• Carter Center makes recommendation to NEC, Sources: New DEMOCRAT, The ANALYST, and The New Dawn
• “It’s a lifestyle I have struggled with” –Cummings, Source: The New Dawn
• Montserrado candidate cautions against violence, Sources: FrontPage Africa and The New Dawn
• Zogoes a time bomb –LINU Chairman, Sources: INSIGHT and The New Dawn
• FLY, LINSU alarm over excess ballot papers, Source: The New Dawn
• Unnecessary fear –Senator Wesseh, Sources: INSIGHT and The New Dawn
• World Bank Approves USD7M Grant to Support Land Administration Reforms, Sources: Daily OBSERVER, INSIGHT, and New DEMOCRAT
• Police report death of detainee, Source: The New Dawn
• Unity Party Chairman Concerned Over President’s ‘Secret’ Meeting With Elections Officials, Source: The Bush Chicken
• Former Elections Chief Calls Sirleaf’s ‘Secret’ Meeting with NEC ‘Ill-Advised’, Source: The Bush Chicken
• Amid a Hollowed State, Sources of Optimism, Source: The Bush Chicken

Carter Center makes recommendation to NEC, Sources: New DEMOCRAT, The ANALYST, and The New Dawn

The Carter Center (TCC) is calling on the National Election Commission (NEC) to uphold and ensure free, fair, and transparent elections come October 10, 2017. TCC in a press release issued over the weekend offers several recommendations on steps to increase public confidence in the election and flags a few issues that could prove problematic including several that could be addressed prior to Election Day.

According to TCC, NEC should consider using all media and telecommunication options to communicate the availability of the SMS voter list verification tool to voters, which would contribute to the public’s confidence in the quality of the list and help familiarize voters with the location of their polling places.

To further its commitment to transparency, the NEC should publicly post the lists of people selected as polling station staff so that the names may be scrutinized by the community, the Carter Center said.

The NEC should continue its efforts to explain the tabulation process and the provisions for ensuring adequate access for party agents and observers, and any other safeguards it is implementing, the center further said in its recommendations.

“It’s a lifestyle I have struggled with” –Cummings, Source: The New Dawn

The New Dawn reports that the social media is going wide with a statement attributed to presidential candidate Alexander Cummings of the Alternative National Congress (ANC) more than a year ago on gay issues when he talked to talk show host Mamadee Diakite now deceased. Mr. Cummings told the talk show host “It’s a lifestyle I have struggled with.” But many on the social media think the ANC man must have been referring to himself while others think otherwise.

Montserrado candidate cautions against violence, Sources: FrontPage Africa and The New Dawn

The Movement for Progressive Change (MPC) Montserrado County Electoral District #4 representative candidate, Terence Doe, has called on his supporters to remain peaceful until and after the electoral process. Launching his campaign Saturday, Mr. Doe cautioned that violence is never the way to success but only through peaceful engagement of electorate in order to win more votes. The MPC candidate said the district will not play a nominal and ceremonial role in national politics under his leadership when he is elected.

Zogoes a time bomb –LINU Chairman, Sources: INSIGHT and The New Dawn

The national chairman of the Liberia National Union (LINU) says gangsters alias zogoes are serious time bomb here that nobody should underestimate. Mr. Nathaniel Blama sounded the warning when he was honored by the Liberia Baptist Youth at the Baptist Seminary over the weekend that the number of zogoes in the streets is growing by the day and if nothing is done to monitor them; they could be used by bad politicians who are desperate for national powers to cause chaos.

Mr. Blama noted that the process of Disarmament, Demobilization, Rehabilitation and Reintegration of ex-fighters in 2003 was not done properly. He explained that the UN and the government were successful in disarming and rehabilitating ex-combatants but failed with the demobilization and reintegration phase of the program.

FLY, LINSU alarm over excess ballot papers, Source: The New Dawn

The Federation of Liberian Youth (FLY) and the Liberia National Student Union (LINSU) have raised concern on the excess ballot papers printed by the National Elections Commission (NEC). Addressing a press conference over the weekend in Monrovia, FLY president Augustine Tamba said though to attend to unforeseen circumstances NEC should print excess ballot papers but it is alarming that Liberia with a total of 2.1 million registered voters would print over 3 million ballots, something he said is scaring. FLY wants the NEC to provide further clarification on the surplus ballot papers printed.

Unnecessary fear –Senator Wesseh, Sources: INSIGHT and The New Dawn

River Gee County Senator Conmany Wesseh has termed criticisms by some political parties leaders that huge excess ballot papers brought into the country by the National Elections Commission (NEC) are intended to cheat as “unnecessary fear”, stressing that the NEC should be given a chance to carry out its constitutionally assigned responsibility.

