The Bureau of Public Affairs

Ministry of Foreign Affairs

Monrovia, Liberia

NEWS SUMMARY FOR MONDAY, JULY 31, 2017

Today’s edition of our summary of the local dailies is dominated by the National Elections Commission’s announcement of official campaign beginning today, July 31. NEC also disclosed the number of female and male candidates who are set to take part in the elections.

Campaign Begins Today As One Female, 19 Males Set For Presidential Race

The National Elections Commission (NEC) has officially declared campaign opened today. Speaking at a press conference over the weekend, the Chairman of the National Elections Commission, Cllr. Jerome G. Korkoya said in keeping with the timeline for 2017 elections, political campaign will begin on Monday, July 31, 2017 at 12:00 am. And the campaign will close on Sunday, October 8, 2017 at 11:59 p.m. “We admonish all political parties and their leaders to conduct their campaigns in peaceful manner. In an effort to avoid clashes during the campaign season, the NEC and LNP have asked all political parties and independent candidates to submit their campaign schedule to the commission,” he said. According to him, in order for parties to account for funds received and expended on their campaigns, the Commission, with the assistance from the United States Agency for International Development through IFES has organized series of campaign finance trainings to enable political parties and candidates report accurately and on time, the INQUIRER newspaper writes.

Related Captions: 1,028 Candidates to Partake in Liberia’s Elections in October (FrontPage Africa), Elections Campaigns Officially Begin Today (Daily Observer)

LIBTELCO Working With Google, C-Squared To Improve Liberia’s Internet Connectivity

The Managing Director of the Liberia Telecommunications Corporation (LIBTELCO), Dr. Darren Wilkins, has said that LIBTELCO has a strategy to work with Google/C-Squared to deliver Internet services to Government and the people of Liberia. Dr. Wilkins said that as the National Operator, LIBTELCO has a mandate as enshrined in the Telecommunications Act of 2007 and the National Telecommunications and ICT policy, to provide ICT services to Government and the people of Liberia. Dr. Wilkins indicated that LIBTELCO will provide other services to Government from the national data center which is currently under construction. According Dr. Wilkins, “LIBTELCO will provide full ICT services to the GoL. We are now building our National Data Center which will host GoL data and applications and provide other services as needed, asserts the FrontPage Africa newspaper.

China To Strengthen Military Friendship With Liberia

The FrontPage Africa newspaper also reads that the Defense Attaché to the Chinese Embassy in Liberia, Senior Colonel Zhang Gan, says the China-Liberia military relations has been growing in recent years and his country will continue to strengthen the friendship in taking the Armed Forces of Liberia (AFL) to a higher level. Col. Zhang recalls that the National Defense of China has been providing AFL with some necessary assistance such as training, personnel engineering technique training and logistic support.  "We will try to help AFL with its overall development by providing more support and assistance, we will continue to expand cooperation areas, innovative cooperation modalities and deepen cooperative level in order to elevate the bilateral military relationship to a higher level,” he assured.

RELATED CAPTION: GoL Extols China for Assistance to AFL (The Inquirer)

LRA, African Tax Collectors Exchange Ideas on Tax Administration

According to the Daily Observer, the Liberia Revenue Authority (LRA) is hosting 26 African countries under the African Tax Administration Forum (ATAF) for a three-day knowledge sharing workshop in Monrovia with the aim of ensuring country focal points/data collectors have common understanding of African Tax Outlook collection process. African Tax Outlook is a statistical data gathering on tax administration on the African Continent which allows tax administrators to converge and compare data in order to learn from each other. LRA Commissioner General, Elfrieda Steward-Tamba said as of this third edition of ATO, 26 countries are participating following the first and second editions. This, she said, is very important in tax administration because it provides information that government and tax authorities can rely on to make an informed decision. “This is especially good for public officials because for you to make a better decision, you must be informed, and the information needs to be supported by sound statistics,” Mrs. Tamba said. Madam Tamba said they at LRA have begun using statistics that came as a result of the ATO.  She said comparing statistics of other countries with that of Liberia helps them to set a standard that helps to boost revenue generation.

President Johnson-Sirleaf Attends Children’s Socialization Day Party

The FrontPage Africa newspaper says President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf on Thursday, July 27, 2017 joined hundreds of Liberian children from the suburbs of Monrovia and parts adjacent for an Independence and Socialization Day Party organized by the Ministry of Gender, Children and Social Protection. The socialization party brought together children ranging from age of 3 to 17 years. According to an Executive Mansion release, during the event at the Antoinette Tubman Stadium (ATS), the Liberian leader told the young children that it was important for all Liberians to feel a part of the independence celebration at all levels. Series of activities simultaneously took place in Brewerville and Paynesville cities respectively.

China-aided Program Teach Liberians Basic Chinese

Nearly 200 Liberians, including recruits and non-recruits for the sixth training cycle of the China-aided Ministry of Youth and Sports (MYS) run Bamboo & Rattan Weaving, Vegetable Planting (BRWVP) Program last week benefited from a five-day intensive basic conversational training course in the Chinese language. The Daily Observer reports that the BRWVP Program was established in 2007 and has trained more than 600 Liberian youth and adults, many of whom are self-employed, producing quality furniture. Speaking during the opening ceremony of the course on July 24, MYS Assistant Minister for Technical, Vocational Education, and Training (TVET) M. Boakai Jaleiba described the course as a germane initiative that would help enhance understanding especially among trainees of the BRWVP program and their Chinese trainers.

AU, ECOWAS, UNMIL Urge for Peaceful Campaigns

As political parties and candidates for the October 10 presidential and legislative elections are about to enter the official electoral campaign period, from July 31 to October 8, 2017, the African Union Liaison Office in Liberia (AU), the Office of the Special Representative of the President of the ECOWAS Commission in Liberia and the United Nations Mission in Liberia (UNMIL) have collectively called upon all stakeholders to spare no effort to ensure peaceful elections in Liberia. In a joint statement issued over the weekend, they said these elections, and the subsequent transition, will mark a significant milestone whereby a sitting president will hand over power to an elected one, reads the Daily Observer.

Elderly Liberian Residing in US Dies at 107

An elderly Liberian residing in the United States of America, Samuel George Macfoy has died at the age of 107. He died at the St. Mary’s Life Care Center, now Alaris Health at St. Mary’s care facility in Orange, New Jersey on July 3, 2017. At the time of his death, he was the oldest Liberian former civil servant, a distinction recognized by the Liberian Community in the US at his 107^th birthday celebration two months earlier. During his life time, the diseased received many distinctions to celebrate his longevity. In July 2010, a citation from President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, conferred on him the distinction of Knight Great Band in the Humane Order of African Redemption in consideration of his enormous contribution to the cause of the people of Liberia humanity, state and Church, the Inquirer reads.