THE BUREAU OF PUBLIC AFFAIRS

Ministry of Foreign Affairs

Monrovia, Liberia

NEWS SUMMARY FOR THURSDAY, OCTOBER 27, 2016

Today’s edition of our summary highlights news of the visit of the Chief Executive Officer of the U.S. Government’s Millennium Challenge Corporation, Dana J. Hyde, to the mount Coffee Hydro Dam and the Central Bank of Liberia decision to terminate the services and suspension of  contractors and  personnel of the bank. 

DOMINANT STORIES

MCC Inspects Investment in Mount Coffee Rehabilitation

The Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the U.S. Government’s Millennium Challenge Corporation, Dana J. Hyde, visited Liberia over the last two days, as part of the MCC Powering Africa trip. CEO Hyde is visiting partner countries where MCC is making investments in energy to empower people and energize communities. During the visit, CEO Hyde toured the Mount Coffee Hydropower plant, and visited Monrovia Breweries and the Freeport of Monrovia. Along with U.S. Ambassador to Liberia Christine Elder, CEO Hyde met with Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, reports the FOCUS newspaper.

Related Captions: MCC CEO Tours Mt. Coffee, Other Facilities (In Profile Daily), Millennium Challenge Corporation CEO Visits Monrovia, MCC’s Investment In Mount Coffee Rehabilitation(FrontPage Africa), “77 Percent Of Work Completed On Mt. Coffee Dam-Millennium Challenge Corporation CEO Tours Facility (Daily Observer)

CBL Suspends Nine…Terminates 24 Contractors

The Central Bank of Liberia (CBL) has terminated the services of 24 contractors assigned in the bulk cash counting room of the CBL. According to a release, the Management of the CBL has also suspended for time indefinite, nine personnel of the bank, pending investigation into breach of procedures in the processing of mutilated Liberian Dollar banknotes. “The terminations and suspensions are effective as of October 25, 2016,” the release added. The bank said it will make no further comment on the terminations and suspensions until its ongoing investigation is completed, reports the INQUIRER newspaper.

Related Captions: Terminations And Suspensions At CBL (Heritage), CBL Terminates 24 Contractors, Suspends 9 Personnel (Daily Observer)

OTHER STORIES

U.S. Provides $105,000 Grants To 16 Community Groups

The United States Ambassador to Liberia, Christine Elder Tuesday signed a grant agreement worth $105,000 to provide assistance to 16 community groups across Liberia. According to the New Dawn newspaper, the funds originate from two sources, the Department of States Economic Support Funds (the Ambassador’s special Self-help Fund) and the United African Development Foundation. The Self Help Fund provided $80,000 in grant money to support community development initiatives focused on income generation and skills development, while the United States African Development Foundation provides $ 25, 000 to support community-based food security projects. According to the U.S. Envoy, since the program began in Liberia in 2004, it has funded 173 projects in all 15 counties, disbursing over $800,000 and impacting more than 264,000 Liberians. She also noted that this year, she received over 100 proposals for small grants, but sixteen projects were selected, and twelve projects will be funded through the U.S. Department of States Economic Support Funds, while four will be funded from the ADF grants. 

Related Caption: U.S. Ambassador Signs US$105,000 Grant Agreement (The INQUIRER)

VP Boakai Extols Long-Standing Ivorian, Liberian Ties

Vice President Joseph N. Boakai has recounted the long-standing cordial ties between La Côte d’Ivoire and Liberia, noting that this relationship has gained new heights under the Unity Party-led administration. This, he noted, is good for the peoples of both countries. He said Côte d’Ivoire was home to thousands of Liberian who fled the country as a result of the prolonged civil crisis and that some Liberians have resolved to make that country their permanent home. Vice President Boakai was speaking Wednesday during a courtesy visit the new Ivorian Ambassador to Liberia and Sierra Leone, Dr. Kouakou Feni, paid on him at his Capitol Hill office, writes the Heritage newspaper.

