By Othello T. Lincoln
In an attempt to spin the veracity of the operation of a gambling center at the Liberia Broadcasting System, Director-General Eugene Fahngon has gone all out, not only indulging in spewing out insults at his main accuser, Bomi County Senator Edwin Melvin Snowe, Jr. and others but also to contradict the Senator, perhaps with the calculated intent to cause distraction and buy public sympathy.
Fahngon is on a spree of vituperation, spewing out invectives at just anyone who dares speak about the gambling center currently in operation in a theatre owned by LBS at its Paynesville facility. While at it, Fahngon is misinforming the public, trying to divert attention from the crux of the matter, as he erroneously, but calculatedly, dwells on something far from what Senator Snowe actually said.
Fahngon keeps saying that there is no casino at LBS, which is a clever attempt at swaying public perception about the bad optics being created by news that the state broadcaster is entertaining a gambling center on its premises.
By definition, a casino is a facility where people engage in gambling activities, mainly games of chance such as roulette, blackjack, craps, baccarat, and slot machines – with the non-availability of such games currently at the center being operated on the compound of LBS, being the major argument of Fahngon, who continues screaming at the top of his voice, “there is no casino at LBS.”
But did Senator Snow ever say there was a casino at the state broadcaster? The answer to that question is simply NO! Below is what Senator Snowe said that Fahngon is not saying and probably may never admit to, but it’s the truth.
At the 49th Day Sitting of the 2nd Session of the 55th Legislature of Liberia, Senator Snowe raised a matter of national concern, which was then taken seize of by the Liberian Senate.
The Senator of Bomi County alarmed over an alleged establishment of a gambling center within the premises of LBS. I repeat, and it should be underlined: an alleged establishment of a gambling center within the premises of the Liberia Broadcasting System, which in my mind is no longer an allegation, as gambling has been ongoing at LBS, since the launch of the Blue Star Hi-Tech Lotto Ball Game on Thursday, November 13, 2025.
The Bomi Senator wrote the Senate a formal communication to the effect, and according to him in his communication dated November 10, 2025, addressed to the President Pro-Tempore of the Liberian Senate, Grand Bassa County Senator Nyonblee Karnga-Lawrence, Senator Snowe at the time expressed serious concern indicating that the alleged move to have established a gambling center poses a threat to the moral standing, public image, and institutional integrity of the LBS, the nation’s premier broadcasting entity that is state-owned, government-financed, and serves as a critical platform for national communication, education, and entertainment.
Senator Snowe added that reports have shown that the management of the Liberia Broadcasting System has entered into an agreement with Blue Star Hi-Tech Liberia Limited, a gambling company operating in the country, saying such an arrangement undermines the purpose and character of the national broadcaster, and that it raises questions about ethical governance and public accountability within a state institution such as the LBS.
He added that the LBS, being a public-owned entity funded with taxpayers’ money, must remain a space that promotes national values and civic education, and not one that encourages practices that could erode public morality or contradict the social responsibilities expected of a state broadcaster.
However, in all of his attempts to respond to the Bomi Senator, Fahngon has intentionally chosen to evade all that Senator Snowe really said, but he’s spewing out tirades and dwelling on what the lawmaker did not actually say.
But just to say, Fahngon, while it may be true that what the licensed gambling company, Blue Star Hi-Tech Liberia Limited is currently operating at the premises of LBS might not be a casino, yet it is still gambling – and Senator Snowe was right when he stated that if such a business is being operated in the same compound hosting the national broadcaster, it undermines the moral standing, public image and institutional integrity of the Liberia Broadcasting System.
But what is mindboggling is that even though Fahngon has admitted to doing business with the certified gambling company Blue Star Hi-Tech Liberia Limited, which operates its gambling game at the LBS, he still has the effrontery to say there is no gambling center at LBS.
Fahngon, please take some time out and look up the definition of whatever form of lottery game or raffle draw, and you will know they are all forms of gambling. By the way, casinos and lotteries are considered forms of gambling, and gambling is simply defined as risking money or valuables on an uncertain outcome with the hope of winning a prize, where the result is determined by chance rather than skill.
A casino, a primary example of commercial gambling, offers all sorts of games ranging from slot machines, roulette, blackjack, poker, and craps, which all involve various aspects of chance and risk that you claim are not at the moment being operated at the LBS. But lotteries, too, including what is currently going on in the theatre of the LBS, form one of the most common gambling activities where people buy tickets in hopes of winning big cash prizes from random drawings of numbers.
Keeping the casino, lotteries, and gambling definitions constant, Fahngon, contrary to your lies and misinformation, without an ounce of bias or attack against you as you claim, we can clearly and fairly state that there is a gambling center at LBS currently being operated by Blue Star Hi-Tech Liberia Limited, a certified gambling company.
