• President Weah’s Appointments At FDA, LEITI Violate Existing Laws, Source: FrontPage Africa
• Over Motorcyclists Street Reappearance, Senate Invites Police IG, Source: Daily OBSERVER
• Farmington Hotel Accused of Bad Labor Practice, Sources: Daily OBSERVER and The New Dawn
• USD2,700 Monthly “Lobby Fees” Was Paid to WFP Staff -Defense witness tells court, Source: Daily OBSERVER
• LRA Wants Lawmakers Declare Assets, Source: Daily OBSERVER
• Legal Action Awaits Employers Who Fail to Regularize Alien Employee Status, Source: Daily OBSERVER
• ‘New Farming Technologies will Make Liberia Food-Secure’ -Dr. Akintayo, Source: Daily OBSERVER
• Clar Weah Named CAF’s Ambassador for Women’s Football, Source: Daily OBSERVER
• Liberia: Can George Weah deliver on his promises to the country’s poor?, Source: TRT World
• Shehu Sani to George Weah: Don’t expect miracles from our temple, Source: NAIJ

President Weah’s Appointments At FDA, LEITI Violate Existing Laws, Source: FrontPage Africa

Two of President George Weah’s recent appointments appear pretty controversial, prompting observers and stakeholders of the sector to raise a red flag over the Liberian leader’s decision. The president’s appointment of Harrison Karnwea as board chairman of the Forestry Development Authority (FDA) contradicts the law, which states that the minister of agriculture is automatically the board chairman. Also, the appointment of J. Gabriel Nyenkan as board chairman of the Liberia Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (LEITI) blatantly contravenes the Act that created the agency. The law provides that the board chair of LEITI should come from the Multi-stakeholder Group that comprises members from the Legislature, Executive, and CSOs. Read more

Over Motorcyclists Street Reappearance, Senate Invites Police IG, Source: Daily OBSERVER

The Senate Tuesday voted unanimously to invite the Inspector General of Police (IGP) over the reappearance of motorcyclists on the streets in Monrovia and other parts of the city, including the commercial district of Paynesville, which were once the “No Go Zones” for commercial cyclists. According to Senate President Pro-Tempore Albert Chie, the secretary of the Senate was requested to invite IGP Patrick Sudue to appear before the Senate plenary on Thursday of this week to give a reason for reversing a decision taken following exhaustive consultations. The Senators’ decision followed a lengthy debate on two separate communications from Senators Geraldine Doe Sheriff and Stephen Zargo drawing their colleagues’ attention to the resurfacing of commercial motorcycles onto the principal streets of Monrovia. Read more

Farmington Hotel Accused of Bad Labor Practice, Sources: Daily OBSERVER and The New Dawn

The media reports that Management of Farmington Hotel in Margibi County is undergoing a major investigation about unfair labor practices allegedly against Liberian casual workers, as well as the huge gap in payment between the local and foreign employees. The hotel management has also been accused of using invectives (abuse) and intimidation while assaulting vulnerable employees. As a result of those serious allegations, the hotel management and its chief of security have been summoned to appear before the Plenary of the House of Representatives on tomorrow Thursday. Read more

USD2,700 Monthly “Lobby Fees” Was Paid to WFP Staff -Defense witness tells court, Source: Daily OBSERVER

Defense key witness in the ongoing theft of property case at Criminal Court ‘C’ in Monrovia on Monday testified that he made the Korea Trading Corporation (KTC) pay the amount of USD2,700 every month to some World Food Programme (WFP) officials as lobby fees. Defendant Steve Kettor, who was then general manager of KTC, recounted how he paid the money as lobby fees for a four-month period (October 2014 to January 2015), which amounted to USD13,500. Read more

LRA Wants Lawmakers Declare Assets, Source: Daily OBSERVER

The Daily Observer reports that as part of the fight to wipe out corruption and to expose those who get rich from official misconducts, the Liberia Revenue Authority (LRA) has called on members of the House of Representatives to declare their assets as well as to begin paying their Real Properties Tax (RPT).In a communication to the chief clerk of the House of Representatives, Mildred Sayon, the LRA domestic tax commissioner Darlingston Talery said the declaration of assets and payment of the RPT is in pursuant to the statutory mandate of the revenue authority, which is to assess, collect and audit all legitimate revenue due the government and people. Read more

