The Bureau of Public Affairs

Ministry of Foreign Affairs

Monrovia, Liberia

NEWS SUMMARYFOR MONDAY, FEBRUARY 17, 2014

Highlights of  the 2^nd edition of the EU-Liberia Political Dialogue taking place in Liberia, the United Nations Assistant Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations, Mr. Edmond Mulet’s courtesy call on President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, President Johnson  Sirleaf’s meeting with members of the Firestone Agriculture and Allied Workers Union and the National Rubber Brokers and Farmers Union of Liberia and Foreign Minister Augustine Kpehe Ngafuan’s clarification on media reports of President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf advise to her Malawian counterpart Madam Joyce Banda are dominant stories in our selected news dailies for today, Monday, February 17, 2014.

Dominant Stories

2^ND EU- Liberia Political Dialogue Set For Today

The 2^nd edition of the EU-Liberia Political Dialogue takes place Monday, February 17, 2014 at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Capitol Hill.  The INSIGHT newspaper says the Dialogue is in line with Article 8 of the Cotonou Agreement, which states that the EU and member states of the African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) countries which include Liberia shall regularly engage in a comprehensive, balanced and deep political dialogue leading to commitments on both sides. The Dialogue aims to enhance development cooperation between the EU and the Republic of Liberia. Monday’s 2^nd edition will focus on International and Regional Agenda, Good Governance, Democracy, Peace, Security, Biodiversity and Conservation, Economic Cooperation, Trade, and follow up on previous meetings. Among major issues to be followed up is the issue of the Schengen Visas in Monrovia.

Related Caption: 2^nd EU-Liberia Political Dialogue Set For Today (Heritage)

Pres. Sirleaf Discusses Decent Work Environment In Rubber Industry

The INSIGHT newspaper reports that President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf held meetings on Friday, February 14, with stakeholders in the rubber industry on resolving issues ranging from a decent work environment to the activities of smallholder farmers. According to an Executive Mansion release, President Sirleaf met with the leadership of the Firestone Agriculture and Allied Workers Union (FAWUL) and the National Rubber Brokers and Farmers Union of Liberia (NARBFUL). Responding to complaints and recommendations outlined to her by the leadership of FAWUL, President Sirleaf said that the government is committed to protecting trade unions across the country, and government expects the same from them to their employers and to the government.

Related Caption: Ellen Meets Workers Union, Farmers(THE NEWS)

UN Assistnt Secretary-General Pays Courtesy call On Pres. Sirleaf

The NEWS newspaper reports that the United Nations Assistant Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations, Mr. Edmond Mulet, paid a courtesy call on President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf at her Foreign Ministry Office on Friday, February 14. According to an Executive Mansion release, Mr. Mulet, who was accompanied by the Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General in Liberia, Ambassador Karin Landgren, is in Liberia as part of a Strategic Review Team that is looking into UN peacekeeping, as the transition and drawdown of the UN Mission in Liberia moves ahead. He will visit Nimba and Grand Gedeh counties before continuing to Cote d’Ivoire to assess the situation there as the peacekeeping force in that country, ONUCI, also draws down, the INSIGHT newspaper reports.

Related Caption: UN Asst. Secretary Visits Ellen – On Peacekeeping Operation (The NEWS), UN Official Pays Courtesy Call On Ellen (Heritage)

