• Liberia Council of Churches Calls on President Weah to Implement TRC Recommendations, Source: FrontPage Africa
• To Retrieve Government Vehicles, President Weah Constitutes Task Force, Sources: Daily OBSERVER, FrontPage Africa, and News Public Trust
• EPS Clarifies New Recruits – “Recruited Ex-Combatants Are “Remodeled”, Source: FrontPage Africa
• New Justice Minister Warns Against Traffic Obstruction During Demonstrations, Source: FrontPage Africa
• New Gender Minister declares war on FGM, Sources: FrontPage Africa and The New Dawn
• Public Works Minister Urges Contractors to Make Roads Accessible All Year Round, Source: FrontPage Africa
• Mannah Replies Grand Gedeans Demand for Jobs, Source: Daily OBSERVER
• Dual Citizenship Group Writes President Weah, Source: Daily OBSERVER
• FIU Boss Raps on Pro-Poor Agenda from Anti-Corruption Perspective, Sources: Daily OBSERVER and FrontPage Africa
• Nimba Representative Wants CDF Deposited Into County’s Account  -Instead of ‘Consolidated Account’, Source: Daily OBSERVER
• Representative Koffa to Construct Housing Units For Constituents in Grand Kru County, Sources: Daily OBSERVER and FrontPage Africa
• Using U.S. Courts to Promote Accountability for the 1990 Liberian Church Massacre and Beyond, Source: Just Security

Liberia Council of Churches Calls on President Weah to Implement TRC Recommendations, Source: FrontPage Africa

The Liberia Council of Churches (LCC) has reiterated calls for the full implementation of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) recommendations. LCC president, Bishop Kortu Brown said full implementation of the TRC recommendations will resolve the long-standing problems facing Liberia as a result of atrocities committed by warlords during Liberia’s civil crisis. The TRC was established as a result of the Comprehensive Accra Peace Accor (CPA) that put an end to the 14 years civil conflict in Liberia. Following the conclusion of its investigations in 2010, the TRC laid out a clear framework and strategic roadmap for National Healing, Peacebuilding and Reconciliation, and the Agenda for Transformation.

Bishop Brown speaking Friday in Monrovia said posterity will judge harshly those who continue to stand in the way of implementing the TRC recommendations, noting the country is still troubled by the wounds inflicted. The LCC president who is also the general overseer of the New Water in the Desert Apostolic Pentecostal Church (NWIDA) in Brewerville expressed the council’s willingness to working with the new government for the good of the nation and its people. Read more

To Retrieve Government Vehicles, President Weah Constitutes Task Force, Sources: Daily OBSERVER, FrontPage Africa, and New Public Trust

President George Weah has constituted a Special Presidential Task Force (SPTF) to retrieve all government-owned vehicles still in the possession of former government officials. President Weah has mandated the former officials to submit within two weeks the vehicles to the SPTF, an Executive Mansion release said last evening. Those named to the Task Force are Benedict Reeves, Inspector General of Police Patrick Sudue, Sam Worzie, Garmondeh Glaydor, Isaiah Harris, and Robena Brown. According to the release, the president has also directed that all former officials who had purportedly purchased vehicles from the General Services Agency (GSA) to submit these vehicles to the SPTF for verification. Read more

EPS Clarifies New Recruits – “Recruited Ex-Combatants Are “Remodeled”, Source: FrontPage Africa

The assistant director of the Executive Protection Services (EPS) has told FrontPage Africa that though the EPS under his watch has some ex-combatants, society must accept that most of those who found themselves in activities of the civil war are now remodeled and refined. “We all came from some kind of background. Some of these guys have been remodeled. They’ve become transformed. Some have attained education and are now different and reformed persons. So, why should we deny them the opportunity to serve?” said Sadatt Henry Wolo.

Wolo made the assertions while speaking about a FrontPage Africa publication which pointed out that several former ex-combatants with no training have infiltrated the elite security group. He, however, boasted that though he was associated with former Presidents Samuel Doe and Charles Taylor, he has no link with the war neither was he ever a member of any of the warring factions. Read more

New Justice Minister Warns Against Traffic Obstruction During Demonstrations, Source: FrontPage Africa

The justice minister and attorney general says no amount of protest should lead to obstructing the flow of traffic, something he has promised to tackle as he takes on the ministry as the head. Cllr. F. Musa Dean said though protest is legal, no protesters should feel more important in expressing grievance that would lead to the destruction of properties. “The people have the right to protest but they don’t have the right to obstruct the smooth functioning of the traffic as a mean of compelling and forcing us to recognize their protest.” The new justice minister and attorney general spoke at the official taking over ceremony of ministry.  Read more

New Gender Minister declares war on FGM, Sources: FrontPage Africa and The New Dawn

The minister of gender, children and social protection, Mrs. Williametta Saydee Tarr has declared war on SBV, especially, FGM throughout the country. Speaking Monday when she officially took office at the Gender Ministry in Monrovia, Mrs. Tarr says the decision to battle SBV is to give Liberian women free space to think and become strong contributors to the growth and development of the state. According to the gender minister, her background in civil advocacy for the rights of women is the supporting base on her fight in the defense of women and children.  Read more

Public Works Minister Urges Contractors to Make Roads Accessible All Year Round, Source: FrontPage Africa

Public works minister Mobutu Nyenpan has told contractors that President George Weah’s pro-poor government policy will be of no use if roads around the country are not accessible year round. Minister Nyenpan made the statement Saturday when he led a team of engineers on a guided tour of key projects in Monrovia. During a brief stop on the Caldwell New Georgia Road, the works minister thanked a group of locals working with the CICO construction company and indicated to them that President Weah’s pro-poor agenda would be meaningless without them. “That’s why we have come to say thank you”, Mr. Nyenpan said. Read more

Mannah Replies Grand Gedeans Demand for Jobs, Source: Daily OBSERVER

Presidential press secretary Sam Mannah has sharply reacted to demands by people calling themselves ‘Sons and Daughters of Grand Gedeh County’ to redirect their political agitation because, according to him, President George Weah is not appointing people to positions based on tribal connections or geographical locations, but rather on their qualification and honesty. The president,  Mr. Mannah said, wants an all-inclusive government that will be void of tribal sentiments and class system, noting, “Liberia is bigger than a county.”

