03 January 2018

LIBERIA MEDIA HIGHLIGHTS

Tussle over Jobs Threatens Weah’s “Inclusive Government”, Source: Daily OBSERVER

The Daily Observer quoting impeccable sources within the Coalition for Democratic Change (CDC) says President-elect George Weah has come under intense pressure from members of his Coalition who are demanding equal distribution of jobs in the new government. This comes against the backdrop of reports that infighting and tussling are intensifying over who gets what jobs.

Although President-elect Weah has reportedly asked outgoing Vice President Joseph Boakai to suggest names of qualified individuals for appointment in his government, sources say the infighting between supporters of outgoing President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, on the one hand, while on the other hand between National Patriotic Party (NPP) stalwarts and those of the Liberia People Democratic Party (LPDP) have intensified. Therefore, Weah’s exhortation to Mr. Boakai to suggest names for appointment in his government may amount to little or nothing.

According to reports, some CDC supporters are growing increasingly uneasy over what they see as attempts by President Sirleaf to impose her choice of appointees on President-elect Weah. Sources say that her suggestion to have former finance minister Amara Konneh take up the post of foreign minister was rebuffed with the CDC opting to have Cllr. Winston Tubman, a former Special Representative of the United Nations Secretary-General to Somalia appointed as foreign minister. Read more

Vice President-elect Jewel Howard Taylor Hints At Possible Administrative ‘Weakness’, Source: FrontPage Africa

Liberia’s vice president-elect Jewel Howard Taylor has mentioned her ‘greatest weakness’ and how it defers from the leadership characteristics of incoming President George Weah. The newly elected pair will lead Liberia for the next six years and optimism amongst the population is growing that they would work together to initiate policies for national growth and development.

But the vice president-elect says “consensus building” is her greatest weakness as a politician, as she describes herself in an interview with the BBC as “Someone with firing power to get things done”. Mrs. Taylor’s  ‘firing power’ attribute is in sharp contrast to Mr. Weah’s leadership style, which she described in the interview as a consensus builder.  “He is a consensus builder and that is my weakness,” she said of President-elect Weah during the BBC interview Tuesday. “He is patient and he listens to all the voices sometimes I don’t wait for the full consensus.”  Read more

Minister Varney Sirleaf Warns George Weah of Pres. Sirleaf’s Mistakes, Source: FrontPage Africa

Many Liberians including deputy internal affairs minister Varney Sirleaf are calling on President-elect George Weah to learn from the outgoing Ellen Johnson Sirleaf administration’s mistakes if it is to succeed. In an interview with the BBC recently, Mr. Sirleaf warned President-elect Weah not to repeat President Sirleaf’s mistakes by employing family members and be complacent in the fight against corruption. “Be little vigilant; those setbacks that Mrs. Sirleaf faced learn them, putting family members in government, being lenient when it comes to prosecuting people," the deputy government minister told Mr. Weah.

"If someone is found in corrupt act and they are indicted and the court is slow in prosecuting them, of course then it’s like the government is not doing much when it’s come to prosecuting people,” Mr. Sirleaf avowed when asked on what would be his advice to Mr. Weah. Read more

WSR Hails Liberians on Peaceful Elections, Source: Daily OBSERVER

The Women’s Situation Room (WSR) has commended Liberians for exemplifying maturity in conducting a peaceful election. According to the establishment’s coordinator, Cllr. Yvette Chesson Wureh, the WSR did not receive any reports on incidents of injury or destruction of property during the election of the country’s next President, which showed the world that “we have grown up politically and can now conduct elections in an atmosphere devoid of threats, intimidation, injury and or death.”

“We congratulate President-elect George Weah and his Vice President-elect Jewel Howard Taylor on their hard-won victory. “The WSR also commends Vice President Joseph Boakai and his running mate Emmanuel Nuquay for their well-run electoral race; but above all, for the Vice President’s very dignified and magnanimous concessionary speech, wherein he has indicated that he is ready to avail himself in any way that the newly elected president may find him useful to advance the good of our country,” Cllr. Wureh said. She made the statement recently at a press conference held the Monrovia when she released the WSR’s report. Read more

Court Drops Charge of Misapplication of Entrusted Property Against Cooper, Source: FrontPage Africa

The Monrovia City Court has cleared the former presidential candidate of the Liberia restoration Party (LRP), Ms. MacDella Cooper of the Misapplication of Entrusted Property charge brought against her. According to the court, the prosecution in the case dropped charges due to lack of sufficient pieces of evidence. However, the court says the prosecutor has the right to re-file when the need arises. Read more

Five Prominent Citizens Eye Bong County Vacant Senatorial Seat, Source: FrontPage Africa

FrontPage Africa reports that the race to replace Senator Jewel Howard Taylor is heating up in Bong County as she prepares to become Liberia’s first female vice president. Contenders for the seat include: Ambassador Jeremiah Sulunteh of the Alternative National Congress (ANC); Emmanuel Lomax of the Liberty Party (LP); Orando Zarwolo; Bong County superintendent Selena Polson Mappy of the Unity Party (UP); Fairnoh Gbilah; James Saybay; and Steve Kennedy of the People's Unification Party (PUP). Read more

Winston Tubman Ready To Work In Weah’s Government, As He Congratulates Him, Source: News Public Trust

The former standard bearer of the Congress for Democratic Change (CDC) in the 2011 elections, Cllr. Winston Tubman has congratulated President-elect George Weah and says he’s ready to give his services if he is asked. Mr. Weah ran on the ticket as a running mate to Cllr. Tubman in the 2011 polls.

