• Cummings Won’t Contest for Montserrado County Senatorial Seat, Source: FrontPage Africa
• Elders, Women Call for Calm in Nimba, Source: The INQUIRER
• Sanniquellie Prison Overcrowded, Source: The INQUIRER
• Gbala on Sirleaf’s Back –Calls Her Administration TWP Prototype, Source: The ANALYST
• CDC Set to Form a Small but Efficient Government – Says Chairman McGill, Source: News Public Trust
• “Exhuming Bodies of Slain Presidents Tolbert & Doe: A Path to Genuine Reconciliation - Says a Liberian opposition politician, Source: News Public Trust
• Women Candidate Who Lost Want Inclusion in the CDC Government, Source: News Public Trust
• Some Outgoing Officials Refusing to Surrender Government Vehicles, as GSA Warns, Source: News Public Trust

Cummings Won’t Contest for Montserrado County Senatorial Seat, Source: FrontPage Africa

In the wake of rumors about the political leader of the Alternative National Congress (ANC), Mr. Alexander Cummings’ intention to contest to fill the vacancy created in the Montserrado County Senate seat, a source close to Mr. Cummings has hinted that the ANC political leader who obtained 58,989, of the 777,503 registered voters in Montserrado during the 10 October 2017 elections has no intention to contest the vacate seat as a result of Senator George Weah’s election as President of Liberia.  Read more

Elders, Women Call for Calm in Nimba, Source: The INQUIRER

According to The Inquirer, a political crisis is said to be deepening in Nimba County, with several persons, predominantly youths, calling for the division of the county. The issue of the division of Nimba which got intensified recently after the just-ended 2017 presidential elections was raised during the 2014 Mid-term Senatorial Elections by Edith Gongloe Weh who was defeated by her rival, Senator Prince Johnson in that election.

According to sources in Nimba, Mrs. Weh and others led a campaign against what they called the Gio dominance in the county.  Weh and others cried foul that the two highest seats in the county were currently occupied by the Gio speaking people, something the Mano speaking people felt cheated and detested, calling for the separation of the county, with the  Gio ethnic group occupying upper Nimba, while the Mano ethnic group settling to the lower part of the county.

Meanwhile, most of those against the division of Nimba accused most of the county lawmakers of unilaterally endorsing Vice President Joseph Boakai without consulting their constituency, while those calling for the division of the county have accused Senator Johnson of commercializing Nimba for what they called his own political gains. The aggrieved Nimba citizens said those in favor of the division of the county are only intending to use the means of soliciting jobs. They said in strongest terms that they will resist any form of division, thus calling on their colleagues to see reason to drop their claims.

Sanniquellie Prison Overcrowded, Source: The INQUIRER

The chief corrections officer assigned at the Central Prison in Sanniquellie City, Nimba County, has written the Justice Ministry complaining about the overcrowded of the facility, with prisoners awaiting court trial in the county. The prison compound was built for 75 inmates but presently has 198 inmates under detention, awaiting court trial. The prison superintendent further stated, “The 198 inmates are under detention at the compound that was constructed by the UNMIL Quick Impact project, to host 70 inmates which double the double number, he said.  The prison, early November 2017, rejected several criminal charged with various crimes by the Liberia National Police in Ganta, on ground that there was no space at the prison compound to detain anybody awaiting court trial.

Gbala on Sirleaf’s Back –Calls Her Administration TWP Prototype, Source: The ANALYST

A former presidential advisor in the Samuel Doe government, Bai Gbala has dismissed as illegal Executive Order 91, which President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf signed and released last, which set up a 30-member-plus transition team and will oversee the orderly transfer of executive power from President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf to President-elect George Weah.

Administration officials and sources closed to the President-elect, who spoke to his paper, called the issuance of the order hours after the close of the runoff polls “timely and magnanimous”. The officials and sources said they chose to hail the Executive Order because the Sirleaf Administration has no reference point for presidential power transfer in Liberia.

But Mr. Gbala said the Order was not only illegal but that it lacks constitutional support. Moreover, Gbala said, the Order is an “excellent example of the continuation of True Whip Party (TWP) corrupt practices of the past 170 years.” His indignation for the Executive Order was contained in a 29 December 2017 Op-ed previously published in the Diaspora-based The Perspective magazine.

