President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf Name Joseph Korto | Role Politician | |
Political party Liberia Equal Rights Party (LERP) Education Catholic University of America Party Liberia Equal Rights Party | ||
Joseph Korto is a Liberian politician and member of the Liberia Equal Rights Party (LERP). Joseph Korto was born in Barpa, Nimba County, Liberia. He was Minister of Education in Liberia from 2006-2010 and was replaced by E. Othello Gongar, formal Minister of Education during the regime of late president Samuel Kanyon Doe. He is also the Executive Director of the Liberian Development Foundation.
Running as the LERP (Liberian Equal Rights Party) presidential candidate in the 11 October 2005 elections, Korto placed seventh out of 22 candidates, receiving 3.3% of the vote nationally and the highest vote total in Nimba County, his home base.
After his loss in the first round of voting, he endorsed candidate Ellen Johnson Sirleaf for the second round vote against football star George Weah. Johnson-Sirleaf went on to win the election, with Korto's support being viewed as an important factor in her victory, and she appointed Korto to her cabinet as Minister of Education shortly after she took office in January 2006. Korto has a background as a teacher and holds a doctorate in education from the Catholic University of America in Washington DC.