BUREAU OF PUBLIC AFFAIRS

MINISTRY OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS

CAPITOL HILL, MONROVIA

NEWS SUMMARY, Wednesday, JUNE 19, 2019

Today’s edition of our daily summary captures stories about President Weah’s recent appointment of several persons in government; The National Elections Commissions’ adjustments in its calendar of events leading to the conduct of the impending by-elections as well as House of Representatives ordering forensic audit of Central Bank of Liberia for past five fiscal years.

 Other stories include: Liberia Anti-Corruption Commission Obtaining Corruption Indictments against Several Persons in Bong County and President Weah extolling visiting U S medical team in Liberia among others.

DOMINANT STORIES

NEC Pushes By-Elections to July 8 Confirms receiving US$900K, L$114M from gov’t

The Daily Observer newspaper is reporting that authorities at the National Elections Commission (NEC) have with immediate effect, adjusted its calendar of events leading to the conduct of Montserrado District #15 Representative and the Senatorial by-elections. Instead of the by-elections being held on July 2, as earlier scheduled, NEC said they will now be held on July 8, 2019. At yesterday’s press conference in Monrovia, NEC Chairman Cllr. Jerome Korkoya said due to the need for more time to get all the pre-packed materials, as well as the ballot papers, the Commission has adjusted its timing on the pending by-elections. “The change of the voting date does not in any way go against the constituted 90-day period, because we are still in the 90-day period and wish that the public does not feel any sense of delay or backwardness in the process,” Korkoya said.

RELATED CAPTION: NEC reschedules By-elections (New Dawn) NEC Makes Adjustment in By-Elections (Inquirer)

House Votes on Forensic Audit of CBL… to be paid for by MFDP

According to the Daily Observer newspaper, The House of Representatives on Tuesday, June 18, 2019, voted for a forensic audit to be conducted on authorities at the Central Bank of Liberia (CBL) cover the fiscal periods covering July 1, 2014 thru June 30, 2019. This, according to the lawmakers, will include operational activities, but not limited to the US$25 million mop-up exercise; the alleged missing L$15.5 million bank notes and the micro loan program. At its 39^th day sitting, members of the House of Representatives voted that the forensic audit is in the best interest of the Liberian people to tackle the lapses within the country’s national banking system. The Lower House vote was endorsed following recommendations from the Joint Public Accounts, Expenditure and Audit Committee of the 54^th Legislature in relation to the Report of the Auditor General on the US$25 million mop-up exercise implemented by the Technical Economic Management Team (TEMT) to reduce excess liquidity of Liberian dollars outside the banking sector. The House of Representatives, through it votes, argued that the Agreed upon Procedures (AUP) approach utilized by the auditor general in investigating the mop-up exercise was a report of factual findings, which levied the responsibility on the users of the report to take decision based on the facts presented by the auditor general.

RELATED CAPTION: House of Representatives Orders Forensic Audit of Central Bank of Liberia for Past Five Fiscal Years( FrontPage Africa)

RELATED CAPTION: President Weah Makes Several Appointments in government ( Heritage ) Pres. Weah Makes New Appointments ( Inquirer).

President Weah Extolls Visiting US Medical Team in Liberia

According to the Heritage newspaper, His Excellency, Dr. President George Manneh Weah has praised a visiting American medical team for its hard work and relieving services targeting citizens, particularly underprivileged Liberians. President Weah said he was elated that citizens and other residents in the country were benefiting from valuable medical services being conducted by the team of US doctors. President Weah made the commendation Tuesday, June 18, 2019, when the visiting doctors paid him a courtesy call at his Foreign Affairs office in Monrovia. The 23-man U.S. Medical team is in Liberia performing a range of medical services at the John F. Kennedy Hospital in Monrovia.  They were brought in by Mercy Health Services; a United States based medical organization founded by a Liberian, Madam Saiyai Hansen in collaboration with Operation International. The medical practitioners were accompanied to the President’s office by Liberia’s Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary and Permanent Representative to the United Nations, Ambassador Dee-Maxwell Saah Kemayah, Sr.

