The Bureau of Public Affairs

Ministry of Foreign Affairs

Monrovia, Liberia

News SummaryFor Friday, November 15, 2013

Today’s news summary captured several dominating stories in the local dailies including the launching of the US$1 campaign geared towards the Digital Television Pilot Project by LBS,  (DTTP) and the controversial PUL Election Ruling Set For Monday,  amongst others.

Dominant Stories

LBS On Survival Path…Launches Dollar Campaign

One of today’s dominant stories captured from the local dailies is the launching of a One Dollar campaign towards a 10-Kilowatt Transmission System which is reported in the Inquirer newspaper under the Caption: LBS On Survival Path…Launches Dollar Campaign.

 According to the paper, The Management and Staff of the Liberia Broadcasting System are expected to launch a US$1 (One United States Dollar) Campaign for the system as it prepares to launch a ten kilowatt Television Transmission System and Liberia’s first digital television pilot project for the country. The program which is expected to take place at LBS main headquarters in Paynesville today, Friday, November 15, 2013, will coincide with a dedication by Vice President Ambassador Joseph N. Boakai, of the system and Digital Television Pilot Project (DTPP) which has been made possible through LBS Management’s in partnership with the Chinese Central Television (CCTV), The Inquirer newspaper writes.

Related Caption:  LBS Chases US$2.3M – Launches 10-Kilowatt Transmission System (The Daily Observer)

Arguments Begin In PUL Injunction Case

First arguments in the recent Press Union of Liberia cancelled elections, involving the Press Union of Liberia on one hand and aggrieved parties Cholo Brooks and W. Omecee Roberts took place yesterday at the Civil Law Court at the Temple of Justice. At yesterday’s hearing, lawyers of the PUL argued that certain articles of the Union were violated by Cholo Brooks and W. Omecee Roberts.

The lawyers argued that Article 8B of the Press Union’s constitution state that one must be at least a Bachelor Degree Holder before contesting the election as major criteria as major for candidate vying for the presidency and must be a publisher and actively practicing in the media. But lawyers representing Cholo Brooks and Omecee Roberts took exception to that and pleaded that the PUL violated the rights of their clients, and wrongfully disqualified them.   The lawyers defending the aggrieved party said their clients especially Omecee Roberts has not served as Press and Propaganda officer for any group or entity, the Inquirer newspaper says.

Related Caption:  PUL Election Ruling Set For Monday (Daily observer)

Other Stories:

 Liberia Not Haven For Drugs, Human Traffickers – Says Min. Brown

The Analyst reports that Information Minister Lewis Brown has said that Liberia will not be used as a dumping ground for narcotic drugs and the trafficking of humans. He said Government will continue the crackdown on drugs and human traffickers nationwide, and urged the Joint Security to be more vigilant in performing their duties. Speaking at the regular Thursday MICAT press briefing, Minister Brown emphasized that people who break the laws of Liberia will be arrested and prosecuted regardless of status in government or society. Minister Brown’s warning comes in the wake of the recent arrest of an official of the Liberia National Police, Perry Dolo, and others with 315 kilograms of marijuana in Grand Cape Mount County, the Analyst newspaper writes.

President Sirleaf Receives Letters Of Credence From First Ambassador Of State Of Qatar To Liberia

President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf has received the Letters of Credence of the first Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the State of Qatar to Liberia, his Excellency Mr. Mohammad Ismail Al Emadi.  According to an Executive Mansion release, the Liberian leader, speaking during the ceremony at the |Foreign Ministry, extolled the ties of friendship between the two countries which gained new momentum following her State Visit to Qatar in 2009 and the establishment of diplomatic relations.

During that visit, the two countries agreed on the exchange of resident diplomatic representation at the ambassadorial level, and Liberia established its Embassy in Doha in June 2011. President Sirleaf recalled, with thanks and appreciation, the role of the Government of Qatar to underwrite the cost of the Embassy and provide transportation for two years, which accelerated its opening. She also thanked the Government of Qatar for providing US$24,000 which facilitated six Liberian Muslims on the holy mission to Hajj to fulfill their religious duty which they may not have otherwise afforded.

President Sirleaf also touched on the Agenda for Transformation, a five year program aimed at supporting nearly all the pillars of Vision 2030. “In order to achieve this goal, the necessary conditions are being established to attract the kinds of investment that will create jobs to put the hundreds of thousands of our unemployed young people to work and broaden the economy and the tax base,” she indicated, and invited Qatari capital and private sector to participate with the government in this endeavor For his part, H.E. Mr. Al Emadi said he is honored to be the first Ambassador of the State of Qatar to Liberia and will make great efforts to develop bilateral relations between both countries in all aspects politically, economically and culturally for the benefit of the two countries, the Analyst newspaper  asserts.

2 Liberian Gospel Musical Artists To Storm Nelborn, Australia On Sunday …To Raise Funds For Charity

It is written in the Holy bible Book of Matthews 28, Jesus instructed his followers to preach the Good news of the Gospel to all parts of the world; in order to fulfill this instruction to the fullest, two of Liberia most celebrated gospel artists are fulfilling that called by the Lord Jesus Christ in another land. The Gospel artists Minister Eveine Natt Kammara and Evangelist G. Cyrus Townsend will on Sunday, November 17 launch a 5-month long concert in Nelborn, Australia. According to Evangelist Townsend they were invited to Australia by a charity organization (Future Of The Children), a register organization in Australia with a Liberian/Australian (Jayjay Augustine Ganwaye) as Head, the Inquirer newspaper reports.

 Liberian Diplomat Addresses Confab On Nuclear Weapons

The Minister Counselor for Press and Public Affairs at the Permanent Mission of Liberia to the United Nations has stressed the United Nations has stressed the need for African countries to lend support to a global consensus that will ban the use of nuclear weapons worldwide. Addressing the just-ended Roundtable on ‘Humanitarian Approach to Nuclear Weapons and Prospects for a Ban held in Lagos, Nigeria from November 13-14, Abu Kamara said the humanitarian conditions that result from the use of nuclear weapons make it an imperative for all countries to support a ban on such weapon of mass destruction, the Daily Observer newspaper reports.

GOL Goes Public With Its CEMENCO Shares – Hires LBDI To Sell Government’s Share To ordinary Liberians

The Government of Liberia (GOL) yesterday publicly divested (relinquished, gave up) itself of its share of shares in CEMENCO, for ownership by ordinary Liberians interested in acquiring said shares. The GOL owns nearly 200,000 shares in the country’s premier cement manufacturer. The decision by GOL to divest itself of its shares in the cement corporation was taken recently and made public at a well-attended ceremony held Thursday afternoon at the 9^th Street, Sinkor head offices of the Liberia Bank for Development and Investment (LBDI), the Daily Observer reports.

HFO Shipment, Value US$20M, Underway – As LPRC, CONEX Partner

Liberia is expected to, for the first time ever, benefit from a Heavy Fuel Oil (HFO) consignment, valued at about US$20 million. The Managing Director of the Liberia Petroleum Refining Company (LPRC) T. Nelson Williams and Chief Executive officer (CEO) of Conex, Cheriff Abdallah on Wednesday made the announcement during a one day stakeholders meeting, the Daily Observer newspaper says.