THE BUREAU OF PUBLIC AFFAIRS

Ministry of Foreign Affairs

Monrovia, Liberia

NEWS SUMMARY FOR THURSDAY, DECEMBER 3, 2015

Stories on the suspension of Tariffs imposed on Agro-processing, forestry and agricultural equipment by President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, the death of two kids and the nomination of LRA as member of the policy, research and capacity building committee of West African Tax Administration Forum are the dominant stories on today’s newsstand.

Dominant Stories

Tariffs On Agro-Processing, Agriculture Equipment Others Suspended

According to the New Dawn newspaper, President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf has issued Executive Order No. 73 suspending tariffs imposed on essential agro-processing, forestry and agricultural equipment, live animals for breeding, agricultural seeds and other goods directly related to forestry and agricultural development classified under the tariff numbers of the Liberia Revenue Code.  "Importers shall pay only the Custom User Fee (CUF) and the ECOWAS Trade Levy (ETL), where applicable; while those benefiting from the Executive Order must be directly involved in agro-processing, forestry and agriculture," a release issued by the Executive mansion said. The Executive Order No. 73, signed by President Sirleaf on December 1, 2015, renews Executive Order No. 64 which expired on April 25th 2015. Executive Order No. 73 states that Government recognizes the increasing need to stimulate activities in agro-processing, forestry and agricultural; and continuously provide incentives to those sectors as provided under the economic transformation pillar of the Agenda for Transformation by encouraging private sector investment in the procurement of essential agro-processing, forestry and agricultural equipment, agricultural seeds, and other goods directly related to the improvement and development of those sectors. According to the daily, the order takes immediate effect.

Related Captions: Press. Sirleaf Suspends Tariffs Imposed On Agro-Processing, Others (FOCUS), Prez Sirleaf Issues Executive Order No. 73 Suspends Tariff On Forestry, Agricultural And Agro-Processing Equipment, Live Animals For Breeding And Agricultural Seeds (Daily Observer), and President Sirleaf Issues Executive Order No. 73; Suspending Tariff On Agricultural Products (FrontPage Africa)

Missing Kids Found Dead In Vehicle-As Angry Residents Set Suspect’s Home Ablaze

The New Dawn newspaper reports that two kids, reported to have gone missing on Tuesday morning opposite the Camp Bethesda Mission off the Robertsfield Highway, were found dead in a black Toyota Avalon parked among nine other broken-down vehicles in the compound of Mr. Ojuku Nmardi, a Nigerian national, on Wednesday morning December 2. The bodies of Alvin Moses 4, and Reuben Logan 7, were found barely 24 hours after they were reported missing on Tuesday morning, December 1, at around 10 A.M. Residents on the scene screamed ritualistic killing alleging Mr. Nmardi in whose open compound the cars are parked as the perpetrator, though no body parts of the children were extracted as is done in most ritualistic killings here, except the peeling of some parts of the skins, which may have been caused by heat burns. However, their suspicion prompted them to go amok setting ablaze the three bedroom home of Mr. Nmardi, and one of his vehicles, while his wife and house help had to run for their dear lives as the number of angry residents increased. Mr. Nmardi, popularly known as O.J., a mechanic by profession and an immediate neighbor to the parents of the two kids, had just left his home early Wednesday morning to drop his children off to school, when the bodies of the missing kids were discovered in one of his parked vehicles. "My children did not go anywhere," said Victor Moses, the grieving father, as his wife Mrs. Moses wept uncontrollably. The children were noticed missing in the afternoon," he continued as he held back his tears. By evening hours, fearing that they may have been kidnapped, Moses said he went to the local police station seeking permission to conduct a house to house search. But the local police authority in the community said they were not clothed with the authority to issue such order for the exercise. However, they agreed that the community mobilized to block all entries and exists into the community and that all vehicles leaving the area be searched. Nmardi, car was searched and allowed to leave the community the early morning hours of Wednesday before a boy between the ages of 14-15 discovered the bodies of the kids in the parked vehicle as he raised his hands up and raise his loud voice attracting other residents. While the chaos and destructions were unfolding at his residence, Nmardi ran to the police to report the incident. There is currently no suspect in the death of the kids, according to Police spokesperson Sam Collins.

