Friday, 23 February 2018

LIBERIA MEDIA HIGHLIGHTS

President Weah Secures USD5M to Develop Sports, Source: Daily OBSERVER

President George Weah has secured USD5 million from the World Bank Social Protection Program to enhance his sports development agenda. According to a dispatch from Paris, President Weah held bilateral talks between France and Liberia. At a press stakeout, the Liberian leader expressed gratitude to France, noting that he was proud to be back in a country where his journey to stardom started. Read more

Minister of State Bids Farewell to Chinese UNMIL Contingent, Sources: FrontPage Africa and The New Dawn

The Chinese contingent of the UN Mission in Liberia (UNMIL), assigned at the Freeport of Monrovia, Thursday turned over several items and equipment to the Liberian government for use by the Liberian National Police (LNP). The donation is part of the UNMIL’s drawdown plan. The Chinese contingent is one of the last uniformed United Nations troop departing after what many have described as a successful UN mission in Liberia. The equipment included police protective gears, generators, vehicles, and the UNMIL facility at the port.

Making remarks at the turning over, Mr. Yacoub El Hillo, Deputy Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Peace Consolidation and Resident Coordinator commended the Chinese contingent for leaving Liberia in a much safer and stable condition. He also attributed the peace and stability of Liberia to the efforts of the Liberian people. “This is your country and it is only being given back to where it belongs.”

Receiving the donation on behalf of President George Weah, state for presidential affairs minister, Nathaniel McGill commended the Chinese for their service to Liberia in which they help to bring peace and stability. He promised that Liberians will always remember them for their contribution and remain grateful. The state minister further stated that the government will protect the facility left behind by the Chinese to maintain the name and legacy in bringing peace. Read more

Liberia Chooses New 3rd Deputy Speaker, Head of Delegation to ECOWAS Parliament, Source: Daily OBSERVER

The House of the Representatives and the Liberian Senate have selected Senator Prince Johnson to complete the term of office of the 3rd Deputy Speaker in the 4th Legislature at the ECOWAS parliament, which runs from February 2016 – February 2020. Senator Johnson replaced Representative Jefferson Kanmoh who was defeated in the October 2017 presidential and representatives elections. Johnson’s selection is the prerogative of the Liberian legislature to continue occupying the office of the 3rd Deputy Speaker based on a rotational system in alphabetical order in accordance with the supplementary protocol that established the parliament, which in 2016, necessitated Liberia to get the 3rd Deputy Speaker position. Read more

Ellen “Not Part of Lawsuit” against Boakai, UP, Says Piah, Source: Daily OBSERVER

The Daily Observer reports that just a day to the ruling by the dispute officer of the National Elections Commission (NEC) on whether or not he should proceed with hearings into the expulsion of former President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf and other executives from the former ruling Unity Party (UP), the former president has backed out of the lawsuit. Mrs. Sirleaf’s  decision to distance herself from the entire complaint filed before the electoral body was contained in a statement of clarification on Wednesday by her former press secretary, Jerolinmek Piah when he appeared on the state-run radio station ELBC informing the public that the former Liberian leader has withdrawn any interest in pursuing the matter any further.

Mr. Piah denied reports that UP standard bearer emeritus has filed a lawsuit against the party or its standard bearer, former Vice President Joseph Boakai. According to the former presidential press secretary, Mrs. Sirleaf has dissociated herself from reports linking her to a lawsuit against Mr. Boakai and/or the UP, adding that the former president is not a part of the process and that she is not (at this time) intending to file any lawsuit. “Others who were expelled by the UP are the ones who have filed the lawsuit against the party and not the former president,” Piah maintained. Read more

Judge Accuses Magistrates, County Attorney of Corruption in Nimba County, Source: FrontPage Africa

The resident judge of the Eighth Judiciary Circuit Court has accused magistrates, county attorney, state security forces, and the public defenders of corrupt. Judge James Gilayeneh said the alleged actions of the judicial actors have caused party litigants, who are seeking justice, to point accusing fingers at the court and are expressing lack of confidence in the judiciary. Judge Gilayeneh told FrontPage Africa that the actions of the law enforcement agencies have caused the public “not to build trust in the court system”.  He said this has delayed the hearing of cases at the Court. He later challenged magistrates, lawyers, the police and law enforcement agencies to prioritize “God and human dignity” in the discharge of their duties. Read more

Justice Ministry unveils plans for Central Prison, Sources: The New Dawn and The NEWS

Assistant justice minister for correction and rehabilitation, Eddie Tarawali has decried the poor and overcrowded condition at the Monrovia Central Prison. Mr. Tarawali paid an official visit at the prison facility on Wednesday and told reporters that he observed poor sanitary conditions there. According to the assistant justice minister for correction and rehabilitation  poor condition of inmates and lack of clothing, among others, are issues that need to be addressed, adding that “those conditions are surmountable with teamwork.” He has meanwhile disclosed plans to work in line with the laws of Liberia to ensure that the condition of correctional officers is also looked at. Tarawali also said that as part of the processes to better the condition of prisoners, inmates, pretrial detainees, he and his team will begin visitation to the various prison facilities throughout the country. Read more

Massacre Survivor Supports Lawsuit Against Liberian In The U.S., Source: FrontPage Africa

