Karnga
Declares Intention, Rivals Worried
It is often said that leaders are born, not made. This is why when a
heavyweight in the name of Garmondeh Karnga at long last threw his hat
in the ring to contest for the position of Vice President for
Administration of the Liberia Football Association (LFA), there is
surely a cause for rivals to begin to worry.
The Mighty Barrolle President has over the years taken the Rollers
from a level of a team threatened with relegation to the stage of
current champions in the premier league. With two championships in
three seasons, Mr. Karnga is popularly known in football circle as the
most decorated president in the local premiership.
Following many months of speculations, the cat was finally let out of
the bag on Thursday, February 18, 2010 when the head of the Red Boys
formally informed the football populace and Liberians at large about
his intension to contest as the second man in the LFA hierarchy. He
vowed to not only be a team player, but also to be the chief
supervisor of the secretariat, the arm that conducts the daily affairs
of the governing body of Liberian football. In stressing the
importance of the post he is vying for, Mr. Karnga noted that the LFA
President would usually be in the business of seeking assistance from
international partners, while, when he is the Vice President for
Administration, he would be the one executing the leadership role on
the ground together other members of the leadership.
Mr. Karnga did not eat crab with shame in he alluding to the fact that
the secretariat has had many lapses which added more gas to the fire
that the Izetta Wesley regime has continued to fight to stop from
blazing. But, he is confident that with him sitting as the chief
administrator of the football house, there would be total control in
the entity. He assured that he would not be in the business of
removing the current secretariat. Yet, he made it known the challenge
would rest on the shoulders of every staffer to prove himself worthy
of staying on.
The boss of Mighty Barrolle made it clear that he did not enter the
race with any platform but promised that he would work with the
platform of the President of the LFA, which supersedes any other
working document of that body.
Mr. Karnga is referred to as the ‘Prime Minister of the LFA. He put up
a defense for this title by stating that he is being called this way
simply because he is a servant of the LFA leadership as he is duty
depicts.
Sam’s Barbeque was the venue of the declaration and the venue was
thronged by journalists and football stakeholders as well as officials
and players of Mighty Barrolle.
Mr. Karnga is seen as the favorite for this position given his
splendid leadership credentials which any upcoming football
administrator would love to cherish.
The fast approaching 46-year old football administrator is a product
of the Cuttington University in Suakoko, Bong County. Since venturing
into football leadership, he has been adorned with international
certificates from courses in Club Management and Advanced
Administration and Management.
The Mighty Barrolle leader-in-chief began his football as a goalkeeper
with then third division side Supreme Stars in 1976 in his native
Grand Bassa County. He later headed the same club for four years as
President, beginning 1979.
He went on to become deputy captain and right full back of the
Cuttington University football squad. Later, Mr. Karnga joined the
‘black knights of the whistle’ as a Class-B referee and in the
process, he served as Chairman of the Buchanan Branch of the Liberia
Football Referees Association (LIFRA) for ten unbroken years, starting
with 1989 and then Chairman of the Grand Bassa County Sub-Association
of the LFA for three years.
The aspiring LFA Vice President for Administration entered the Mighty
Barrolle leadership as Vice President for Players’ Welfare and
subsequently succeeded Lemuel Sherman as President at a time the
Rollers were languishing at the foot of the premier league table. He
quickly transformed the Gbehzon Boys from whipping boys to a team to
beat. He ensured that Barrolle participated in the CAF Champions
League, a rare venture local clubs normally undertake. He introduced
the idea of Mighty Barrolle owning a home ground at the Doris Williams
sports pitch in Buchanan city.
The outstanding leadership roles played by Mr. Karnga have awarded him
even more capacities at the moment. Apart from currently being an
Executive Committee Member of the LFA, representing 15 LFA
Sub-Committees, Mr. Karnga also serves as Co-Chairman of the LFA
Competition Committee and a Match Commissioner. He happens to be the
doyen the LFA Sub-Associations.
His roll of honors as a dedicated sports personality include:
Certificate of Honor (2010-Apostolic Foundation High School), Sports
Man of the Year awards in 2008 (Sports Writers Association of Liberia
and The Inquirer newspaper) and 2007 (The News newspaper). He also
grabbed honors from the LFA, carrying away the Invaluable Services and
Outstanding Leadership award. More to that, Mr. Karnga is a recipient
from the Blanco FC of certificate of recognition in consideration of
his numerous continued and memorable contributions to the development
of sports in Liberia in 2008. The Cheneken United Sports Association
decorated him with the Certificate for Humanitarian Gesture in 2000.
Meanwhile, the Mighty Barrolle boss is married with six children. He
is the Mission Director of the Worldwide Missions in Liberia and at
the same time Executive Director of the Christian Education Foundation
of Liberia. He worked in the past for the Liberian Mining Company as
Commercial and Resident Manager. He taught as Instructor of the Bassa
Science Technology from 2002 to 2003.
With such rich leadership and administrative credentials under his
belt, Mr. Karnga now puts football stakeholders in a difficult
situation in looking elsewhere to elect another individual as Vice
President for Administration other than the head of Liberia’s premier
league champions Mighty Barrolle, Mr. Garmondeh Karnga
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