Comrade Professor Doctor Thomas Jaye (TJ) passed away in Monrovia on the morning of July 31, 2020 at 63 years of age.
TJ remains a giant among patriots because of his local and global record of patriotism. Coming from River Gee County in the East of Liberia, TJ graduated from the University of Liberia while becoming a leader in the Movement for Justice in Africa (MOJA). On the initiative of MOJA, TJ and several young people were sent abroad to pursue advanced studies. Upon earning his doctorate degree in security studies, TJ became a global expert in security sector reform.
In performing locally on reforming the security sector in Liberia, TJ often left his very lucrative work at Oxford University and the Kofi Annan Conflict Resolution Center to be of service to the people. Without turning first to TJ for expert advice, the government of the day contracted citizens of the United States of America, as is currently being done, for advice on reforming the security sector of Liberia. For work done earlier but was not considered seriously by the government, TJ got paid 10% of the money paid by the government to the Americans, whose report shows the copying of many key findings and recommendations from TJ’s reports on security sector reform in Liberia. It was precisely in recognition of the excellent work that TJ had done that the then United Nations Secretary General Special Representative to Liberia held a Reception in his honor prior to her departure from Liberia.
There are some persons who are still wondering as to whether anything big can come out of small River Gee. My response to the wondering is as follows: Look at the global work of Dr. DougbehNyan in the area of Public Health Pandemic Testing and Prevention; look at the global work of Dr. Thomas Jaye on Security Sector Reform and Conflict Resolution, look at the local work of Cllr. Negbalee Warner on the University of Liberia Law School Reform while he was Dean of the Law School and look at the local work of Senator ConmanyWesseh on Violence Prevention and the Rule of Law. In recognition of the highly useful work done by Dr. Jaye, he was made a Distinguished Professor at the Ghana Institute of Management and Public Administration (GIMPA).
So, Comrade Professor Doctor Thomas Jaye (TJ) has passed away. And he did so leaving all of the benefits in England and Ghana to come to the University of Liberia where he did not have an office to do work for over one year but he worked there happily because he wanted to use his knowledge to help others to make Liberia and the world better for all peoples. TJ has passed away but his Legacy of Service to the People will never pass away. To TJ, we say Esehemama. Nnangalakporya (the Kpelle language for Thank you very much. God bless you.)
By Togba-Nah Tipoteh
