• Mass dismissal looms, Source: The New Dawn
• Justice Minister-Designate Dean Promised To Avoid ‘Losable Cases’, Source: FrontPage Africa
• Amb. Wallace Hails Deployment of 20 ECOWAS Volunteers, Sources: Daily OBSERVER and News Public Trust
• Lawmaker backs Dual Citizenship, Source: The New Dawn
• New Justice Minister Wants Term of Court, Grand Jury Sitting Extended, Source: Daily OBSERVER
• “I Will Reactivate Police Patrol Division” -Deputy Police Commissioner-designate, Source: Daily OBSERVER
• Police in Bong allegedly release rape suspect, Source: The New Dawn
• Caldwell Residents Protest in Demand of Electricity, Sources: Daily OBSERVER and The New Dawn
• Medica Liberia Trains Public Service Actors – On SGBV/SEA Case Management, Source: GNN Liberia
• International Disabled Group Wants Empowerment For Disabilities In Liberia, Source: FrontPage Africa
• Liberia and Sierra Leone can achieve real women's empowerment, Source: ISS

Mass dismissal looms, Source: The New Dawn

This paper has received a strong indication that heads of tenured agencies of government are to be shortly dismissed by President George Weah. The Office of the President rightly told The New Dawn Monday, that President Weah will dismiss at will mostly tenured officials of government, affecting the General Auditing Commission (GAC), the Liberia Anti-Corruption Commission (LACC), the Central Bank of Liberia (CBL), and the National Social Security and Welfare Corporation (NASSCORP), among others. The minister of state for presidential affairs, Nathaniel McGill, stressed that the powers of the president solely rest within the 1986 Liberian constitution, which gives him absolute powers to hire and dismiss at will or with cause.  McGill said President Weah is not answerable to anyone in dismissing people who are serving positions in government citing several provisions of the Liberian Constitution. Read more

Justice Minister-Designate Dean Promised To Avoid ‘Losable Cases’, Source: FrontPage Africa

Justice minister-designate Musa Dean has told the Senate Committee on the Judiciary that if he is confirmed, he will advise the government not to involve in harassment and or taking on losable cases. At his hearing on Monday, Cllr. Dean said as attorney general he would not go after cases that he cannot win. “We will not engage in harassment, we will not go after cases that have no magnitude and evidence. I do not go to court to lose cases because I do not carry cases that are losable,” the justice minister-designate said. He also told the Senate Judiciary Committee that it is important to train more Police officers in order to increase the manpower of the Liberia National Police (LNP) and to “train them in evidence gathering”. Dean also promised to work to help in the regaining of the public trust and confidence in the Police. Read more

Amb. Wallace Hails Deployment of 20 ECOWAS Volunteers, Sources: Daily OBSERVER and News Public Trust

The Officer-in-Charge of the Foreign Ministry of Foreign Affairs and presidential advisor on foreign affairs has hailed the deployment of 20 ECOWAS volunteers to Liberia to share knowledge and expertise with their Liberian counterparts as a show of African solidarity and fraternity, a Foreign Ministry release has said. Amb. George Wallace said Liberians will forever remain proud and grateful to the volunteers and to their various governments. The renowned Liberian diplomat also noted that the transfer of knowledge and other policies that enhance regional integration have always been placed at the heart of Liberia’s foreign policy, which supports South-South Dialogue that is aimed at promoting social-economic development and regional cooperation. According to the release, Amb. Wallace made the remarks Monday when he delivered the keynote address at the Induction Training of ECOWAS Volunteers in the C. Cecil Dennis Auditorium of the Foreign Ministry in Monrovia. Read more

Lawmaker backs Dual Citizenship, Source: The New Dawn

Senator Conmany Wesseh seems to be in support of President George Weah’s recent suggestions for dual citizenship in Liberia, including granting land ownership right to non-Negroes. Appearing on Power FM, a local radio station in Monrovia on Monday, Senator Wesseh said Liberians are from a diverse background, and the tendency that everything they own would be taken away from them by foreign nationals is baseless. “We must not be afraid of these things because what I see here is fear if such can be done in other countries, what’s more of people coming here to be citizens?”, the River Gee lawmaker asked.