Related Captions: 2 Boys Found Dead In Nigerian Man’s Car-Angry Crowd Sets Home, Car Ablaze (Daily Observer), and Two Kids Found Dead-In Nigeria Man’s Compound (In Profile Daily)

“Collaborate to End AIDS” UNAIDS Boss calls on Liberians

The County Director of the United Nations Joint Program on HIV and AIDS, Dr. Betru Woldesemayat, has called on the government of Liberia and all well-meaning Liberians, as well as partners to collaborate in order to end the AIDS epidemic by the year 2030. The UNAIDS Country Director noted the world cannot defeat HIV in the absence of togetherness, noting that if Liberia must meet her share of global targets of ending AIDS, such must be done in the spirit of oneness, writes the In Profile Daily.

Related Caption: Executive Director Of UNAIDS Calls on Countries to Quicken the Pace of Action (FOCUS)

LRA Nominated on Regional Committee

An inside story of the FOCUS news reads that The 9^th General Council meeting of the West African Tax Administration Forum (WATAF) has concluded in Abuja, Nigeria, with Liberia Revenue Authority (LRA) being appointed a member of the policy, research and capacity building committee of the organization. The LRA presence on the committee is expected to bolster the institution’s capacity and demonstrate its effectiveness in coordinating WATAF regional training and research activities. LRA Commissioner General Elfrieda Stewart Tamba and the Authority’s Policy Manager, Wellington Jah, represented Liberia at the forum which was held under the theme ‘Extractive and Telecommunications Industry Taxation; Country experiences and best practices”.

Related Caption: LRA Nominated On Regional Committee-As WATAF Confab Climaxes In Abuja (In Profile Daily)

Other Stories

Broh’s Taskforce Stopped

According to the Daily Observer, the Supreme Court yesterday ordered a halt with immediate effect to the ongoing demolition exercise led by the Special Presidential Taskforce. The Taskforce was set up with a mandate to beautify the City of Monrovia, but the court ordered that it must stop until a judicial review of its scope of operation can be decided by the court. Wednesday’s decision was taken by Justice Presiding in Chambers, Associate Justice Kabineh M. Ja’neh, following a petition for a Writ of Prohibition filed to the High Court by a group under the banner, “Aggrieved Destroyed Properties Owners of Central Monrovia, Bushrod Island, Sinkor, Gardnersville and the New Georgia Community.” Cllr. Dempster Brown of the Center for the Promotion of Human Rights filed the complaint on behalf of the aggrieved residents. A communication to Taskforce leader Madam Mary Broh, instructed her to stop further demolitions pending the outcome of a conference scheduled for December 7. The Broh committee was in October, constituted by President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf with a clear mandate to clean up the City of Monrovia from November 15 to December 15, which operation has met legal and other challenges.

Brumskine Wants Airport …To Prevent Possible Terrorists Attack

Amidst terrorists attack around the world, Liberty Party Political Leader Cllr. Charles Walker Brumskine has called on the Liberian Government to ban the issuance of airport visas. Addressing a news conference Wednesday at the party headquarters on the Old Road, near Monrovia, Cllr. Brumskine said banning airport visas will help to “reduce, if not, eliminate any possibility of vetting those who are admitted into the country.” He said except in extreme and absolutely necessary cases, no one entering Liberia on a visitor's visa should have his or her stay extended beyond the original period granted. He however said, if it becomes necessary for the stay of a visitor to be extended, the decision to extend should not be made by the Bureau of Immigration and Naturalization alone, or any other single agency of government, but by a committee consisting of representatives of each of the agencies that make up the joint security. The Liberty Party political leader further proposed that a person entering Liberia on a visitor's visa should not be allowed to adjust his or her status to that of a resident.   “Anyone intending to work in Liberia should be allowed admission into the country only if he or she is in possession of a resident visa,” he stated. Cllr. Brumskine, among other things, calls for the creation of a regional strike force that would be regionally trained but deployed in each member state so that the advance local units can react within minutes of any threat, such as an active shooter or improvised explosive device situation, with regional backup within a few hours, reports the NEWS newspaper.

