Foreign Minister Marjon V. Kamara is urging newly commissioned Foreign Service Officers to serve at their respective missions with unwavering commitment, integrity, honesty and dignity.

She cautioned that the task ahead will be challenging, requiring much sacrifice; but trusts that they will make decisions always in the interest of the people of Liberia.

According to a Foreign Ministry release, Minister Kamara made the remarks when she performed her first commissioning of 11 Foreign Service Officers at the Ministry’s C. Cecil Dennis, Jr. Auditorium on Friday, May 20, 2016.

She admitted that there are still a number of challenges to address in the Foreign Service but assured that continuing efforts are underway to improve the Service by reinforcing policies and regulations and improving conditions of service. Minister Kamara assured that the fourth edition of the Foreign Service Manual is now completed and many other measures have been taken for the betterment of service.

Liberia’s top diplomat stressed that the Foreign Ministry’s three top priorities, till the end of this administration, are to improve service delivery to and relations with clients, transform the Liberia Foreign Service and effectively operationalize existing bilateral and multilateral agreements for speedy recovery, growth and development.

Therefore, she said, “Commissioning qualified and competent Foreign Service Officers contribute to all three of the Ministry’s deliverables.” She pointed out that they were commissioned to make their contributions to improving service delivery abroad, positively transforming Liberia’s Missions and enhancing to the operationalization of existing bilateral and multilateral engagements, with specific focus on economic diplomacy.

Commenting on individuals visualizing life at posts abroad to be glamorous, Ministry Kamara admonished Foreign Service Officers instead to be resilient in the face of current realities and be prepared to make immense sacrifices. She urged them to be mindful that their stay and upward movement in the Service will largely depend on the value addition they bring to the service.

Foreign Minister Kamara reminded would-be Foreign Service Officers that for the Ministry to move steadily in improving the staffing complement of the foreign missions, administration will begin a merit based system so that officers are promoted on the basis of how they perform rather than who they know.

“For too long we have been content with mediocrity and complacency, even when we have not fully achieved our desired objectives,” she pointed out, adding that as emissaries of Liberia, it is incumbent to strive unrelentingly for excellence wherever they find themselves, particularly as they interact with colleagues of other countries in the diplomatic service. “It is imperative that each officer contributes, at his her or her level, to achieving the goals of the mission,” she emphasized.

Foreign Minister Kamara reminded the Foreign Service Officers that regardless of their positions, they are all Ambassadors. “As you set foot on foreign soil to commence your duty, your first priority is to endeavor to project a positive image of your country so as to retain the respect which Liberia enjoys in the international arena,” she urged, reiterating that a key responsibility is to ensure that public and development diplomacy is maximized to the fullest in order to improve relations between Liberia and the host country, as well as for the betterment of Liberia and its people.

Responding on behalf of his colleagues, the newly commissioned Counselor at the Embassy of Liberia, Berlin, Federal Republic of Germany, Mr. Charles H. V. Allen Jr., assured that they will endeavor to do their best to realize Government’s foreign policy goals and work cooperatively with their respective heads of mission.

He asked Foreign Minister Kamara, on behalf of his colleagues, to convey to President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, their sincere gratitude and dedication for the trust and confidence reposed in them; stressing that they enter upon their new assignments with even greater zeal and fervor to ensure the realization of Government’s foreign policy objectives.

“This historic moment of our lives would not have availed soon had it not been for the intuitive, insightful and growth oriented leadership style of our dynamic President, Madam Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, who against all odds saw in us the love for our work, the passion to serve our nation and the commitment to duty; and therefore reposed in use the trust and confidence to assume bigger roles and responsibility in the diplomatic service of our country,” the former acting chief of protocol indicated.

Those commissioned included: Mr. Martin Karpeh, Minister Counselor, Embassy of Liberia, Pretoria, Republic of South Africa; Mr. Ali Sylla, Minister Counselor, Embassy of Liberia, Doha, State of Qatar; Mr. Charles H. V. Allen, Jr., Counselor, Embassy of Liberia, Berlin, Federal Republic of Germany; Mrs. Nyanda Finda Davis, Counselor, Embassy of Liberia, Washington, D.C., United States of America; and Mrs. Juah Jenkins Doe, Counselor, Counselor, Embassy of Liberia, Rabat, Kingdom of Morocco.

Others are Mr. Jimmy Barchue, Deputy Consul General, Consulate of Liberia, New York, United States of America; Mr. Johnnie F. Fallah, First Secretary/Consul, Embassy of Liberia, Brussels, Kingdom of Belgium; Mr. Daniel Rogers, First Secretary/Consul, Embassy of Liberia, Abuja, Federal Republic of Nigeria; Mr. James Holmes, First Secretary/Consul, Embassy of Liberia, Accra, Republic of Ghana; Mr. Burgess T. Nimely, First Secretary/Consul, Embassy of Liberia, Berlin, Federal Republic of Germany; and Ms. Williemena A. Appleton, Second Secretary/Vice Consul, Embassy of Liberia, Berlin Federal Republic of Germany.