THE BUREAU OF PUBLIC AFFAIRS

Ministry of Foreign Affairs

Monrovia, Liberia.

NEWS SUMMARY FOR MONDAY, OCTOBER 20, 2014

News of   billionaire Alhaji Aliko Dangote preparedness to assist Liberia in the fight against the Ebola virus disease, the release of names of 139 candidates for the 2014 Special Senatorial Election by NEC and Foreign Minister Augustine Kpehe Ngafuan update on financial and material assistance provided thus far by friendly organizations and humanitarian partners towards Liberia’s fight against the Ebola  virus and the deployment  of over fifty Cuban Medical Doctors to assist in the fight against are stories highlighted in our selected local dailies for today.

DOMINANT STORIES

Africa's Richest Man To Assist Liberia Fight Ebola

Africa's richest man, billionaire Alhaji Aliko Dangote has expressed his preparedness to assist Liberia in the fight against the Ebola virus disease. According to an Executive Mansion release, in a telephone conversation with President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf on Friday, October 17, Alhaji Dangote volunteered to assist the country with medical personnel and other human and material resources. He promised that the Dangote Foundation will work with the Liberian leader’s office to determine what assistance can be provided ranging from medical personnel as well as other professional healthcare workers. President Sirleaf thanked Alhaji Dangote for the promised assistance and praised the Nigerian businessman for reaching out to the Government and People of Liberia noting that this assistance will go a long way to help rebuild the country’s healthcare system with highly skilled medical doctors and healthcare personnel during this critical period and beyond the Ebola virus disease. Mr. Dangote is ranked by Forbes Magazine as the 43rd richest person in the world, and the richest man in Africa, INSIGHT writes.

Related Captions: Africa’s richest Man To Assist Liberia…In Ebola Fight (The NEWS), Africa’s richest Man To Assist Liberia Fight Ebola (The Analyst), Africa’s Riches Man To Assist Liberia Fight Ebola…As Ellen Pleads To World For More: (The Inquirer)

139 Qualified to Contest Senatorial Election

The National Elections Commission (NEC) is today, Monday, October 20 publishing the final list of candidates for the 2014 Special Senatorial Election. According to the final list of candidates, a total number of 139 persons have been qualified to contest the special senatorial election. The list shows that ten candidates have been qualified to contest the election in Bomi County, while Bong has 13 candidates. The list of candidates also shows that Gbapolu County has seven candidates; Grand Bassa has five, Grand Cape Mount eleven while Grand Gedeh eleven persons have been qualified. Grand Kru seven candidates, Lofa has nine candidates, Margibi County 13 candidates. According to the list, Maryland |County has eight candidates, Montserrado eleven, Nimba six, River Gee has nine candidates, River Cess has 12 candidates and Sinoe County has a total of seven candidates, the Heritage reports.

Related Captions: NEC Approves 139 Candidates (New Democrat), NEC Releases Final Listing Today (The Inquirer),Senatorial Election For December 16 (FOCUS), NEC Releases Final Candidates’ List 139 Boxers Standing, Margibi & Bong Ties at 13 Each (The Analyst), Liberian Elections Commission To Unveil Midterm Candidates (Focus)

Ngafuan Provides Updates on Ebola Donations

A back page story of the In Profile daily reports that Foreign Minister Augustine Kpehe Ngafuan has provided an update on financial and material assistance provided thus far by friendly organizations and humanitarian partners across the globe towards Liberia’s fight against the Ebola  virus. Responding to a request from members of the House of |Representatives to provide them update on the number of donations coming to Liberia relative to the fight against Ebola, Minister Ngafuan told the august body on Thursday, 17^th October that as a result of frantic international engagements spearheaded by President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf and buttressed mainly by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and other government institutions , the Liberian Government has attracted numerous global assistance in the country’s bid to fight the virus. A Foreign Ministry release says the Foreign Minister highlighted the President’s personal efforts including writing letters to major leaders in the international community including the Joint Communication she and her Sierra Leonean and Guinean counterparts Presidents Ernest Bai Koroma and Alpha Conde, wrote to the United Nations Secretary General appealing for urgent and robust action; personal letters to world leaders including US President Barack Obama, German Chancellor Merkel, and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe as well as direct phone calls to world leaders and partners updating them on the severity of the problem and requesting support. Minister Ngafuan noted that Ministry of Foreign Affairs has also been playing a major role in attracting international assistance in the Ebola fight by sending out diplomatic communications to foreign missions accredited to Liberia as well as to other bilateral and multilateral partners via Liberian Ambassadors accredited abroad, In Profile Daily reports.

Related Caption: Minister Ngafuan Provides Update on Donation to Liberia…Lauds International Efforts in Quick Response (The Inquirer). In a related development under the caption “50 Cuban Doctors To Join Ebola Fight”, Cuba will dispatch 50 medical doctors to Liberia shortly to help in the fight to contain the Ebola epidemic, Foreign Minister Augustine Ngafuan has disclosed. The Inquirer newspaper quotes Minister Ngafuan as saying that in response to a letter from the Liberian Foreign Ministry, Cuba will also donate Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) to the Liberian Government. Minister Ngafuan made the disclosure on Thursday when he appeared before the House of Representative to report on international assistance towards the fight against Ebola in Liberia.

