THE BUREAU OF PUBLIC AFFAIRS

Ministry of Foreign Affairs

Monrovia, Liberia

NEWS SUMMARY FOR WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 26, 2015

Today’s summary of the selected local dailies highlights among other stories President Johnson Sirleaf’s trip to Tokyo, Japan to attend the 2nd World Assembly for Women (WAW) 2015, the United States Agency for International Development and the Liberian Government U$25 million Memorandum of Understanding for the provision of pipe-borne water to rural Liberia and President Johnson Sirleaf’s approval of the National Oil Company of Liberia restructuring plans.

DOMINANT STORIES

President Sirleaf Off to Tokyo, Japan; Dr. Edward McClain Coordinates the Work of Cabinet

President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf has departed the country for Tokyo, Japan to attend the 2nd World Assembly for Women: WAW 2015 which runs from August 28 to 29, 2015. According to the FOCUS newspaper, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Aba will deliver opening statement; while the Liberian leader will deliver the Keynote Address at the opening of the conference. The Executive Director of UN Women, Ms. Mlambo-Ngcuka will also make remarks at the Grand Prince Hotel Takanawa, New Takanawa.  The Women Assembly for Women, being held under the theme: “WAW! For All”, brings together 140 leaders of various fields from more than 40 countries and seven international organizations. It is one of the efforts to achieve “A Society where Women Shine’ and continues to be one of the priority issues of the Government of Japanese Prime Minister Shino Abe. During President Sirleaf’s brief absence from the country, the Minister of State for Presidential Affairs, Dr. Edward B. McClain, Jr., will coordinate the work of the Cabinet in consultation with Vice President, Joseph N. Boakai, Sr. She is expected back on Sunday, August 30, 2015.

Related Captions: President Off To Tokyo (New Democrat), President Sirleaf Off To ToKyo, Japan; Dr. Edward McClain Coordinates The Cabinet (FrontPage Africa)

USAID, GOL Sign US$25M MOU   

The Inquirer newspaper reads that the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and the Liberian government have signed a U$25 million Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) in Monrovia, to provide pipe-borne water to the rural cities of Robertsport, Sanniquellie and Voinjama. The signing ceremony was held Tuesday at the Liberia Water and Sewer Corporation’s (LWSC) head office on Front Street, Monrovia.  The Minister of Finance and Development Planning (MFDP), Amara Konneh, represented GOL, while USAID Country Director, John Mark Winfield signed on behalf of the American People. In separate statements, Minister Konneh and USAID Mr. Winfield committed their respective institutions to the full implementation of the project. Earlier, Mr. Winfield pointed out that signing of the MOU marked another important support partnership to the Liberian government’s socio-economic drive to spread development to all parts of the country. He reminded LWSC authorities that the United States Government through USAID continues to support projects in Liberia. He added that the Liberia Municipal Water Project (LMWP) is one of the major rural water projects in the country that has been supported by the US Government. For his part, Minister Konneh pledged the GOL’s support that will lead to the successful implementation of the project. He also described the provision of quality pipe-borne water to Liberians especially those residing in the rural part as critical that should attract the support of stakeholders. He urged the implementing partners to rise to the occasion and ensure that the project is completed on time.

Related Captions: USAID Gives US$25M Grant-For Water System In Robertsport, Voinjama And Sanniquellie (In Profile Daily), GOL Signs US$25m Grant To Improve Public Water System (INSIGHT), USAID Gives US$25M -For Rural Water (New Democrat)

Ellen Approves NOCAL's Restructuring Plans

President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf has approved measures being put in place at the National Oil Company of Liberia (NOCAL), saying that such move is necessary to provide stability at that entity. Members of the NOCAL Board over the weekend announced a Sustainability Action Plan or SAP aimed at ensuring the viability of the entity. It said the measures which includes cutting down of staff and restructuring the financially ill organization, when implemented will enable it continue to pursue its mission to develop Liberia’s hydrocarbon resources effectively in the best interest of the nation. Speaking in a nationwide address from her Foreign Ministry office on Tuesday, August 25, President Sirleaf noted that the Board’s Action Plan calls for drastic steps to bring costs under control and put NOCAL on a more viable financial footing. She added that these would include significant staff cuts, a reconstitution of the Board, and retirement or replacement of the senior executive leadership.  She described the steps as necessary to ensure that NOCAL can perform its duties to manage and develop Liberia’s oil resources, and to rectify recent mistakes in its performance, reports the New Dawn newspaper.

