• AU, ECOWAS & UNMIL Hail Liberian CSO Actors For Peaceful Transition, Sources: GNN Liberia and News Public Trust
• Weah commissions first 3 officials, Sources: News Public Trust and The New Dawn
• House Draws Up Citizenship, Land Ownership Amendments for Referendum, Source: Daily OBSERVER
• Liberian Senate Confirms 35 of Presidential 83 Nominees, Sources: Daily OBSERVER, FrontPage Africa, and The New Dawn
• Alexander Cummings Calls Dual Citizenship With Conditions, Source: FrontPage Africa
• Representative Youngblood Assaults FPA Legislative Reporter, Source: FrontPage Africa
• Doyen of Diplomatic Corps Pays Courtesy Call on Foreign Minister, Source: FrontPage Africa
• New gender boss sets agenda, Source: The New Dawn
• Lawyer fights for Health Minister-designate, Sources: Daily OBSERVER and The New Dawn
• Police chief promises crimes reduction, Source: The New Dawn
• Police Commissioner Wants Deepened Cooperation With Citizens, Source: FrontPage Africa
• CEMESP, MFWA hold Post-Election forum, Sources: News Public Trust and The New Dawn
• UNMIL SRSG Keen on Youths Political Effectiveness, Source: Politics of Hope

AU, ECOWAS & UNMIL Hail Liberian CSO Actors for Peaceful Transition, Sources: GNN Liberia and News Public Trust

Liberia’s peaceful and democratic political transition culminated in the successful inauguration of President George Weah on 22 January 2018. The African Union Liaison Office in Liberia (AU), the Office of the Special Representative of the President of the ECOWAS Commission in Liberia, and the United Nations Mission in Liberia (UNMIL)  recognize and thank Liberian civil society actors, including the Inter-Religious Council of Liberia (IRCL), National Council of Chiefs and Elders, National Civil Society Council, election observation groups and all affiliated groups and organizations, youth wings of political parties and representatives of the media, among others, for the immeasurable and diverse contributions they made to initiatives to maintain a peaceful environment and credible electoral process before, during and after the October 2017 elections and the December 2017 run-off election. Read more

Weah commissions first 3 officials, Sources: News Public Trust and The New Dawn

President George Weah Thursday commissioned his first three cabinet officials, challenging them to prove their critics wrong through their work by putting Liberia’s interest first. He also said the confidence he reposed in them is not due to pressure from anyone. Those commissioned are foreign minister Gbehzohngar Findley, finance minister Samuel Tweah, and the minister of state for presidential affairs, Nathaniel McGill. Read more

House Draws Up Citizenship, Land Ownership Amendments for Referendum, Source: Daily OBSERVER

The House of Representatives has begun reviewing four resolutions amending certain provisions of the Liberian Constitution, including citizenship and land ownership, but uncertainty hovers over its passage into law by referendum. The titles for the four resolutions are Citizenship Amendment, Property Amendment, Qualification I and II Amendments. At the 8th day sitting Thursday, the first reading of the resolutions was done and sent to two separate Joint Committees for revision and report to the House Plenary in three weeks.

For the resolution on the Property Amendment, members of the Joint Committee are Judiciary, Claims and Petition; Lands, Mines and Energy; and Ways, Means, Finance and Development Planning. The Joint Committee for the remaining three resolutions, the Citizenship Amendment, Qualification I and II Amendments, includes Judiciary, Claims and Petition and Ways, Means, Finance and Development Planning. Read more

Liberian Senate Confirms 35 of Presidential 83 Nominees, Sources: Daily OBSERVER, FrontPage Africa, and The New Dawn

The Liberian Senate says it has confirmed 35 presidential nominees for their various offices, noting that the respective committees are working aggressively to have the government in shape. Senate President Pro-Tempore Albert Chie made the disclosure at a press briefing where he also warned nominees from taking office before their confirmation. “All those who have not been confirmed are advised not to conduct the business of government either in their offices or outside their offices,” Senator Chie cautioned. “Confirmation hearings are taking place now; there is an urgency to have the government in place and at the same time, there is a need to vet the nominees properly,” he said. Read more

Alexander Cummings Calls Dual Citizenship With Conditions, Source: FrontPage Africa

The media reports that weighing in on President George Weah’s proposition for the repealing of the “racist” clause of the Liberian Constitution to allow dual citizenship and property ownership right to people of non-Negro decent, the political leader of the opposition Alternative National Congress (ANC), Alexander Cummings says such must be done with reciprocity. Speaking on Sky FM’s 50-50 talk show in Monrovia on Thursday, Mr. Cummings said while he supports President Weah’s call for dual citizenship and property ownership right, there must be set measures that would guide the process.

“What I think is important as we think about that is reciprocity." The opposition political leader continued: "We should not offer citizenship to people or nationals of countries, which do not reciprocate with Liberians. We should not allow people to own land where we cannot own land.”  Read more

Representative Youngblood Assaults FPA Legislative Reporter, Source: FrontPage Africa

Representative Munah Pelham Youngblood Thursday assaulted and threatened FrontPage Africa legislative reporter Henry Karmo over a news article questioning whether she is still a lawmaker or now a protocol officer. In the news article, FrontPage Africa reported that the Montserrado lawmaker of the ruling Coalition for Democratic Change (CDC) was paying more attention to the job as protocol officer to President George Weah than the duties elected to perform. But the report seems not to have gone down well with Representative Youngblood who resolved to assault reporter Karmo in open session when several of her colleagues were discussing issues of the citizenship law. Read more

Doyen of Diplomatic Corps Pays Courtesy Call on Foreign Minister, Source: FrontPage Africa

The doyen of the Diplomatic Corps, Guinean Ambassador Abdoulaye Doré Thursday paid a courtesy call on foreign minister Gbehzohngar Findley at his offices. According to a Foreign Ministry release, Ambassador Doré and Mr. Findley exchanged views on critical bilateral issues aimed at strengthening the cordial ties of friendship and cooperation subsisting between the two sisterly countries.

