• Freeman Calling for Peace Conference to Mitigate Election Stalemate, Source: FrontPage Africa
• UP Prays For Motion of Compulsory Joinder in Election Fraud Case, Source: FrontPage Africa
• Pressure Mounts on Korkoya to Recuse –Eminent Clerics join calls for his recusal, Source: Daily OBSERVER
• UP Demands October 10 Election Voting Records, Source: Daily OBSERVER
• CDC, UP Support Supreme Court’s Decision, Source: Daily OBSERVER
• Former NIC Boss Calls for Economic Recovery for Liberia, Source: FrontPage Africa
• Liberia Gets Top Post at COP23, Source: Daily OBSERVER
• Liberian President, Johnson Sirleaf bags highest title in Imo, Source: Daily Post
• U.S. Mission Provides Medical Care for Liberians, Source: The Bush Chicken

Freeman Calling for Peace Conference to Mitigate Election Stalemate, Source: FrontPage Africa

The standard bearer of the Movement for Progressive Change (MPC) has called on all religious leaders, aggrieved political parties, civil society groups, and all well-meaning Liberians to come together at a peace conference and engage all of the aggrieved political parties in a dialogue to move Liberia forward. Mr. Simeon Freeman also called on the standard bearer of the Liberty Party (LP), Cllr. Charles Brumskine and others to abandon their quest and seek a possible runoff election. Freeman, however, described Cllr. Brumskine’s action to pursue the rule of law as civil and encouraged by law, which all well-meaning Liberians must encourage. Read more

UP Prays For Motion of Compulsory Joinder in Election Fraud Case, Source: FrontPage Africa

The National Elections Commission (NEC) Thursday held hearings on a Motion for Compulsory Joiner filed by lawyers representing the ruling Unity Party (UP) and the opposition Liberty Party (LP) in the case Charles Walker Brumskine and Harrison Karnwea, Presidential and Vice Presidential candidates of the Liberty Party versus The National Elections Commission (NEC). The ruling party became a party to the case after the NEC Board of Commissioners Monday granted it the opportunity to intervene after an appeal was filed for intervention.

During the hearings, Cllr. Varney Sherman, on behalf of the UP legal team, prayed that the presiding officer grants the Motion for Compulsory Joinder because if not, parties involved could delay the process at the level of the Supreme Court when the NEC shall have ruled. He claimed that the 20 political parties are parties of interest that should be compulsorily involved in the case and if for any reason they are not interested they should make their intent clear on the records. Read more

Pressure Mounts on Korkoya to Recuse –Eminent Clerics join calls for his recusal, Source: Daily OBSERVER

The Daily Observer reports that tension is continuing to mount on the chairman of the National Elections Commission (NEC), Cllr. Jerome Korkoya, to recuse himself from the entire electoral process as demanded by the opposition Liberty Party (LP).

On Thursday, two eminent religious leaders, who said Cllr. Korkoya just has to rescue himself, not just from presiding over cases brought before the NEC by dissatisfied parties including the LP but also from the rest of the electoral process.

In a joint press statement issued in Monrovia yesterday, Dr. Olu Menjay, president of the Liberia Baptist Missionary and Educational Convention (LBMEC), and Sheikh Ali Krayee, national chief Imam of Liberia, called on Korkoya to abandon his position as head of the electoral commission because he was not qualified to hold such a position.

Dr. Menjay and Sheikh Krayee said that Cllr. Korkoya’s inability to address many of the burning concerns raised ahead of the October 10 presidential and legislative elections prove that he does not understand the technical know-how and the leadership ability to execute the tasks assigned to him as chairman of the NEC. Read more

UP Demands October 10 Election Voting Records, Source: Daily OBSERVER

The intervening political party in the Liberty Party’s (LP) alleged fraud and irregularity case before the National Elections Commission (NEC) has called on the Commission to make public all voting records, including results of the elections.

The ruling Unity Party’s (UP) lead lawyer, Cllr. Varney Sherman, in his argument Thursday at the hearing of the case, said the NEC must bring forward records showing the October 10 results in order to verify how it came up with the results of the presidential and legislative elections.

“How the NEC arrived at the October 10 elections final results needs to be known. Are they saying there are no documents to show how this Commission went on with the creation of addenda (additional list of names of voters whose names were not seen on the final register roll)?” Cllr. Sherman asked during his argument at the hearing.

