5 December 2017

  • ‘Rule of Law Essential for Liberia’s Democracy’ - UNOWAS Head Ibn Chambas stresses, Source: Daily OBSERVER

LIBERIA MEDIA HIGHLIGHTS

‘Rule of Law Essential for Liberia’s Democracy’ - UNOWAS Head Ibn Chambas stresses, Source: Daily OBSERVER

This paper reports that the Special Representative of the United Nations Secretary-General for West Africa and the Sahel, Dr. Mohamed Ibn Chambas, has said that democracy cannot thrive in the absence of the rule of law, and has therefore lauded the ongoing post-election legal processes in Liberia. Dr. Chambas said Liberians can no longer afford to seek the routes of their old ugly past and have taken the best trend by settling their disagreements through legal means. He made these comments while addressing the media at the end of the 31st High-level Meeting of UN Missions in West Africa, held in Monrovia on Friday, 1 December 2017.

The paper says Liberia, since the 10 October presidential and representative polls, has been overwhelmed with a political impasse precipitated by allegations of ‘gross irregularities and probably fraud’—leading to two of the top three political parties, Liberty Party and the ruling Unity Party, using legal means in seeking redress. Though many have lauded the legal trend instead of taking their grievances to the streets, the political stalemate and its ensuing events have caused some anxiety in the Liberian public.

After lauding the peaceful nature of the 10 October elections, Chambas, who is also the head of the UN Office for West and the Sahel (UNOWAS), noted that compliance with the rule of law and due process is essential for strengthening Liberia’s nascent democracy—while expressing the hope that the electoral process would be concluded expeditiously, stressing that legal challenges should be legitimate and in good faith.

Also in attendance at the 31st High-level meeting was the Special Representative of the UN Secretary General (SRSG) and head of the UN Mission in Liberia (UNMIL), Farid Zarif; in Mali (MINUSMA), Mahamat Saleh; and the UN Resident Coordinator for Cote D’Ivoire, Babacar Cissé.

The objective of the meeting was to provide insights and exchange views on peace and security dynamics in the areas of operations of respective missions and in the West African region. It was also meant to strengthen coordination in order to address common challenges in such areas as elections, transnational organized crimes, violent extremism and terrorism, security sector and constitutional reform processes, as well as democratic transitions.

Farid Zarif of UNMIL said that Liberians have demonstrated that they are resolved to be peaceful as they anxiously await the outcomes of the legal proceedings. He also warned Liberians that the international community has invested so much in the country “because it believes in the Liberian people, their aspirations and the development of the country.” Read More

NEC Condemns ‘Fake Leaked Email’, Source: Daily OBSERVER

The National Elections Commission (NEC), through its director of communications, Mr. S. Henry Flomo has sharply reacted to an email said to have come from one of its staffers, regarding the voter roll which is aimed at bringing NEC into public disrepute. Addressing the media at an unusual and impromptu press conference yesterday, Mr. Flomo said the alleged email was illegally generated and has been circulated to harm the reputation and credibility of the electoral process.

“The Commission clarifies that the alleged email was never written nor circulated by the Chairman of the Commission, Cllr. Jerome George Korkoya and the contents therein are false and only designed to cause confusion in the country,” he said. The alleged email, a copy of which is in the possession of the Daily Observer, has ‘admin@necliberia.org’ as its source while the recipient is Jerome Korkoya (jkorkoya@necliberia.org).

It is said to have been sent to Korkoya on Wednesday, 28 July 2017, at 9:19 p.m., with the subject, “Unknown Database Changes”.

The alleged email reads:

“Good morning, chairman, I hope all is well with you. Last night while backing up the system database and folders, I noticed that there are changes and additions being made to the parent folder of the final voter roster. The most significant changes of concern to me is the creation of new voters file with same exact name as the previous, and the addition of numbers that were not included on the listing we all signed on a few weeks ago.

“Most interestingly, the new folder being created mimics some of the same information in the initial parent folder listing. Going through the new folder, the names, ages, location, sex and location of voters have changed. Furthermore, the pictures of voters on the new listing do not match what is on the compiled final file of those that registered to vote. I am looking through this more and will provide you with additional information.”

