The Bureau of Public Affairs

Ministry of Foreign Affairs

Monrovia, Liberia

NEWS SUMMARY FOR TUESDAY, JULY 11, 2017

The Minister of Justice, Cllr. Frederick Cherue and the Director-General of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ Foreign Service Institute have acknowledged the role played by the Government and people of the Federal Republic of Nigeria in bringing peace to Liberia and Vice President and Standard-bearer of the ruling Unity Party, Joseph Boakai naming of House Speaker James Emmanuel Nuquay as his running mate in the October elections are the stories captured in several local dailies as embedded in our summary today.

The summary also highlights story regarding Liberia’s ‘yes vote’ to adopt a treaty to ban nuclear weapons and the visit of the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Turkey, His Excellency Mr. Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu.

DOMINANT STORIES

Nigeria’s Role in Liberia’s Peace Process Acknowledged- Justice Minister Cherue, Dr. Konneh; As NEC Chairman, Cllr. Korkoya Provides Election Update

The Minister of Justice, Cllr. Frederick Cherue and the Director-General of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ Foreign Service Institute (FSI) have acknowledged the role played by the Government and people of the Federal Republic of Nigeria in bringing peace to Liberia. They both spoke Friday evening, June 7, at a dinner tendered by Justice Minister Cherue for the visiting delegation from the Institute of Security Studies (ISS), Abuja, who were on a 10-day study tour.  According to a Foreign Ministry release, Justice Minister Cherue said Liberians have always shown gratitude to the Nigerians. For his part, the Director-General of the Foreign Service Institute (FSI), Dr. Augustine Konneh, on behalf of the Minister of Foreign Affairs, H. E. Marjon V. Kamara, joined the Justice Minister to praise Nigeria for leading the way for peacekeepers, who came to help Liberians return to peace. Responding, Mr. Adamu Ali Dodo, Director of Research at the ISS, Abuja and team leader, stated that the reception was “unprecedented” as they never had it in their thoughts neither did they expect that they would have received such treatment. “This has further strengthened our conviction that indeed we are one Africa and we are all our brothers’ keepers. Meanwhile, earlier in the day, the visiting delegation met with commissioners of the National Elections Commission (NEC) at its headquarters in Sinkor. In his briefing, NEC Chairman, Cllr. Jerome Korkoya informed his visitors that presidential elections is mandated by the constitution to be held every second Tuesday of October in the election year; adding: “This year’s election will be held on October 10.” “Currently, we have 26 political parties in Liberia. If all of these parties put out presidential candidates plus the independent ones, we are going to have maybe 30 candidates vying for the post of president. However, we have been hearing from the news that some of these parties are forming collaborations, which we hope will reduce the number of candidates.” He further disclosed that as the nomination process for candidates ends on July 21^st, campaigning will begin on July 31^st, reports the FOCUS newspaper.

Related Captions: Justice Minister Cherue, Dr. Konneh Acknowledge Nigeria’s Role in Liberia’s Peace Process… As NEC Chairmand, Cllr. Korkoya Provides Election Update (The INQUIRER), Chairman Korkoya Receives Award From Nigerian Delegation (INSIGHT)

Veep Boakai Names Nuguay As Running Mate

According to the Inquirer newspaper, at long last, Liberia’s Vice President and Standard-bearer of the ruling Unity Party, Joseph Boakai has named 48-year-old House Speaker, James Emmanuel Nuquay as his running mate in the October elections. The ceremony, which drew much attention and kept Liberians glued to their radios, was held yesterday at the headquarters of the ruling Unity Party in Congo Town. Before the official ceremony for the Veep to announce running mate, Unity Party National Chairman, Wilmot Paye told the gathering that the ceremony was the best kept secret of the elections, indicating that it was the party’s strategy for Veep Boakai to delay in naming his running mate.

Related Captions: ‘Baboon’ Fails To Divide Kola In Gant-Nuyuaye Becomes Boakai’s Running Mate-While Boakai Turns The Table On Nimba’s High Expectation Of Running Mate Slot; Urey Establishes Seed In Vote-Rich Nimba (FOCUS), Nuquay Gambles (The New Dawn), Nuquay Emerges from ‘Mr. Nobody to Running Mate’ (Daily Observer)

OTHER STORIES

Despite A Boycott By US, UK, France And Russia: Liberia, Others Vote ‘Yes’ To Adopt UN Treaty To Ban Nuclear Weapons

Nearly 72-years after the world witnessed the devastating effects of nuclear weapons on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in Japan, Liberia has joined other United Nations Member States to adopt a treaty to ban nuclear weapons. At the close of a three-week conference negotiating the ban, the treaty was endorsed by 122 participating member states, despite a boycott by countries that possess nuclear weapons including the United States, United Kingdom, France and Russia. The Netherlands was the only participating country that voted against the adoption of the treaty which took place at the United Nations headquarters in New York last Friday, July 7, 2017. The INSIGHT newspaper quotes a dispatch, Liberia's Permanent Mission to the United Nations, His Excellency Mr. Lewis Garseedah Brown, II, hailed the vote as historic and significant especially for a country which has experienced the effects of war and is determined to stay on the path of peace. "Liberia's vote does not mean we have a perfect treaty. Our vote is an expression of our determination to seek secured paths to peace through multilateralism," Liberia’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations said. A result of months of talks and consultations amongst Member States and civil society, the treaty seeks to eliminate nuclear weapons by banning their development, testing, manufacture, or possession as well as mandating signatories to ensure that their territories are not used to host nuclear weapons.

