The Bureau of Public Affairs

Ministry of Foreign Affairs

Monrovia, Liberia

DAILY NEWS SUMMARY FOR FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 2, 2018

News of President George Manneh Weah’s meeting with importers of rice in an effort to reduce the price of the nation’s staple food; the Deputy Minister-designate of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Elias Shoniyin’s clarity on misuse of the Japanese Grant in the amount of US$731,412 to build the institutional capacity of the ministry and the celebration of this year’s World Hijab Day by Muslim women in Monrovia are among stories dominating today’s edition of our summary of the local dailies.

The summary also highlights President Weah’s Proclamation declaring Friday, February 2, 2018 as World Wetlands Day.

DOMINANT STORIES

Rice Price To Drop

The New Dawn newspaper reads that President George Manneh Weah says it is intolerable that the price of a 25kg bag of rice continues to increase amidst acute hardship and mass unemployment here, voicing his readiness to work with importers in resolving all the issues that underpin the galloping price of rice. An Executive Mansion release said Mr. Weah met with the importers of rice on Thursday February 1, 2018 in an effort to ensure the price of the nation’s staple food is substantially reduced and made affordable for ordinary Liberians. “If government-imposed tax is an issue, you can rest assure that my government is more than ready to grant reasonable adjustments in the tax regime to make the reduction of rice price possible,” the President says. The President emphasizes that reduction in the prices of essential commodities is inextricably integral to his administration’s pro-poor governance agenda.

Related Captions: Rice Price To Be Reduces…As Pres. Weah, Importers Discuss (The INQUIRER), Weah Pushes For Rice Price Reduction (In Profile Daily)

Shoniyin Refutes Involvement In ‘Japanese Grant’ Scandal Deputy Minister-Designate Says His Hands Are Clean

The Deputy Minister-designate of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Elias Shoniyin, has reacted to media reports linking him to the much publicized misuse of the Japanese Grant in the amount of US$731,412, which was given to the Liberian Government in 2014 to build the institutional capacity of the Department of International Economic Cooperation and Integration (IECI) at the Ministry. Minister Shoniyin displayed letters, including recommendations from the Ministry of Justice, the Liberia Anti-Corruption Commission, and the General Auditing Commission, that exonerated him from any wrongdoing. He told journalists on Tuesday in Monrovia that the purpose of the project was to hire, retain and train professional staff with the necessary skills to increase the efficiency of the IECI department, and noted that 50 percent of the project’s goal was achieved. Shoniyin further disclosed that he was not in charge of managing the fund. The Deputy Minister-designate denied any involvement in the syndicate to dupe the Liberian government and noted that all of the probes that were conducted by both the GAC and the Ministry of Justice cleared him of any wrongdoing in the disbursement of the funds, reads the Daily Observer.

Related Captions: Elias Shoniyin Rubbishes Media Report On ‘Japanese Grants’ (The INQUIRER), Shoniyin Rubbishes Japanese Grants (In Profile Daily)

Muslim Women Celebrate World Hijab Day

Thousands of Muslim women Thursday paraded the principal streets of Monrovia in celebration of this year’s World Hijab Day (WHD). February 1, 2013 marked the first annual WHD celebration in recognition of millions of Muslim women who choose to wear the hijab and live a modest life. According to the Daily Observer, the brainchild of this movement is New York resident Nazma Khan, who formulated the idea as a means to foster religious tolerance and understanding by inviting women, inclusive of non-Hijabi Muslims, to experience the use of the hijab for one day. Sheikh Issa Issa, the program’s keynote speaker, warned the women against misusing the hijab in a non-Islamic fashion that would undermine its essence. According to the Sheikh, the hijab is one of the good moral virtues that Islam portrays to the world; it also protects Islamic women and girls as good and God fearing people in the sight of others. For the Muslim, the hijab is not a symbol of oppression and segregation, but one that opens up new pathways to understanding.

Related Captions: Muslims Women Celebrate Hijab Day (INSIGHT), Muslims Women Celebrate World Hijab Day (In Profile Daily)

PUL Condemns Hostilities Against Journalists…Regrets Death Of Journalist J. Varney Kamara

According to the INQUIRER daily, the Press Union of Liberia has strongly condemned, and is considering all options to address the cruel violence carried out against Legislative Reporters on Wednesday, January 31, 2018 on the ground of the Capitol. The journalists had converged on the Senate Chamber to cover the confirmation hearing of Justice Minister – designate Charles H. Gibson. In a statement issued in Monrovia today, the Union said the flogging of the frontline reporters is shameful, unnationalistic and one especially aimed at undercutting the country’s gains in free expression and journalists’ protection.

Related Captions: PUL Decries Brutality Against Journalists (INSIGHT), LEGISPOL Imposes Blockade On Senate (The New Dawn), PUL Condemns Hostilities Against Journalists (In Profile Daily)

FeJAL Congratulates Journalists Estella And Tete

The Female Journalists Association of Liberia (FeJAL) congratulates two of its staunch members for their appointments in leadership positions at the State-owned Liberia Broadcasting System. The commendation was made during a visit to the station. A press release says FeJAL’s visit on Thursday was to profoundly express the membership’s gratitude to Journalists Estelle Liberty Kermu and Tetee Gebro for their preferment as Deputy Director General for Administration and Deputy Director for Media Services and Broadcasting, respectively. The two newly appointed officials were admonished to live up to the confidence reposed in them to prove their professionalism to a wider space in public service. Speaking during the visit, the president of FeJAL Siatta Scott-Johnson says the Association is convinced that the initial appointments of female journalists and other females in the Weah-led government is a clear indication that the President has women's empowerment at the core of his development plan, the New Dawn newspaper reports.

