THE BUREAU OF PUBLIC AFFAIRS

Ministry of Foreign Affairs

Monrovia, Liberia  

NEWS SUMMARY FOR MONDAY, AUGUST 16, 2016. 

Today’s edition of the Summary highlights news of the United States Government’s reaffirmation of its support to Liberia, including President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf’s congratulatory messages to the Governments and peoples of the Republics of India and Congo on the occasion commemorating their 71st and 56^th Independence Anniversaries

DOMINANT STORIES  

US Reaffirms Support To Liberia  

United States Senator Edward Markey of Massachusetts has reaffirmed the commitment of the United States to helping Liberia consolidate its democratic gains and rebuild its infrastructure and health care system. Senator Markey spoke in Monrovia last Friday at the end of a three-day visit to Liberia by a United States Congressional Delegation. The delegation which included Representatives Karen Bass of California and Carolyn Maloney of New York, held discussions with Presidents Sirleaf and Liberian government officials on a range of issues, including U.S. bilateral development assistance to Liberia and security cooperation between the two countries.  In addition to Liberia, the delegation is making stops in Cape Verde, Senegal, and Nigeria to assess United States diplomatic, defense and development activities in the West African Sub-Region, reports the New DEMOCRAT newspaper.

Related Caption: U.S. Remains Committed To Supporting Liberia’s Rebuilding Efforts…Says Senator Markey(Heritage), U.S. Renews Commitment To Helping Liberia(The INQUIRER)

President Sirleaf Consoles Pakistan…Following a Suicide Bomb Attack

The In Profile Daily reports that President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf has sent a message of condolence to the Government and people of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan following the death of 70 people in a suicide bomb attack on Monday, August 8, 2016. The suicide bomb attack killed at least 70 people at a hospital in Quetta in south-west Pakistan, with about 120 others sustaining injury in the blast which happened at the entrance to the emergency department where the body of a prominent lawyer that was shot dead earlier on Monday was being taken. According to a Foreign Ministry release, in her message to His Excellency Mr. Mamnoon Hussain, President of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, the Liberian President extended heartfelt condolences to the Government and people of the Islamic Republic Pakistan, especially the families of the victims on behalf of the Government and people of Liberia and in her own name.

Related Caption: Ellen Consoles Pakistan On Suicide Bomb Attack(The INQUIRER)

Ellen Salutes India, Congo

Quoting a Foreign Ministry release, the In Profile Daily reports that President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf has sent a message of congratulations to the Government and people of the Republic of India on the occasion commemorating the 71st Independence Anniversary. On August 15, 1947, Jawaharlal Nehru, who had become the first Prime Minister of India that day, raised the Indian national flag above the Lahori Gate of the Red Fort in Delhi.  According to the release, in the message to her Indian counterpart, H.E. Mr. Pranab Mukherjee, the Liberian President looked forward to strengthening the excellent ongoing bilateral cooperation between the two countries for the mutual benefits of our two peoples as we work together in furtherance of peace, security and economic integration. In a related development, President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf has sent a message of congratulations to the Government and people of the Republic of Congo on the occasion marking their 56^thIndependence Anniversary. August 15 is celebrated annually by the Republic of Congo in commemoration of the day it gained its independence from France in 1960. In her message to His Excellency Mr. Denis Sassou Nguesso, President of the Republic of Congo, President Sirleaf, on behalf of the Government and people of Liberia and in her own name, prayed that the Almighty God will endow Your Excellency with abundant wisdom and strength to lead your compatriots to greater prosperity.

Related Caption: Ellen Hails India, Congo On Anniversaries(Heritage)

Pres. Sirleaf Honors Outgoing German Ambassador; Admits Him into the Order of African Redemption with the Grade of Knight Grand Commander

