Friday, 2 March 2018

LIBERIA MEDIA HIGHLIGHTS

Finance declares $17M as Lawmakers Are Tightlipped, Source: The New Dawn

Reports have indicated that lawmakers appear unwilling to disclose the current financial status of the country after Thursday’s executive session with heads of three key government’s financial institutions. The House of Representatives Tuesday invited Central Bank of Liberia (CBL) executive governor Milton Weeks, Liberia Revenue Authority (LRA) commissioner-general Elfrieda Stewart Tamba, and finance minister Samuel Tweah to appear before plenary and provide clarity on the financial state of the country amid conflicting statements coming both from President George Weah and former President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf about the country’s financial status. The finance minister was represented by his deputy for fiscal affairs Samora Wolokollie.

The leadership of the House was conspicuously tightlipped, unwilling to tell the nation what was gathered from the financial authorities after the executive session. However, sources in the corridor the Capitol hinted The New Dawn that President Weah was correct when he reported that he inherited a broke economy because the USD150 million reserves announced by Madam Sirleaf is not meant for government operations.

Mr. Wolokollie said the total amount of money they received as of 31st January 2018 is about USD17 million. Read more

Weah prays for unconfirmed nominees, Source: The New Dawn

President George Weah says he prays that all goes well for those of his cabinet nominees who have not yet been confirmed by the Liberian Senate. “…Members of the cabinet, good afternoon and good to see y’all; those who all have been confirmed already, congratulations. And to those that are waiting [for] confirmation I pray that all goes well,” Mr. Weah said Wednesday at the commencement of his first cabinet meeting in Monrovia. Read more

Health Minister-designate Senate Confirmation in Suspense, Source: FrontPage Africa

FrontPage Africa says it has reliably learned that members of the Senate Committee on Gender, Health, and Children have resolved not to confirm health minister-designate Dr. Wilhelmina Jallah. The paper claimed that the planned rejection of Dr. Jallah comes amid public outcry against her nomination and the committee is preparing to recommend to President George Weah the withdrawal of her nomination.

More so, the paper says a well-placed source in the legislature has confided that the Senate would also shortly denied nominees without degrees and their intent will be to set standards for government nominees. The source also said that the Senate is currently discussing on how and what standard to set and will advise the president, especially for assistant ministers. “We want to set standards, especially for assistant ministers because they are the technocrats, ministers and their deputies are political positions.” Read more

FDA, Stakeholders Endorse 30 Percent Sustainable Management of Forest, Source: Daily OBSERVER

Senior officials of the Forestry Development Authority (FDA), stakeholders, and support partners in the forest sector Tuesday endorsed 30 percent sustainable management of the nation’s rich forest resources. For the past several years, the FDA technicians and support partners have been engaged in consultations on how Liberia can manage the forest sector. The consultations were held with communities and stakeholders to derive at a consensus on how the country will manage its forest reserves by closely monitoring commercial logging, conservation, and protected areas from intruders.

Saah David, FDA national project coordinator of the REDD+ urged the forest stakeholders to manage the forests in a way that would be sustainable. While FDA managing director C. Mike Doryen wants concrete steps taken to manage the country’s forests and its rich biodiversity for future generations. For Nick Goll, an environmental safeguards specialist, the partners and FDA officials must ensure the protection of the forest and its biodiversity. Read more

Citizens want lawmakers’ salaries reduced, Sources: INSIGHT and The New Dawn

Residents of Bong County especially radio talk show participants are calling on members of the  Legislature to reduce their salaries and allowances like what President George Weah has done. According to them, the reduction of lawmakers’ salaries will greatly help to improve the country’s economy, claiming that the lawmakers make huge salaries and benefits. They underlined that when lawmakers’ salaries and allowances are reduced, the government will be able to do other things in helping the country to move forward. Read more

Deputy Police Chief lauds women in security sector, Sources: INSIGHT and The New Dawn

Deputy Inspector General of Police for Operations, Robert Budy says more than before, women are playing a pivotal role in revamping the Liberian security sector. He said women have gradually learned to muster the courage, break the barriers, and overcome to serve in the security sector. The deputy IGP made the observation at program marking the end of 16 weeks of training for Women in Peace Security Advance Specialized Course held Wednesday at the University of Liberia’s Kofi Annan Institute for Conflict Transformation. According to him, amid the challenges, gallant women have acquired requisite training and been equipped with the appropriate apparatus to keep the communities safe and foster sustainable peace across the country. Read more

Labor wants APM Terminate reinstate dismissed contractors, Source: The New Dawn

Labor minister Moses Kollie has frowned on the issuance of sub-employment contracts by major employers and institutions in the country. He said the act by these institutions is intended to evade responsibilities such as the payment of benefits for year(s) served. Minister Kollie spoke Thursday when he and deputies met with the management of APM Terminals and dismissed workers of the company at the Labor Ministry. Read more

88 Groups Call on Donors to Cease Support to Bridge International, Source: FrontPage Africa

Bridge International Academy has come under scrutiny in five countries including Liberia for “lack of transparency, poor labor conditions, and non-respect of the rule of law in host countries.” The for-profit private education company, which runs over 500 schools in Kenya, Liberia, Nigeria, Uganda, and India, has often come under fire for its business module, which critics claim leaves behind minimum impact for host countries.

There are also concerns documented by several independent sources highlighting higher costs than those advertised by the company. They also complain about the firm’s failure to register schools; its use of unapproved curriculum, failure to meet teacher certification requirements, and discriminatory impacts.

The firm now faces international pressure after 88 CSOs “urged investors to cease their support” to the company. There are also concerns from the United Nations, the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights and the UK Parliament’s International Development Committee.

In Liberia, Bridge continues to face disapproval from many actors in the education sector including the national teachers association. The group has frequently called on the government to abandon the partnership school agreement. And the Liberian Coalition on Transparency and Accountability in Education, which is a signatory to the call for Bridge’s agreement to be scraped across Africa, is also calling on investors to withdraw their financial support to the firm. “Bridge Academies came to our country last year, with the promise to improve quality as part of a government program. But they have only managed to marginally improve outcomes, at an astronomical cost, by pushing out teachers and mass-expelling children,” said Anderson Miamen.  But a Bridge spokesperson in Monrovia on Thursday defended the firm’s performance across the country. 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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