Related Captions: FeJAL Pays Visit To LBS…Applauds Appointed Members (INSIGHT), LIBAWU Embraces Appointments At LBS (In Profile Daily)

OTHER STORIES

Weah Declares Friday Wetlands Day

The New Dawn newspaper reports that President George Manneh Weah has by Proclamation declared Friday, February 2, 2018 World Wetlands Day, and is to be observed throughout the Republic as a Working Holiday. The Proclamation calls on citizens and foreign residents within the territorial confines of Liberia to join the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), to organize and execute appropriate programs that would make the event meaningful towards the sustainable management of wetlands and water bodies. According to a Foreign Ministry release, the celebration of the event is intended to focus worldwide attention on the importance of wetlands, their values and benefits in general, and the Ramsar Convention in particular, so as to stimulate political attention and action to empower people to become active agents of sustainable and equitable development. This year’s observance is being held under the global theme: “Wetlands for A Sustainable Urban Future” and under the national theme: “Save the Wetlands, Save Our Future.” The Proclamation says the observance is intended to raise awareness and highlight the vital roles of healthy wetlands in reducing the impacts of extreme vents such as flood, drought and cyclones on the communities and to help build resilience to such conditions.

ECONEC Launches Study On Cost Of Elections In West Africa

The ECOWAS Network of Electoral Commissions (ECONEC) in Abuja on Thursday, Feb. 1, launched a regional study on the cost of elections as part of its initiative to encourage the reduction of electoral expenses in West Africa, a press release said yesterday. Mr. Adele Jinadu, a professor of political science and a former Commissioner of Nigeria’s Electoral Commission, is the lead consultant of the three-member expert team that will conduct the study in the three language zones (English, French, and Portuguese) of ECOWAS. The two other consultants are Francis Laleye from Benin and Jose Sanches from Cape Verde. “Elections are not only very expensive to run, but have also become a source of avoidable political conflicts in our region, so ECONEC is taking steps to address these challenges in a proactive manner,” Prof Mahmood Yakubu, president of ECONEC governing board and chair of the Independent National Electoral Commission of Nigeria (INEC), said recently. The findings of the study are expected to be presented at a Conference of Electoral Management Bodies (EMBs) from Western and Southern Africa that will take place in Abuja in April 2018, asserts the Daily Observer.

Related Caption: ECONEC Launches Study On Cost Of Elections In WEST AFRICA (INSIGHT)

Morlu Takes Over CDC

President George Manneh Weah in consultation with the leadership and the governance council of the Coalition for Democratic Change (CDC) has appointed the party's Vice Chairman for Operations Mr. Mulbah Morlu as National Chairman, pending the holding of convention. Mr. Morlu is now automatically the Chairman of the Congress for Democratic Change, and also ascends to the Chairmanship of the ruling Coalition for Democratic Change, a coalition ticket of three parties that brought Weah to the presidency following the 26 December 2017 runoff poll.

Mr. Morlu replaces former CDC Chairman Nathaniel McGill, who is currently President Weah's Minister of State for Presidential Affairs, according to the New Dawn newspaper.

Related Caption: Morlu Heads Ruling CDC (INSIGHT)

Police Arrest Woman For Burning Child

According to the New Dawn newspaper, Police in Pleebo Sodoken Statutory District, Maryland County have arrested a 25-year-old woman, Patience Doplah, for allegedly burning a girl about the age of seven. The defendant is aunt of the victim, only identified as Armah. The victim narrates that she ate her aunt’s cold rice or kept food due to hunger, which was termed as theft. With tears in her eyes little Armah continues that her aunt placed her hands and feet in the fire for eating the rice. The minor, presently at the Pleebo Health Center in Maryland, seeking medication, suffers serious burns on two of her left hand fingers that risk being amputated.  The daily also reports under the caption “Gender Condemns Child Abuse” that the Ministry of Gender, Children and Social Protection (MoGCSP) has termed the act as inhumane and cruel against an innocent child that could lead to deformity. A release issued by the Ministry quotes the Officer in Charge Benson Garkpah Whea as saying, that the abuse committed by one Patience Doblah, a reported family member, violates the Domestic Violence Law of Liberia and possesses an upright affront to existing international Human Rights instruments on the protection of children.

PUL Regrets Journalist Varney Kamara’s Demise…Opens Book Of Condolence On February 8

The Press Union of Liberia (PUL) regrets the death of Journalist J. Varney Kamara, Jr. Journalist Kamara died on January 25, 2018, after a period of illness. He was thirty six years (36) old. He formerly worked at Radio Cape Mount in Sinje, Fabric FM, Prime FM and Okay FM, reports the INSIGHT newspaper,

IGORCADIA Project Kicks Off In Liberia

Ever since the Liberia Medicines and Heath Products Regulatory Authority (LMHRA) began actively regulating clinical trials in the country, it has had the challenge of starting from scratch to develop a framework and guidelines for the conduct of clinical trials. A particularly challenging issue is the development of a framework that incorporates the registration licensing, use and quality control of diagnostics for infectious diseases, as well as the use and quality control of diagnostics in the frame of clinical research, reports the INQUIRER newspaper.

Related Caption: FeJAL Congratulates Colleagues For Preferment (The INQUIRER)

MLS Student Abroad Scholarship Program Launched In Liberia

According INSIGHT newspaper, the young Liberian, Mohammed Lassan Sanoe, has launched a scholarship drive which seeks to connect Liberians and other Africans to universities in China. The Scholarship drive which seeks to connect Liberians and other Africans to Universities in China. The scholarship program sytled: “Mohammed Lassana Sanoe (MSL) study Abroad” was launched on Wednesday at the YMCA in Monrovia.