INTERNATIONAL MEDIA ON LIBERIA

CDC Set to Form a Small but Efficient Government – Says Chairman McGill, Source: News Public Trust

Those expecting the incoming government of President-elect George Weah’s Coalition for Democratic Change (CDC) to have a bloated public bureaucracy may well be disappointed, as the party over the weekend said it “will form a small but very efficient government.” Since the CDC was declared victorious in the 26 December 2017 presidential runoff election, party supporters and other job seekers have reportedly thronged the CDC’s headquarters in Monrovia’s Congo Town suburb to lobby for jobs in the incoming government.

Some are said to be literally camping out on the party’s compound late into the night with CVs and the like, as the government has over the years served as the biggest employer in Liberia. But CDC chairman Nathaniel McGill told News Public Trust in Monrovia over the weekend that the CDC-led government will ensure that employment is created in the private sector where more people will be employed. Mr. McGill added that the CDC will go down in history after more than 70 years that the private sector will be the highest employer in this country. Commenting on the scramble for jobs, the CDC chairman said the rush for jobs by the different stakeholders will not bring split among the political parties that formed the Coalition.  Read More

“Exhuming Bodies of Slain Presidents Tolbert & Doe: A Path to Genuine Reconciliation - Says a Liberian opposition politician, Source: News Public Trust

Liberian opposition politician Dr. Marcus Speare over the weekend called for a practical demonstration of reconciliation by the incoming government exhuming the bodies of two former Presidents – William Tolbert and Samuel Doe - assassinated in the 1980s and 1990s, in order to give them befitting burials. The two incidents are among reasons why the ongoing political transition in Liberia is historic. First, the scheduled 22 January 2018 hand-over of power from President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf to President-elect George Weah will mark the first of such power transfer in 73 years.

Dr. Speare said exhuming the bodies of the two slain leaders to give them a decent burial will be one of the steps towards genuine national reconciliation and the restoration of pride and dignity. Speare further told journalists that he is proposing that a Requiem Mass or a memorial service be held in each of the 15 counties for the late Presidents Tolbert and Doe as well as the 13 government officials executed after the 12 April 1980 military coup. The opposition politician of the Liberty Party also wants memorial services to be held for the peaceful repose of the hundreds of thousands that died during the military coup in 1980, the 12 November 1985 Thomas Quiwonkpa’s abortive coup, the infamous civil war that started in 1989, and the  Ebola crisis. Read More

Women Candidate Who Lost Want Inclusion in the CDC Government, Source: News Public Trust

Defeated female candidates under the banner of the Liberia Women National Political Forum are calling for the inclusion of women in the incoming government of the Coalition for Democratic Change (CDC). They want the leadership of the CDC to ensure that more women are given the opportunity to serve in the new government. The women announced their position following a consultative meeting with the executives and partner organizations in Monrovia over the weekend.

President-elect George Weah, they said should consider including well-meaning Liberians in the formation of the new government, irrespective of their political and religious affiliations. More than 200 in number, the losing women candidates observed that the participation of females in the political process remains a challenge. “The presence of a woman in the second seat of governance in the country will continue to motivate and strengthen women’s resolve to press forward,” the women said. Read More

Some Outgoing Officials Refusing to Surrender Government Vehicles, as GSA Warns, Source: News Public Trust

Some outgoing public officials in possession of government vehicles are said to be holding on the vehicles, while others are cooperating in handing over theirs. Ahead of the end of her 12 years reign, President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf recently mandated all officials in possession of government vehicles to immediately turn them over. But the pace of handover has been rather slow, prompting the General Services Agency (GSA) to launch a vigorous operation to retrieve the vehicles and secure other government assets. GSA deputy director-general Cole Bangalu told journalists at the weekend that the agency is stepping up efforts to enforce the presidential mandate by taking possession of all government vehicles in possession of officials. According to Mr. Bangalu, the mandate is intended to enable a smooth holding of the 22 January 2018 inauguration of President-elect George Weah. Read More