12 February 2018

LIBERIA MEDIA HIGHLIGHTS

Ellen Johnson Sirleaf wins 2017 Ibrahim Prize, Sources: All Africa, BBC News, Daily OBSERVER, Daily Nation, Financial Times, FrontPage Africa, Quartz Africa, The Guardian, The Standard, and Ynaija

The 2017 Ibrahim Prize for Achievement in African Leadership has been awarded to former President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, the Mo Ibrahim Foundation announced following a meeting of its independent Prize Committee. In its citation, the Prize Committee praised President Sirleaf exceptional and transformative leadership, in the face of unprecedented and renewed challenges, to lead Liberia’s recovery following many years of devastating civil war.

“Ellen Johnson Sirleaf took the helm of Liberia when it was completely destroyed by civil war and led a process of reconciliation that focused on building a nation and its democratic institutions,” said Dr. Salim Ahmed Salim, chair of the Prize Committee, announcing the decision. “Throughout her two terms in office, she worked tirelessly on behalf of the people of Liberia. Such a journey cannot be without some shortcomings and, today, Liberia continues to face many challenges. Nevertheless, during her twelve years in office, Ellen Johnson Sirleaf laid the foundations on which Liberia can now build.”

Ellen Johnson Sirleaf became President of Liberia on 16 January 2006, after winning the 2005 national elections. She served her first term 2006-11 and was then successfully re-elected for a second term, serving in office 2012-17. Sirleaf is the fifth recipient of the Ibrahim Prize, which recognizes and celebrates excellence in African leadership. Read more

Legislature Public Accounts Committee Vows to Fight Corruption, Sources: Daily OBSERVER and FrontPage Africa

The new leadership of the Joint Public Accounts and Expenditure Committee (PAC) of the House of Representatives and the Senate has pledged to fight corruption. On Wednesday, February 7, the Joint PAC of the 54th Legislature assumed responsibility with renewed commitment to collaborate with the General Auditing Commission (GAC), the Internal Auditing Committee (IAA) and other anti-graft institutions in order to ensure that audit reports are implemented to their fullest.

Speaking Wednesday, the new chairman of the Joint PAC, Senator Henry Yallah indicated that under his leadership, the PAC stands ready to fight corruption, to see value for money and control wasteful spending. Chairman Yallah pointed out that the objectives of the PAC cannot be realized without the “political will” of the Executive to implement the recommendations as contained in the committee's findings. “I am happy that in the President's first Annual address, he talked about the need for support from the Legislature. The PAC fits in this support that he talked about,” Senator Yallah emphasized indicating that the PAC will not be a "sleeping giant" and it will be left with the Executive for its expressed will as they at the Legislature will adequately play their part. Read more

Representative Younquoi Fears Citizenship to Whites Would Leave Liberians Vulnerable, Source: The Bush Chicken

The chair of the House Committee on Good Governance, Larry Younquoi says he is alarmed over a recent push by President George Weah to allow individuals who are not black to become citizens and own properties in Liberia. In his first State of the Nation address, the president called for a repeal of the clauses of the constitution limiting citizenship to only those of Negro descent and limiting land ownership to only citizens. Weah said that in the 19th century, those clauses were necessary given the threats the country faced then.

But Representative Younquoi of Nimba’s eighth district has said that fulfilling the president’s wishes would leave many Liberians who are not “economically fit” vulnerable to compete with their white counterparts. “If you give them the right to become citizens in Liberia and own properties—they have the money, and will buy all the land from our people,” Younquoi said, emphasizing that Liberians would be tempted by money to sell out their lands because of the poor economic situation they face. “So, if you don’t build the capacity of the ordinary Liberian people to compete with them, you will leave our population vulnerable.” Younquoi said he believes that the matter would be settled by Liberians through a referendum, where the president, as an individual, is “entitled to only one vote.” Read more

Representative Gwaikolo Says Road Construction Remains His Top Priority, Source: The Bush Chicken

Representative Johnson Gwaikolo of Nimba’s ninth electoral district has said road construction will be the major priority of his legislative agenda. Road connectivity, especially during the rainy season, remains a challenge to residents in areas within the electoral district represented by Gwaikolo, including Gbi and Doru, Yarwein Mehnsonnoh, and Doe districts. Gwaikolo is promising that road construction will be the hallmark of his leadership.

