02 October 2017

 

LIBERIA MEDIA HIGHLIGHTS

Excess of Over 800,000 Ballots Create Uneasiness Among Political Parties, Source: FrontPage Africa

FrontPage Africa reports that everything seemed pretty much on course for the conduct of the October 10 elections until the disclosure of 869,806 excess ballots printed by the National Elections Commission (NEC) for the presidential election. NEC chairman, Cllr. Jerome Korkoya, at a recent press confab, explained that the commission would distribute 550 ballots evenly to all 5,390 polling centers, the total number of ballot papers in the country will be 2,964,500. The balance from 3,053,435, when 2,964,500 is subtracted is 88,935; thereby making the overall excess in presidential ballot papers 869,806. Liberia has a voting population of about 2.1 million for the 2017 elections.

But the over 800,000 excess ballots and the explanation given by the NEC isn’t going down well with some political parties, CSOs and other stakeholders in the elections.

“We have raised our concerns with the National Elections Commission and we’re still trying to find the rationale for printing that number of excess ballots because even if you’ll have people damaging ballots or something was to happen, you’re not going to 900,000 persons spoiling ballots. We also know that hundred percent of the people are not going to vote in any case…,” Unity Party (UP) deputy campaign spokesperson, Mohammed Ali, said.

An executive of the Liberty Party (LP), Jacob Smith, said the LP is also very much concern taking into consideration the number of voters in contrast with the number of excess ballot papers. He said the Inter-Political Party Consolidated Committee has met with the electoral commission on the issue but was not satisfied with the justification given by the NEC. Smith said the committee is coming up with a common position on the matter.

But Coalition for Democratic Change (CDC) secretary general, Janga Kowo, said while the party is concerned about the excess ballots, it will give the NEC the benefit of the doubt based on the reasons it has given for the excess. “NEC has provided some explanations, but we are watching to see the implications. Our concern is that each and every ballot should be and must be accounted for,” Mr. Kowo said.

NAYMOTE executive director, Eddie Jarwolo, thinks the number of excess ballots is too much realizing that not many voters will have to replace their spoiled ballots even if they make a mistake. He continued: “However, I think the NEC wants to be on the safe side, as the votes counting process will be open to everyone including observers to ensure transparency. We need to do everything possible to ensure public trust in the management of the elections and the elections management body.”

CAR Former President Heads Carter Center Observer Mission Here, Source: Daily OBSERVER

The former president of the Central African Republic (CAR) has been selected by the Carter Center as one of three heads of a high-power elections observation mission in Liberia to observe the October 10 elections. Former President Catherine Samba-Panza is coming along with Jason Carter, chairman of the Carter Center’s Board of Trustees, and Jordan Ryan, Carter Center’s vice president for peace programs, a press release said over the weekend. The statement, described as a pre-election statement, summarized key findings from the campaign period and pre-electoral environment in the lead-up to the October 10 polls.

 

Madam Samba-Panza is the head of the Carter Center’s principal observer mission, along with a total of 30 short-term observers, who are to arrive this week to observe the voting, counting, and tabulation processes of the elections and support free, fair, and transparent elections, yearned for by Liberian electorate.

Dr. Jones Vows to Recast National Budget, If Elected, Source: Daily OBSERVER

Presidential candidate J. Mills Jones of the Movement for Economic Change (MOVEE) says he would recast the current national budget to focus on development and empowerment if elected President of Liberia. In a tour of several communities in Grand Bassa and Nimba counties over the weekend, Dr. Jones said the world is watching to see what kind of change Liberians will opt for on October 10. “Because you cannot say you want to change and then elect the same people who have made bad budgets that were never responsive to your development needs for the last 12 years,” the MOVEE presidential candidate argued.

The former executive governor of the Central Bank of Liberia said past national budgets were ridden by recurrent expenditures, with a massive increase in the salaries of government officials.

Movement for Progressive Change Commits to Farmington Declaration, Source: FrontPage Africa

The Movement for Progress Change (MPC) says it is committed to the upholding of the Farmington Declaration, terming it as a critical instrument for Liberia's peace. The MPC made the assertion recently in Monrovia and called on other politicians to see the 2017 elections as a victory for everyone, in spite of political affiliations, creed, ethnicity or religion.

MPC press and propaganda chairman, Adolphus Kawah, said the party will leave no stone unturned in contributing to peaceful elections in Liberia. Mr. Kawah wants other political parties and politicians to join the MPC in seeking the implementation of the Farmington Declaration.

“It’s Time for Margibi County to Produce A Vice President”–Nuquay, Source: FrontPage Africa

The vice presidential candidate of the ruling Unity Party (UP), House Speaker James Emmanuel Nuquay, has called on citizens of Margibi County to support the Boakai-Nuquay ticket, terming his selection as the surest opportunity for Margibi to produce for the first time a vice president of  Liberia. Mr. Nuquay said as he remains forever grateful to Vice President Joseph Boakai for his preferment to be his running mate. He spoke Saturday at the Nancy B. Doe Sports Stadium in Kakata during a political campaign rally.