A survivor of the 1990 Lutheran Church Massacre in Monrovia has supported the decision by four other victims to file a lawsuit against Moses Thomas, a Liberian restauranteur living in the United States. Speaking with FrontPage Africa Wednesday, Marcus Quoigoah said the decision is a smart way of ensuring that perpetrators associated with the massacre are brought to justice. “Our own stand as survivors of the massacre is to stand with them to know that, though they may be far from us, but in ideology and feelings, we are still the same. We are joining our colleagues, they are in America and we are in Liberia because we have been frustrated and reduce to mere beggars, nobody wants to hear about survivors,” Quoigoah said. Read more

CBL suspends staff, Sources: Daily OBSERVER, The New Dawn, and The NEWS

The Central Bank of Liberia (CBL) has announced with immediate effect the suspension of one of its staff for allegedly posting on social media, a transaction involving the travel arrangements of a Government of Liberia delegation on an official visit. “The CBL views the posting as a serious breach of its fidelity and confidentiality policy governing the conduct of its employees”, a press release issued by the Bank said. The release says based on CBL’s preliminary investigation including a careful review of its CCTV video, a staff was seen on camera pocketing a photocopy of the document. “The CBL management views this act as a violation of its confidentiality policy and has with immediate effect suspended the said staff.” The CBL says it has turned this matter over to the National Security Agency (NSA) for further investigation and will continue to cooperate with the NSA investigation. Read more

Liberia More Corrupt Now than in 2012, Sources: Daily OBSERVER and The New Dawn

The Center for Transparency and Accountability in Liberia (CENTAL) Thursday released the results of the 2017 Corruption Perception Index (CPI) with Liberia ranking 122/180, a CPI score of 31. According to the release, Liberia’s CPI score has declined from 41 in 2012 to 37 and 31 in 2016 and 2017 respectively. Compared to other countries globally, Liberia is the second biggest decliner with minus 6 points from its CPI scores in 2016 (37) to (31) in 2017. “The only country we outperformed in the sub-region is Guinea that scored 27, all others have better standings and rankings than ours, including Ghana (40), and Ivory Coast (36),” the release said. Read more

LAVI, CSOs to Improve Teaching and Learning Qualities, Source: Daily OBSERVER

Civil Society organizations (CSOs) in Bong, Grand Gedeh, and Lofa counties have discussed plans for innovative advocacy campaign for the improvement in teaching quality and classroom learning in the country. According to a release, the initiative, which is aimed at supporting the education sector, is sponsored by the Liberia Accountability and Voice Initiative (LAVI), a USAID funded project. The discussions commenced on February 16 in Voinjama, proceeded to Zwedru on February 19, and climaxed on February 21 in Gbarnga. The initiative was part of LAVI’s efforts to guide potential CSO partners to submit creative concept papers leading to the implementation of the advocacy initiative. During the discussion, the procedure for concept paper submission and the processes leading to grant awards for implementation were explained to the participants. Read more

Father re-arrested, Source: The New Dawn

Police in Bong County have re-arrested rape suspect Benjamin Duncan, having earlier been released from a police detention center in Bong where he was confined for allegedly raping his daughter on Christmas night last year, in an act of incest. The police were reported to have released suspect Duncan from detention recently but gave no clear explanation over his release when The New Dawn made inquiry at the Police Detachment in the county. Report of suspect Duncan’s release from police custody was greeted by public condemnation, with pressure being mounted against authorities to ensure the suspect is held to account.

The New Dawn says following mounting pressure, the suspect was re-arrested on Thursday based on the orders of the county attorney, Wilkins Nah who had himself faced allegations of allegedly being in the know of suspect Duncan’s release, but he immediately denied the claims earlier. Read more

INTERNATIONAL MEDIA ON LIBERIA

Liberia's President Weah defends his French, pushes for women's literacy, Source: RFI News

President George Weah met with his French counterpart Emmanuel Macron this week to jointly launch a fund that would support sports projects on the African continent. Former international soccer star and first African winner of the Ballon d'Or for footballer of the year, Weah had lunch with Macron and sports stars at the Élysée Palace to hail the launch of this new project which will be created in cooperation with the African Development Bank. Weah reportedly spoke to Macron on funding some 1500 kilometers of paved roads, one of his campaign pledges before winning the presidency.  In a brief interview with RFI, President Weah spoke on issues that affect Liberians.

Liberians were proud that you went to Senegal to meet with your counterpart, Macky Sall. But they were reportedly upset when they saw you on television, speaking French. Not English, nor any of the local languages Liberians speak. Could you address those who were upset?

I want you to be aware that we still have critics. We will forever have critics. The war with our criticism is not a complete war. So I don’t have a problem. To see President Emmanuel Macron express himself in English, through all of our meetings then I don’t even need to question when I speak French or not. Because it’s a point of pride for Macron to speak English when he’s with English-speaking people, and I should be happy to speak French because I lived in France, and I learned French. There was a time when I couldn’t speak French, it was detrimental to me, detrimental to my career. Because if I couldn’t speak French, I couldn’t communicate with the other players. So I was forced to learn French. Read more

‘No plans to continue planting in Liberia for now’, Source: The Edge Financial Daily

Sime Darby Plantation Bhd said it has no plans to continue planting in Liberia in the near future as it is taking a wait-and-see approach to yield patterns. Its deputy executive chairman and managing director Tan Sri Mohd Bakke Salleh said the group wants to move progressively in its Liberian operations and “not just ramp up” planting in the African country. “There is no plan to increase the planted hectarage for now,” Mohd Bakke said, adding that its next step would depend on the yield patterns of the trees planted on an existing 10,508ha. “We do not foresee any further impairment from Liberia,” he said, noting the group had made a RM202 million impairment for the financial year ended June 30, 2017. 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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