Related Captions: Ellen’s Axe Falls At NOCAL-3 Officials Fire, McClain Faces ‘Retirement’ (INSIGHT), Pres. Sirleaf Approves NOCAL Sustainability Plan (FOCUS), Ellen Endorses NOCAL’s Action Plan…Leaves For Tokyo (The Inquirer), NOCAL Lay Off Endorsed President Sirleaf Mandates Not More Than 50 Employees At Oil Company (FrontPage Africa)

OTHER STORIES

AU Diplomat To Address FSI Ambassadorial Lecture Forum-As Institute Honors Veteran Diplomat E. Sumo Jones

The FOCUS newspaper quotes a Foreign Ministry release as saying that Ambassador Harrison Oluwatoyin Solaja, the Special Representative of the Chairperson of the African Union (AU) Commission, is expected to serve as Guest Lecturer at the Ambassadorial Lecture Forum (ALF) of the Gabriel L. Dennis Foreign Service Institute (FSI). The ALF, which is slated for Wednesday, August 26, at 3 p.m., will be held in the C. Cecil Dennis, Jr. Auditorium of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Ambassador Solaja will be the sixth lecturer of the ALF, which was launched on January 3, 2010. Ambassador Solaja, a Nigerian, born on November 25, 1956, is a 1980 graduate of the University of Ife. Among his rich list of credentials, the AU Diplomat served from 2005 to 2008 as Nigeria’s Minister Plenipotentiary at the Nigerian Embassy in Washington, D.C., USA. He also served as Chief of Protocol of his country’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs from September 2009 to July 2011. He assumed the position of Representative of the Chairperson of the AU Commission to Liberia and Sierra Leone on October 4, 2011. In the first Ambassadorial Lecture Forum held in 2010, H.E. Chief Ojo Maduekwe, CFR, and Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, served as Guest Lecturer. That lecture recognized Ambassador Charles T. O. King, who served as Liberia’s first Ambassador to the then newly independent Federal Republic of Nigeria from 1961 to 1968. The fifth ALF was held on Wednesday, May 30, 2012. The Guest Lecturer was H.E. Masilo Esau Mabeta, Ambassador of the Republic of South Africa to Liberia. That lecture recognized Ambassador Neh Rita Sangai Dukuly-Tolbert, former Ambassador to the People’s Republic of China, France, Spain and Switzerland. Meanwhile, on the day of the sixth ALF, Ambassador E. Sumo Jones will be the honoree. Among the honoree’s many credentials, including serving as Acting Head of State of Liberia for three days in October 1981, he was appointed Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary accredited to the Republic of Guinea from 2007 to 2012. He had also served as Superintendent and Senator of Lofa County in the 1970s and early 1980. In September 1981, he served as Acting Minister of Foreign Affairs. The Forum highlights Liberia’s former ambassadors’ role and contribution to Liberian Diplomacy and Foreign Policy achievements and also presents an opportunity for lectures on topical diplomatic issues on the international agenda. The outcome of the ALF will be a documentation of activities of Liberia Foreign Service officers, who have made immense contributions to Liberia’s Foreign Policy over the years.

Related Caption: AU Diplomat To Address FSI Ambassadorial Lecture Forum (New Democrat)

The Minister Of Foreign Affairs Of The Kingdom Of Saudi Arabia Receives Credential Papers Of Liberian Ambassador

H.E. the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mr. Adel bin Ahmed Al-Jubeir, received yesterday Thursday August 20, 2015, in his office at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Riyadh, H.E. the Ambassado4r of the Republic of Liberia to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Dr. Brahima Diakity Kaba, who gave to His Excellency, the Saudi Foreign Minister, a copy of his credential papers as Ambassador of his country to the Kingdom in preparation for their submission to the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques H.M. the King Salman bin Abdul Aziz Al Saud (May Allah protect him. Ambassador Kaba used the occasion to convey warm greetings from H.E. President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf to His Majesty Kind Salman bin Abdul Aziz Al Saud and recalled the cordial relations existing between the two nations. The Ambassador mentioned the fact that the two nations cherish liberty, freedom and a strong desire for peace and stability in the region, in Africa and around the world, FrontPage Africa says.

Senate Endorses Open Electricity Sector …Wants Electricity Sector Liberalized

The Liberian Senate on Tuesday, August 25, 2015 endorsed its committee report which calls for the liberalization of the electricity sector of the country.  According to the Senate Committee report, to achieve independence and transparency in the country’s energy sector, the institutional framework must be void of conflict of interest and overlapping rules by separating policy setting, regulatory oversight, and policy implementation and operations. Providing further clarity on the committee report, Grand Kru County senator Albert T. Chea noted that for too long Liberians have suffered a close energy sector impediments and at such it is about time that the sector be liberalized, FOCUS reports.

Postal Ministry To Establish Financial Services

The Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications has announced plan to establish financial services for rural dwellers as a way of taking service delivery to the people. Posts and Telecommunications Minister and Postmaster General, Dr. Fredrick B. Norkeh, told a press briefing Tuesday at the Ministry of Information, Cultural Affairs and Tourism in Monrovia that the service delivery is to enable citizens have access to Internet Communication Technology in the country. He said it was needless for a person employed in the county earning 200 United States Dollars monthly salary to come to Monrovia to receive pay as the financial services would make it easier to receive salary right in the county. Meanwhile, Dr. Norkeh said the Ministry has started a numbering system to mark every house in Monrovia and across the country for the purpose of easy identification and mail delivery, according to the New Dawn newspaper

MFDP Convenes Three-Day W/Shop To Enhance Ministries & Agencies Budget & Monitoring Approach

Today’s edition of the  FOCUS newspaper asserts that a three-day training workshop to increase and strengthen the knowledge and skills of representatives from line ministries, agencies and commissions in Result-Based management (RBM) commences today at the Fair Ground in Buchanan, Grand Bassa County.  The workshop will bring together 60 Planning, Budgeting and monitoring & Evaluation Staff from twenty line ministries, agencies, and commission.