“We have plans of building the district’s first recreation center and park for young people. We will also build the first theatre of arts arena in Margibi County District #1”
Rokenzy Smith was a child when the brutal Liberia civil erupted on December 24, 1989. But he still retains a photographic memory of how he fled his homeland. Cruelly uprooted from his country, he fled Monrovia at around 6:45 pm, on the refugee ship, MV River Oliver, under cover of bullets and bombs as the Economic Community of West African States Monitoring Group (ECOMOG) peacekeeping forces engaged warring rebel fighters in fierce battles for the soul of the capital city. Along with other fleeing Liberians, Mr. Smith landed at the Apapa port, Lagos, Nigeria, on October 5, 1990. He was temporarily sheltered in an abandoned port shed labeled “6” before being transported to a UN-run refugee camp in the sleepy town of Oru, Ijebu Ode, Ogun State, southwest of Nigeria. He was just 12 years old at the time.
Mr. Smith roamed outside his beloved Liberia for 15 discomforting years. He was a mendicant in Algeria, just as he panhandled to survive in Benin Republic, Togo, Mali, Cote d’Ivoire, Ghana, Dubai, and elsewhere. He only returned to Liberia in 2005, after the civil war ended. But so much had changed for him and his country. He had lost his father, a supportive arm during the war who had shielded his children from child soldier recruiters and had sacrificed so much to ensure his young family survived the brutalities of the conflict and the discomforts of living as refugees outside Liberia. The scars of a vicious civil war were everywhere evident. The carnage was unspeakable. He had lost his Liberian childhood to the war and had lived part of his adulthood as a loafer in strange lands. 
Formerly an amateur soccer player, he veered towards music and made a name for himself as one of the greats of Liberia’s Hipco music culture, with four critically acclaimed studio albums and several stage performances. A renowned entertainer in Liberia’s entertainment circuit, often referenced as one of the Godfathers in the country’s Hipco movement, Mr. Smith has joined Liberia Rebuilding Party and trained his sights on politics and social change. He wants to rebuild what was lost to the war. His political profile notes that: “Mr. Smith LIB Money was the founding member of the friends of George Weah (Liberia’s Current President) in 2005 and Takun J. Movement in 2016 and lead campaigner for the Senatorial candidacy of DJ Blue in 2018 and 2020 and a founding member of Team DJ Blue. He also founded and led the Cummings Movement in 2017. Mr. Smith ran for the presidency of the Musicians Union of Liberia in 2019.”
In an interview over a messaging application, he told The Daily Scrum News: “I am the national vice Chairman for Recruitment and Mobilization for the Liberia Rebuilding Party and the Supervisor for the party’s campaign team 2023. Our Presidential candidate is Councilor Luther N. Yorfee, a 48-year-old politician with a Master’s degree in International Business Law.” He added, “I’m running for the Representative position in Margibi County, District #1.”
And what does Mr. Smith intend to do for his district should he win in the October 10 elections? His campaign plans reveal a lot, part of which says: “We have plans of building the district’s first recreation center and park for young people. We will also build the first theatre of arts arena in Margibi County District #1 and Liberia at large. We will make sure trade and vocational training schools are free of charge for the purpose of empowering our youthful society.”
Born on March 24, 1978, in Montserrado County, Liberia, Rokenzy G. Smith, also known as Mr. Smith LIB Money by his teeming fans, is the founder of Mr. Smith Entertainment and a former radio presenter at King’s FM, Hott FM, and Capitol FM. In 2012, Mr. Smith received recognition from the President George Weah Institution for Vocational Education (GIVE), while in 2016, he received the Busher Island DJ Association award for “the most supportive Liberian Musician.” He also holds recognition from the Cummings Africa Foundation (2017) and the 2021 Paynesville DJ Association Legendary Award. Mr. Smith is the son of Mr. George R. Smith III, a teacher, Citibank Nigeria staff, entrepreneur, humanitarian, and son of a former Margibi County Land Commissioner. His mother, Evelyn Sokan, is the daughter of Edward Sokan of Sinoe County, a former lawyer for ex-Presidents William V.S Tubman and William R. Tolbert Jr.
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