The Bureau of Public Affairs

Ministry of Foreign Affairs

Monrovia, Liberia

DAILY NEWS SUMMARY FOR MONDAY, APRIL 16, 2018

Stories highlighted in our today’s summary of the local dailies on the newsstand include ECOWAS leaders’ commendation to President George Manneh Weah’s on his election as Liberia’s 24^th President; The inspection of Chinese Aided Bamboo and Rattan Weaving Projects by Vice President Jewel Howard-Taylor and the Chinese Ambassador accredited to Liberia and the launching of tax payment via Orange Money in Liberia among others.

ECOWAS leaders commend President Weah

President Weah’s attendance at the extraordinary summit is his first appearance as President of Liberia. According to a dispatch from Lome, Togolese President Chairman of ECOWAS Faure Gnassingbe commended President Weah in his opening address at the Summit on his historic election as Liberia’s 24th President to a rousing applause. He assured Mr. Weah and the people of Liberia that ECOWAS will remain engaged with Liberia during the tenure of President Weah. The ECOWAS Chairman said the Regional Body is assured of the commitment of President Weah to the principles of ECOWAS and looks forward to his involvement. The leaders of ECOWAS are now in closed door discussions on the security and political crisis in Guinea Bissau, which is the major focus of the one-day high-level meeting. More than 10 Heads of State and High-ranking Government Officials are in Lome, Togo attending the Extraordinary ECOWAS Summit. Meanwhile, President George Manneh Weah and entourage are expected to participate in the Extraordinary Summit of ECOWAS in Lome, Togo according to the NewDawn newspaper.

Related Caption: ECOWAS Leader Commend President Weah(In Profile Daily)

Vice President Howard-Taylor and Chinese Ambassador Inspect Chinese Aided Bamboo And Rattan Weaving Projects

According to FrontPage Africa newspaper, Vice President Jewel Howard-Taylor and the Ambassador accredited to Liberia, H.E.  Fu Jijun on Thursday April 12, 2018    toured a Chinese-aided Bamboo and Rattan Weaving Project at the Samuel K. Doe Sports Complex in Paynesville, outside Monrovia. The project, according to Ambassador Fu Jijun, was established in 2007 during the tenure of former Chinese Ambassador to Liberia, Lin Songtain. This, the Ambassador explained, followed the former Ambassador’s trip to south-eastern Liberia, along with former President Ellen Johnson- Sirleaf, where they saw an abundance of bamboo and rattan plants, which moved them into collaborative action to begin the initiative. The Vice president who interacted with some young Liberians in training, during the tour of the facilities,   expressed delight in the talent of Liberian youth in the project whose products were inspected and found to be remarkable.

Related Caption: VP Howard-Taylor, Chinese Envoy Inspect Chinese Aided Bamboo And Rattan Weaving Projects(Heritage and In Profile Daily)

NFAA explains plans for Euros 10 million grant

The Director General for the National Fisheries and Aquaculture Authority or NFAA, Emma Metieh Glassco, discloses here that the European Union has approved a grant of Euros 10 million for the NFAA. She adds that the NFAA is at the verge of successfully completing staffing and structuring of the Authority.Speaking at the Ministry of Information’s regular press briefing recently on the Capitol Hill, she notes that the NFAA intends to use the grant to dredge the fishing harbor, install cold storage facilities in major fishing communities, invest in research stock assessment and initiate robust aquaculture activities. “We are currently exploring opportunity to provide pre-mixed gas for our local fishermen; with this we have begun negotiations with NP Gas Station to be our initial supplier. The King Gray community has been earmarked to be our pilot project, to be launched in a couple of days upon green light from LEC,” she explains. She says the entity is reviewing a tuna investment proposal worth almost US$300,000 with Senegal and has also been awarded five scholarships from their Chinese counterpart to assist in the training and education of technical staff in aquaculture management and law enforcement in marine fisheries. The NFAA Director General reveals that there are plans to place a moratorium on fishing in waters, with specific focus on certain species of fish and sea food that are very scarce, reports the New Dawn newspaper.

