• Barchue Backs Out of Speaker Race -Chambers to Contest on White Ballot, Source: FrontPage Africa
• Enough Is Enough -Harsh Punishment for Rapists Necessary –Veronica Doe, Source: FrontPage Africa
• Gender Minister Cassell Denies Owing IT Company over USD90K, Source: FrontPage Africa
• Ellen’s 12 Years Assets Wanted, Source: New DEMOCRAT
• New UNCHR Representative Presents Letter of Accreditation, Source: New DEMOCRAT
• Liberia’s Next Cabinet The Make or Break of Weah’s Presidency, Source: Sierra Express Media

Barchue Backs Out of Speaker Race -Chambers to Contest on White Ballot, Source: FrontPage Africa

From all indications Maryland County Representative Bhofal Chambers is tipped to contest the Speaker post on white ballot today, Monday as his main contender, Grand Bassa County Representative Hans Barchue has back out. Barchue’s withdrawal from the race is due to the lack of backing from his colleagues, he said, as this paper reports. He made the disclosure during a news conference held on over the weekend at a local hotel in Paynesville, outside Monrovia. Barchue, an independent candidate and Chambers of the Coalition for Democratic Change (CDC) had been the two favorites vying for the third most powerful seat in the country. Read More

Enough Is Enough -Harsh Punishment for Rapists Necessary –Veronica Doe, Source: FrontPage Africa

Reports of men raping girls and sodomizing boys less than 10 years have reached an alarming proportion across Liberia. One of such reports, which caught the attention of Ms. Veronica Doe, daughter of slain President Samuel Doe, is that of a nine-year-old kid who was allegedly raped by a 55-year-old man in the Township of West Point. Ms. Doe in an exclusive interview urged Vice President-elect Jewel Howard Taylor to re-enforce the rape law and reintroduce the Domestic Violence Bill. “I am very disappointed over the unprecedented rape situation in Liberia, where older men are found raping babies and children, which often leads to their death. We need the rape laws of Liberia to be re-enforced with harsh punishment of castration of men, who rape children. The worse part of all is some of these men, who raped and killed these children, are educated and hold high positions in government," Ms. Doe said. Read More

Gender Minister Cassell Denies Owing IT Company over USD90K, Source: FrontPage Africa

Gender Julia Duncan Cassell has rubbished accusations linking her to more than USD90,000 debt owed Smart Technology, a Liberia technology provider company. Minister Cassell apparent reaction is against claim and lawsuit the tech company filed against her at the Commercial Court in Monrovia. In its lawsuit, the firm claimed it supplied computers and set up a lab at the Gender Ministry, but Duncan has refused to pay for the services rendered. The company alleged that fund used to purchase the computers for the ministry was borrowed from a local bank, which has accrued lot of interest due to the refusal of the ministry to pay the company for its services. 

But Minister Cassell, who has been ordered arrested by the Commercial Court for refusing to honor the court judgment, has refuted the allegation. Addressing a press conference at the Ministry during the close of the week after her arrival from abroad, Cassell disclosed that she does not owe the IT company as an individual rather it is the Gender Ministry that owes the company as an institution. She said the service rendered by the firm was for upgrading a governmental infrastructure (ministry) in order to enhance its efficiency, productivity, and responsiveness to meet the growing demands for its services. Read More

Ellen’s 12 Years Assets Wanted, Source: New DEMOCRAT

The Liberia Anti-Corruption Commission (LACC) has asked all existing officials including, outgoing President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf to make exit declaration of assets. This is a requirement that officials government MUST comply with as required under 10.1(d) of the National Code of Conduct for government employees and officials, the anti-graft commission said. According to the New Democrat, large-scale finance assets belonging to President Sirleaf and some family members are stationed in foreign banks than the country she has ruled for more than a decade. The LACC is preparing to verify assets of those who have declared their assets.

New UNCHR Representative Presents Letter of Accreditation, Source: New DEMOCRAT

The UN refugee agency UNHCR in Liberia has a new representative, Ms. Fatima Mohammed, who according to a Foreign Ministry release presented her Letters of Accreditation to foreign minister Marjon Kamara on 12 January 2018. Mohammed, who headed the UNCHR’s sub-office in Zwedru in Grand Gedeh County for three years, said she was delighted to return to Liberia, noting that her primary focus will be looking at Ivorian refugees in Liberia. She noted that the UNCHR is moving into the phase of local integration and will definitely work with the line ministries to see that the refugee program is integrated into the Liberian national framework.

INTERNATIONAL MEDIA ON LIBERIA

Liberia’s Next Cabinet The Make or Break of Weah’s Presidency, Source: Sierra Express Media

Having made history by becoming the first ex- footballer in the world to become president of his country, Liberia’s president elect, George Weah, will have his presidential reign kicked started with the daunting task that many observers and political analysts referred to as a ‘’Make’’ or ‘’Break’’ decision, when he shall choose his cabinet later this month to man the affairs of the country in the coming years. Widely regarded as politically in-experienced, President Weah now have the opportunity of proving his critics wrong and make his presidential reign a success by choosing the right people in his cabinet or proves them right by choosing the wrong ones. With everybody now coming around him and lobbying for a spot in his cabinet, it is my view that Mr. Weah treads cautiously so as to make the correct choice of persons in his soon-to be named cabinet in order to succeed as a president and prove his political opponents and critics wrong. Read more