Senator Wesseh told The New Dawn Friday that it is unfortunate that politicians who serve as the baseline for the electoral process to so early start crying foul when there is no room for cheating in these elections. He pointed out that if the NEC has any reason to cheat with the excess ballot papers, it couldn’t have announced the total number to the public.

World Bank Approves USD7M Grant to Support Land Administration Reforms, Sources: Daily OBSERVER, INSIGHT, and New DEMOCRAT

The World Bank has approved an International Development Association (IDA) grant of USD7 million for the Liberia Land Administration project that will strengthen LLA’s institutional capacity and establish a land administration system. This project, according to the World Bank, will help establish processes and the infrastructure required to implement land policies and laws focusing on identification, ownership, use, and valuation of land. This will lead to the development of requisite land laws and regulations, and conducting awareness-raising campaigns on land rights and usage, and establish an inventory of tribal land certificates.

“The World Bank is pleased to support the Liberia Land Administration project because it will create a secure land tenure environment for citizens, communities and investors’ land rights in critical sectors such as agriculture, mining, and forestry,” said Larisa Leshchenko, World Bank Liberia country manager.

Police report death of detainee, Source: The New Dawn

The Liberia National Police (LNP) says a suspect that was being held in its custody, Papa Morris has been pronounced dead upon arrival by doctors at the John F. Kennedy Medical Center in Monrovia after he was found unconscious in police holding cell early Tuesday, 26 September. The suspect believed to be in his early twenties was undergoing police probe after his arrest for allegedly robbing a woman on 23 September in Monrovia.

INTERNATIONAL MEDIA ON LIBERIA

Unity Party Chairman Concerned Over President’s ‘Secret’ Meeting with Elections Officials, Source: The Bush Chicken

The chairman of the governing Unity Party (UP), Wilmot Paye, has expressed concern over President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf’s ‘secret’ meeting with magistrates of the National Elections Commission. Paye said what Sirleaf did was unprecedented, adding that “it has never happened not even in our electoral policy – not in 2005, certainly not in 1997, not even in 2011, not in any of the elections including by-elections.” He urged the National Elections Commission to maintain its neutrality to validate the country’s emerging democracy.

“The guarantors of our peace; the [United Nations], [the European Union], [the Economic Community of West African States], Great Britain, United States of America, African Union; who in 2003 precipitated the comprehensive peace accord and promised Liberians that this country and its people were tired and were moving forward with their lives, we want to urge them and bring this to their attention that anybody for whatever reason you have your right to support any of the 20 candidates, but the presidency of Liberia is not a piece of property to be waived to whomever you want to waive it to,” he added. Paye’s statements were made in Buchanan last Monday when the ruling party launched its campaign.

Former Elections Chief Calls Sirleaf’s ‘Secret’ Meeting with NEC ‘Ill-Advised’, Source: The Bush Chicken

President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf’s recent meeting with 19 election magistrates of the National Elections Commission at her home continues to receive criticism. Prior to her departure to attend the United Nations General Assembly meetings, Sirleaf met with the magistrates including Jerome Korkoya, chairman of NEC, but the meeting has been described as ‘secret’ and has created suspicions among a public which has always viewed Sirleaf as a manipulative and savvy politician.

The latest prominent critic of Sirleaf’s meeting is Liberia’s former elections commissioner who was also a former chief justice of the Supreme Court, Frances Johnson Allison. Addressing a news conference in Monrovia, Johnson-Allison described the meeting as ‘ill-advised.’ “That did not happen when I served as commissioner of NEC,” she said. “I think it’s ill-advised to do something like that. These things, people need to understand that they give rise to suspicions, so as best as possible, you should try to avoid those kinds of incidences.”

Amid a Hollowed State, Sources of Optimism, Source: The Bush Chicken

After almost 15 years of good governance, the results in Liberia are mixed and most Liberians do not have access to basic infrastructure, security, access to justice, and good schools and hospitals. The post-war era has been entirely defined by Ellen Johnson Sirleaf and her legacy is significant as an internationally-acclaimed female leader. True, the first bloom of optimism for a progressive and equitable future (those ideas and things promised to the Liberian public) withered around the time when Sirleaf marginally won a second term to power in 2011.

But even then, Sirleaf still enjoyed support and admirers. In 2017, the public mood wants a change and is dizzyingly confused by the wide variety of political contenders vying for the presidency in a soon-to-be post-Sirleaf, post-UNMIL era.