Speaking recently at the first stakeholders meeting involving citizens of the district in Monrovia, the Nimba lawmaker noted that, with the elections being over, it is time for residents to rally around him “to ensure the overall development in the area.” He further added, “Residents should put aside their personal and political differences and work in the interest of the district.” Gwaikolo said he will encourage the participation of all citizens of the district to form part of his leadership and developmental drive. Read more

Margibians Express Mixed Reactions over Appointment of Nuquay, Source: The Bush Chicken

Days after the appointment of former House Speaker J. Emmanuel Nuquay as director-general designate of the Liberia Civil Aviation Authority (LCAA), Margibians are reacting to President George Weah’s decision. Many Margibians, especially those within the ruling Coalition for Democratic Change (CDC), have begun expressing their frustration about the president appointing their fierce political rival in a lucrative position, especially when most of them who campaign vigorously are yet to be appointed.

Joseph Francis Karpu, Sr., the youth league chair of the Congress for Democratic Change (CDC) in Margibi, made a call on the social media platform Facebook for the president to withdraw Nuquay’s appointment. Karpu said though he had never disagreed with Weah, but that if the president failed to withdraw Nuquay’s appointment, it would be the first time he would openly criticize him. “Margibians will be happy to see their sons and daughters appointed in government, but the issue of the former speaker is very critical,” Karpu said, calling it “a total betrayal of the struggle for the emancipation of the grass rooter.” Read more

Former United Nations Employees in Liberia Threaten Big Protest over ‘USD39M Arrears’, Source: FrontPage Africa

Former employees of the UN Mission in Liberia (UNMIL) are requesting that the mission pays arrears it owes them (former employees) for more than 10 years or they will stage more protests in the coming days. For more than four days, former workers of the UN mission staged protests at the mission’s headquarters in the Monrovia suburb of Sinkor demanding USD39 million arrears in salaries and benefits. The former UNMIL workers comprise of employees from the 15 counties that have allegedly served the mission since 2003.

Speaking to FrontPage Africa on Friday, the spokesperson for the aggrieved workers, Jerry Wallace threatened that they will gather next time at the Pan African Plaza to protest with their entire families including their wives and children to claim the intention of the international community. He said since 2003, UNMIL has denied them their rightful salaries and benefits, which was later discovered when some aggrieved former workers of the mission conducted a research. Read more

“Pro-Poor Governance” Must Align with Pro-Environmental and Disaster Management/Mitigation Initiatives, Source: The Liberian Dialogue

US-based Liberian environmental engineer, Morris Koffa says a pro-poor governance as asserted by President George Weah, could better be described as a buzz phrase that brings much excitement not only to the marginalized population and communities in Liberia, but certainly does provide hope for many in the environmental and disaster management advocacy community. It further demonstrates a major paradigm shift of what has been a national neglect of critical social issues by past administrations. Such a national neglect has affected vast segments of Liberians whose livelihoods have been impacted for decades. Poor environmental and unmitigated disaster conditions are recipes for poor health, and can deter potential self-driven human growth. Read more

Monrovia City Mayor-designate Sets First 180-Day Goal, Promises Jobs For Students, Source: FrontPage Africa

Monrovia city mayor-designate Jefferson Koijee Friday faced the Senate Committee on Internal Affairs for his confirmation hearing and told the committee that if confirmed he will work in collaboration with the Legislature to create quick impact jobs for young people, especially students, in order to subsidize the burden of tuition. “Just a few days ago students of the University of Liberia were in protest for the reopening of registration. Distinguished Senators, I want to say to you this burden we have come to share with you for the fact that we are a member of this generation,” Mr. Koijee said. As mayor, Koijee said, the Monrovia City Corporation (MCC) will launch its first 180-day manifesto, which would take into consideration a clean and green city with support from donors and partners. Read more