Legal Action Awaits Employers Who Fail to Regularize Alien Employee Status, Source: Daily OBSERVER

Labor minister Moses Kollie has vowed to take legal action against any employer who failed to regularize the status of their alien employees once the ultimatum given to them to do so expires by the end of the month. Minister Kollie issued the ultimatum a day after he demanded that the Management of APM Terminals immediately re-instates 17 of its employees, who had been dismissed. He frowned on the company’s policy of hiring employees through sub-contractors, which is intended to evade responsibilities such as the payment of benefits for year(s) served. The labor minister told a news confab in Monrovia Tuesday that the decision was reached after a vigorous joint inspection of employment institutions across the country, uncovering some violations of the country’s labor laws. Kollie said that the one-month ultimatum is to allow them to find ways to curtail these violations. Read more

‘New Farming Technologies will Make Liberia Food-Secure’ -Dr. Akintayo, Source: Daily OBSERVER

The country director of the agricultural; group  Africa Rice has said that introducing new technologies of farming in agriculture will make Liberia a food secured nation. Africa Rice, in collaboration with Smallholder Agricultural Productivity Enhancement and Commercialization Project (SAPEC), recently introduced new farming technologies meant to boost rice production in the country. The venture is said to have yielded some results, according to Dr. Innousa Akintayo. The new farming technologies, focused on food security and poverty alleviation through capacity-building to boost local production of rice, is also expected to help reveal many potentials in the country’s Agriculture Sector, especially in the production of rice. The three-year project, which commenced in 2015, is being implemented in 12 of the 15 counties, excluding Bong, Lofa, and Nimba. Read more

Clar Weah Named CAF’s Ambassador for Women’s Football, Source: Daily OBSERVER

Liberia’s first lady, Clar Weah has been named Ambassador for Women’s Football in Africa at the Confederation of African Football (CAF) first-ever women’s football symposium held in Morocco. According to CAF, Mrs. Weah was appointed by the federation’s president Ahmad Ahmad during the end of the historic symposium, which was aimed at stakeholders brainstorming ideas towards the development of women’s football on the continent. The Liberian first lady who was invited by CAF for the symposium said through additional effort from all stakeholders, women’s football in Africa can be pushed to the next level. Read more

INTERNATIONAL MEDIA ON LIBERIA

Shehu Sani to George Weah: Don’t expect miracles from our temple, Source: NAIJ

The senator representing Kaduna central, Shehu Sani, on Tuesday, March 6, told the President of Liberia, George Weah, not to ask or expect miracles from the Nigerian government. The Kaduna state senator in a tweet said: "Dear Weah, don’t ask us for miracles and don’t expect miracles from our temple; consult thy home temple and thy home oracles for miracles.We don’t have excess miracles for exports."

Liberia: Can George Weah deliver on his promises to the country’s poor?, Source: TRT World

The former football star talks a good game when it comes to speaking to Liberia's poor. But Weah faces the challenge of showing that he is still as connected, and can deliver, to the Liberia of his underprivileged childhood. George Weah, the international footballing icon and Ballon d'Or winner, finally took over the leadership of his country 12 years after launching an ambitious political career.

After failing in 2005 and 2011 (then as running mate) Weah was overwhelmingly elected by what seemed to be a national consensus in December 2017 gaining 60 percent of the popular vote in a run-off election against the incumbent Vice President Joseph Boakai. The football star turned politician also carried the youth vote yet his premiership will be judged in a markedly different way to the way he was judged by fans on the pitch.  

As a footballer he was expected to score goals, win games and keep his fan cheering. Yet for many Liberians, success during his tenure will be a matter of life and death. Unlike the football pitch, a failure to score goals will affect people’s livelihoods, security, and the stability of the country he once fled from. Read more