The Bureau of Public Affairs

Ministry of Foreign Affairs

Monrovia, Liberia

NEWS SUMMARY FOR WEDNESDAY, JUNE 4, 2014

The Plenary of the House of Representatives official receipt of the Draft Budget from the office of the President, Liberia’s Ambassador to the United Kingdom Letter of Credence presentation to Queen Elizabeth II and the arrival of foreign teachers at the Universities of Liberia and Cuttington are all dominant stories in our selected local news dailies for today, Wednesday, June 4, 2014. 

DOMINANT STORIES

2014/2015 Budget Finally Lands At Capitol

The INSIGHT newspaper reports that at long last the Plenary of the House of Representatives has officially received the Draft Budget from the office of the President with tax, non-tax and Budget support grants amounting to US$ 559,349,000. Additionally, the President informed the Honorable House of Representatives that the donor assistance amounts to US$650,058,000. With combined revenue and donor assistance, the Budget is in the tone of approximately 1.2 Billion United States Dollars. USAID, WHO, UNFPA, NIGERIA FUND, UN PEACE BUILDING FUND, AFRICAN DEVELOPMENT BANK, UNICEF, EU, IDA, KUWAIT European development bank are among institutions contributing to the core and contingency components of the Budget.In response to the Legislature’s request for Direct District Development Funds, the Liberian Leader advanced US$18. 25 million primarily for the construction of security and social infrastructures in the districts. According to Pres. Sirleaf, this will accelerate economic activities in the districts and alleviate the difficulties in attracting skilled professionals for assignments away from Monrovia. The Draft National Budget represents the third year of implementation Liberia’s first medium term Expenditure Framework. The submission of the Budget with the Revenue Template, Performance report , framework papers now fulfills section 12 Public Financial Management Law, which Plenary recently asked the Executive Branch to adhere to.

Related Captions:Executive Submits Budget In Full(The News),House Finally Receives Draft Budget(FOCUS),Budget resubmitted(The New Dawn), President Sirleaf Proposes US$ 18.25M for District (The Inquirer), Ellen Endorses US$ 18M for District Development(Daily Observer)

Liberian Envoy Presents LettersTo The Queen

Her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth II has received the Letters of Credence accrediting Ambassador Rudolf von Ballmoos as Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Republic of Liberia to the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland by President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf. The ceremony was held on Tuesday, 3 June 2014 at Buckingham Palace, the official domicile of the Royal Family. Speaking at the post presentation reception hosted at the Liberian Embassy in London, Ambassador von Ballmoos expressed heartfelt thanks and appreciation to the British Government through Her Majesty, the Queen for the enormous support provided to Liberia over the years. The Ambassador exerted that his preoccupation will be to encourage more British Investment firms to take advantage of the conducive investment climate in Liberia. Also making remarks on behalf of Her Majesty The Queen, the Marshal of the Diplomatic Corps, His Excellency Alistair Harrison extolled the long and cordial ties subsisting between Liberia and the United Kingdom. He said "we admire Liberia at various levels and for the shared determination in the fight to eradicate poverty, improve the quality of education and provide accessible and affordable health care for all your citizens", reports the News newspaper.

Related Caption: Von Ballmoos Presents Letters Of Credence to Queen Elizabeth, II (In Profile Daily)

USAID-EHELD Program Boosts Staff

The USAID-EHELD project has contracted several foreign faculties to teach at the Universities of Liberia and Cuttington in the new adopted educational curriculum developed by both Universities in collaboration with the USAID-EHELD project in the areas of Agriculture and Engineering. The Chief of Party of the program, Yarkpazuo Kolva, said besides the Engineering and Agriculture programs, the project is also sending some of the beneficiaries for advanced training abroad. Speaking at a brief opening ceremony of a new Research Triangle Institute’s office facilities on the Old Road, Mr. Kolva said the project will soon be joined by three beneficiaries of the EHELD program, who recently completed advanced studies abroad to form part of the faculty. He said under the program, it is mandatory that those studying abroad return and join hands with the present EHELD faculty to strengthen the activities of the project in Liberia. The USAID-EHELD project is in its third year phase of a five-year USAID funded higher education project for Liberians pursuing studies in the fields of Agriculture and Engineering both at Cuttington University and the University of Liberia, the New Dawn reports.