President Weah Congratulates Vatican City State on 89th Anniversary, Source: FrontPage Africa

President George Weah has sent a message of congratulations and sincere best wishes to Pope Francis on the occasion marking the commemoration of the 89th Anniversary of the founding of the Vatican City State. According to a Foreign Ministry release, President Weah reflected fervently on the excellent relations that subsist between Liberia and the Vatican spanning at least 81 years. “It is also satisfying to note that since 1927, Liberia and the Vatican have striven to sustain cordial relations exploring partnership in significant areas including education, health, freedom of speech and human rights, especially the rights of the oppressed,” the Liberian leader said. Read more

NPA Announces 100% Waiver on Storage, Demurrage on Abandoned Containers, Source: FrontPage Africa

The management of the National Port Authority (NPA) has negotiated 100 percent waiver on storage and demurrage of abandoned containers at the Freeport of Monrovia. APM Terminals and Shipping Agencies officials announced their fullest support to President George Weah’s pro-poor government policy and consented to waive the storage and demurrage charges at the close of two separate meetings with the NPA management. NPA acting managing director Celia Cuffy Brown described the move as a gesture from President Weah to consignees whose containers have overstayed at the Freeport of Monrovia beyond 90 days. Read more

LCC Women Set Up Mobile Health Clinic in Monrovia, Source: News Public Trust

The Ecumenical Women Organization (EWO) of the Liberia Council of Churches (LCC) has established a mobile health clinic at the council’s head offices in the Monrovia suburb of Sinkor. According to the LCC women, the mobile clinic is solely to provide counseling and other medical care for people in the country. As a part of the activities leading to the establishment of the health clinic, the EWO has concluded a two-day discussion on basic counseling skills, project proposal writing, and others for member-churches. EWO president, Gloria Hage said the objective is to reach out in providing counseling and other medical services to people of all sectors of the Liberian society. Read more

Abandoned National Police Officer Sends Out SOS Call, Source: News Public Trust

An officer of the Liberia National Police (LNP) who suffered third-degree burn while performing his statutory duty in 2004 is calling on President George Weah to help him get further medical treatment abroad. Nathaniel Lackay said he met this unseen circumstance when he was performing his duty as a police officer in the Clara Town area in 2004. According to Lackay, he was among the officers selected to remove gas sellers from the streets of Monrovia because rioters were buying gasoline from street sellers to burn mosques and churches during the crisis. Read more

INTERNATIONAL MEDIA ON LIBERIA

Liberia: Make Justice a Priority -New Government Should Take Concrete Steps on Past Atrocities, Sources: Human Rights Watch, Relief Web, and Tolerance

Liberia’s new government should take prompt steps to pave the way for fair investigation and prosecution of serious past crimes committed during Liberia’s brutal civil wars, Human Rights Watch said in a letter to President George Weah released today. Weah was elected in late December 2017, after a tense election run-off with former Vice President Joseph Boakai. Weah took office on January 22, 2018.

“President Weah has a chance to make history by ensuring that Liberia’s victims at long last have a chance to see the people who committed crimes against them held to account,” said Elise Keppler, associate international justice director at Human Rights Watch. “Liberia has made important progress to advance post-conflict stability, but no one has faced justice in Liberia for the brutal crimes during that period.”

During two armed conflicts – 1989 to 1996 and 1999 to 2003 – horrific abuses were committed against civilians in Liberia. These included summary executions and numerous large-scale massacres; widespread and systematic rape; mutilation and torture; and large-scale forced conscription and use of child combatants. The violence blighted the lives of tens of thousands of civilians, displaced almost half the population, and virtually destroyed the country's infrastructure. Liberia has not prosecuted a single person for these grave crimes. Read more

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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