Senate Fails To Gain Needed Signatures For Extension

President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf’s request for the return of the Legislature to enact several bills in order to keep the economy on an even keel may not be possible as reports reaching the Daily Observer say the Senate is yet to obtain the required signatures to concur with the House of Representatives to produce a “Receipt of Certificate for Extension” to legitimize their second extraordinary session. For the past two days, the chambers of both Houses have remained empty with the Senators in smaller groups holding secret meetings, while a few of the Representatives were seen in their offices doing absolutely nothing. According to reports, the Representatives, although they were reportedly doing nothing, had two days of lobbying and gathered over 19 signatures which constitute one quarter of the required number in accordance with the Constitution. Article 32b of the 1986 Constitution states, “The President on his own initiative or upon receipt of a certificate signed by at least one-fourth of the total membership of each House, and by Proclamation, extend a regular session of the Legislature beyond the date for adjournment or call a special or extraordinary session of that body to discuss or act upon matters of national emergency and concern.” The persistent delay of the Senate to concur with the House of Representatives to acquire the signatures of at least eight Senators means that there will be no ‘Receipt of Certificate of Extension’ to allow the President to issue a proclamation to legitimize their stay. Legal minds on Capitol Hill are arguing that even if the Legislature does not produce a Receipt of Certificate of Extension, Article 32b also gives the President the authority to use her ‘Executive Power’ to issue a proclamation without a certificate, but will compel and legitimize an extraordinary session. Accordingly, at this second extraordinary session the lawmakers are expected to cut short their constituency (agricultural) break for the second time, and their return to Capitol Hill is expected to address several proposed legislations that are relevant to the country’s economy.

Some of the bills to be addressed, according to our sources, include the ratification of four oil blocks, proposals from the Constitutional Review Committee (CRC) as well as the Land Act.

It may be recalled that on November 9, President Sirleaf wrote House Speaker J. Alex Tyler, and Senate President Pro Tempore, Armah Z. Jallah, urging for additional stay by the Lawmakers to conclude several bills and other matters important to keeping the economy stable.

The President’s letter was written 25 days later as a ‘follow-up’ to her appeal after a decisive and secret meeting with the Legislature’s leadership on Wednesday, October 14, in the House’s first floor conference room, reports the Daily Observer.

Japan Approves US$120K Grant for Africare-Liberia

The Government of Japan, through its Embassy in Ghana, recently signed a US$120K grant for Africare-Liberia to construct a state-of-the-art health center in Palala, Bong County. The Japanese also signed a US$90K grant for the construction of a support center for small-scale farmers in Gbarnga. The total grant they approved for Africare-Liberia and Gbarnga-based Volunteer to Support International Efforts in Developing Africa (VOSIEDA) to US$210,000, the Daily Observer newspaper writes.

VP Boakai Pushes Support for SMEs in MRU

Liberia’s Vice President Joseph Boakai says a concerted approach aimed at economic growth will propel investment opportunities in the three Mano River Union (MRU) countries of Liberia, Guinea, and Sierra Leone. The three countries were hardest hit by the Ebola Virus Disease that claimed over 11,000 lives in about one year. He said the three countries have already formulated a Sub-regional Recovery Program to ensure their return to stability, according to a dispatch for the Liberian Mission in Paris. Boakai noted that a compressive sector approach that will focus on key arrears of health, gender, youth development, social protection, agriculture, ICT, Governance, Infrastructure and Private Sector development are important pillar for growth and economic development. Speaking at the “Back to Growth” Investment Conference for Liberia, Guinean and Sierra Leone convening in The Hague, Vice President Boakai told the gathering of investors that Liberia is open to business an investment climate that promotes mutual benefits, the FOCUS newspaper writes,.