Related Caption: VP Boakai Meets Ivorian Ambassador…Extolled Tiies Between Both Nations (In Profile Daily)

WAIFEM Ends Regional Workshop On Economic And Financial Analysis For Journalists, Others-Prof. Ekpo Reiterates Commitment To Provide Knowledge Enhancement Programs

The West African Institute for Financial and Economic Management (WAIFEM) has ended a one-week (October 17 to 26) regional workshop on economic and financial analysis for journalists and analysts in Monrovia. Speaking at the closing ceremony held Wednesday at the Central Bank of Liberia (CBL), WAIFEM Director General Prof. Akpan H. Ekpo reiterated the Institute's commitment to building the capacity of financial and economic managers in the West African sub-region. He admonished the participants to utilize the knowledge and skills acquired for the improvement and betterment of their individual countries. He said WAIFEM was established as a collaborative sub-regional capacity building organization in July 1996 by the central banks of five Anglophone countries of West Africa, namely: The Gambia, Ghana, Liberia, Nigeria and Sierra Leone. He said their mission is to develop, on a sustainable basis, expertise in the fields of macroeconomics, debt and financial management among the staff of central banks, Ministries Of Finance and Development Planning and other public sector bodies with core economic management responsibilities. WAIFEM is coordinated through a Governing Board of the six central banks that constitute the West African Monetary Zone (WAMZ) under the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), reports the Daily Observer.

Uphold Freedom of Information Law - Police Inspector General

Liberia’s Police Inspector General Col. Gregory Coleman has admonished officers of the LNP to be prepared to account for their actions in the discharge of their duties, adding it is the right of the public to know and to be informed of the Police functions. He said access to information is a fundamental human right and increases transparency and government accountability, and at the same time allows citizen participation in matters affecting them. He told a Carter Center-sponsored workshop held at the headquarters of the LNP on the FOI Law that it was unfair to members of the public to withhold needed information from them on grounds of secrecy, stressing that under his watch the public will be furnished with needed information in line with the FOI Law. For his part, the project lead at the Carter Center, P. Alphonso Zeon lauded the LNP IGP for affording them the opportunity to speak to Police officers on the importance of the Freedom of Information Law, reports the FrontPage Africa newspaper.

Cultivate A New Culture Of Professionalism

According to the Heritage newspaper, Gender, Children and Social Protection Minister, Madam Julia Duncan-Cassel, has urged young Liberian adolescent girls and young women to hold themselves to the highest standards and cultivate a new culture of professionalism. Minister Duncan-Cassell, speaking in Gorbblee, Grand Bassa Country on Wednesday, October 26, 2016 at the young women to use the skills acquired to serve themselves and Liberia very well. Ministry Cassell encourage them to seize every opportunity to learn and use the EPAG experience as a stepping stone to realize their dreams.

7 Arrested For Theft At MoE

The Liberia National Police has arrested seven persons in connection to allegedly stealing over Two Hundred and Twenty Nine (229) cartons of assorted textbooks and other items from the Ministry of Education on 3^rd Street, Sinkor. A police statement said the men said the men diverted the books while transporting then from the main offices of the Ministry of Education to the Ministry’s warehouse in Paynesville. The seven men in police custody include, Alexander Brown, a contractor at the Ministry of Education Nelson Browne, and Collins Toe, an officer of JAS security Guard Services, pens the INQUIRER newspaper.

Vocational Skills Before “Battle Cries”

The Deputy Youth and Sports Minister for Technical Vocational Education And Training (TVET), Rufus Neufville, has underscored the need for young Liberians to acquire vocational skills and pay less attention to politics.  Deputy Minister, Neufville said young Liberian citizens must disengage from chanting “battle cries” behind politicians during the pending 2017 Presidential vocational and technical skills to better their lives. The Ministry of Youth and Sports official was speaking on Monday, October 24, 2016 when he appeared as a guest on the Super Morning Show on ELBC in Paynesville, outside Monrovia, reports the Heritage newspaper.

Over 3000 Services Offered At Nimba Co. Service Center

The Ministry of Internal Affair says about 3,034 services have been at the Nimba County Service Center barely five months into operations. The County Service Center is part of the National Deconcentration Platform, which is primarily intended to bring services closer to the people. The Nimba CSC was formally opened on May 2, 2016 by Vice President Joseph N. Boakai along with partners. The report which covers the period May-September, 2016, reveals that a total of $890,260.00 Liberian Dollars was raised in Government’s revenue. Implementation of the Liberia Decentralization Support Program (LDSP) is funded by the European Union, Swedish Government, USAID, UNMIL and UNDP, according to the New Dawn newspaper.

Media Group Begins Consultation….On Sexual Reproductive Health Rights

The Anti-AIDS Media Network (AAMIN) with support from the American World Jewish Service (AJWS) through the Liberia’s Initiative for the Promotion of Rights, Identity, Diversity and Equality (LIPRIDE), is today beginning a two-day consultation with media and civil society organizations. According to the In Profile Daily the consultation is aims at promoting sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) issues that tend to reduce violence against key populations in Liberia. According to the organizing committee, the consultation would afford journalists and CSOs representative the platform to discuss issues undermining SRHR in the country.