By Bill W. Cooper
Liberia’s Solid Waste Management Association (LISWA) has stressed the need for President-elect Joseph N. Boakai to appoint individuals who have had experience and sustainably been involved with direct engagement in the waste sector of Liberia.
This, LISWA strongly believes, would drive and enable the actualization of the Unity Party’s vision, as regards making Monrovia and its environs clean and green, beginning 2024 and beyond.
Against this backdrop, the team is therefore recommending a seasoned sanitation expert, James K. Mulbah, as an individual who, they said, is best suited to serve as the next Mayor of the Monrovia City Cooperation (MCC).
James K. Mulbah is a graduate of the University of Liberia with a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Sociology, as well as obtained a post graduate diploma in Strategic Business Management from the Swedish Institute for Public Administration, and he is currently a candidate for a master’s degree in International Relations at the UL.
According to LISWA, James has a lot of experience and technical know-how in solid waste management, something which they described as key to maintaining and ensuring the city of Monrovia maintains its beautification.
LISWA added that, based on James’s numerous achievements and working experience acquired, the need for his appointment as the next Mayor of Monrovia can never be overemphasized.
James, having graduated with BA in Sociology from UL, has also received numerous certificates and accolades, ranging from advance Certificate in Peace Building and Conflict Transformation from the Kofi Annan Institute for Conflict Transformation, to a certificate in Financial Management from the World Bank Group IFC.
He also holds a certificate in Electronic Waste Recycling at Ateliers De Formations Industrielles in Switzerland; advance certificate in solid waste management, World Bank; advance certificate in Entrepreneurship/ Business management, University of Wisconsin Stout (UW Stout) –USA, and advance certificate in Organic Fertilizer Production, Songhai Liberia Initiative
Others are a certificate in Entrepreneurship, Richard Branson Entrepreneurship Program (South Africa); Diploma in Inclusive E-waste Recycling GIZ sponsored program in South Africa; certificate at Trainers of Trainers Workshop Business Labs Methodology, The Golda Meir MASHAV Carmel International Training Center, and certificate in Bio Digester Toilet construction from Drillix Ghana Limited.
The solid waste expert is a licensed environmental evaluator, trained and licensed by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) of Liberia, as he has served as a member of the U.S Ambassador to Liberia, Deborah R. Malac’s Council of Youth Advisors, as well as served on the Regional Advisory Board of West Africa of the Mandela Washington Fellowship from 2014-2015, where he represented Liberia and Sierra Leone.
In May of 2019, James also served as the president of the State Exchange Alumni of Liberia-SEAL (2019-2023), a network of professionals who benefited from the US Government’s sponsorship programs, with members such as former President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf; Carter Center ED, James Dorbor Jallah, former Chief Justice, Francis Korkpor, and Togba-Nah Tipoteh.
In 2014, he received the Most Innovative Entrepreneur Award by Business Start-up Center, in partnership with SPARK, Bid Network, and Accountability Lab, as well as in 2017, he won an award from Cleanup Africa as one of the innovative youths on the continent.
James is a Tony Elumelu Entrepreneurship Program 2015 Fellow (TEEP 2015), coupled with becoming an Echoing Green Finalist 2015 and a Synergy Fellow, and while in May 2015, James was selected by the Young African Society, a World Bank group, as the second most innovative entrepreneur, out of 140 young people on the continent of Africa.
On July 15, 2016, James received a Prize Award from World Bank Liberia in a Grant Prize Competition to tackle youth unemployment and poor waste management in Monrovia, and a 2016 Richard Branson Scholar in Entrepreneurship.
The solid waste expert, as part of his credentials, also got appointed 2016 by the former Vice president as Environmental Adviser to his office. He is a 2018 U.S-Africa Entrepreneurship Award winner, and was selected in July 2019 as one of the E-waste champions on the continent of Africa, and got a ToT training in Inclusive E-waste Recycling in South Africa.
Meanwhile, James has also served in key areas in the private sector, contributing to the growth, development, and forward march of Liberia, aimed at regulating and managing Monrovia’s beautification through sanitation.
As per his services, James has served as the first Secretary on the Board of the first Pan African E-Waste Management Network called Sustainable Digital Development Alliance of Africa, with head office in Nairobi, Kenya.
He is one of the Top 50 African Business Heroes 2020, after being selected from a pool of 22,000 applicants, and in June of 2021, James won both the Environmentalist and Development Hero Awards at the Liberia Development Awards, an event organized annually by the International partners and the Government of Liberia.
Also, he is one of the top 8 finalists of World Bank Group Global Youth Climate Entrepreneurship Competition, One of the 15 finalists of Africa ClimAccelerator award 2021 Currently, as he is also the outgoing president of Liberia Solid Waste Management Association LISWA.
Furthermore, James has worked with several partners, including USAID, USADF, U.S Embassy in Liberia, SIDA, Global Communities, ActionAid Liberia, UNDP, UNMIL, Africa Enterprise Challenge Fund, Fair recycling, Cooperaxion, Julius Baer Foundation, Peter Baumann Foundation, REPIC, Inno Recycling, GIZ, World Bank Liberia, Tony Elumelu Foundation, Temperatio, and Mercy Corps, among others.