Wesseh argued that if Liberians enjoyed the privilege to go to the United States, Canada, and Germany and become citizens in these foreign countries, there should be no reason why nationals of these countries couldn’t come here and take up citizenship as well. “We should expect other foreigners coming here to take up citizenship as well, so I don’t believe that foreigners will come here and take away things from people, all I see is fear, and we must find a way to handle this fear”, Senator Wesseh emphasized. Read more

New Justice Minister Wants Term of Court, Grand Jury Sitting Extended, Source: Daily OBSERVER

The Daily Observer reports that in an effort to promote peace and security as well as to ensure justice by the conviction of more criminals through the rule of law, justice minister-designate, Cllr. Musa Dean has announced that the ministry, through the Executive Branch, would be submitting several legislations, when confirmed. Some of the legislations in which the Executive would be submitting for amendments would include the extension of the term of Court and the sitting of the Grand Jury. Cllr. Dean told the Senate Committee on the Judiciary, Human Rights, Claims and Petitions on Monday during his confirmation hearing that the term of court, which is 42 days and multiply by four terms of court, which is totally 168 days, are too small to prosecute more criminal cases in each of the counties. He believes that if the term of court has more days, the government could prosecute and convict more criminals. Read more

“I Will Reactivate Police Patrol Division” -Deputy Police Commissioner-designate, Source: Daily OBSERVER

Deputy police commissioner for operations-designate, Robert Budy Monday said the patrol section of the Liberia National Police (LNP) has been dormant and so if confirmed he would reactivate it to meet its prewar status. Budy told the Senate Committee on the Judiciary, Rule of Law, Claims, and Order that in the past the patrol division provided 24-hour coverage for citizens, foreigners, and their properties, but unfortunately, he said, the division has been dormant for years. “This patrol division is the most viable section of the police, providing around the clock service to the public,” he said, adding that the patrol division acts as the first responder to calls to provide immediate and timely police intervention. Read more

Police in Bong allegedly release rape suspect, Source: The New Dawn

The police detachment in Bong County has allegedly released a 45-year-old rape suspect Benjamin Duncan who was said to be held in custody for allegedly raping his 11-year-old daughter. Suspect Duncan is said to have raped his daughter on Christmas night and has since been having sex with her allegedly at their residence in the Sugar Hill Community in Gbarnga. The case was reported on 8 February when the 11-year-old turned sick and was taken to the C. Dumbar Hospital for treatment. Read more

Caldwell Residents Protest in Demand of Electricity, Sources: Daily OBSERVER and The New Dawn

The Township of Caldwell was Monday a scene of chaos when residents took to the streets protesting having to go over two years without electricity in their area. The residents, who blocked the major road in the area leaving motorists stranded, chanted ‘solidarity songs’ in unison as they created a traffic gridlock that lasted all day Monday. But authorities of the Liberia Electricity Corporation (LEC) and the Liberia National Police (LNP) have called for a roundtable discussion between the leadership of the protesters and the LEC management to find a common ground to the protesters’ demand for power supply. Read more

Medica Liberia Trains Public Service Actors – On SGBV/SEA Case Management, Source: GNN Liberia

Medica Liberia in partnership with the UN Mission in Liberia (UNMIL) has ended series of   Sexual Gender-Based Violence/Sexual Exploitation and Abuse (SGBV/SEA) case management training in Grand Gedeh and Montserrado Counties for public service actors. The training is aimed at enhancing the capacity of those actors to continue the fight against GBV for a free and safe society for women in Liberia. Over 50 public service SGBV/SEA actors including gender coordinators, women and children protection officers, and SGBV nurses/One Stop Center Service providers from the 15 counties attended the two trainings. Speaking at the start of the training held in Monrovia, Medica Liberia head of programs, Emily Frank said the training was intended to capacitate public SGBV/SEA actors especially in responding to SEA cases after UNMIL departs Liberia. Read more

International Disabled Group Wants Empowerment For Disabilities In Liberia, Source: FrontPage Africa

The Association of Disabled Females International (ADFI) in collaboration with other disabled organizations is calling on President George Weah to ensure that Persons with Disabilities (PWDs) are empowered during his administration. ADFI praised former President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf for including them in her government and wants the Weah administration to do more in order to improve their lives. Speaking at a one-day workshop on Inclusion and Empowerment of PWDs within the government, ADFI executive director, Meima Hoff Bettie said her group is advocating for the rights of women living with disabilities in Liberia. Mrs. Bettie is at the same time urging President Weah to give back power to those who elected him, mostly the disabled community. Read more

INTERNATIONAL MEDIA ON LIBERIA

Liberia and Sierra Leone can achieve real women's empowerment, Source: ISS

Neighboring Liberia and Sierra Leone are undergoing post-conflict transitions. And in both countries, national elections are ushering in new administrations. In March, elections will be held in Sierra Leone, and in January, George Weah took over as Liberia’s president from Ellen Johnson Sirleaf. Not only was Johnson Sirleaf Africa’s first female president, but she recently received the Ibrahim Prize for Achievement in African Leadership. Expectations that her time in office would deliver inclusive and real empowerment for women in Liberia were understandably high. But in Liberia and Sierra Leone, the reality is quite different. Both have made the right noises when it comes to empowering women, but Liberia and Sierra Leone feature among the 15 least gender-developed countries in the world, according to the United Nations Development Programme. Read more