Liberia: Pres. Joe Boakai pays homage to nonagenarian Rev. Dr. Abba Karnga, calls him nation-foundation-builder & wiseman

By James Kokulo Fasuekoi|Editor-Publisher from Buchanan, Grand Bassa Cty.

ALL PHOTOGRAPHS BY AUTHOR

Liberia’s President Joseph Nyuma Boakai Sr., on Saturday, April 5, 2025, did something he doesn’t normally do; he took a two-hour ride to the port city of Buchanan, Grand Bassa County, and participated in the 95th birth anniversary celebration of someone he calls Liberia’s wiseman and foundation builder, Rev. Dr. Abba Grogro GbidiDein Karnga.

President Boakai described elder Rev. Grogro GbidiDein Karnga as a “very close friend” and expressed deep respect and admiration for him, explaining in front of a large crowd how he had closely followed Rev. Karnga’s preaching and his writings, much of which he said, focused particularly on Christianity and Grand Bassa County.

He also described him as a wiseman of our time adding, Elder Karnga had “quietly laid the foundation of this country,” and never deviated from his Christian work nor turned to politics. This is even after a certain personality such as renowned political scientist, Dr. Beyan Kesselly (of Lorma-Mandingo origin) approached him (Karnga) to serve as his vice running mate but turned it down.  

After heaping endless praises upon Dr. Karnga, Pres. Boakai, accompanied by a host of Liberian officials, turned around, requested an aide to hand him a bag: it turned out it contained specially manufactured Khaki-type-fabrics, made into a gown-a gift befitting a King. The garb, a mixed white, black, and green linings was unfolded by the president and placed on the Old Man’s chest with a matching hat. 

The president later presented an amount of US $15,000, intended to benefit Dr. Karnga’s lifelong brainchild project, the Christian Education Foundation of Liberia (CEFL), a group which seeks to promote Christianity worldwide and at the same time empower less fortunate citizens in Liberia through the teaching of Western education. 

Born April 5th, 1930, Dr. Abba Karnga, a career classroom teacher, served the Firestone School System for many years in what’s now Margibi County. Young Abba Karnga got hired by the local Christian ELWA (Eternal Love Winning Africa) Radio Station as Bassa Language Radio Producer where he worked for long before moving to Buchanan and founding World-Wide Missions Church of Liberia which consists of Schools, Medicine and Agriculture. 

In addition to the Christian Education Foundation of Liberia (CEFL), Dr. Karnga also founded the Bassa Minister Association (BMA), a Gospel group meant to promote the teaching of Christ Jesus. It is from the CEFL that Liberian Christian High School, the number two high school in Buchanan, Grand Bassa County, was born. 

He’s a faithful Christian and with a single wife for 69 years, dating back to their youth with whom they have been blessed with 13 children-all alive. In addition, Father Karnga has been blessed to have countless foster children, all of whom he treats just like his biological children and refers to all as his “Children of Glory.”

Elder Grogro GbidiDein Karnga, from all indications, was a straight disciplinarian from early on. It is said that he and Mother Eileen W. Karnga, his wife, worked harder in installing Christian principles in their children at home and many years later, longtime neighbors to the Karngas from the Buchanan area and elsewhere still testify to this fact.  

“We, as children, had to go to bed early and wake up early for devotion. After devotion, we eat breakfast, then get ready to get in the car and go to school,” said Mrs. Mary Karnga-Dahn, elder daughter of fierce Gospel preacher and Christian Writer Karnga. The family’s Volkswagen of the 1950 era became a luxury for the Karnga children, a time when most students couldn’t afford shoes and had to walk barefooted to school.  

Those who didn’t wake up on time to get ready for devotion or breakfast, she said, got punished. The penalty varied, ranging from meal-denial, (a common punishment for African kids) to having teens perform more chores than their counterparts. In the Karnga household, Mrs. Dahn remembers that other times the “rule violator” was banned from riding the family’s car to school for a specified period which really hurts the kids more, they said.  

However, such straight-disciplinary way of life in Karnga’s household would help shape the future of their children and grandchildren, making the Karnga children and grands to bear the Fear of the Living God, just as their own parents. For them, exhibiting, or holding onto Christian values in every dealing with others, is no less viewed as a responsibility and now yields dividends.    

“As you come close to Dr. Karnge, you won’t be surprised to see his children the way they are,” remarked President Boakai, Saturday, moments before he performed Dr. Karnga’s gowning ceremonies at the Seaside city’s main Fairgrounds in the heart of Buchanan where hundreds of admirers had thronged for this event.   

Attendees at this Once-in-a-lifetime event included Rev. Karnga’s thirteen children, tens of grandchildren, great grandchildren, and great-great grandchildren, majority of whom arrived for the event from the USA, days ahead of the occasion. Their close relatives were also present, as were politicians like Sen. AB. Darius Dillon and Cllr Charlyne Brumskine, both of Grand Bassa origin. 

Rev. Karnga’s children are all professional-career people, and most manage their own businesses whether in Liberia or abroad. And like their father, some are educators, pastors, philanthropists, and nurses, with one working as a full-time medical doctor, while another, Nyonblee Karnga-Lawrence is a politician and serves as Liberia’s Senate President Pro-Tempore. 

Throughout the colorful ceremony, leaders of various Christian choir and local groups Rev. Karnga and his wife helped establish, stepped out to pay homage to the Karnga Family for their enormous contributions toward the spread of Christianity in Liberia. 

In one particular instance, Mrs. Nyonblee Lawrence (among the couple’s youngest), stepped out with a fine plaque for their father, tucked underneath her right arm, as she called out her siblings by NUMBERS one after another-something they probably did while growing up. 

As she made a roll call each sibling appeared at once, taking his or her spot, according to their births, amid plenty of laughter. And when it was Nyonblee’s term she also called aloud her own “Number,” then took a step forward and stood still with a smile.    

Thereafter, Nyonblee announced they (Karnga-children) would sing their familiar devotion song, “Oh, How I Love Jesus, Because He First Loved Me.” The song, she said, was mandatory and their father had them recite it if they didn’t sing it right. Singing the song as grown-ups, evoked old memories and added fun to the occasion.

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Liberia: The cost of defending the Gospel; how Rev. Abba Karnga survived a gunshot wound to the head!

Liberia: Souls winning rural Christian radio faces hardship; sends out an ‘SOS’ call

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