A subsequent email, which was later alleged to have come from Cllr. Korkoya, was dated Thursday, 9 November 2017, at 9:33 a.m. and addressed to all members of the Board of Commissioners. The alleged email concluded and admonished all of its recipients not to speak to the media or anyone concerning fingerprint inaccuracy.

“I have not seen this from any of the complainants as part of their evidence and we need to make no mention of that. We will discuss this in our emergency meeting later today,” it read.

Flomo said the email is false because the senders used admin@necliberia.org which does not exist on the Commission’s server. “For all official mails, internal and external, the NEC uses the first letter of first names and then the last names plus the domain address. Therefore, the sender is fake,” he stated. He added that the voter roll database is strictly controlled by the NEC Data Center and not the IT section at the NEC. “The IT section does not control infrastructure, is not able to comment on database changes as mentioned in the concocted email and the NEC uses Microsoft Outlook for all official mails, internal and external,” he explained.

He pointed out that the NEC does not have fingerprint folders as mentioned by the alleged fake emails and that all documents are saved in the Commission’s database and not in folders. “The fake email from Chairman Korkoya to fellow commissioners, regarding the subject, does not exist on our mail server. It is not just strange but fake and in fact, the Chairman in particular normally uses his AOL account for email purposes,” he said.

Flomo noted that the Commission is urging all citizens, mainly voters and partners to remain calm and await the opinion of the Supreme Court and that the Commission remains transparent and credible. The head of the IT section at the NEC, Mr. James Dogbey also noted that his department knows nothing about that email and it has been verified as a fake email from an unidentified source with the intent to damage the good reputation of the Commission.

Meanwhile, Rodney Sieh, publisher of FrontPage Africa, who received the purported email and published it on his newspaper’s website said he called on the NEC to give a quick response, but the Commission said it could give a response only through a press conference as it did yesterday. Responding on the Bumper Show Monday as to how he got the alleged email and whether it is authentic, Sieh said he received it from an insider from the NEC and whether it is true or not lies in the hands of the Commission to clarify.

With a few more days to the ruling of the Supreme Court in the LP, UP vs NEC’s ongoing October 10 representative and presidential elections alleged irregularities and fraud case, the alleged email appears to be generating more tension and bringing the electoral body under further scrutiny.

Will Supreme Court Demand Cleaning of Voter Roll? Source: Daily OBSERVER

According to the Daily OBSERVER, the validity of the Final Registration Roll (FRR) is the final point of contention between the NEC and the complainant parties, LP and UP.

It is widely believed that the pending judgment by the Supreme Court could likely demand the National Elections Commission (NEC) to clean up the Final Registration Roll (FRR). The news outlet says this is important because instead of a re-run of the 10 October presidential and legislative elections that have been challenged on grounds that the entire voters’ roll was marred with fraud and irregularities, their clean up could restore confidence in the electoral system. The court is expected to rule in the matter on Thursday, 7 December 2017.

Both Liberty Party (LP) and the ruling Unity Party (UP) have repeatedly accused the Commission of tampering with the FRR on the basis that people whose names were not found on it the FRR were recorded on sheets across and allowed to vote during the 10 October representative and presidential elections.

Meanwhile, when the NEC’s Executive Director Lamin Lighe said: “The FRR has no problem and so there will be no need for any so-called cleaning up. It is perfect and up to the standard that truly reflects the workings of the Commission.”  He added that the few names which appeared with the same ID numbers came as a result of errors because of typing over two million names. He argued that that number is not all too significant to nullify the work of the Commission. “One thing people have to understand here is that even if a few numbers of persons bear the same VR identification numbers, other features will definitely be different from each other. The faces and ages, for example, can in no way be the same,” he noted.

At Friday’s argument, Counselors Benedict F. Sannoh of UP and Oswald Tweh of LP said the NEC unconstitutionally added tens of thousands of names on the subpoenaed flash drive it submitted into evidence, thereby contradicting the figure on the flash drive given to seven of the twenty political parties. In counter-argument, the NEC’s lead lawyer, Cllr. Frank Musa Dean, strongly disagreed with the two complainants. Dean argued that the addenda (additional lists of names of voters) created were not unlawful as considered by the LP and UP. He said the addenda came as a result of names of voters not found on the FRR due to their queuing at the wrong places on voting day. He noted that the names of those listed on the addenda were later found on the FRR.

