appreciation for playing a pivotal role in shaping Liberia’s narrative through war, peace, and reconstruction.”
“You don’t just do a good job for the media entity with which you work,” he continued, “but you help mold future professionals and leaders. You do a good job for the entire society.”
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