• NEC extols SRSG, other UN officials, Source: The New Dawn
• Weah Commends UN for Supporting Liberia’s Development, Source: News Public Trust
• Liberia’s Finance Minister ‘Threatens to Sideline Elections Commission’, If…, Source: FrontPage Africa
• IMF Optimistic about Liberia’s Economic Upturn, Sources: Daily OBSERVER and The New Dawn
• World Bank Senior Vice President Expected Here Today, Sources: The New Dawn and The NEWS
• President Weah Congratulates Russia Putin on His Re-election, Source: FrontPage Africa
• Shoot to Kill? -Airport statement ‘ordering’ AFL to use lethal force against theft of RIA equipment receives public condemnation, Sources: Daily OBSERVER, FrontPage Africa, and The New Dawn
• Weah Nominates Dismissed DEA Agent Deputy for Administration, Source: Daily OBSERVER
• Liberia's Ministry of Health Official Momolu Sirleaf Accused of Rape, Source: FrontPage Africa
• House Speaker Ceases Motion Calling For Review of GAC Audit Reports, Source: FrontPage Africa

NEC extols SRSG, other UN officials, Source: The New Dawn

The National Elections Commission (NEC) has extolled the UN Mission in Liberia (UNMIL) for the valuable contributions made to Liberia’s recovery process. The electoral commission gave special recognition to UNMIL’s contribution to Liberia’s recovery process during a farewell program organized Wednesday in Monrovia in honor of the Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General (SRSG), Mr. Farid Zarif and other UN officials at Bella Casa Hotel.

In a citation, NEC commissioner Davidetta Brown Lassana recalled that since 2003, UNMIL has effectively and efficiently contributed to peace and stability and the consolidation of good governance and democracy through supports. The citation also catalogued UNMIL’s support to the commission which made the NEC to constitutionally execute its mandate of delivering free, fair and credible elections. The electoral commission further made specific recognition of the critical support that UNMIL provided NEC, especially during the Ebola crisis while the commission was preparing to conduct the 2014 special senatorial election.

The NEC statement also recognized UNMIL for flagging support and engaging various branches of the government including security institutions, political parties, media and CSOs that created a peaceful environment for the conduct of a transparent and credible election. According to NEC, UNMIL also conducted institutional capacity building and the promotion of gender equality through women support during the 2017 election. Read more

Weah Commends UN For Supporting Liberia’s Development, Source: News Public Trust

President George Weah has commended the UN for supporting Liberia’s peace and development. President Weah was speaking in Monrovia Wednesday when a two-man delegation from the UN Office for Special Projects Services (UNOPS) paid a courtesy call on him at his Foreign Ministry office. The president expressed his willingness to work with them in transforming the lives of the Liberian people through the introduction of his Pro-Poor Agenda. Weah said that Liberia is lacking infrastructures and vibrant facilities in all sectors. According to him, his primary objective is to prioritize road connectivity and upgrade housing facilities for slums dwellers in rural Liberia. He noted that his goal is to ensure the implementation of his Pro-Poor Agenda goes as far as the “last village in Liberia.” Read more

Liberia’s Finance Minister ‘Threatens to Sideline Elections Commission’, If…, Source: FrontPage Africa

Finance minister Samuel Tweah has threatened to find another commission to conduct the pending senatorial by-elections if the National Elections Commission (NEC) is incapable of conducting the by-elections with USD1.5 million. FrontPage Africa has gathered that the finance minister in a budget meeting with officials of the NEC Tuesday insisted that the government cannot provide any more than USD1.5 million as opposed to the USD3.9 million budget proffered by the electoral commission. Minister Tweah remains resolute that the NEC can cut down the cost of the Bong and Montserrado Counties by-elections significantly if the government employees are used as poll workers. According to the finance minister, the NEC does not need to recruit and train workers. Read more

IMF Optimistic about Liberia’s Economic Upturn, Sources: Daily OBSERVER and The New Dawn

The IMF at the end of its 2018 Article IV Consultation Mission to Liberia has expressed optimism that the Liberian economy, following the devastating Ebola epidemic, a dramatic fall in export commodity prices, the withdrawal of the UN peacekeeping force, disruptions associated with the December 2017 elections and negative growth rates, all of which conspired to keep economic activity at low levels, will experience an upturn, according to the head of the IMF team, Mika Saito.