Gegbeson Refutes Claims He Confessed to Dividing Invalid Votes, Daily Observer Apologizes, Source: Daily OBSERVER

The media report that the Deputy Director for training at the National Elections Commission (NEC), Mr. Daniel Gegbeson, has condemned Monday’s publication in the Daily OBSERVER Newspaper alleging that he confessed to dividing invalid votes in Nimba County Electoral District #8, which is said to have given incumbent Rep. Larry Yanquoi an advantage over his closest rival, Mr. Saye S. Miannah.

The OBSERVER, in its Monday (4 December) edition reported that Gegbeson, who headed the recount team following the 10 October representative votes cast, validated 218 invalid votes and distributed them among the 10 candidates who contested the seat. Because of that distribution, the story said, the incumbent Lawmaker (Yanquoi) subsequently emerged as the winner with 17 votes ahead of Miannah. Miannah was earlier declared winner with 19 votes difference but due to a resolution set by the Board of Commissioners of NEC in 2005 which states that inasmuch as a winner for a representative and senatorial seat is determined by a simple majority, it should be not less than 50 votes, the Commission ordered a recount.

Reacting to the Daily OBSERVER’s publication at his office in Monrovia Monday, Gegbeson said it is false and misleading that, as reported by the paper, he was induced by Yanquoi to give him more of the invalid votes which later became valid. “It sounds so funny to me, reading in your paper, that I was induced or paid by a candidate to give him more votes as the counting process went on. That is unbelievable because I am not cheap and cannot be bought by anyone,” he told the Observer reporter assigned at NEC in an exclusive interview.  Read More

How Electoral Impasse Affects Liberia, Source: The New Dawn

This paper reports that after the ravages of the Ebola epidemic and the fall in commodity prices, the economy of Liberia, one of the poorest in the world, is being affected by the juridical -electoral complication following the 10 October 2017 Presidential and Legislative elections, which are now being contested over claims of ‘irregularities and massive fraud’ as alleged by aggrieved political parties.

Merchants in Monrovia, the capital, who are seeing their customers fleeing in anticipation of better days, hope that the decision expected this week from the Supreme Court will bring them some relief. The High Court is to rule on the appeals of candidates who arrived behind the senator and former football star George Weah in the first round of the presidential election on 10 October, calling for the cancellation of the results.

The second round, scheduled for 7 November between George Weah and Vice President Joseph Boakai, was postponed indefinitely by the Supreme Court, which had ordered the Electoral Commission to first consider the appeal of the third-ranked candidate, with 9, 6% of the vote, Charles Brumskine, joined by Mr. Boakai.

"Everything is stagnant now," sighs Christopher Pewee, 32, a salesman of flip flops in Paynesville's "Red Light" market, the largest in the country. "The election is suspended, business is suspended, and we do not know what is happening in this country." "Nobody buys, people keep their money," regrets another shopkeeper, Ruth Wollie, 45 years old. "Getting to sell for 1,000 Liberian dollars (about 6.7 euros) a day has become very difficult for us." Read More

Africa ‘Worse Off than at Independence’ - UL Commencement Speaker says World Bank, IMF “are Barriers to Development in Africa”, Source: Daily OBSERVER

The Director of Policy Support and Consultancy Services at the Kofi Annan International Peace Training Center in Accra, Ghana says the euphoria, anxieties, and enthusiasm that greeted the struggles for independence on the Africa continent over 60 years ago, have yielded no fruits and those dreams and aspirations that greeted that period continue to remain elusive.

Dr. Thomas Jaye, who delivered the keynote message at Liberia College’s Commencement Convocation, the first of seven college-based commencements forming part of the 98th Commencement Convocation of the University of Liberia, provided a detailed analysis of the origin of the current socio-economic and security crises which has plagued the African continent. Making his point, he referred to cases such as the ongoing migrant slavery situation in Libya; the Boko Haram insurgency in Nigeria and other sporadic terroristic attacks across the continent.

