The Bureau of Public Affairs

Ministry of Foreign Affairs

Monrovia, Liberia

DAILY NEWS SUMMARY FOR WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 21, 2018

News of Africa’s position on Global Migration as presented by Ambassador Lewis Brown, Liberia’s Permanent Representative at the U N; The World Health Organization’s donations of drugs to people living with tropical disease in Liberia and the commencement of a 3 Day Legislative Orientation for new Liberian Lawmakers are among stories selected for today’s media stories.

Supreme Court gives school administration to Church

Liberia’s Supreme Court has ended a longstanding property dispute between a church and its school principal Ramson W. George and some individuals, placing the administration and all assets of the school under the full authority of the Church and additionally awarding it US$10,000.00 in general damages. “That Co-appellants Ramson W. George and T. Augustine Nyenswah are ordered to relinquish the administration and all assets of the school to the appellee with immediate effect, paying to the appellee Ten thousand United States Dollars (US$10,000.00) as general damages for their illegal withholding of the appellee’s property and the misuse of resources from the appellee’s school,” Court ruled Tuesday, 20 February. Following the Supreme Court’s opinion at the Temple of Justice in Monrovia, pens the New Dawn newspaper.

Ambassador Brown Presents Africa's Position on Global Migration Issues

According to the FrontPage Africa newspaper, Liberia's Permanent Representative to the United Nations, His Excellency Ambassador Lewis Garseedah Brown, II, has called on the international community not to perceive migration as a threat to human development; rather as a form of development. Providing Africa's perspective on the zero draft of the ‘Global Compact on Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration' Ambassador Brown said the Continent believes that integration and development are unthinkable without the mobility of people, goods and services. According to a dispatch from Liberia's Permanent Mission to the United Nations, Ambassador Brown who currently heads the African Group of Ambassadors to the UN, proposed a full recognition of the positive role of migration in the global economy at the international and national policy-making levels. He further proposed the construction of an agenda for fair migration which emphasizes the respect for the fundamental rights of migrants and offers real opportunities for decent work and integration.

WHO Donates Drugs to People Living With Tropical Diseases in Liberia

The World Health Organization (WHO) on Tuesday, February 20, donated a consignment of drugs to fight Neglected Tropical Diseases (NTDs) in Liberia. During the donation ceremony at the Ministry of Health, WHO Country Director, Dr. Alex Gasasira noted that the consignment includes medication that will treat up to 2.5 million people in Liberia with Lymphatic filarias and Onchocerciasis, 300 patients with Leprosy and 100 people with Buruli ulcer.  NTDs are diverse group of communicable diseases that affect more than one billion people globally in 149 countries. Dr. Gasasira noted that the WHO’s contribution towards tackling these NTDs, which affect the “poorest of the poor” is in line with the new administration’s pro poor agenda and pledged the WHO’s continuous support to the health system of Liberia. He said the MOH has been leading mass administration of drug in the country for the last 14 years. Receiving the supply on behalf of the Liberian Government, the Chief Medical Officer of Liberia, Dr. Francis Kateh thanked WHO for the donation and noted that it will be a major boost to fighting NTDs in Liberia. Dr. Kateh made a repeated call for more attention to be focused on creating awareness on these neglected tropical diseases and people who are being affected, asserts the FrontPageAfricanewspaper.

FCG/GOPA Infra Pays Courtesy Call on Public Works Minister

The newly hired monitoring consultant FCG/GOPA of the Liberia Swedish Feeder Road Project Phase III (LSFRP) on Tuesday, February 20, 2018 paid a courtesy call on Public Works Minister Mobutu Nyenpan. FCG/GOPA replaces HIFAB who ran Phase-I and phase II of the project from 2009-2016 in Lofa, Bong and Nimba counties respectively. The Liberia Swedish Feeder Project is the Swedish government’s contribution towards the poverty reduction strategy of the Liberian government.  During the interacting discussion, Public Works Minister Mobutu Nyenpan thanked the delegation for what he termed as acquaintance visit as well as issues highlighted the commencement of Phase III of the project in the Southeast. According to the FrontPage Africa newspaper, the PublicWorks Minister indicated that all contractual terms and agreement will be fully met, adding that his administration is keen on ensuring value for money for all government and partners’ related infrastructure projects.

Lawmakers Start 3-Day Legislature Orientation Session -Newbies to learn ‘the rope

Thirty-nine new members of the House of Representatives (36 males and three females) are expected to start the first of the three-day orientation session on basic concentration on legislative functions – representation, lawmaking, and oversight. The orientation session, which starts today, Wednesday, February 21 and ends on Friday, February 23, will school freshman representatives on the duties of a lawmaker, including the kinds and functions of Committees, Joint Committees, Caucuses, and Blocs, as well as Legislative Jargon, and the House’s Rules and Procedures versus the 1986 Constitution. The three-day orientation session is organized and sponsored by the National Democratic Institute (NDI) in collaboration with the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). According to the Daily Observer, the NDI began orientation sessions for members of the legislature in 2006. The incumbents are expected to be learning the ‘ropes of being veterans’ in legislative discussions and the functions of being a lawmaker.

LEC Assures Caldwell Residents, Others of Electricity

Following a one day protest by residents of Caldwell Township, the management of the Liberia Electricity Corporation (LEC) has promised to provide their homes with electricity in the shortest possible time. The management said materials for the connection of Caldwell and other communities in Monrovia are already scheduled to arrive in the country in five weeks. The aggrieved residents staged their protest on Monday because of the lack of electricity in the township. The LEC management on Monday, February 19 met with a delegation representing the aggrieved Caldwell residents, the Daily Observer reports.

Fire Rages Busy Shopping District

The FrontPage Africa newspaper reads that Randall Street was shut down Tuesday along with adjacent streets after fire blazed through a local electrical store, Power Tech, one of the largest distributors of generators in the country. Nearly all the stores in vicinity of Randall - from Benson to UN drive were closed as traffic piled and firefighters fought to contain the blaze. Eagle Electrical and Marconi, two other retailers of electrical supplies are also located in the area. Authorities are yet to determine the cause of the fire. Powertech Incorporated came on the scene in Liberia in 1994 and is regarded as one of the leading stores for electrical supplies.

Related Captions: Fire Disaster In Monrovia(New Dawn), Fire On Randall Street Renders Several Homeless.. some business owners say they “lost everything”(Daily Observer), Randall Street In Flames – Few Stores, Properties Hard Hit( New Republic) and Fire Destroys Three Huge Building In Monrovia (Insight)

3 Liberian kids Win UWC scholarship

According to the New Dawn newspaper, SOS Children’s Villages Liberia has hosted six top candidates who made it to the final stage of the United World College Essay competition. United World College is a global education movement that makes education a force to unite people, nations and cultures for peace and a sustainable future. UMC has seventeen schools and colleges on four continents; majority of which focus exclusively on children between ages 16 and 17. In Liberia, the organization is headed by former youth of SOS Children’s Villages Liberia Saye-Maye Cole, an alumnus of UWC. Saye has developed from an orphan into an ambassador of change, making extraordinary effort to give back to his country through educating young people. Speaking at the ceremony recently in Monrovia, SOS Children’s Villages Liberia, National Director Augustine Allieu extolled the six Liberian kids in the final stage for their hard work and dedication.