Monrovia – United People’s Party Political Leader and Founding Chairman of the Congress for Democratic Change, McDonald A. Wento, has passed away.
The news of Wento’s death spread across social media on Wednesday afternoon, May 1, before being confirmed by some members of the UPP.
Wento reportedly passed away on Wednesday, May 1, after he collapsed in his office and died 30 minutes later.
Prior to his death, Wento was a prominent Liberian businessman and politician who contested the 2017 Presidential Elections on the United People’s Party Ticket, securing 12th place among several others with 8,968 votes.
Wento first gained national recognition for his role in the formation of the Congress for Democratic Change in the period leading to the 2005 presidential Elections, as the founding Chairman of the CDC. However, he later rescinded his membership to become a member of the UPP in honor of the memory of his father, the late Alexander Wento.
In 2017, the United People’s Party (UPP) reinstated the late Wento’s membership in the Party after he left to help form the CDC.
During the just-ended 2023 elections, Wento’s name surfaced as a potential running mate to President Joseph Nyumah Boakai.
Wento’s humble life story is one of triumph over adversities. His father hailed from Putu Statutory District, Grand Gedeh County, and his mother was from Greenville, Sinoe County.
He was the second of 10 children and was born on December 13, 1967, at the Maternity Center in Monrovia.
He was a Christian and a board member of the Bethel World Outreach Ministries. He was also the CEO of the Wento Foundation, which focused on promoting the talents of musicians.
He graduated from Bishop Jule High School in Zwedru, Grand Gedeh County, in 1989.
He worked as an Investment Banker and was also involved in Currency Trading.
As a Liberian politician, the late Wento was critical of the need for improvement in the education sector and emphasized the necessity for students to have access to public libraries in all government schools.
During his political career, McDonald A. Wento criticized the weak Liberian educational system, urging the government to expedite the learning process by providing the necessary resources to enhance the academic environment for students.
Before his demise, Wento had also been involved in a legal battle with his wife over a Cyber-Ed Property, where he was owed rent.
McDonald Wento stated that the failure of the Cyber-Ed School to pay rent and their refusal to enter a lease agreement with him forced him to file an eviction lawsuit. The Civil Law court ruled in his favor, ordering the school to vacate his property.
The school in question is co-owned by his wife, Ms. Mitchell Wento, and Ms. Soni Williams, the wife of former LPRC Managing Director T. Nelson Williams.
