The Inquirer
Monrovia, Liberia

Distributed by

The Perspective
Atlanta, Georgia

Posted June 17, 2004

The president/owner of Transglobal Express Services, Mr. Willis D. Knuckles, Jr., has called for the term of office of the Liberian Presidency to be reduced to four years.

Mr. Knuckles, who has been speaking to various groups of citizens in recent months and is expected to be a candidate in the October 2005 elections, spoke Tuesday at the John Lewis Morris Memorial United Methodist School in Paynesville, where he served as Guest Speaker during the Institute’s 10th Gala Anniversary and Thanksgiving Service Program.

In his brief remarks before an audience of junior high school students, Mr. Knuckles, a former Government official, sports administrator and business entrepreneur, focused attention on the present situation in Liberia, which he described as being at a “major crossroads,” following a decade and a half period of bloody civil conflicts.

Recognizing the fact that the nation and its people can start a new with greater vibrancy and hope toward the future, Mr. Knuckles challenged the fledgling students to the task of bringing an enriched chapter to their shattered lives.

Encouraging them to get involved in all matters concerning the country, Mr. Knuckles who enthralled his young audience at their level of understanding, insisted that the future is assuredly theirs, and thus they should become keen participants in every issue that pertains to them in their role as adults.
In particular, Mr. Knuckles pointedly called for the endorsement of a four-year term of the presidency by all presidential aspirants.

The John Lewis Morris Memorial United Methodist School had invited Mr. Knuckles to assist its fund-raising rally for the construction of a LS$95,000 annex to its main building.