• Where are the vehicles? Source: The New Dawn
• Senate Holds Presidential Nominees, Source: The New Dawn
• Voices against Violence Embarks on Campaign, Source: The New Dawn
• Senator Kaipay Seeks WASH Commission Establishment, Source: The INQUIRER
• Liberia: Sable Mining, Andrew Groves Reinventing Wheel- Again – Under a New Name, Source: FrontPage Africa

Where are the vehicles? Source: The New Dawn

According to The New Dawn, at the time authorities at the General Services Agency (GSA), the arm of government which manages state properties has failed to release the inventory of state-owned vehicles, it has obtained a document purporting to be an inventory of government’s vehicles and to whom they were assigned. The document puts the total number of vehicles assigned to various ministries and agencies of government during the Ellen Johnson Sirleaf regime at 250. Out of this number, it is not clear how many of these vehicles have been turned over, as the GSA remains tight-lipped on the issue.

However, the document which is dated 29 June 2016, said to be a cabinet directory of state-owned vehicles lists the names of individuals and departments of the government to which said vehicles were assigned. The paper obtained the document following President George Weah’s two weeks ultimatum to former government officials who are yet to turn over state-owned properties nearly two months after the new regime took office. Read More

Senate Holds Presidential Nominees, Source: The New Dawn

Information gathered within the corridors of the Senate indicates that some nominees are faced with serious problems, allegedly putting the Senate in a difficult position to set a precedent. This paper has gathered that the plenary of the Liberian Senate is yet to discuss the confirmation of four presidential nominees, though it is yet to give a reason so far.

Presidential nominees still on hold at the Senate are said to include health minister-designate Wilhelmina Jallah, Lofa County superintendent-designate William Tamba Kamba, River Gee County superintendent-designate Philip Nyenuh, and Grand Gedeh County superintendent-designate Kai Farley. The four nominees have at separate times gone through confirmation hearings along with other nominees who have since been confirmed by the Senate.

Though, the plenary has not given a reason for delaying the confirmation of the four officials, the chairman of the Senate Committee on Internal Affairs on Tuesday requested the plenary to remove the names of the three superintendents-designate until certain things are put in place. This paper is hinted that some of the nominees are faced with a serious academic crisis which is alleged to put the Senate in a difficult position to set a precedent. According to the information, some of the nominees do not have college degrees while others are beginners in colleges.

Some Senators are said to be arguing that confirming non-degree holders to assistant minister posts which is a technical nerve of a ministry could hamper the functionaries of the government and also create a bad image internationally. Read More

Voices against Violence Embarks on Campaign, Source: The New Dawn

This paper reports that a non-governmental group, Voices against Violence (VAV), has embarked on a campaign in Liberia to stop violence against women and girls in the society. Executive Director Mafanta Kromah says the campaign is to prevent women and girls from the violence they continually face. She lamented that girls in Liberia have been taken against their will, in the name of tradition, saying violence is not tradition.

Speaking Tuesday in Monrovia, Ms. Kromah said the group looks forward to seeing a society where people would live a violence-free life. “We are living in a society where people think violence is a tradition. The young girls are through these a lot,” she noted. The VAV executive director disclosed that they are also engaged in religious dialogue, educating people that violence is not a religious belief, and it is against humanity and the society. Read More

Senator Kaipay Seeks WASH Commission Establishment, Source: The INQUIRER

Grand Bassa County Senator has underscored the need for the establishment of the WASH Commission in the country. According to Jonathan Kaipay, there is a need for the government to see reason in establishing the WASH Commission. Senator Kaipay spoke Monday at the Capitol Building in Monrovia when he was honored and certificated by former and current water and sanitation campaigners’ champions.

Liberia: Sable Mining, Andrew Groves Reinventing Wheel- Again – Under a New Name, Source: FrontPage Africa

According to FrontPage Africa, shortly after a Global Witness report linked Andrew Groves and Sable Mining Africa Limited to a 2016 allegation that it bribed key Liberian government officials in a bid to acquire an iron ore concession in northern Liberia, the South African-based company was delisted from shareholders on the Stock Exchange. In the wake of the South African-based mining company’s recent decision to turn state witness against those accused of receiving bribes, Mr. Groves and the embattled company, which formerly carried the name Delta Mining, appear to be on the verge of relisting its Zimbabwe coal, chrome, and gold assets in London as Consolidated Growth Holdings (CGH).

In the wake of Sable’s recent decision to turn state witness against those accused of receiving bribes, Groves and the embattled company appear headed back as it has moved to relist, under a new name, its Zimbabwe coal, chrome, and gold assets in London through the reverse takeover of a cash shell, or dormant company, according to a report in the Bloomberg News. Bloomberg News reports that Sable founded by Groves and his partner, Phil Edmonds has returned to the City of London seeking investors for coal assets in Zimbabwe. Groves and Edmonds’ CGH. Sable recently announced that it had 'successfully acquired a portfolio of prospective coal assets in Zimbabwe' and that it planned to list them on the London Stock Exchange's Alternative Investment Market, the report noted.

The attempt by Sable to relist on the stock exchange comes in the aftermath of a recent decision by the Liberian government to drop charges against Sable Mining and Groves based on the condition that they’ve agreed to serve as state witnesses in the prosecution of Cllr. Varney Sherman and his cohorts, including former House Speaker, J. Alex Tyler, former lands, mines, and energy minister and his principal deputy, Eugene Shannon and ECB Jones, respectively. Read More