Related Caption: NFAA Higlights Plans For EU US$10M Grant (In Profile Daily)

UNESCO -MRU sign MOU

The New Dawnnewspaper reports that the United Nations Educational and Scientific Cultural Organization (UNESCO), and the Mano River Union (MRU) have held talks on the need to sign a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) that will ensure that the two organizations partner together in the areas of education, ITC, peace building among others. The Secretary General of the MRU, Ambassador Medina Wesseh, said the MOU also aim at promoting democratic institutions in the MRU basin. According to dispatch from Paris, France, Ambassador Wesseh was speaking when she held talks with UNESCO Deputy Director Mr. Getachew Engida at the UNESCO Headquarters in Paris. Ambassador Wesseh emphasized that the MRU has created four centers of excellence with the School of Mines in Guinea, the Forestry Training Institute in Liberia, the ITC Center in Sierra Leone and the University of Engineering in La Cote d'Ivoire.

Related Caption: UNESCO-MRU Agreed MOU for Partnership in Enhanced Growth and Development(FrontPage Africa) and UNESCO – MRU Discuss MOU For Partnership – To Enhance Growth and Development(In Profile Daily)

AFELL Mediates Over 500 Cases; Says Its Intervention Has Helped Reduce Court Dockets

The Association of Female Lawyers of Liberia (AFELL) said it has resolved 545 cases through their mediation efforts. AFELL president, Atty. Vivian D. Neal, said these cases were resolved to ease the burden of women, who faced difficulties in seeking legal redress. Speaking over the weekend in Bentol, at the start of a two-day retreat and mediation training for female lawyers, Madam Neal noted that AFELL sees mediation as a best mean of resolving most of the legal crises. These mediation efforts, according to her, were held between the periods of 2016 to 2017. She described their action as a success. According to her, based on their work, they have been granted UNDP/UNMIL joint project to mediate more cases and seek legal redress for women and children for a period of a year, writes the FrontPage Africa newspaper.

Related Caption: AFELL mediates over 500 cases(New Dawn)

Tax Via Orange Money

According to the FrontPage Africa newspaper, Liberia President H.E. George Manneh Weah launched Thursday the 12^th of April a new service that will allow Liberian tax payers to pay their taxes via Orange Money. The Service is a collaborative effort led by the Liberia Revenue Authority (LRA) and its partners at the United States Aid for International Development (USAID), the United Bank of Africa (UBA) and Orange Liberia. Orange is the first telecom operator to official launch the service with GOL authorities.

Related Caption: ‘Pay Your Taxes To Develop Our Country’ Pres. Weah Admonishes taxpayers as LRA launches Mobile Tax Payment via Orange(Daily Observer)

LACC Reminds Public Officials to Declare Assets

The Liberia Anti-Corruption Commission (LACC) is reminding all public officials and employees of Government who are required to declare their income, assets, and liabilities to do so, according to a press release issued over the weekend. The LAC clarified that “Section IV. administration of asset disclosure system” of the “regulations for the administration, monitoring, receiving and implementation of asset declaration in accordance with the national code of conduct for all public officials and employees,” relating to the universal filing deadline (last Friday in July), refers to public officials who had declared earlier and are re-declaring either at the end of every three years; on promotion or progression from one level to another; upon transfer to another public office; and upon retirement and resignation. All other public officials who are entering or re-entering public office and have no record of declaring or re-declaring their income, assets, and liabilities are required by law to do so prior to taking office, reports the Daily Observer.

France Aid Ends Project Assessment At LACE

According to the In Profile Daily, a French Government delegation has expressed impression in great development potentials in Liberia, and says prospects are bright about assisting the West African Country. Speaking during an assessment visit with government agency – Liberia Agency for Community Empowerment (LACE), President Emmanuel Macron’s emissaries said, they were in Monrovia to gather first-hand information about areas of development needs for their Government’s intervention. The recent visit of France Aid to Liberia was necessitated by funding commitment the European economic giant (France) made to President George Manneh Weah’s government while on a state visit; his first foreign travel after inauguration on 22 January, 2018. The 10 million euros donated to Liberia by France, according to the visiting delegation, will be channeled through basic social services such as community empowerment projects LACE implements as a government agency.