President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf has admitted the outgoing Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Federal Republic of Germany, H. E. Ralph Andrew Timmermann, into the Order of African Redemption with the Grade of Knight Grand Commander at a special ceremony held at the Foreign Ministry.  According to an Executive Mansion release, the special ceremony took place in the Cabinet Room on Monday, August 15, and presided over by the President as Grand Master of the Orders of Distinction. “Mr. Ambassador, we can’t let you leave without saying thank you; Your services to our country has been exceptional” President Sirleaf noted.  In brief remarks prior to the conferral of honor, President Sirleaf said the contribution of the Germany government in the Mount Coffee hydro Power Plant rehabilitation has been beyond what was initially agreed upon in helping to acquire the turbines, extending to the fifth one, which has now given added value to completing rehabilitation of the plant.  The Liberia leader said she was proud that some of the bilateral meetings that she has held with the German Chancellor, Angela Mikel have yielded fruitful results to Liberia through the instrumentality of the outgoing Ambassador Timmermann. In response, outgoing Ambassador Timmermann said he was very proud to be a recipient of the honor and praised the Liberian people and President Sirleaf, who he said he was proud of during his three years of tour of duty. He said during his three years of stay in Liberia, he came to the realization that Liberia has been a great country in the West African Sub-region, asserts the ANALYST newspaper.

Related Caption: Ellen Honors Outgoing German Ambassador…Admits Him Into The Order Of African Redemption(Heritage)

IREED Ends Convention On Ebola Status

A one-day National Convention on the status of the Post-Ebola Recovery Plan has ended in Monrovia with several government institutions presenting papers. The National Convention on the status of the Post-Ebola Recovery Plan has ended in Monrovia with several government institutions presenting papers. The National Convention on the status of the Post-Ebola Plan is intended to support efforts for concerted approach coordination and information sharing on the status of the Post-Ebola Recovery Plan to Civil Society Organizations and communities and to strengthen the role of the CSOs in the Post-Ebola Recovery Plan Implementation. The National Convention brought together representatives from the Ministry of Health & Social Welfare that presented on where they are with the Post-Ebola Recovery Plan; the Ministry of Education, Ministry of Justice, the Ministry of Agriculture and discussion on an independent assessment of the post Ebola Recovery Plan, reports the INQUIRER newspaper.

Related Caption: IREDD Concludes National Convening Dialogue on Post-Ebola(FrontPage Africa)

Free UL Enrollment For 10 Successful WAEC Candidates

According to the Daily Observer, the administration of the University of Liberia (UL) has decided to admit free-of-charge 10 successful candidates, who are in Division II in this year’s West African Examination. The candidates will accordingly enroll at the state-run university for a semester. UL Dean of student Affairs, Dr. Julius S. Nelson made the disclosure on August 12 on the UL Fendell campus during an innovation program organized by EHELD. Dean Nelson said the successful candidates will enter the university without writing the UL placement and entrance examination and that their dormitory fees will be settled for a semester by the UL Administration. If the students choose to sit the UL entrance, they may just be testing their intellectual abilities, but they will be admitted free of charge and their dormitory fees settled by the UL for one semester,” Nelson assured. He said the UL Administration took the decision to motivate students to prove their intellectual abilities in academic work and to discourage mass failures that are occurring in the school system.

Former Senior Police Officer Charged With Attempted Murder; After Shooting Incident

The Liberia National Police has arrested, investigated, charged and forwarded a former senior Police officer identified as Samuel T. Nimely to the Paynesville Magisterial Court with multiple charges ranging from criminal attempt to commit murder and aggravated assault respectively. According to a LNP statement, suspect Nimely on August 11, 2016 went to the Zone-8 Police Station and made a complaint of an alleged burglary at his house by some unknown criminals and requested assistance of uniformed Police officers to proceed with him to an area in the Thinkers Village community where he claimed to be criminals’ hideout. The release noted that upon the arrival of defendant Nimely and uniformed Police officers at the alleged criminals’ hideout, some men began to flee from a dilapidated building believed to be a ghetto, while the Police officers were in pursuit of them, defendant Nimely discharged a firearm in the process that wounded an armless victim identified as Emmanuel Kieh on his back, left arm and on his left leg who did not pose any threat and was escaping from the scene. Meanwhile, the victim is currently at the JKF medical Hospital undergoing treatment, The Police however described the act by defendant Nimely as a violation of chapter 10 sections 10.1 and chapter 14 sections 14.20 of the penal code of the Republic of Liberia and has been forwarded to the Paynesville Magisterial Court for prosecution, according to the FrontPage Africa newspaper.

