The audience in the small but crammed vestibule of the Administrative building of Tubmanburg where official programs marking the observance of Liberia's 166th National Independence took place hummed and mumbled over the performance of Chief of Protocol of Liberia, Mr. Elijah Seah, government's official Master of Ceremony at auspicious gatherings. He was appointed to the post by President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf few months after her second term inauguration, replacing veteran then chief of protocol Mr. Kennedy who performed to the acme of perfection.

Mr. Seah, a member of the ruling Unity Party, was a member of the House of Representatives, representing River Gee County but lost the post during the 2011 general and legislative elections.

Since his ascendancy to the post, he has not performed in a manner free of mistakes and embarrassment, a case in point being his appalling performance at last week's national program attended by dignitaries from all walks of life.

Chief of Protocol Seah's first major assignment when he was served as Master of Ceremony at programs marking the observance of the 165th Independence which held at the Centennial Pavilion when he had to correct himself over and again, wrongly pronouncing names of officials, thus putting him in the awkward position to repeatedly say "excuse me."

It was when, this paper was informed, many in government circles and the general public started to take note of his performance.

But it is no doubt that the Tubmanburg event marked the worst performance of the chief of protocol who had to over and again begged for forgivingness for his own mistakes, once again repeating "excuse me" as many times as possible.

Protocol dictates, according to experts, that when the protocol officer in charge of a program is announcing the arrival of the vice president, for example, he says" it is an honor to announce the arrival of the vice president and his wife, if that vice president is accompanied by his wife.

But when Chief of Protocol announced the arrival of Vice President Joseph Nyumah Boakai who was accompanied by his wife, he did not mention it until after about ten to fifteen seconds.

"Mr. Speaker, Mr. President Pro Tempore of the Senate, Mr. Chief Justice and Associate Justices of the Supreme Court, it is my pleasing duty to announce the arrival of the Vice President of Liberia, Mr. Joseph N. Boakai," Mr. Seah announced, leaving out his wife who was with him.

He recovered his mistakes seconds after the audience murmured, saying "and his wife," without calling her name either.

The same was the Chief of Protocol announced the arrival of the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court whose wife's name was not called, and worst of all, he struggled to call the name of the chief justice.

When former Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo and his wife walked into the hall, the chief of Protocol only announced his name, leaving out the wife, and again he recovered his mistakes after the audience hissed.

Besides these numerous slip-ups that somehow disfigured and took away the taste of the national occasion, the chief of protocol's worst show was when he called the wrong name of an official who was being escorted to the high table.

Another issue many took note and complained about was the action of the chief of protocol when he attempted calling time on the National Orator while he delivered his oration.

Mr. Seah went so closed to the orator calling his attention to time, much to the displeasure of people in the audience.

Many said it was unusual for the chief of protocol to gesticulate to an orator at such an officially extraordinary program no matter how long he/she takes to speak.

Before former President Obasanjo mounted the stage to speak, the sound was not perfectly coming through the microphone, a situation that also caused president Sirleaf to speak without a microphone for few minutes before the problem was solved.

It was the same microphone that was handed the former Nigerian leader to say a few words, but the chief of protocol almost disrupted him when he attempted to hand him a cordless microphone whereas the cord microphone was working perfectly.

His action caused some level of anxiety as those who did not see him trying to give the former president a cordless microphone took it that he was attempting to gesticulate time.

The chief of protocol's performance on that day was an embarrassment to several officials in the audience, specifically government lieutenants.

A junior official of government who preferred anonymity expressed disgust about the chief of protocol's usual mistakes, and upon seeing performing below expectations at such national event.

The cruz of the embarrassment was that he tried to close his ears for the rest of time the chief of protocol took the microphone to go through an item of the official program.