‘Leadership A Call to Service, Not A Jackpot Win’ -Former NEC chair Switches Support to Boakai, Sources: Daily OBSERVER and FrontPage Africa

The former chairperson of the National Elections Commission (NEC), Cllr. Frances Johnson Allison, over the weekend, endorsed presidential candidate Joseph Boakai of the ruling Unity Party (UP) with just eight days to the holding of the presidential and representative elections on October 10. Cllr. Allison said Liberia stands to reconcile and forge ahead in development if the citizens vote for Mr. Boakai as the country’s next president. She told a press confab in Monrovia that healing and reconciliation are urgently needed in Liberia in order to pave the way for national development.

“The person who comes at the helm of power in our country must know that leadership is a call to service, not a jackpot win. The stakes are high in the pending elections, the future of our children, our way of life – these are on the line,” the former NEC chairperson warned.

7 Opposition Parties Rally for Margibi Representative Fofana, Sources: Daily OBSERVER and FrontPage Africa

Several representatives of opposition political parties have endorsed Margibi County Electoral District #4 representative candidate, Ben Fofana, to contest in the October 10 elections. The parties are Coalition for Democratic Change, All Liberian Party, Liberty Party, United People’s Party, Liberia Restoration Party, Union of Liberian Democrats, and the True Whig Party. In their petition, the parties said their decision to endorse the re-election of Representative Fofana comes as a result of his enormous efforts in the interest of Liberians, beginning with residents of the district he represents in the legislature.

Ellen’s “Generational Change” Comment clarified – Press Secretary Piah, Source: Daily OBSERVER

The presidential press secretary, Jerolinmek Piah, has clarified that there was no specific age group mentioned in President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf’s recent interview with the Cable News Network (CNN). In a live interview from the United States recently, Mr. Piah said Christiane Amanpour’s question to President Sirleaf was specifically about transition in Africa, where some leaders have been in power for well over 30 years, and was keen on the fact that the president was keeping a commitment, having served for two terms, to turn over authority to whoever is elected at the ensuing October polls.

“Yes, the President emphasized that it was the right thing to do so that another generation of leaders can have the opportunity to take over. When you serve at the head of an administration, you represent a generation of people; there are several others, who are part of the leadership that represent a generation that she is heading, including the key opposition contender Senator from Montserrado County (George Weah); the Vice President is another. When you transition, as she is about to do, and have the leadership changed, obviously that is a new set of generation of leaders,” the presidential press secretary explained.

“Desist from Stealing Judges’ Rulings before Release” Associate Magistrate Warns, Source: Daily OBSERVER

Brewerville Magisterial Court associate magistrate, Fallah Matthews, has advised employees of the judiciary who are in the constant habit of sneaking sensitive court documents out of judges’ offices to either desist from the practice, or they would face the full weight of the law if caught in the act. Matthews said stealing judges’ judgments and exposing them to the parties before they are delivered constitutes a clear violation of confidentiality, which he described as ‘evil.’  He made the statement recently when he took over as associate magistrate of the court.

‘Public, Private Security Collaboration Paramount in 2017 Elections’ – SEGAL Boss, Source: Daily OBSERVER

Security Expert Guard Agency of Liberia (SEGAL) CEO, Momo Cyrus, has called for effective collaboration between public and private security in Liberia for the October elections. Mr. Cyrus who made the statement through a proxy at the dedication ceremony of the Singbeh Johnson Conference Hall at the Liberia Broadcasting System in Paynesville said collaboration is paramount in maintaining the peace the country now enjoys, which will be enhanced with an improved Public Private Partnership.

The SEGAL CEO said in the wake of the upcoming October 10 elections, it is binding on every Liberian and most importantly the news media to send “violence-free messages to the people.”

INTERNATIONAL MEDIA ON LIBERIA

Prosecutors Accuse Man of Atrocities During Liberia Conflict, Sources: AP, Seattle Times, and US News & World Report

Federal prosecutors will try to convince a jury beginning Monday that a Philadelphia-area resident committed atrocities during a civil war in Liberia decades ago. Fifty-year-old Mohammed Jabateh of East Lansdowne is charged with immigration fraud and perjury, accused of lying in interviews and on forms to obtain political asylum and later permanent residency in the United States.

The government will be trying to prove that as a commander in the United Liberation Movement for Democracy in Liberia and later ULIMO-K in the 1990s, he committed or ordered his troops to commit crimes such as the murder of civilians, sexual enslavement of women, public rapes, conscription of child soldiers and maiming and torture of noncombatants.

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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