Related Captions: USAID-EHELD Stresses Gender Sensitivity (In Profile Daily), Foreign Teachers Arrive For UL, Cuttigton(New Democrat)

GC, UL, Commerce Ministry Hold Romeo Horton Lecture Series

The Governance Commission, in collaboration with the University of Liberia and the Ministry of Commerce and Industry, is holding a three-day Romeo Horton Lecture Series under the theme “A Bold Approach to National Participation: Setting the Political and Economic Agenda”. The aim of the Lecture Series, to be held at the Monrovia City Hall on 25, 26 & 27 June, 2014, is to bring together all stakeholders to discuss and recommend policy options to be included on the national economic agenda that will subsequently lead to the enactment of legislation from ultimately addressing the issue of economic empowerment and the development of Liberians in business, reports the In Profile Daily.

Related Captions: GC, UL Hold Romeo Horton Lecture Series (FOCUS), GC, Others Hold Romeo Horton Lecture Series (Heritage)

Ecowas Invites U.N. Security Council’s Role…..In Mali

The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) has invited the U.N. Security Council to help enhance the mandate and strength of the peacekeeping mission in Mali to carry out its mission in applying the Ouagadougou Agreement. ECOWAS said the invitation was necessary to help Mali effectively regain sovereignty throughout its territory, including Kidal. TheNews newspaper quotes the Liberia News Agency as saying that the invitation was contained in the Final Communiqué of the Extraordinary Session of the ECOWAS Heads of State and Governments held on May 30, 2014 in Accra, Ghana. ECOWAS reaffirmed its commitment to preserve the unity, integrity and sovereignty of Mali and demanded the immediate withdrawal of non-state armed groups from public buildings and occupied areas, and return to their pre-17 May positions. The Heads of State welcomed the initiatives of the United Nations and African Union Chairman, Mouhamed Ould Abdel Aziz, President of Mauritania, for facilitating the signing of a ceasefire agreement between the Government and the non-state armed groups in Northern Mali on 23 May 2014. They urged all the stakeholders to strictly adhere to the sacrosanct nature of the ceasefire agreement and ensure its application, whilst the Malian Government with support from the International Community is to find a political solution to the issues at stake.

Related Caption: ECOWAS Invites UNSC’s Role in Mali (In Profile Daily)

GSA Impounds 2 Gov’t. Vehicles For ‘Abuse’

According to the In Profile Daily, the General Services Agency (GSA) has impounded two Government vehicles assigned to the Ministries of Youth and Sports and Health and Social Welfare for alleged abuse. GSA Director General Mary T. Broh, in an interview with reporters Monday, said a Pickup Truck with license plate #RL790, and belonging to Ministry of Youth and Sports, was seen loaded with bags of coal on the Bomi – Monrovia highway at the weekend. Madam Broh also said a Land Rover Jeep with GSA label 128 assigned to Health and Social Welfare Ministry was loaded with planks that were being transported from an unidentified location to Benson Street in Monrovia when intercepted. The GSA Boss said, the two vehicles are currently impounded in the GSA compound, and vowed that they will not be released until concrete reasons are given why these Government vehicles were abused.

Related Captions: GOL Vehicles Impounded For ‘Misuse’ (The News), GSA Impounds 2 Govt. Vehicles for Abuse (INSIGHT), GSA Impounds 2 Govt. Vehicles for Abuse (Heritage), GSA Impounds Govt. Vehicles for “Abuse” (National Chronicle),GSA Impounds Govt. Vehicles (New Democrat)

Liberia - Côte D'ivoire Form Wildlife Transboundary Partnership

The Second Steering Committee Meeting for the management and conservation of the Tai-Grebo-Sapo Forest Complex between Liberia and Ivory Coast was on Tuesday held in Monrovia. The FrontPage Africa daily reports that the gathering was first held in Abidjan in 2013. The Tai-Grebo-Sapo Forest Complex consists of Sapo National Park, Grebo National Forest and several large forest concessions in Liberia and in Ivory Coast and it consists of the Tai National Park and three adjacent classified forests (Cavally,Goin-Debe and Haute-Dodo). According to the Wild Chimpanzee Foundation (WCF) said, the forest is home to various endemic and endangered Western Columbus monkeys, the pygmy hippopotamus, various exotic species such as the red Liberian mongoose. The focal members from Liberia are the Forestry Development Authority (FDA) and Fauna and Flora International, while focal members from the Ivory Coast are the Office Ivoirien des Parcs et Reserves and the Societe de Development des Forets as well as the  Wild Chimpanzee Foundation.