Liberia Anti-Corruption Commission ‘Obtains’ Corruption Indictments against Several Persons in Bong

The Grand Jury of the Ninth Judicial Circuit Court of Bong County through the Liberia Anti-Corruption Commission (LACC) and the Ministry of Justice (MOJ) has indicted several persons for acts of corruption in the construction of the Bong County Technical College (BCTC). Those indicted include Bong County former Representatives, George Mulbah, Sr. and Tokpah Mulbah as well as current Representatives Edward Karfiah and Melvin Cole. Others are Rennie Jackson; former Bong County Superintendent; John Flomo, former President of the Bong County Technical College; Thomas Cisco, Project Specialist at the Ministry of Internal Affairs; Kenneth Yao Awadjie, former Assistant Chief Architect at the Ministry of Public Works; Marcus Berrian, Project Engineer, Project Implementation Unit, Bong County; and Lian Zhi, Chief Executive Officer of the Liberia China United Investment Group. They are charged with the offenses of violation of PPCC Act, Theft of Property, and Fraud of the Internal Revenue of Liberia, Criminal Conspiracy and Criminal Facilitation, pens the FrontPage Africa newspaper.

Liberia, Ghana, EU-NSA Project Share Perspectives

The FrontPage Africa reports that the European Union Non-State Actors (EU-NSA) Project teams in Ghana have concluded a meeting and shared perspectives on project implementation with emphasis on progress, lesson learned and way forward in the two countries. The meeting was held in Monrovia recently when the Ghanaian team comprising of representatives from Nature and Development Foundation (NDF) and Tropenbos International Ghana paid a week working visit to its Liberian counterpart, Volunteers, To Support International Efforts In Developing Africa (VOSIEDA).  The EU-NSA project, “Strengthening the capacity of non-state actors (NSA) to improve FLEGT-VPA and REDD+ processes in Western Africa”, is being implemented since 2016 in Liberia, Ghana and Cote d’Ivoire, with funding support from the European Union. 

Police ‘Pursues’ Rape Suspect at Christian Association Blind

Police in Monrovia say they are in pursuit of Kwame Wreh, a former study class teacher at the Christain Association of the Blind (CAB), suspected of raping a 13-year-old girl of the school. “Police investigators are doing everything humanly possible to ensure that suspect Wreh is arrested and made to face the full weight of the law,” Police said. According to the FrontPage Africa newspaper, the victim currently has a male child after she was reportedly raped by a 16-year-old, who is out of prison because he is a juvenile. But prior to her pregnancy, Princess (not her real name) was allegedly raped in the school’s kitchen by Kwame Wreh. Princess, in her statement to the health counselor during the medical examination, said Mrs. Fatu Kota, administrator of CAB, knew about the incident but she asked the minor not to disclose it to anyone.

NAYMOTE Engages Citizens on National Budget 2018/2019, Others

NAYMOTE Partners for Democratic Development on June 14, 2019 held the seventh in a series of citizens’ engagement events in the budget process using the Citizen’s Guide to the National Budget of 2018/2019, under its County Accountability and Advocacy Team (CAAT) initiative.

Membership of the CAAT include representatives from the District Development Council, National Teachers Association, Health Workers Association, Civil Society Organizations, people with disabilities, motorcyclists union, media institutions, traditional leaders, women and youth groups. A release quoting authorities of NAYMOTE said out of US$207,666 allocated in the National Budget as County Development Fund to Bong, only US$100,000 was received by the county; of US$30,000 allocated for the County Service Center running cost; only US$10,000 was received by the center. Of an allotment of US$320,000 was made to C.B. Dunbar Hospital; little over US$120,000 was received by the hospital and of US$786,959 allotted to the Bong County Technical College, US$631,110 received, according to the various presenters, the Daily Observernewspaper writes.

Agriculture Minister Wants Smallholder farmers Eye Business Venture

The Heritage newspaper reports that Agriculture Minister Morgana Flomo has called on smalllholder farmers (SHF) and Small Medium Enterprise (SME) to see agriculture as a business and not a sector to be only receiving aid from donors.  The Minister made the statement recently at the official launch of the Solidaridad Cocoa Rehabilitated and Intensification Program ( CORIP) Program held at a local hotel in Monrovia.

