The Bureau of Public Affairs

Ministry of Foreign Affairs

Monrovia, Liberia

DAILY NEWS SUMMARY FOR FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 1, 2017

Today’s edition of our summary of the local dailies includes the Liberian Senate casting a vote of ‘No Confidence against Education Minister’ George Warner and the Liberian Government and charity MSF signing an agreement, among others.

Senate Casts Vote of No Confidence Against Education Minister

According to the Daily Observer, the Liberian Senate yesterday evening reportedly cast a vote of no confidence against Education Minister George Werner, for utterances the Senators said were against the promotion of education in the country. Reports received by this paper said the lawmakers took the decision after an executive (closed door) session. The Senators decision was prompted by a letter from Montserrado County ranking Senator Geraldine Doe-Sherif in which she accused the Minister of undermining the education system. In her communication dated August 21, 2017, Senator Doe-Sherif among other things accused Mr. Werner of posting on Facebook that debates could be a setup by the meritocratic elite to show case how educated and knowledgeable they are to eliminate those that are perceived to be uneducated.

Related Caption: 9 Senators Slam Education Minister…with No-Confidence Vote (Insight) and Ellen Cautious Presidential Candidates (New Dawn)  

Liberia, MSF – France Sign Host Country Agreement 

The Inquirer newspaper quoted a Foreign Ministry release: “The Government of Liberia and Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF-France) have signed a host country agreement which formalizes and solidifies the organization’s operation in Liberia. According to a Foreign Ministry release, Foreign Minister Marjon V. Kamara signed on behalf of the Liberian Government while the Country Representative (Head of Mission) of MFS-France, Renée Madrolle signed on behalf of her organization. The signing ceremony took place at the ministry’s conference room on Thursday, August 31, 2017. MSF, an international medical and humanitarian organization providing independent, impartial and neutral humanitarian assistance since 1971 through its operational sections, have agreed to act jointly under a common MSF Liberia Office to run their humanitarian and medical activities in a more effective, efficient and sustainable way that will better meet the needs of the population.

Related Caption: Liberia, MSF - France Sign Host Country Agreement (New Dawn)

PUL President Attends ALJA Convention In USA…Departs Liberia Today

Press Union of Liberia (PUL) President, Mr. Charles Coffey, departs the country today, Friday, September 1, 2017 for the United of America (USA) to attend the Association of Liberian Journalists in the Americas (ALJA) 2017 Annual Convention. According to letter of invitation, the 2017 Convention will deliberate the state of affairs of the organization with particular focus on its progress, challenges and future. In addition to speaking at the General Assembly, the Union’s boss would be allowed to participate fully in all of the convention’s activities. Meanwhile, while in the USA, President Coffey is expected to meet with high profile Liberians and key institutions to abreast them about the prospects and challenges of the Liberian media in a bid to explore avenues for the development of the Liberian media, reports the Heritage newspaper.

Liberia To Host ECOWAS Chief Of Staff’s 37^th Ordinary Session

The Government of Liberia hosts the 37th Ordinary Session of Chiefs of Defense Staffs of the Economic Community of West African States or ECOWAS in Monrovia next week, the first in history. Briefing reporters Thursday, 31 August at the Ministry of Information, Cultural Affairs and Tourism on Capitol Hill, the Chief of Staff of the Armed Forces of Liberia, Major/ General G. Daniel Ziankahn, says the three-day session is slated for September 6 - 8, 2017 at the Boulevard Palace Hotel in Sinkor, Monrovia. He disclosed that a total of 15 Chiefs of Defense Staffs from the sub-region are expected to attend. General Ziankahn, who currently chairs the regional military bloc, says during the session, he will turn over the chairmanship to the Chief of Defense Staff of Togo. Togolese President Faure Gnassingbe, is the current chairperson of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS). He assumed the rotational post from President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf during the 51st ECOWAS Summit of Heads of State held for the first time in Liberia on June 4, 2017, according to the Heritage newspaper.

Related Caption: Liberia to host ECOWAS Chiefs of Staffs (New Dawn)

Ellen Cautions Presidential Candidates

President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf is cautioning the 20 presidential candidates that the job they are seeking is a hard one, suggesting that anyone emerging victorious at the polls on October 10th would need discipline to guide the level of free speech that her administration has tolerated over the years.  Though none of the presidential candidates attended the interactive forum between the President and citizens, as she did in other counties before campaign began here, she, however, cautioned that the president can’t do everything. While acknowledging that government could not finish all the work in the country in 12 years, Mrs. Sirleaf says she will leave the score card with the young people to decide, noting that the work will take some time. According to her, sometime the president just runs everything by telephone, by meeting or by letter because whatever the president wants to be done, somebody got to be on that road to implement it, reports the New Dawn newspaper.  

Ellen Wants IG, Deputies to Get 4-year Tenures 

President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf has submitted a bill to the Legislature calling for the Inspector General (IG) and deputies of the Liberia National Police (LNP) to have tenured positions for four years. The bill is titled, “An act to amend Chapter 22, Subsection 22.76 (a) of the LNP Act of 2015.” In a letter to the lawmakers on Tuesday, President Sirleaf urged them to tackle the gap in the current Police Act, which says that the IG serves at the will and pleasure of the President. “It falls short of how long he/she serves as IG, which may create vulnerability,” the President said in her letter. She indicated that the purpose of the bill is to close that gap and create job security and certainty in the planning, execution and performance at the highest level of policing in the country, reports the Daily Observer.  

Japanese Gov’t Reaffirms Commitment to Increase Liberia’s Rice Production 

The International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) project coordinator, Princetta Clinton Varmah, has confirmed the Japanese Government’s willingness to increase rice production in order to improve food security in the country. At the start of a three-day Community of Hope Agriculture Project (CHAP) and Japanese Rice Grant National Project Exchange and Review seminar in Monrovia, Madam Varmah called on local farmers to grow more rice to feed the country’s population. She said that every country depends on agriculture, and as such, it is important to take advantage of the opportunity provided by international partners in the agriculture sector. CHAP’s executive director, Robert Bimba, said the vision is to reduce hunger, thereby empowering local farmers particularly women to overcome the impact of the Ebola crisis that plagued the country in 2014 and 2015; increase food security; and maintain peace, writes the Daily Observer.

UNDP, NDI Train Agents of Political Parties

According to the Daily Observer, the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) and its partner, the National Elections Commission (NEC) in cooperation with the National Democratic Institute (NDI) recently commenced the training of 260 representatives of political parties on the role party agents can play in the October 10 elections. According to a press release, all 26 registered political parties were invited to send representatives to participate in the training. These individuals will in turn act on behalf of their political parties to train their members in areas such as electoral procedures, deployment plans, the roles and responsibilities of party agents, and the collection of field data. Party agents are a key part of elections providing transparency during voting and counting processes. They act as crucial links between party headquarters and field level polling places where they represent the interests of political parties.