OTHER STORIES

Liberia At A Standstill

President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf is again pleading to countries around the world to join the fight against the Ebola virus disease. “This is a fight in which the whole world has a stake,” the Liberian leader cautioned; adding that this disease respects no borders. “The damage it is causing in West Africa, whether in public health, the economy or within communities – is already reverberating throughout the region and across the world.” According to an Executive Mansion release, President Sirleaf made the assertion in a “Letter to the World” aired on the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) world news on Sunday, October 19, 2014. She warned that Ebola which has taken hold in three fragile states – Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea –it is the duty of all, as global citizens, to send a message that they will not leave millions of West Africans to fend for themselves against an enemy that they do not know, and against whom they have little defense. However, President Sirleaf stressed that Liberians are a resilient people and as such, have the capacity as global citizens to face down this disease, beat it and rebuild. “History has shown that when a people are at their darkest hour humanity has an enviable ability to act with bravery, compassion and selflessness for the benefit of those most in need,” she pointed out, INSIGHT reports

742 Ebola Beds Empty Nyesuah Disclose

Assistant Minister for Preventive Services at the Ministry of Health and Social Welfare (MOH&SW), Tolbert Nyesuah, has said there are 742 empty beds available out of 1093 beds at various Ebola Treatment Units (ETUs). Meanwhile, Min. Nyesuah said due to the outbreak, the government has identified challenges in the health system which will enable build the system, In Profile Daily reports.

Related Caption: Ebola Deaths Drop? A Lot Of Empty Beds, Fewer Pickups Now  (FrontPage Africa)

13 Ebola Patients Treated, Discharged From Bong ETU

The Bong County Ebola Treatment Unit has successfully treated and discharged 13 confirmed Ebola patients who were admitted at the center. The number constitutes 14.56 percent of the 112 patients admitted at the unit between September 15 and October 15, 2014. The International Medic al Corps (IMC) Liberia Program County Coordinator. Sambhavi Cheemalapati, told  LINA Bong Correspondent Friday that despite starting on a low scale, the center is now operating at full capacity and has 33 patients 20 of whom are suspected, while 13 are confirmed. She said 40 of the 112 persons admitted in a month were tested negative, while 29 deaths were recorded during the period, she further indicated that 17 of the 29 deaths were confirmed  cases while 12 died upon arrival or without being tested, the Heritage reports.

Ghanaian President Fulfills Pledge…Sent 850 Bags of Rice; Doctors Expected

According to the Inquirer newspaper, the Ghanaian Government last week brought in the country addition eight hundred and fifty bags of rice to add to the previous one hundred and fifty bags which were earlier brought in the country on September 15, 2014 by Ghanaian President Professor John Mahatma when he visited Liberia.

House Endorses US$21.3M Loan Agreement

The House of Representatives has endorsed a US$21.3 million loan agreement between the Government of Liberia and International Development Association (IDA) to help improve the conditions of roads and to manage civil servants in the country. The agreement was forwarded to the House by President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf. As per the agreement, US$19.2m will be used to build the roads from Monrovia to Ganta as well as other rural roads. The remaining US$2.1 million will be used improve pay management of public servants, which include upgrading the caliber of the recipients’ civil service, and the classification of civil servants, under the financing agreement – Public Sector Management Project. The Representatives endorsed the agreements upon a report from the Joint Committees on Way, Means and Finance on the 14th Day Sitting of the Extraordinary Session, on Thursday, October 17, 2014, INSIGHT reports.

Community-Based Organizations Get US$45,000 Ebola Grant

About 86 community-based organizations (CBOs) and local media institutions across the country last Friday benefitted from a US$45,000 grant dispersed by the Gbowee Peace Foundation Africa (GPFA). The grant was given under GPFA’s Ebola outreach and Awareness Initiative which is geared toward breaking the chain of infection resulting from the Ebola Virus Disease (EVD).  Beneficiaries of the grant included organized groups of students, intellectuals and concern citizens who received training on active contact tracing that was facilitated by Madam Gloria Davis Wayne. The beneficiaries thanked the GPFA for their effort to end Ebola and promised to give pictorial reports that would justify the undertaking of their proposed projects within communities where they would be working, INSIGHT reports

Canada Develops Ebola Vaccine 800 Vials Of The Vaccine To Be Shipped To WHO

Canada is to ship 800 vials of its Ebola vaccine to the World Health Organization. The jab can completely protect animals from a fatal dose of the Ebola virus. However, its safety and effectiveness in humans is unknown. Trials began in the US this week and the WHO will conduct further tests in Europe and Africa. The Public Health Agency of Canada said the vaccine could be an “important tool in curbing the outbreak”, the Heritage writes.

Long Term Commitment CDC Will Remain in Liberia 'Long After Ebola', U.S. Envoy Says

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control will remain in Liberia long after the end of the deadly Ebola virus runs its course in Liberia, according to the U.S. Ambassador to Liberia, Deborah Malac. Ambassador Malac, addressing reporters at the Ministry of Information Cultural Affairs and Tourism Friday says the goal is to work with the Liberian government in responding to serious infectious diseases like Ebola. Regarding the construction of laboratories throughout the country, Ambassador Malac disclosed that the U.S. has built capacity at the Liberia biomedical research lab, reports FrontPage Africa newspaper.

Related Caption: U.S. Prioritizes Capacity Building in Liberia…Says Envoy Malac (The News)