The Perspective
Atlanta, Georgia
July 25, 2019

The Late Hon. Edward Boakai Dagoseh

If not impossible, it’s difficult to bid farewell to someone you got to know and who meant so much or contributed so immensely to your life. Nature in this situation, demands us to perform such a sacred duty – never mind tears streaming from our eyes.

And so today, I stand obliged to painfully pay a man of impeccable character a farewell. But I should do so by first reflecting on the Holy Book of Ecclesiastes 3:1-2 & 4:

“To everything, there is a season, and a time to every purpose under heaven: a time to be born and a time to die. A time to weep and time to mourn and time to dance.”

Today, family, friends and acquaintances and community of Hon. Edward B. Dagoseh are deeply mourning his loss.  He was an inspiring figure and a mentor in the Liberian society; he was a true Liberian patriot of humble background.

I first met Hon. Dagoseh in 1988 as a teacher in TH-12 in Financial Management class at the University of Liberia. And we had a cordial student-teacher relationship. At the end of that semester, everybody went their way.

I would later see him on campus in 1992 when classes resumed following the brutal civil war. We had no interaction, again I would see him on campus. I thought he did not even know my name.

There were graduation preparations in early 1994. While I was wondering about where to get money from for graduation, he walked up to me near the main entrance of the UL auditorium. “Bropleh, please let me see you in my office,” he said to me. I was puzzled and somewhat became apprehensive.

“How did he know my name?”, I asked to myself. When I later went to his office, he asked me if I was graduating. I said I was. He then wished me good luck and handed me a small brown envelop. I walked out of his office full of gratitude. The amount he gave me took care of my entire program. This gesture of generosity made a deep positive impression on me about this remarkable Liberian.

On my first visit to his Newport Street Office, Hon. Dagoseh joked me, “Zero Man!” He told me that his Minister of Youth and Sports who is now a Senator from the SOUTHEAST had told him I did not have any experience in budgeting so he couldn’t employ me.  But Hon. Dagoseh gave me another envelope and this time he told me to do a beginner’s course in computer literacy.

In June of 1995, while walking on Mechlin Street, hustling like hell, going towards Benson Street, I made a stopover to his NGO’s office -- adjacent to Wells Hairston High School. “Hon. Dagoseh has been looking for you”, a gentleman in his office said to me.  He directed me to go on the 6th Floor at the Ministry of Finance.

Upon entering the office, Hon. Dagoseh asked me, “Zero man, where have you been?” He immediately led me to the HR office of the Finance Ministry. There and then I started working at the Ministry of Finance as his Administrative Assistant to him until August 1997 when he left the Ministry.

For every time he came to the Ministry of Finance and saw me, he would advise me, “Focus on your work and be a good civil servant.” In 1999, he wished me well on my trip to Pretoria, South Africa. Similarly, in 2002 when the Ministry of Finance refused to give me traveling allowance to the State of Israel, he again patted me on the back and said, “Do not allow anything to hold you back.”

The Last time I met him was in 2016 in Shoran Hill City, Pennsylvania. After a tasty dinner at a local restaurant, he told me to be careful with life. Since that time, we had been exchanging text messages. On Palm Sunday, I sent him greetings and he replied, “thank you for reminding me about Palm Sunday.” When he returned to Liberia and I tried to find out how he was doing, he replied, “I’m catching up.” While on vacation, a friend sent me a text message which turned out to be the bombshell that has shattered my heart: “sorry, your father Dagoseh died.”

My life story will be incomplete without mentioning Hon Dagoseh. A man whose love had transcended ethnic, social or class cleavages.  It has no boundary!  There were many differences but not a single barrier. A man who hailed from Grand Cape Mount county for months kept a job for a man -- from Grand Kru county. A Vai man helping a Kru man--from teacher to being a mentor and dotting employer boss.
A single word or sentence cannot describe him. But one thing is certain and that is he was a good and caring man.

Thanks to the generous spirit, empathy, and care of Hon. Edward B. Dagoseh, a Vai man; I, a rural Kru man had been able to work and learn with hands-on at the Ministry of Finance of the Republic of Liberia.
In his passing and home going, my sadness is compounded simply because situation cannot ALLOW ME TO TRAVEL TO MONROVIA to participate in such a solemn service and pay physically my last respects to the man who contributed so significantly to my life.

May Mr. Dagoseh’s soul and the souls of all the faithful departed through the mercy of God rest in perfect peace.

May his family, especially his wife, Magdalene, take solace and know that he has transitioned. And that may time ease their pain.

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