UNDP on Electoral Reform in Liberia

According to the NewDawn newspaper, the UNDP/Elections Project is supporting the National Elections Commission (NEC) rollout of series of regional sensitization campaigns and consultations leading to a reform of the current election laws of Liberia.Donors funding the elections project include the European Union, the Irish Aid, Canada and the Government of Sweden through its Embassy in Monrovia.On 18 June 2019, NEC commencedthe regional awareness campaigns across the Country beginning in Zwedru, Grand Gedeh County.This will be followed by Gbarnga, Bong County on June 20, 2019. Two additional events are also scheduled to take place in Tubmanburg, Bomi County on June 24 and in Buchanan, Grand Bassa County on June 27.This latest effort which is part of interventions under the 2019 Elections-Project work plan, is gear towards supporting the National Elections Commission address some key recommendations of both national and international elections observers on the 2017 general and presidential elections and by extension, improve elections administration in keeping with international best practices.

Mining Company Manager Charged for $123,000 Fraud

The Operation Manager for LYMST Mining Company, Jacob Daykeay, has been arrested and charged for allegedly duping the National Petroleum (NP) over USD$123,000. According to court record, the LYMST Mining Compound entered into an agreement with the oil Company in June 2018 to supply them with 35,000 gallons of Ago/fuel. The police charge sheet noted that the Mining Company refused to pay NP Liberia limited for the products instead defendant Daykeay presented falsified receipts indicating that the employer had paid NP limited, the Inquirer asserts.

Early Child Marriage on the Rise in Liberia Civil Society Organizations Want Action

Several civil society organizations in Liberia have frowned at the continued increase in early child marriage in Liberia. The organizations, including the Sheforyou, Liberia Crusaders for Peace, and others, in league with Plan International, are raising the alarm apparently based on reports that early child marriages in Liberia seem to have hit 72 percent, a figure that is alarming and the need for immediate action cannot be overemphasized. They said the exercise has become rampant in postwar Liberia to the extent that  parents are reportedly using their children as “bread winners” because of their inability to cater to their homes and the numerous numbers of children they might have had. The groups’ assertions were contained in various statements delivered during the celebration of the Day of the African Child (DAC) which is held June 16 of every year on the African continent, the Inquirer newspaper reads.

525 Single Barrel Gun Shots Seized, Disappeared in Nimba

A back page story of the Inquirer news daily reads that a green pick-up which brought in huge consignments of single barrel Gun shots from the Republic of Guinea is reportedly missing at the main border in Ganta, Nimba, after it was arrested and the items seized by law enforcement officers at the border few days ago. The situation is said to be creating serious concern among workers of the border and the joint security relative to the where about of the vehicle. Our Correspondent in Nimba County, who visited the scene, gathered that nobody knows the intension  of bringing in these huge consignments of shots in the country when people were talking about the June 7 protest in Monrovia, the paper says.

ECOWAS Brown Card Insurance is a Must

Authorities and governments of the Economic Community of West African States, (ECOWAS) have made the use of Brown card in the sub region mandatory and have highlighted its importance relative to free movement of people, good and services. Established on May 29, 1982 in Cotonou, the BrownCard is an insurance Scheme, which serves as a social device designed and introduced to facilitate and give financial guarantees to the movement of motorists and their vehicles across the sub-region. During its seventy-eighth ordinary session of the council of Ministers held in Monrovia on the 1^st and 2^nd June, 2017, member states reaffirmed that the se of ECOWAS BrownCard is a must and all members countries should abide by the protocol, the New Democrat newspaper reads.

Rubber Industry Boosted

At long last Liberian Rubber Farmers are expected to benefit  from the high yielding, disease and wind-resistant clones across the country through a National Bud Wood Nursery Program launched jointly by the Rubber Development Fund, Incorporated and the Rubber Planters Association of Liberia with support from key Rubber Processors, including Firestone and the Firestone and the Liberia Agriculture Company (LAC), the Democrat reads.