HARBEL, Margibi – After a long search for the president of Harbel College, President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf has appointed Syrulwa Somah to lead the institution.

The appointment, which Sirleaf made on Tuesday, December 1, is subject to confirmation by the Liberian Senate. It follows a nearly two-year search by the Commission on Higher Education.  Before his appointment as president of Harbel College, Somah served as a Vice President and lecturer at Tubman University in Maryland.

He is also the director of the Liberian History, Education and Development Incorporated, an organization that provides guidance on national research development.

Somah has also served in the United States as Associate Professor of Occupational Health and Coordinator of Graduate Studies at North Agricultural and Technical State University in Greensboro, North Carolina.

He holds a doctorate in policy studies with a concentration on environmental and occupational health from the Union Institute and Universities in Cincinnati, Ohio.

Somah is also the author of several books including “The Historical Settlement of Liberia and Its Environmental Impact.”

Although he has not yet commented on his appointment, some residents of Margibi are already congratulating Somah. Many made note of his expressed enthusiasm to head the college even before the search for a president began.

Josiah Kollie, a resident of Harbel, said Somah had always wanted to serve Harbel College. “He was always at citizens’ meetings talking about his interest to head Harbel College,” he said.

“For me, I think we must give him a chance to lift the college,” Othello Soko, another resident of Cotton Tree, added.

Harbel College is currently run by an interim management team headed by retired Firestone-Liberia Superintendent of Schools Dwede Hoto. The team has conducted two semesters of preparatory courses for high school graduates and potential students of the college using an annex owned by Firestone.

A ten-classroom facility is currently being constructed near the Harbel Multilateral High School to house the college. The construction is being financed through budgetary allotments made by the Liberian government over the last two fiscal years. Full operations will commence in July 2016.

According to the 2012 act establishing the college, the institution will initially offer programs in agriculture, nursing, education, peace studies, business, and engineering. The bill to establish the college was primarily written by Margibi County District Two Representative, Ballah Zayzay, to boost the human resource development of the country.

Featured photo by Gbatemah Senah