Laurence Konmla Bropleh

Last updated

Rev. Dr.
Laurence Konmla Bropleh
Esq.
Born (1967-04-13) April 13, 1967 (age 57)
Buchanan, Grand Bassa County, Liberia
NationalityLiberian
Citizenship Republic of Liberia
Alma materMonrovia College
Lott Carey Baptist Mission School
Morgan State University
Wesley Theological Seminary
Louis Arthur Grimes School of Law
Occupation(s)Attorney
educator
media personality
politician
presidential advisor
Years active1990–present
Known forHumanitarian work, preaching, politics and teaching
Political party Independent (2018–)
Relatives Alfred Francis Russel
Beverly Page Yates
Amos Herring
Family Abner Bropleh (son)
Lauris Bropleh (daughter
Joseph D. Summerville (Great-great-grandfather)
Josiah Hilton Davis (Grandfather)
Sarah Luvenia Summerville (Grandmother)
Charles Walker Brumskine (Maternal Cousin)

Laurence Bropleh (born April 13, 1967) is a Liberian Politician, Diplomat, United Methodist clergyman, lawyer, former Cabinet-Level government official, and business executive. Bropleh was Minister of information, Cultural Affairs and Tourism of the Republic of Liberia in the administration of President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf. [1] He is the owner of a farm in Grand Bassa County and Law Practice on United Nations Drive in Monrovia. Bropleh received primary education in Liberia and advanced degrees including a Ph.D. in the United States.

Contents

Early life

Born in Buchanan to Paul Bropleh a Kru-Fante judge, United Methodist clergyman, and educator and Joanna Elizabeth Bropleh (née: Davis) an Americo-Liberian educator, humanitarian and activist. His middle name, Konmla comes from the Klao language, meaning "Blessed" or "Lucky." [2] Bropleh's mother ascends from two strong United Methodists families, the Summerville and Davis families, which had a lasting impact on his faith. Bropleh has raised the settlement of Upper Buchanan, Grand Bassa County. He and his six siblings were raised in close proximity to their maternal relatives, including grandparents, great-grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, and other relatives. As Bropleh was growing up he experienced an accident that left him blind in one eye. His mother encouraged him to not let his disability to hinder him, he frequently went to Monrovia for formal swimming lessons at the Ducor Hotel where he met his former wife. He later attended Lott Carey Mission School in Brewerville, Montserrado County, Liberia and was educated at the College of West Africa in Monrovia before moving to the City of Baltimore in the United States, where he studied at Morgan State University and Wesley Theological Seminary, respectively.

Career

In the mid-eighties, while studying journalism and law in the United States, Bropleh's mother died in Liberia and his father suffered a stroke leaving him seemingly alone in Baltimore. [3] In 1991, he became a student-pastor of Mt. Zion United Methodist Church a rural Methodist congregation in Dickerson, Maryland. In 1993, under Bropleh's commission, Mt. Zion merged with Warren United Methodist Church, another local church. Rev. Bropleh served as Pastor of Mt. Zion-Warren for seven years. [4] In 1998, he was appointed Regional Executive Secretary for Sub-Saharan Africa by the United Methodist Church’s general board of Global Ministries managing at the time, forty-eight countries. While the pastor of Mt. Zion Warren Bropleh was an advocate for the youth, elderly, and low-class, he and his then-wife, Doris Minikon, founded a youth camp at Owens Park in Bealsville.

