The Bureau of Public Affairs

Ministry of Foreign Affairs

Monrovia, Liberia

DAILY NEWS SUMMARY FOR TUESDAY, MAY 22, 2018

Today’s edition of our summary of the local dailies highlights news of the hosting of a four-day workshop in Monrovia on international nuclear safeguards by the United States Department of Energy and Liberia’s Ministry of Lands, Mines & Energy and the death of one of Liberia’s prominent lawyers and a key figure in the controversial oil block 13 investigations, Cllr. David A.B. Jallah,

DOMINANT STORIES  

U.S. Dept., GOL Hold Nuclear Safeguards Confab. 

The INQUIRERnewspaper reports that the United States Department of Energy and Liberia’s Ministry of Lands, Mines & Energy are co-hosting a four-day workshop in Monrovia on international nuclear safeguards. Liberia took the historic step of signing a Comprehensive Safeguards Agreement and Additional Protocol with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) in September 2017, in line with its requirements as a signatory to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT). According to the United States Embassy here, the workshop is designed to raise awareness among Liberian decision makers of the importance of the nonproliferation regime and the international nuclear safeguards system, as Liberia prepares to bring those safeguards agreements into force.

Related Captions: U.S. & Liberian Governments Host International Nuclear Safeguards Workshop In Monrovia(INSIGHT), U. S. Department of Energy, Liberia’s Lands, Mine & Energy Ministry Host International Nuclear Safeguards Workshop(Heritage)

Cllr. David Jallah, Prominent Liberian Lawyer, Block 13 Probe Figure Is Dead

Cllr. David A.B. Jallah, one of Liberia’s prominent lawyers and a key figure in the controversial oil block 13 investigations is dead. Family sources confirmed to FrontPageAfrica that Cllr. Jallah, who was among several lawyers recently appointed by President George Manneh Weah, to a committee established to review all concession agreements in the country, fell off early Monday and was rushed to the Redemption Hospital where he was pronounced dead on arrival. According to the daily, Cllr. Jallah’s death comes just days after a special committee appointed by President George Manneh Weah submitted its report to him regarding a Global Witness investigation into the Block 13 saga.

Related Captions:  Cllr. David Jallah’s Death Saddens President Weah (INSIGHT), Dean David A. B. Jallah Dies(Daily Observer)

OTHER STORIES

Liberia To Benefit From British Royal Wedding Donation

The INSIGHT newspaper says Prince Charles and his wife Meghan Markle, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, according to Kensington Palace had decided that anyone who might wish to mark the #RoyalWedding considers making a donation to charity, rather than sending a wedding gift. The Palace subsequently released the list of seven charities that donors could pick from to assist. Governments and individuals have so far been making donations. This funding will help save the lives of mothers and babies in Sub Saharan Africa. One donation that has caught our eyes is that of Wales. The country’s £1,500 donation will be made to a Welsh charity Life for African Mothers, the BBC reported last Friday. The amount will fund trip for a Welsh midwife likely to travel to Liberia, one of the poorest African countries, to train up to 30 local midwives. The aim is to teach them ways of making pregnancy and child birth safer. Life for African Mothers has been supporting hospitals in Sub-Saharan Africa for 12 years and, during this time, there has been a significant fall in the number of women who die while pregnant or giving birth. Angela Gorman, the head of Life for African Mothers, said the charity would most likely send one of its volunteer midwives to Liberia this autumn or winter.

Gov’t Launches 10-Yr Educational Plan

The Government of Liberia has launched a 10-year strategic plan for the education sector of the country, to harness a collective effort and provide quality education for the country’s population, the majority of which are young people. To achieve this ambitious plan, which runs from 2018-2028, the MOE (Ministry of Education) has carved out four main focal points; curricular amendments, teacher development, school management and equipped infrastructure—all of which require substantial attention. These will ensure adequate manpower development in terms of teachers’ preparedness, robust infrastructure improvement and many more. According to the Daily Observer, President George Manneh Weah officially launched the plan at the Booker Washington Institute in Kakata City, Margibi County, where the three-day National Education Summit opened on Monday. Officially launching the summit, President Weah highlighted the government’s vision for education as a key pillar of the “pro-poor agenda” and outlined his government’s approach to working with stakeholders and experts to give Liberian children quality education.

Related Caption: ‘Criticism Made Me Complete My Education’ – Pres. George Weah(FrontPage Africa)

Kru Town Youths To Benefit From UNDP Project

According to the INQUIRER newspaper, several youths of the Borough of New Kru Town in Monrovia are expected to benefit a Coastal Add-on Project to mitigate the effect of erosion in New Kru Town, especially around the D. Tweh High School and the Coast Guard base on Bushrod Island. The daily reads that the project will be implemented by the Ministry of Lands, Mines and Energy (MME) with funding from the Global Environmental Facility (GEF) through the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), under the theme, “Understanding Coastal Dynamics, Management, Wave, and Impact.” Assistant Minister for Planning Johnson S. Willabo put the cost of the Coastal Add-on Project at US$2 million. When completed, it will address the threat posed by erosion on the D. Tweh School and New Kru Town.

Related Caption: MME, UNDP to Empower 50 Youth on Coastal Defense(Daily Observer)

‘Humble & Loving’: Liberia Basketball Great Abu Kaba is Dead

Abu Kaba, who led Mighty Barrolle to four Liberia National Basketball championships during the 1980s and featured prominently for years for the Liberian national team, is dead. Family sources say the veteran basketball player, who had been ailing for the past two weeks, died early Monday morning at the John F. Kennedy Medical Center in Monrovia. He was 56. The FrontPage Africa newspaper reads that the late Kaba, a 6 feet 5 inches power forward, played for Barrolle from 1981 to 1994 and led the team in scoring for much of the 80s as the team back-to-back titles between 1983 and 1987 on a team that featured other greats like Robert Walker, Lusinee Kaba, Abu Williams, Patrice Williams and Orea Wright.