• UN Deputy Secretary-General Visits Liberia Wednesday, Source: News Public Trust
• Liberia: Stop Barking Like German Shepherd – NEC Boss Tells Finance Minister, Source: FrontPage Africa
• Liberia Risks International Isolation Over USD500M Loan For Southeast Road Project, Source: FrontPage Africa
• Liberian Senate Denies Several Presidential Appointees Nomination, Source: FrontPage Africa
• Weah’s Government Gets First International Condemnation - Global Witness Slams LEITI Firing, Sources: FrontPage Africa and News Public Trust
• Liberia’s Ruling Party Chairman Calls on Partisans to Be Patient, Source: FrontPage Africa
• Lawmaker Accused of Lawless Behavior, Source: Daily OBSERVER

UN Deputy Secretary-General Visits Liberia Wednesday, Source: News Public Trust

The UN Deputy Secretary-General (DSG), Amina Mohammed, will arrive in Liberia on Wednesday 21 March. On Thursday, 22 March, she will participate in an event to celebrate the successful completion of the UN Mission in Liberia’s mandate, an UNMIL statement says. During her visit, she will also attend the National Reconciliation Conference, the High-level Meeting on the national development agenda for 2018-2024. The UN DSG will also attend the official ceremony for the commissioning of the handover of UNMIL Radio to ECOWAS Regional Broadcasting; and meet senior government officials, development partners, and the UN Country Team (UNCT). Madam Mohammed will depart for Nigeria late in the day on 23 March.

Liberia: Stop Barking Like German shepherd – NEC Boss Tells Finance Minister, Source: FrontPage Africa

The National Elections Commission (NEC) chairman, Cllr. Jerome Korkoya has described as a laughable and troubling statement by finance minister Samuel Tweah. The finance minister few days ago, stated that the pending senatorial by-elections in Bong and Montserrado Counties are unnecessary and estimated budget from the NEC for the conduct of those elections is unrealistic.

But Cllr. Korkoya said: “The best thing you can do is call the experts in and talk with them that is what we have done in the past. Where the Commission submitted a budget, previous Ministers of Finance will call the Commission, we sit and justify. We realize that this is public funding and we have to account for it. This is election. We have stakeholders and all these people have roles to play and not for one person to sit and decide. This is strange that we have written the Finance Minister and he hasn’t even given us the courtesy of acknowledgment.” Read more

Liberia Risks International Isolation over USD500M Loan for Southeast Road Project, Source: FrontPage Africa

International stakeholders including the IMF are said to be scratching their heads amid reports that the Liberian government is in talks with a financing organization in Singapore in a bid to borrow half-billion USD to undertake “pro-poor” roads to the Southeast and Western Liberia to include Grand Cape Mount and Gbarpolu Counties.

“I would like to state categorically, that the decision by the government to borrow is not the prerogative of the Public Procurement Concessions Commission (PPCC) and that PPCC has no say, knowledge or acquaintance of any such decision nor does any such decision or process "has the backing of the PPCC", said Dorbor Jallah, PPCC executive director

Economic observers say the move is in clear breach of the IMF’s Article IV program, FrontPage Africa has learned. Meanwhile, Finance Ministry officials are tight-lipped on the name of the company, but the terms of the loan are said to be commercial and not concessional. Additionally, the half a billion USD will be subject to rigid Public Financial Management (PFM) procedure. Read more

Liberian Senate Denies Several Presidential Appointees Nomination, Source: FrontPage Africa

FrontPage Africa relying on reliable pieces of information says the Senate has denied several assistant ministers nominated by President George Weah. The Senate’s decision is intended to set standards for people nominated to public offices, according to sources. Those denied include Mamensie Kabba, assistant gender minister-designate and Princess Turkolon, assistant information minister-designate for tourism, the source said. The source further said that four other assistant foreign ministers-designate were also denied. Read more

Weah’s Government Gets First International Condemnation - Global Witness Slams LEITI Firing, Sources: FrontPage Africa and News Public Trust

Global Witness has strongly condemned the illegal removal of Konah Karmo, head of the secretariat of the Liberia Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (LEITI). Karmo’s firing by President George Weah violates Liberian law and severely undermines the independence of Liberia’s critical anti-corruption agency. Read more

Liberia’s Ruling Party Chairman Calls on Partisans to Be Patient, Source: FrontPage Africa

The chairman of the governing Coalition for Democratic Change (CDC), Mulbah Morlu has told partisans that President George Weah is president for all Liberians and not only them, and wants them to give the president a chance to set up his government. Speaking at a press conference Monday, Mr. Morlu called on his party’s supporters to be patient and wait. His statement was in response to claims that President Weah is ignoring partisans of the CDC and giving jobs to people of other political parties. “As one who wants to lead by example and to a new rise, he needs time. So CDCians this is your government and it needs your maximum support: be patient and wait for your time everyone has their time,” chairman Morlu said. Read more

Lawmaker Accused of Lawless Behavior, Source: Daily OBSERVER

A resident of Nippy Town in the Old Road community of Sinkor, Bai Kayou Kandakai has threatened Montserrado Electoral District #10 lawmaker, Yekeh Koulbah, with a lawsuit for “unlawfully” and forcefully breaking into his private residence while raiding a ghetto in the District yesterday. The ghetto raid was carried out with the help of a joint squad of Liberia Drug Enforcement Agency (LDEA) and the Liberia National Police (LNP), prompted by numerous alleged criminal activities, including armed robberies greatly affecting residents of the community and its environs.

However, in reaction to Representative Kolubah’s attempt in bringing relief to the residents of the community, Mr. Kandakai said the lawmaker’s mission that led to the destruction of his home was unconstitutional and perpetrated with a high degree of malice and hate. Read more