Over the years, Dr. Jaye, a Liberian intellectual, said though there are very few stable countries on the continent, “the rest have been caught in the barbed-wire of political turbulence, intra-state conflicts, electoral crisis, governance and leadership failure, economic stagnation, social decline and insecurity.” In summing up not just his but many other Africans’ frustrations, Dr. Jaye noted that the continent is even worse off now than before independence. He told the graduates, “When we look back, we see that the socio-economic conditions of our people are worse off than at independence.” The bulk of Dr. Jaye’s message was essentially a deep historical and self-reflection of how bad governance, corruption, greed, elitism, and external interferences have undermined Africa’s transition from colonialism to democratic governance and development. Read More

Liberians Call on Libyan Ambassador to Help Repatriate Liberians from Libya, Source: FrontPage Africa

Addressing aggrieved Liberians in Monrovia on Monday over their protest of the ongoing maltreatment of Africa migrants in Libya, the country’s Ambassador to Liberia, Mr. Mohamed Omar Mohamed Talbi, called on Africans, including their leaders, to jointly tackle the migrant crises in his country and on the continent.

The protest was stated outside the Libyan Embassy in Monrovia by aggrieved Liberian youth and students, human rights groups, including the women groups, who petitioned the Libyan Embassy in Monrovia during a peaceful protest demanding an end to the manhandling of black African migrants in the country. 

The group, in a petition, further called on the Libyan government to provide protection and safety of Liberians in the country, asserting that brutalizing migrants is a human rights violation.  Protesters, who had gathered at the Libyan Embassy in Monrovia, had many inscriptions on placards including, “Black Africans are not commodities." "Free our brothers and sisters now. Libya stop killing and torturing black African migrants; stop the modern-day slavery.” 

After he had received their petition, Ambassador Talbi vowed to take the message to the Libyan government. The Libyan diplomat urged everyone to also acknowledge that his country is also affected by the current situation. He called on Africans and their leaders to jointly tackle the crisis in order to put an end to the manhandling of migrants.  Read More

Nigerian-Liberian Nabbed for Smuggling, Money Laundering, Source: FrontPage Africa

According to FrontPage Africa, a naturalized Liberian of Nigerian origin, Alexander Success Ojogwu, has been apprehended in Monrovia by the Liberia National Police in collaboration with Professional Ethics Division (PED) of the Liberia Revenue Authority (LRA) for allegedly smuggling, money laundering and tax evasion.

The LRA was copied on a complaint from DSTV (cable TV) Liberia of possible smuggling of DSTV antenna, decoders and related equipment. Acting on this tip, the LRA Officers conducted internal data analysis on both its domestic tax and customs database and found that the suspect and his business only paid Business Registration fees from 2013 up to 2016 January. In collaboration with Police, an undercover operation was conducted on the target and he was nabbed early morning. He is also accused of collecting fees from customers and directing customers to subscribe for service with DSTV Nigeria through a fraudulent money transfer scheme. 

The LRA also coordinated with the office of the Solicitor General and the Montserrado County Attorney for the issuance of a search and seizure warrant on the premises of suspect Ojugwu. Suspect Ojogwu was caught for smuggling and selling DSTV decoders, satellite dishes and other devices at his home on Broad Street—an act of tax evasion.  Ojogwu has reportedly been carrying out his illicit deals under the disguise of operating an electronic shop at his rented home on Broad Street, and was arrested early Wednesday morning (22 November) during a rigorous joint security search and seizure operation. He was arrested in possession of a Liberian Passport, which claims he is a naturalized Liberian citizen. 

During the search, 40 pieces of large satellite plates, 66 pieces of small satellite plates including DSTV decoders and several other accessories in large commercial quantities were discovered including cash of US$15,057. His smuggling activities have been undermining a legitimate taxpayer. Read More

Ministry of Commerce, LPRC Give Conflicting Prices for Petroleum Products, Source: FrontPage Africa

This The Ministry of Commerce and Industry has increased the price of petroleum products, regardless of the economic turmoil the country and its citizens are faced with due to the current electoral impasse. The increment has led to many commercial drivers suddenly increasing transportation fare to commensurate with the increment, this paper reports.

