A 19-year-old motorcycle taxi driver from a poor background found a large sum of money on the street and returned it to the owner. His honesty has now been generously rewarded.
Monrovia – A 19-year-old was named a national hero in Liberia, West Africa, and was honored by President George Weah for his amazing sincerity.
Emmanuel Tuloe, who makes his way as a motorcycle taxi driver, found cash worth 50,000 US dollars (43,100 euros) on the street and returned it to the owner, the Liberian Observer newspaper reported on Tuesday.
According to the report, a businesswoman had lost the cash wrapped in a plastic bag on the side of a country road outside the town of Tappita in the northeastern Nimba region. The woman asked for a finder’s fee on the radio, whereupon Tuloe contacted her.
During a ceremony in the capital, Monrovia, Weah praised Tuloe’s “extraordinary sense of morality and good citizenship” on Monday. He awarded the youth the highest order in Liberia, an educational grant, two motorbikes and a cash bonus. Tuloe, whose father died early, had to drop out of the seventh grade for lack of money.
Liberia, rich in gold, diamonds and iron ore, is one of the poorest countries in the world despite its natural resources. According to the World Bank, almost 45 percent of the approximately five million inhabitants fall under the international standard for “extreme poverty” and live on 1.90 dollars (1.60 euros) or less per day. dpa