While at the UMC's Global Ministries Bropleh is accredited with the Ministries of Hope Programme along with other faith-based related initiatives that benefit people all over the African Continent, especially in conflict resolution and peacebuilding. [5]

In 2003, Dr. Bropleh was named as the World Council of Churches (WCC) Ambassador and Permanent Representative to the United Nations, [6] he is the first Liberian and African to be appointed to that position. [7]

In 2006, Bropleh returned to Liberia and was appointed as Minister of information, Cultural Affairs, and Tourism of the Republic of Liberia in the administration of President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf. [8] In 2009, Bropleh resigned as Minister per charges of corruption. Dr. Bropleh was later exonerated of charges of corruption after an investigation and trial. [9] [10]

Bropleh created a radio show entitled "Changing Minds Changing Attitudes: The Liberian Renaissance" on the Liberia Broadcasting System’s ELBC Radio Station which he regularly hosts every Tuesday at 8 PM. As of 2013, he does the same show in his hometown of Buchanan on Saturday mornings. [11]

Dr. Bropleh ran for Grand Bassa County’s District No. 3 (Buchanan District) in the 2011 Liberian general election and the 2017 Liberian general election, respectively. He lost both races but continues to be a prominent citizen, humanitarian, and public figure in Buchanan and the country at large. [12]

On February 14, 2019, Rev. Dr. Laurence K. Bropleh was appointed as Special Envoy and Advisor to President George Weah. [13]

Personal life

Bropleh currently practices law at Bropleh and Associates Law Firm in Monrovia and Buchanan, a law firm he founded after working and leaving Brumskine & Associates Law Firm. [14] Bropleh was married to Doris M. Minikon, the daughter of a Liberian career diplomat, statesman, and former Deputy Minister of Information, Christopher Minikon and his wife Bernadette M. S. Minikon. Together, Bropleh and Minikon had three children: Ulrich, Abner, and Lauris. [15] The marriage was dissolved in the early 2000s.

Ancestry

Due to his Americo-Liberian ancestry, Bropleh has a varying degree of European, Native American and Portuguese, East Indian and West Indian ancestry. [16] Both Bropleh's parents have ethnically diverse backgrounds. His mother was a descendant of mixed race; West Indians from Barbados and Bahamas and African-Americans from Virginia, Georgia, Mississippi and other regions in the Americas who were described as Octoroon, Mulatto, and Mixed Race. His father comes from the Kru and Fante ethnic groups who are mixed-race with varying degrees of Dutch, Portuguese and French ancestry.

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References

  1. ↑ "Liberia: Information Minister Bropleh Suspended | Balancing Act – Africa". Archived from the original on October 17, 2018. Retrieved October 11, 2018.
  2. ↑ "TLC Africa – African Names". Archived from the original on February 9, 2004.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  3. ↑ "Called to another mission". Archived from the original on October 11, 2018. Retrieved October 11, 2018.
  4. ↑ "Called to another mission". Archived from the original on October 11, 2018. Retrieved October 11, 2018.
  5. ↑ "World Council of Churches Appointed Liberian".
  6. ↑ "Kofi Annan: 'Gentle Giant's' Passing Leaves Indelible Mark on Liberia ..." Front Page Africa. Front Page Africa. Retrieved October 17, 2018.
  7. ↑ "World Council of Churches Appointed Liberian".
  8. ↑ "Dr. Bropleh Wants Gov't Commit to Training Health Practitioners". Liberian Observer. Liberian Observer. Archived from the original on October 18, 2018. Retrieved October 17, 2018.
  9. ↑ "Liberia Gets New Information Minister".
  10. ↑ "Liberia: Information Minister Bropleh Suspended | Balancing Act – Africa". Archived from the original on October 17, 2018. Retrieved October 11, 2018.
  11. ↑ "Bropleh Wants Politicians Eschew Deception, Antagonism". September 26, 2016. Archived from the original on November 29, 2018. Retrieved October 11, 2018.
  12. ↑ "Liberia: LP Primary Woes – Rep. Smith Defeats Dr. Bropleh in Primary, but – Featured". The Capitol Times (Monrovia). June 9, 2017.
  13. ↑ "President Weah Makes Appointment in Government".
  14. ↑ "Bropleh & Associates – Law Offices".
  15. ↑ "Called to another mission". Archived from the original on October 11, 2018. Retrieved October 11, 2018.
  16. ↑ Whiteness in Africa: Americo-Liberians and the ... – UKnowledge – University of KentuckyPDFUKY.edu › uknowledge › viewcontent
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