Related Captions: Liberia Votes To Ban Nuclear Weapons (The New Dawn)

Turkish Foreign Minister Pays One-Day Visit To Liberia, Today

The FOCUS newspaper says the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Turkey, His Excellency Mr. Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu along with a high-level delegation, will pay an official one-day visit to the Republic of Liberia on Tuesday, July 11. According to a Foreign Ministry release, His Excellency Mr. Çavuşoğlu, while in the country, will hold bilateral discussions with officials of the Liberian Government, following which he will pay a courtesy call on President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf. He will hold a joint press stakeout alongside Liberia’s Foreign Minister, Her Excellency Madam Marjon V. Kamara in the Foyer of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Related Caption: Turkish Foreign Minister Pays One-Day Visit To Liberia Today (INSIGHT)

World Bank Group Seeks Over $1 Billion For Women Entrepreneurship

The New Dawn newspaper says the World Bank Group announced the creation of an innovative new facility that aims to enable more than $1 billion to advance women’s entrepreneurship and help women in developing countries gain increased access to the finance, markets, and networks necessary to start and grow a business. According to a dispatch, the United States initiated the idea for the facility and will serve as a founding member along with other donor countries. The Women Entrepreneurs Finance Initiative (We-Fi), the first World Bank-led facility to advance women’s entrepreneurship at this scale, will work to enable more than $1 billion of financing to improve access to capital, provide technical assistance, and invest in other projects and programs that support women and women-led SMEs in World Bank Group client countries.

Related Caption: Over US$1 Billion For Women Entrepreneurship…World Bank Discloses (INSIGHT)

EPA’s Axe Falls On Maryland Oil Palm …For ‘Breach’ Of Environmental Law

Authorities of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) have fined Maryland Oil Palm Plantation (MOPP) in Sodoken, Maryland County US$10,000 for violating the environmental laws of Liberia. According to a release issued yesterday, MOPP violated the terms and conditions of the environmental permit issued to it by the EPA. The INSIGHT newspaper  quoting the release says that MOPP did not only fail to comply with condition 6.0 count 5 of its environmental permit, but in contravention of the Environmental Protection and Management Law of Liberia, imported several chemicals into the country without acquiring the requisite approval from the EPA. EPA Executive Director Anyaa Vohiri said that the encroachment and destruction of the buffer areas also breached the Roundtable on Sustainable Oil Palm (RSPO) principles.

Liberian Nurses End Conference In Abuja

The INQUIRER newspaper writes that the Seventeen Liberian Fellows of the West African College of Nursing (WACN) have successfully participated in the week-long 14^th Biennial General Conference of the College in Abuja, Nigeria. The meeting also included the 23^rd Scientific Session and 37^th Council Meeting of College, which ran from the 1^st to 7^th of July. A press release from the Liberian Embassy in Abuja says the theme of the combined meetings was “Emerging Health Emergencies: Community and Health Workforce Responsibilities in the Subregion.”

Related Caption: Liberian Nurses End Conference In Abuja; Take Leave Of Ambassador (INSIGHT)

S/Court Hears Abu Kamara’s Complaint Today

The full bench of the Supreme Court of Liberia is today expected to listen to Abu Kamara through his lawyers as to why the court should not stop him from contesting in the October 10, 2017 elections, especially the representative seat of District #15 in Montserrado County. According to the Clerk of the Supreme Court of the Republic of Liberia, the hearing of the writ of prohibition is expected to start today, July 11, at the hour 1:pm and warned that both lawyers of the petitioner (Abu Kamara) and the National Elections Commission (NEC) should be present and on time, reports the INQUIRER newspaper.

Related Captions: Dismiss Kamara’s Petition-NEC Calls On Supreme Court (FOCUS), S/Court Hears Abu Kamara’s Complaint Today (The INQUIRER)

105 Females Nominated For October Polls

An official of the National Elections Commission (NEC) confirms here that 105 females have been nominated to contest the October 10th Presidential and Representative Elections. Mr. Henry Flomo, Information Officer of the NEC confirms the figure in Monrovia on Monday, 10 July when he spoke to reporters. He says the nominees represent various political parties that have been processed in the current Candidate Nomination process at the Samuel Kanyon Doe Sports Complex in Paynesville, suburb of the Liberian capital. Flomo continues that besides the 105 female contestants, the NEC has also qualified eight other candidates, reads the New Dawn newspaper.