Foreign Minister Findley expressed deep and profound gratitude to the Guinean diplomat for the pivotal role he continues to play in enhancing the cordial and traditional ties and cooperation between Liberia and Guinea. He assured Doré of Liberia’s commitment and unflinching desire to expand cooperation and promote the two countries’ shared values under the dynamic leadership of President George Weah. Read more

New gender boss sets agenda, Source: The New Dawn

During her Senate confirmation hearing Wednesday, gender minister-designate Williametta Saydee Tarr says she would not run the ministry as a courtroom like her predecessors did, but will rather forward all legal matters to the court through the Justice Ministry. “While I am not a lawyer and certainly still learning some of the laws affecting my sector, I will work with my staff to understand the various laws that affect these populations. But I can say confidently that in terms of the programs, services, practices and structures that promote the well-being of these populations, I am very familiar with them. I am also as prepared to familiarize myself with those laws, which I am not as familiar with,” she explains during the hearing.

The gender minister-designate says her focus is to achieve gender equality and equity, facilitate the enforcement of child protection and welfare, promote integration and protection of vulnerable and socially deprived people in society, including persons with disabilities. Read more

Lawyer fights for Health Minister-designate, Sources: Daily OBSERVER and The New Dawn

A legal counsel for health minister-designate has argued that her client Dr. Wilhelmina Jallah has not been tried and found liable for an action for damages for wrongful death to warrant her non-confirmation by the Liberian Senate. Dr. Jallah has been facing some opposition since her nomination by President George Weah to head the Ministry of Health as a result of a death incident reported against her Women of Hope Hospital in 2017 involving victim Desiree Fahnbulleh. “I can put my life into her hands. Dr. Jallah regrets the death of Desiree ...., but I just want to say when that incident happened Dr. Jallah was not in the country. When that incident happened Dr. Jallah did not perform the operation. It was Dr. Copper,” lead counsel Cllr. Felicia Coleman told a press conference Thursday in Paynesville.  Read more

Police chief promises crimes reduction, Source: The New Dawn

Deputy Inspector-General of Police-designate for Operations Robert Budy says if confirmed by the Liberian Senate, the public should expect to see a drastic reduction in crimes rate here, having recognized that Liberia’s number one problem is crimes control. In an interview Thursday ahead of his confirmation hearing, Mr. Buddy says his primary goal at the Liberia National Police (LNP) is to ensure that police presence is felt in every nuke and corner of the society to reduce crimes. Read more

Police Commissioner Wants Deepened Cooperation With Citizens, Source: FrontPage Africa

The Liberia National Police (LNP) commissioner for training and manpower development, Dao Freeman has called on Liberians to put their differences aside in this post-election era and come together to move the country forward. Speaking Thursday to reporters at the end of a one-day peacebuilding and conflict resolution workshop at the National Police Training Academy in Paynesville, Freeman noted that it is only in a peaceful environment that Liberians can maximize their potentials. “And going forward, let us leave aside our individual differences, our group differences and let us make Mama Liberia our priority agenda. Let us put Liberia first above any other thing. Any other thing that will hinder and destroy the interest of Mama Liberia must not be put on the agenda,” the top police official said. Read more

CEMESP, MFWA hold Post-Election forum, Sources: News Public Trust and The New Dawn

The Center for Media Studies and Peacebuilding (CEMESP), in collaboration with the Ghana-based Media Foundation for West Africa (MFWA), is today Friday expected to hold a Post-Election Police-Media Forum at the Corina Hotel in Monrovia. The forum, which will bring together stakeholders from the media, Liberia National Police (LNP), ECOWAS, UNMIL, the Press Union of Liberia (PUL), and CSOs, will deliberate on the role of the media, media safety and media-police relations during the 2017 elections. The forum to be facilitated by renowned Ghanaian media and communications expert Prof. Kwame Karikari will also discuss ways of strengthening media-police relations in Liberia including the possibility of having media focal points within the police service at both national and county levels. Read more

INTERNATIONAL MEDIA ON LIBERIA

UNMIL SRSG Keen on Youths Political Effectiveness, Source: Politics of Hope

The United Nations Secretary-General Special Representative (SRSG) to Liberia, Mr. Farid Zarif, has named the Youth Political Leadership Training as a way of digging up top-notch skills of young people in Liberia. These skills according to SRSG Zarif had been hidden among the youthful population and such program would increasingly improve their capacity to positively impact Liberia’s political process.

“It had been a privileged to form part of efforts in order to dig up this gold mine of Liberia. This top-notch skills and talent had been hidden amongst the youth. Since you launched this program few years ago, I have been watching how we could increasingly support your efforts for the fact that you were discovering something that was not known to us,” Zarif stated. Read more