Tubman told News Public Trust that he has visited President-elect Weah purposely to congratulate him and wish him success in his endeavors as President of Liberia. He said the president-elect has received his endorsement of the Liberian people as evident by the massive jubilations that followed the announcement of the election results. Since the 1980 military coup, he went on, he has never seen massive jubilation all around the country as the one that followed the result declaring senator as president-elect.

Meanwhile, Cllr. Tubman, a former Special Representative of the United Nations Secretary-General in Somalia, admonished President-elect Weah to begin the task of reconciling the people who have been divided along political lines and classes. Read more

China Congratulates Weah, Source: The NEWS

The People’s Republic of China (PRC) has congratulated President-elect George Weah on his election as the new president of Liberia. Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Geng Shuang said Tuesday that China is ready to work with Liberia to promote the bilateral comprehensive cooperative partnership and benefit the two peoples; according to Xinhua. Read more

UNMIL, BFF Host Year-end Jamboree for 400 Children in West Point, Source: Daily OBSERVER

The Better Future Foundation (BFF) in collaboration with Youth Beyond Barriers (YBB) held a year-end festival for more than 400 children in the Township of West Point in Monrovia on Christmas Day. The event, sponsored by the United Nations Mission in Liberia (UNMIL), was characterized by public awareness and education and values and norms of human rights including the basic rights of children. Read more

Ex-Finance Officials Linked to USD300 Million Disappearance,  Source: GNN Liberia

An international effort is underway to trace and retrieve over USD300 million stolen from the Liberian government by former Finance Ministry officials and deposited into banks in Lebanon. The money was ordered paid from a special account at the Central Bank of Liberia (CBL) and deposited into a government consolidated account created by the former officials. The Liberia Anti-Corruption Commission (LACC) is said to be aware of the scandal Read more

INTERNATIONAL MEDIA ON LIBERIA

Liberian President-elect Weah tempers expectations, plans agriculture push, Sources: Daily Mail Online, Reuters, Times of Oman, and US News & World Report

Liberian President-elect George Weah on Tuesday set modest goals for his six-year term, calling for Liberia to start exporting crops and repairing decrepit infrastructure, in his first interview since winning election last week. Weah rode a wave of youth support to capture more than 60 percent of the vote in last Tuesday’s run-off, but he will need to manage expectations as he attempts to revive one of Africa’s worst-performing economies.

Later this month, he will replace President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, Africa’s first elected female head of state and a Nobel Peace Prize laureate, in Liberia’s first democratic transfer of power since 1944.

Seated outside his unfinished new house on a quiet dirt backstreet near the capital Monrovia, where a concrete sign announces, “Friends of Weah say welcome”, the 51-year-old ex-soccer star began to tentatively fill in some of the gaps in his vague campaign promises.

“I want for us to be self-sustained so we can export,” he said, appearing at ease in a dark blue dress shirt and a gold watch. “The government has a responsibility to have agricultural programs so people are able to grow their own food.” Read more

Weah's World: From slum to soccer stardom --- and now president, Sources: San Francisco Chronicle and The Virgin Islands Daily News

George Weah’s soccer talent took him from a slum surrounded by swamps in Liberia to superstardom in Paris, Milan, and London, becoming the first and still only African to win FIFA’s world player of the year award. That’s only half the story.

Raised in a poor neighborhood built on a mangrove swamp on the neglected outskirts of the Liberian port capital Monrovia, Weah was elected president of his country last week. His victory over the country’s incumbent vice president, a business graduate and former consultant to the World Bank, was a lesson in how sports fame can help propel figures with humble beginnings to positions of great importance.

Weah was not the first sportsman to test his popularity in the political arena. Boxer Manny Pacquiao is a senator in the Philippines, former Olympic champion runner, and current IAAF president Sebastian Coe was a member of parliament in Britain, and ex-cricketer Imran Khan leads an opposition party in Pakistan. There have been others. But Weah, easily Liberia’s most famous sportsman, has reached the highest office in his land. His challenge is big, too. Read more

Liberia's big school experiment, Source: BBC News

Liberia, which elected a new president last week, has among the highest percentage of out-of-school primary children in the world. In a bid to improve the availability and quality of schools, the West African country has been carrying out a controversial experiment. It has asked a range of non-government organizations to run some of the country's state schools, to see how results compare. Supporters defend this as a bold innovation which will raise standards. Opponents say it is a pathway to privatizing the state school system.

David Laws, a former education minister in England and executive chairman of the Education Partnerships Group, has been advising Liberia's government on the project. He gives his views on the findings so far. Read more

Liberian Refugee Sworn in as Helena Mayor, Source: Flathead Beacon

Liberian refugee Wilmot Collins has been sworn in as the mayor of Helena — the first black mayor of any city in the state’s history. About 100 people, including Governor Steve Bullock and Lieutenant Governor Mike Cooney, attended Tuesday’s ceremony at the Capitol Rotunda. The Independent Record reports two city commissioners also were sworn in by District Judge Mike Menahan. Collins has said his priorities include finding a way to hire more firefighters and police officers while addressing teen and veteran homelessness and improving tourism. Read more

Disclaimer
 

This media summary consists of selected local media articles for the information of UN personnel. The public distribution of this media summary is a courtesy service extended by UNMIL on the understanding that the choice of articles included is exclusive, and the contents do not represent anything other than a selection of articles likely to be of interest to a United Nations readership. The inclusion of articles in this summary does not imply endorsement by UNMIL.

 

 

 

 

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