Related Caption: Wild Animals in Danger(New Democrat)

WAJA Launches Three Year Gender Sensitive Reporting Project

The West African Journalists Association (WAJA) will July 2, launch ‘Women Reporting Women’, a three year gender sensitive reporting project which kicks off with a two week pilot phase training of trainers program for women journalists from The Gambia, Ghana, Liberia, Nigeria and Sierra Leone. According to the FOCUS daily, the three year ‘Women Reporting Women’ project which ends in December 2016 will target 32 journalists, mainly women to be trained as trainers on gender sensitive reporting and a further four hundred and eighty (480) journalists to be trained in the fifteen ECOWAS member states and Mauritania. The pilot program which holds in Bamako, Mali from July 2-13, 2014 will bring together 10 participants from The Gambia, Ghana, Liberia, Nigeria and Sierra Leone. WAJA, through its Capacity Building Project in Bamako, Mali runs an initiative aimed at enhancing the capacities of journalists in West Africa by providing in-depth knowledge and skills on thematic areas such as poverty, democratic governance, investigative journalism, security of journalists and human rights reporting.

Related Captions: WAJA Launches Three Year Gender Sensitive Reporting Project(The Inquirer), WAJA Launches Three Year Gender Sensitive Reporting Project(The New Republic), WAJA Launches Three Year Gender Sensitive Reporting Project(National Chronicle)

Senate To Probe LEC

The New Dawn newspaper reports that the Liberian senate committee on Land, Mines and Energy has been mandated by plenary to investigate the Liberia Electricity Corporation (LEC) for cutting power in the Borough of New Kru Town for alleged power theft by residents. In a letter to Plenary, Montserrado County Senator Geraldine Doe Sherif asked the Senate to summon the Managing Director of the LEC to state reasons for cutting off the entire borough.In a recent press release, the management of the LEC noted that some unscrupulous elements were bent on stealing electricity tampering with the meters or climbing light poles at night to steal or sell power.Management said the practice has contributed to damages of its transformers and other facilities, including frequent power outages being experienced mainly in Monrovia and its environs. The LEC's appeal came a day after a man, believed to be in his 20s, was electrocuted on a light pole in New Kru town, while attempting  to steal power early Sunday, June 1, 2014.The LEC has renewed appeal to government to enact legislation that will protect public utilities, especially electricity.

Related Captions: Sen. Sheriff Writes Senate On New Kru Shut Down By LEC (INSIGHT), Sen. Doe-Sheriff Pleads for New Kru Town(The New Republic)

NOVAFONE LD$1 Million Campaign…Gets 1st Winner

According to the News newspaper, a used mobile phone dealer on Carey Street in Monrovia has become the first of three lucky subscribers to win NOVAFONE’s LD$1 million campaign. Edwin A. Kromah won LD$333,333.33 in the NOVAFONE Liberia first raffle draw held Monday at the company’s headquarters in Oldest Congo Town. The campaign, according to the Company’s Customer Service Manager, Angel Wazim is intended to empower its subscribers. Madam Wazim said the company seeks to ensure that its subscribers get the best and cheapest, but are also empowered financially to contribute to the country’s development drive. For his part, the winner, Edwin Kromah said the win came as a surprise to him. He said as a used mobile phone dealer, he will ensure that the money is used for the improvement of his business.

Related Captions: NOVAFONE Transform 'Yarna' Boy's Life(INSIGHT), NOVAFONE EndsLD$1 M Campaign(FOCUS), NOVAFONE Transform 'Yarna' Boy's Life–Holds First Draw in ‘Win One Million Dollar Campaign(The New Republic)

Ellen Declares World Environmental Day

President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf has issued a proclamation declaring Thursday, June 5, 2014 as World Environmental Day and Biodiversity Day to be observedthroughout Liberia as a working Holiday. The proclamation calls on all citizens and foreign residents within the territorial confines of Liberia to join the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to execute appropriate programs befitting the occasion. Quoting a Foreign Ministry release, the News newspaper said the official celebration of the World Environmental Day in conjunction with World Biodiversity Day will take place on June 5, 2014 in Buchanan, Grad Bassa County.