Those same factors, according to Mr. Saito led to the depreciation of the foreign exchange rate by 28 percent since January 2017 and the driving of inflation to 14 percent which, in the IMF assessment is relatively high. And this had the effect of putting pressure on the foreign exchange reserves of the Central Bank of Liberia which could cover only 2.8 months of import activity. The IMF’s prognosis of a favorable upturn in the nation’s economy, however, rests firmly on the assumption that the government of Liberia will implement good policies that include support for private sector development and concrete measures to improve the business climate. Read more

World Bank Senior Vice President Expected Here Today, Sources: The New Dawn and The NEWS

World Bank Group Senior Vice President and General Counsel, Sandie Okoro, arrives in Liberia today Thursday for a two-day visit. Ms. Okoro’s mission will enable her to understand how the World Bank-financed programs and projects are working on the ground. The mission will also help her to learn how the World Bank’s recently decentralized legal services are working and how they can better support the government’s program funded by the Bank. While in Liberia, Ms. Okoro will pay a courtesy call on the minister of justice and attorney general, Cllr. Frank Musa Dean, Jr. to discuss strategies the World Bank and the government could employ and learn about the justice sector’s accomplishments and challenges. Read more

President Weah Congratulates Russia Putin on His Re-election, Source: FrontPage Africa

President George Weah has expressed confidence that the relations between Liberia and the Russian Federation will gain a new and elevated thrust, thereby creating the platform for an enhanced cooperation in the areas of trade and investment for the mutual benefit of the two countries. President Weah’s statement is contained in his congratulatory message to the President of the Russian Federation, Vladimir Putin on the occasion marking his reelection as president of that country. The Liberian leader’s congratulatory message comes on the heels of condemnation against US President Donald Trump who also congratulated President Putin in what international observers described as heavily restricted elections. Read more

Shoot to Kill? -Airport statement ‘ordering’ AFL to use lethal force against theft of RIA equipment receives public condemnation, Sources: Daily OBSERVER, FrontPage Africa, and The New Dawn

The media reports that Liberians, especially those on social media, were shocked when a public announcement emanating from the management of the Liberia Airport Authority (LAA) ordering officers of the Armed Forces of Liberia (AFL) to shoot on site or, in other words, shoot to kill (S2K) anyone trespassing on the premises of the Roberts International Airport (RIA) in Margibi County, reached the public sphere on Wednesday.

Justifying its decision, the LAA said it observed, with grave concern that criminals are bent on entering and are attempting to steal very important equipment from the RIA. This, the announcement noted, would have crippling effects on the operations of the airport. “The Management of the Liberia Airport Authority (LAA) in collaboration with the Armed Forces of Liberia (AFL) wishes to inform the general public that additional security has been put in place at the RIA,” the LAA noted. This, according to the LAA, is to secure the premises of the airport, especially the aerodrome or the airside from theft and unlawful interferences. Read more

Weah Nominates Dismissed DEA Agent Deputy for Administration, Source: Daily OBSERVER

The Daily Observer Wednesday learned that the individual President George Weah nominated as deputy director for administration of the Liberia Drug Enforcement Agency (LDEA) was among five officers the LDEA dismissed in 2015 for constant bribe-taking. The act, LDEA said, violates part-1, count 20.0 of its code of conduct. The affected officers were also charged with extortion from drug suspects, which is also in contravention of the penal law of Liberia, the LDEA said at the time. In his March 13 appointment, President Weah nominated the former LDEA dismissed agent, Sebastian Gibson, as deputy director for administration at the same agency. Until his dismissal on 1 September 2015 by LDEA authorities, Gibson was the deputy chief of training. Read more

Liberia's Ministry of Health Official Momolu Sirleaf Accused of Rape, Source: FrontPage Africa

An official of the Health Ministry, Mr. Momolu V. O. Sirleaf has been accused and charged with “committing the crime of statutory rape in violation of the statute.” According to the Writ of Arrest, Mr. Sirleaf who is now being detained at the Monrovia Central Prison awaiting trial is charged in violation of Section 14.70 of the New Penal Code of Liberia. According to the writ, the incident occurred in the Kendeja Community, where the 11-year-old child had lived with Mr. Sirleaf when he allegedly took advantage of her. Read more

House Speaker Ceases Motion Calling For Review of GAC Audit Reports, Source: FrontPage Africa

Members of the House of Representatives have failed to come to term in dealing with scores of audit reports submitted by the General Auditing Commission (GAC) to the Legislature through its Public Accounts Committee. The lawmakers’ action prompted House Speaker Bhofal Chambers to cease a motion calling for urgent attention to be given to the audit reports. Speaker Chambers told plenary his leadership will come up with a decision on the issue in due course. The motion was contained in a communication sent to the House Speaker Tuesday by Representative Francis Sakila Nyumalin. The Lofa lawmaker craved the indulgence of plenary to urgently review the audit reports or “be discharged from committee room and turned over to an ad hoc committee for expediency and prudence.” Read more