The presidential press secretary told the Daily Observer that the government has already appointed the gender minister, a Grand Gedean, and others including the superintendent, who will, in turn, formulate the county’s governance body in consultation with the county’s caucus. Over the weekend the ‘Sons and Daughters of Grand Gedeh County’ expressed discomfort with President Weah’s silence in addressing their call for equal opportunities regarding appointments in government. Read more

Dual Citizenship Group Writes President Weah, Source: Daily OBSERVER

The All-Liberian Conference on Dual Citizenship, representing over 500,000 Liberians in the Diaspora, has revealed in a letter to President George Weah that dual citizenship for natural born Liberians, for which it is seeking support from the government does not involve “opening up citizenship to non-Negroes.” The group in the letter said the two issues should not be combined because combining these parallel and entirely different propositions (dual citizenship for natural born Liberians and opening citizenship to all races) as one item in a referendum will pose a significant challenge if not destroy its efforts for dual citizenship for natural born Liberians.

The All-Liberian Conference on Dual Citizenship comprises the Union of Liberian Associations in the Americas (ULAA), European Federation of Liberian Associations (EFLA), Federation of Liberian Communities in Australia (FOLICA), Conference of Liberian Organizations in the South Western United States (COLOSUS), and United Liberian Association Ghana (ULAG). Read more

FIU Boss Raps on Pro-Poor Agenda from Anti-Corruption Perspective, Sources: Daily OBSERVER and FrontPage Africa

The head of the Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) has welcomed President George Weah’s “Pro-Poor Agenda,” aimed at reducing poverty. According to Alex Cuffy, “pro-poor policy,” used in development circles directly targeting the poor through the provision of social services such as road networks and electricity. Mr. Cuffy admitted that it will take time for the government to deliver on its promises, having inherited a broken economy with low revenue generation, growing expenditure, budget shortfalls, high exchange and interest rates and inflation. The FIU boss articulating the pro-poor agenda from an anti-corruption perspective believes the government will find the money to cater for its people once it deals with the menace. Read more

Nimba Representative Wants CDF Deposited Into County’s Account  -Instead of ‘Consolidated Account’, Source: Daily OBSERVER

The chairman of the House Committee on Good Governance and Government Reform has suggested that the County Development Funds (CDFs) should be deposited into the county’s account to avoid holdups in withdrawal, especially disavowals. Representative Larry Younquoi told his colleagues Friday that counties have experienced extreme headaches over the years trying to access the CDFs from the consolidated account, which prevented some counties from receiving their respective CDFs, which is usually allotted in the annual budget. Mr. Younquoi argued that some counties receive their CDFs late, for which he blamed the slow pace of economic development projects. Read more

Representative Koffa to Construct Housing Units For Constituents in Grand Kru County, Sources: Daily OBSERVER and FrontPage Africa

The media reports that Grand Kru Representative Jonathan Fonati Koffa has set himself a big vision of providing housing units for residents of his district. Representative Koffa wants to realize his plan by constructing 10 modern houses annually for the next six years. According to him, the project is one of the benefits accrued from his recent trip to the United States where he met with partners, who are willing to assist with the project. According to the Grand Kru lawmaker, the housing project will cost him USD3,500 for each decent two-bedroom unit and will be handed to people on gratis. Read more

INTERNATIONAL MEDIA ON LIBERIA

Using U.S. Courts to Promote Accountability for the 1990 Liberian Church Massacre and Beyond, Source: Just Security

Between 1989 and 2003, civil war consumed the small West African nation of Liberia, resulting in the estimated deaths of 150,000 to 250,000 men, women and children, and the displacement of over half the country’s population. All parties to the conflict, government and rebels alike, were responsible for grave crimes and human rights atrocities, including torture, rape, sexual slavery, summary executions, and forced conscription of child soldiers. Since 2003, Liberia has made significant progress on security, yet major obstacles remain to long-term growth and sustainable peace, not least an enduring culture of impunity for civil war-era atrocities.

The civil lawsuit that the Center for Justice and Accountability (CJA) filed recently on behalf of four survivors of the St. Peter’s Lutheran Church Massacre aims to help rectify this impunity. On July 29, 1990, soldiers from the Armed Forces of Liberia (AFL) executed approximately 600 unarmed men, women, and children—mostly of the Mano and Gio tribes—that had sought refuge from the violence of the civil war at St. Peter’s Lutheran Church in Monrovia. At the time of the attack, the church was providing shelter and humanitarian assistance to over 2,000 civilians and the compound was clearly marked by Red Cross flags on all four corners. Some of the survivors of the attack, including CJA’s plaintiffs, were forced to hide under dead bodies while witnessing the slaughter of their loved ones with guns and machetes. Read more