A circular issued by the Ministry of Commerce and Industry indicated: “The Ministry of Commerce and Industry in consultation with the Management of the Liberia Petroleum Refining Company (LPRC) has announced that there would be twelve United States cents (0.12c) increment in the price of gasoline (PMS) and thirteen United States cents (13c) increment in the price of fuel oil (AGO).” 

The Commerce Ministry further instructed that the retail price of gasoline be USD3.37/LD440 while fuel oil should be sold for USD3.44/LD450.  Ironically, the Liberia Petroleum Refining Company (LPRC) in a press statement issued on the same 1 December 2017 informing the public that there has been no increment in the price of petroleum products. 

“The LPRC management would like to inform the public that the information being propagated has no flavor of truth, and therefore wishes to make it clear that there is over 30,000 metric ton of mixed petroleum products in its shore tanks capable of sufficiently and adequately serving the Liberian Market for over two months,” the LPRC statement asserted. The LPRC called on the public to report any individual/ filling station selling petroleum product above the approved pump price of USD3.25 or its Liberian dollar equivalent of L400.00 for gasoline and US3.31 or its Liberian dollar equivalent of L410.00 for fuel oil. Over the last few days, the filing stations around Monrovia have been selling their products at the price stipulated by the Ministry of Commerce, with total disregard to the warning from the LRPC.  Read More

Skills Laboratory Units Launched for Six Midwifery Institutions, Source: FrontPage Africa

Skills laboratory facilities for six midwifery and medical institutions were on 4 December, 2017 launched at the Tubman National Institute of Medical Arts, (TNIMA) in Monrovia. Health Minister Dr. Bernice Dahn said the facilities would provide students the opportunity to be trained, urging them to take full advantage of the skills laboratories, this paper reports.

Health Minister Dahn further said the government wants to reduce maternal mortality in the country; adding, “Only adequately health workers can do it.” USAID/Liberia Mission Director, Anthony Chan, said the donation from the American people through USAID will help students with more practical skills. Chan also said that the laboratories will train students properly which will support the medical needs of many Liberians.

The direct beneficiaries of the skills laboratories include Monrovia-based Tubman National Institute of Medical Arts, Winifed J. Harley College of Health Sciences, United Methodist University and the Mother Pattern College of Health Sciences. Esther Barcon School of Nursing and midwifery, in Zorzor, Lofa County, Phebe Paramedical Training program of Phebe, Bong County and the Denna K. Isaacson School of midwifery formally the midwifery training program for the southeastern region located in Zwedru, Grand Gedeh County.  Read More

INTERNATIONAL MEDIA ON LIBERIA

NEC Wants Police Probe after Denying Published Emails Is Fake, Source: News Public Trust

The National Elections Commission has swiftly reacted to a purported internal email published by a local news outlet, FrontPage Africa regarding acknowledgement of alleged scandal in the voter roll and NEC is calling on the Liberia National Police (LNP) to launch a forensic investigation. “The Commission clarifies that the alleged email was never written nor circulated by the Chairman of the Commission, Cllr. Jerome George Korkoya and the contents therein are false and only designed to cause confusion in the country,” a NEC statement read by its Commissions Director Henry Flomo said on Monday.

The emergence of the purported email on voter roll fraud comes just few days before Liberia’s Supreme Court is due to rule in the Liberty Party, Unity Party vs. NEC’s case in which the two parties have alleged massive fraud and irregularities in the 10 October 2017 presidential and legislative elections.

The alleged email: (‘admin@necliberia.org’ as its source, while the recipient is Jerome Korkoya (jkorkoya@necliberia.org), was illegally generated and has been circulated to harm the reputation and credibility of the electoral process, Flomo said.

The FrontPage Africa report said the alleged email was sent to NEC Chairman Korkoya on Wednesday, 28 July 2017, at 9:19 p.m., with the subject, “Unknown Database Changes”. The paper said before it went to press it contacted NEC to get its reaction but the electoral body declined to comment but said it would address the media later. 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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