• President Weah Consoles Russian President, Sources: Daily OBSERVER and The INQUIRER
• Busted with Narcotics –Student Arrested for Paddling Drugs on Campus in Nimba County, Source: FrontPage Africa
• Expelled UP Members Appeal against Dismissal of Complaint, Source: FrontPage Africa
• PUL Names New LMC Executive Director, Sources: Daily OBSERVER and GNN Liberia

President Weah Consoles Russian President, Sources: Daily OBSERVER and The INQUIRER

President George Weah has sent a consolation message to Russia President, Vladimir Putin following the tragic loss of 39 Russian military personnel in a plane crash on Tuesday. According to a Foreign Ministry release, President Weah said Liberia is deeply saddened by the incident.

Busted with Narcotics –Student Arrested for Paddling Drugs on Campus in Nimba County, Source: FrontPage Africa

Police in Ganta, Nimba County have arrested and charged a student of the St. Lawrence Catholic School for being in possession with illegal narcotic drugs. Jonathan Messah was booked with several pieces of marijuana on the school campus. He was also arrested with 14 pieces of milk candy made out of banned substance; 29 pieces of wrapped narcotic substance and a matchbox. The police were informed about the suspect’s action by the principal of the school, Larlesseh Berdeh after Lawrence was seen selling drugs to students.

Expelled UP Members Appeal against Dismissal of Complaint, Source: FrontPage Africa

Expelled members of the former ruling Unity Party (UP) are continuing to exert every legal means to ensure that their expulsion in December 2017 by the party’s National Executive Committee is thrashed. The former governing party expelled several of its stalwarts, including former President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, Senator Conmany Wesseh and his wife Medina, and the deputy party secretary-general Patrick Wozie for violating the party’s constitution. But the expelled UP partisans filed a complaint to the National Elections Commission (NEC) referring to their expulsion as illegal and that the National Executive Committee of the party did not meet the quorum set up by the party’s laws to institute their expulsion.

In February of this year, following a hearing by NEC officer Cllr. Munna Ville, he dismissed the complaint of the expelled UP partisans that they could have first filed their complaint to the National Executive Committee in line with the party’s laws in the case of the expulsion of any of the party’s stalwarts. But they rejected the ruling and announced an appeal to the NEC Board of Commissioners.

On Wednesday, 7 March at an appeal hearing before the NEC Board of Commissioners at its Sinkor headquarters, the expelled UP partisans Cllr. Ville’s ruling to dismiss their complaint was a reversible error. Their lawyer, Cllr. Jonathan Massaquoi said the complaint filed before the NEC Hearing Officer requires for a conference among the parties, where some of the issues raised could have been narrowed down, but instead he went ahead to dismiss the complaint. But Cllr. Albert Sims, representing the UP National Executive Committee argued that those who wrote the petitioners are unknown because the petition only named Patrick Wozie while the other petitioners were not known which becomes conflicting. Meanwhile, the NEC Board of Commissioners has reserved ruling into the matter. Read more

PUL Names New LMC Executive Director, Sources: Daily OBSERVER and GNN Liberia

The Press Union of Liberia (PUL) has named Samuel Kpanbayeazee Duworko II, as the new executive director of Liberia Media Center (LMC). The decision to appoint Mr. Duworko, a lecturer of English and journalism at the University of Liberia followed a vigorous vetting process by the PUL leadership, president Charles Coffey told reporters at a news confab Thursday in Monrovia. “It is our hope that Mr. Duworko will bring new energy to the job that is at the core of restarting vigorous media reform initiatives in Liberia,” the PUL president said. Read more