He said the LP’s complaints, as well as those of others about the way the elections went on, are based on pieces of evidence, and as such, the electoral commission should exonerate itself from the charges by submitting their records on the processes. Read more

CDC, UP Support Supreme Court’s Decision, Source: Daily OBSERVER

The main opposition Coalition for Democratic Change (CDC) and the ruling Unity Party (UP) which are awaiting the delayed runoff have welcomed the Supreme Court’s decision in Liberty Party’s (LP) alleged electoral fraud case.

After a ruling granting a writ of prohibition on the runoff election slated to have taken place on Tuesday, the two political parties vying for the presidency said they respect the laws of the land and are prepared to see the country remain on the peace trajectory.

CDC’s deputy campaign spokesperson, Samora Wolokollie, said his party is law-abiding and will remain patient until the National Elections Commission (NEC) looks into not only the LP’s complaint but all other election-related complaints. Mr. Wolokollie said, however, that the NEC should fast-track the hearing of all the cases in order to remain in the confines of time to avoid an interim government. “We are calling on our partisans and supporters across the country to remain calm. Ours is not to disturb the peace but to closely follow the process to its logical conclusion,” he said….

UP chairman Wilmot Paye said the action of the Supreme Court, which granted a permanent stay order on the presidential runoff election, is a clear demonstration that the country’s democracy is maturing. “LP’s action is within the confines of the law and to this, we all subscribe. We are together in this even though we are from different political groupings,” Mr. Paye said.

The UP chairman noted that the most important thing is not about an individual just winning an election but the credibility of the very electoral process that guarantees said winner the chance to lead. “We are impressed that the LP’s partisans and their sympathizers did not invade the streets with violence and lots of unorthodox actions in demand of justice. In fact, justice is not found just anywhere but at the constituted legal institutions and agencies,” Paye said. Read more

Former NIC Boss Calls for Economic Recovery for Liberia, Source: FrontPage Africa

The former chairman of the National Investment Commission (NIC), Natty Davis has outlined the need for economic recovery for Liberia. Mr. Davis noted the country’s economy needs stimuli interventions for total recovery. Serving as keynote speaker at the opening of a seminar held by the Liberia Netherlands Business and Culture Council (LNBCC), the former NIC chairman stated that there’s a strong need for full implementation of existing government policies with a view to successfully achieve desired results. “Current policies on the books need to be robustly implemented if Liberia will achieve its desired results everyone is yearning for,” he noted.

Mr. Davis wants a full implementation of President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf’s Executive Order #89, recently issued to institute policy measures for stimulating economic growth by reducing administrative and business process requirements on concessionaires, small, medium-sized businesses, and manufacturers as an example. Read more

Liberia Gets Top Post at COP23, Source: Daily OBSERVER

Liberia has been elected as a member on the Board of Directors of the Green Climate Fund (GCF) to help steer the world to a safer environment by appropriately helping to manage funds meant for vulnerable countries and other communities at the ongoing global climate change conference in Germany.

Liberia replaces Malawi on the Board, and therefore, has acquired a top seat at one of the high tables at the ongoing 23rd edition of the Conference of the Parties (COP23) of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change in Bonn, Germany, from 6 – 17 November. The conference is being jointly organized by Fiji, which is presiding, with the support of Germany. Read more

INTERNATIONAL MEDIA ON LIBERIA

Liberian President, Johnson Sirleaf bags highest title in Imo, Source: Daily Post

The Imo State Council of Traditional Rulers Thursday night, honoured the Liberian President, Mrs. Ellen Johnson Sirleaf with a Chieftaincy title of “ADA DI OHA NMA”.

The Chairman of the Council, Eze Samuel Ohiri, who presided over the ceremony at the Eze Imo Palace, said the decision to confer the title on the visiting President was in consideration of her outstanding contributions to the restoration of peace in her country and the African sub-region. According to him, it was a way to encourage her and other African women who have contributed to the development of Africa, especially the education of indigent African children, adding that she has done Africa proud. Read more

U.S. Mission Provides Medical Care for Liberians, Source: The Bush Chicken

Thousands of Liberians are turning up to benefit from free medical care services, as a U.S. medical team continues its mission to the country this week. Citizens with diverse medical needs are being catered to in several different communities in Margibi, Bong, and Montserrado, among others.

Gus Kormah, a Liberian residing in the U.S. directed the team to the country. Kormah told The Bush Chicken in an interview that the mission is an outreach initiative of his former employer, Unity Point-Pekin, formerly Pekin Hospital, in Illinois. The team comprises of 28 medical professionals with different specialties. He said the goal of the mission is to help provide free and quality health care services to Liberians. Read more

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