Related Caption:  Former Senior Police Officer Charged For Murder, Others(The INQUIRER)

Resumes Rail Operation

After nearly two weeks of non-service due to the derailment of several wagons from the ArcelorMittal locomotive, normal operations have resumed on the railroad linking Yekepa and Buchanan. According to ArcelorMittal’s Communication Manager, Ms. Hesta Baker Pearson, the rail line was opened on August 9, after the completion of repair work. She said the first train of empty wagons traveled to Tokadeh in Yekepa, early morning Thursday of August 10, without any problem and returned to Buchanan with 120 wagons loaded with iron ore. The Daily Observer recalled that on Tuesday, August 2, a train belonging ArcelorMittal derailed on the Bong County side, about three kilometers from the boundary with Nimba County, near Lamco Camp, in Bong County, and about 165 kilometers from Buchanan.

Mrs. Gillian Moore Dies; Educator, Widow of Cultural and Literary Legend Bai T. Moore

Madam Gillian Lorba Tulay Moore, a prominent Liberian educator and widow of Liberia’s celebrated cultural icon, Bai T. Moore, died at 11:25 p.m. last Thursday, August 11 at the St. Joseph’s Catholic Hospital as a result of heart failure. A family member told the Daily Observer that Mrs. Moore, 77, broke her hip some time ago at her residence. On Tuesday, August 9, her illness became serious and she was rushed to the St. Joseph’s Catholic Hospital, where doctors and nurses that attended to her diagnosed her condition as heart failure. The doctors initially assisted Mrs. Moore with lifesaving support, but were unable to prevent her ultimate demise, after which her body was taken to the Samuel Stryker Funeral Home on Tubman Boulevard in Sinkor. Family sources disclosed that her body will be removed from the Samuel Stryker Funeral Home on September 9, and taken to the St. Thomas Episcopal Church on Camp Johnson Road for a night of wake-keeping; the funeral will then be held the following morning at the Sacred Heart Cathedral on Broad Street. She will be buried alongside her late husband, Bai T. Moore in Dimeh Town on the Monrovia-Bomi highway on September 10. Mrs. Tulay Moore was wedded to Bai T. Moore on January 28, 1968, at the St. Thomas Episcopal Church on Camp Johnson Road, Monrovia.

2 Arrested For Academic Fraud

University of Liberia (UL) Police on Saturday, August 13, 2016 arrested two persons on the main campus of the UL for academic fraud. According to the Police director, Mr. Joe Dennis, the two persons namely:  Rashill Johnson, 23, and Hassan Rogers 24, were arrested after they were caught cheating before and during the administering of the UL 2016 placement and Entrance Examination. In an exclusive interview with Heritage over the weekend, Director Dennis disclosed that Rashill was arrested during the inspection of each candidate before the start of the test at which time it was discovered that he Rashill had gone to sit the test for a female Candidate whose photo was attached to the UL BIO-data form bearing the registration name Rashill Johnson. For Hassan, the UL Police Chief explain, was caught cheating at the window of one of the entrance rooms by an official of the UL, while he (Hassan) was showing a candidate the right answers to shade on the test paper.

 80 Trained In Science Technology

The New DEMOCRAT newspaper says at least 40 students have completed a two weeks’ summer training in science, technology and engineering courses with new teaching methods and techniques in those disciplines, including agriculture, under the United States Agency for International (USAID) sponsorship program facilitated by the Michigan University.  

 The Day of Being Member By Correspondence is Over 

According to the Heritage newspaper, the President for the Ducor Lions Club for Lionistic Year 2016/17, Mr. Richard Hne Walker, I, has assured his fellow Lions that he will work collectively as a member of the Ducor Team to ensure that the prestigious body’s objectives are met. “We shall continue the path of collaboration and information sharing with the local body, the District and OAK BROOK, International Headquarters. We shall endeavor to be debt-free beginning with payment of our assessment of the Charity Ball. We shall meet our obligations to our District and Oak Brook. We shall rekindle the closeness in ties amongst our members by having congenial social gatherings,” Mr. Walker further assured his fellow Lions amid tremendous applause from the audience.

Related Caption: Lions’ Club Inducts Corp Of Officers(The INQUIRER)

Journalist Kpor Gbain To Be Buried Sat

According to the INQUIRER, a prolific and veteran television journalist-turned publisher, Mr. Kpor Gbain, Sr., is dead. According to family sources, the late Kpor Gbain passed on Tuesday, August 2, 2016 following a brief illness at a local health center Monrovia. Family members who have been holding series of meetings since the demise of journalist Gbain, Publisher of the Post Newspaper, to give him a befitting burial said, the fallen journalist remains is expected to be interred later this Saturday, August 20, 2016 at the Gbengba Town along the Robertsfield Highway outside Monrovia.