Gov’t Clarifies Ellen’s Advice To Banda

Liberia’s Foreign Minister Augustine Kpehe Ngafuan has strongly denied media reports that President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf ill-advised her Malawian counterpart Madam Joyce Banda. During an interactive discussion with some Liberians on Wednesday afternoon at the Center for Exchange of Intellectual Opinions or CEIO on Carey Street, Foreign Minister Ngafuan clarified that at no time did President Sirleaf tell President Banda not to fight corruption at a time the Malawian President is seeking re-election.  Minister Ngafuan was among President Sirleaf’s delegation to Malawi, where she was alleged to have ill-advised her counterpart. “Let me tell you that the Malawian Press Secretary has come out with a clarification. But I can tell you that this statement that is going around, especially on the Internet, that President Sirleaf told the Malawian President not to fight corruption because it is a risk to fight corruption in an election year because people with money will fight her, which could lead to her defeat, I can tell you that this is a big, black lie,” said Minister Ngafuan. “I say that with all the strength of my integrity because I was there. I was even behind the Press Secretary to get some clippings so that we can play so you can hear”, Ngafuan continued. He added that “What's even President Banda said is that her sister (President Sirleaf) is her role model. They discussed a wide range of issues, including the anti-corruption fight and the risk that is involved. But she said publicly at the state dinner that President Sirleaf encouraged her to stay the course, to soldier on, to continue the corruption fight in spite of the pending elections and the risk involved. That’s what President Banda said”. Minister Ngafuan reminded his audience on Carey Street that Malawi is going to elections and, as a consequence, the Malawian political climate is getting very charged.   Therefore, he argued that falsehoods and twisted facts may be peddled by individuals with ulterior motives. The Foreign Minister then encouraged the jam-packed audience at the haitai shop dominated by the youth, not to lose sight of the progress that has been made since the end of the civil conflict that has created the environment for economic recovery and development as well as the institutionalization of the culture of democracy.  “We are not at the bottom of the bottomless pit. We are not way up there yet; but equally so, we are not way down there. We have miles to go, but we have made some significant progress that you need to note and appreciate,” he concluded, the New Dawn newspaper reveals.

Related Caption:‘A Big, Black Lie’: Foreign Minister Slams Banda-Sirleaf Rumor (FrontPageAfrica newspaper)

Other stories 

Ambassador Conteh  Meets Speaker Of Nigerian Parliament

Liberia’s Ambassador to Nigeria, Dr. Al-Hassan Conteh, on Thursday, February 13, paid a courtesy call on the Speaker of the Federal House of Representatives of Nigeria, Rt. Hon. Aminu Waziri Tambuwal, to follow up bilateral issues on regional integration. Ambassador Conteh informed the Speaker that the government of Liberia was interested in promoting inter-parliamentary exchanges and economic integration as was discussed during a meeting between Liberia’s Vice President H.E. Joseph N. Boakai and Honorable Tambuwal, when the former represented her Excellency President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, at the First Africa Legislative Summit in Abuja in last year, the Heritage newspaper reports.

Indian Medical Team Expected Here

A medical team from two of India’s most renowned hospitals, Indraprastha Apollo and Prasad Eye Institute is expected to arrive in Liberia this week. A release from the John F. Kennedy Medical Center said the delegation will create public partnership within the health sector of Liberia. The release said while in Liberia, the team will perform clinical procedures at JFK Hospital. While in Liberia, the team will meet with authorities at the Health Ministry, A.M. Doglioti College and President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf, among others, the NEWS newspaper says.

Liberia’s Diesel Crisis Nears End? Two Million Gallons Arrive

FrontPageAfrica newspaper says for days, Monrovia and parts of Liberia have experienced a crisis that has resulted to darkness, further compounding the already lack of stable electricity power for Monrovia and immediate environs. The current fuel crisis on the Liberian market is affecting the operations of many entities, including the Liberia Electricity Corporation (LEC) which supplies state entities with electric power. Private generators operated on fuel have not been able to run the usual house, leaving several communities, homes, businesses and offices in darkness. T. Nelson Williams, Managing Director of the LPRC told FrontPageAfrica that the current supply being offloaded is a consignment of 2 million gallons of fuel. Williams says major entities, including the LEC, hospitals, amongst others will receive first priority and during the course of today the fuel crisis will be resolved with supply available on the market.  Williams says “Right now LPRC is going through a major rehabilitation and expansion project. If we had backup tanks at this time, we would have had at least two months supply; but based on the unavailability of storage capacity, we have the only capacity to have 1 1/2 tank available for fuel.  

Interpol To Provide Training For Liberian Police Officers

Lack of logistics and training have become the major challenges facing the Liberia National Police (LNP) since the end of the civil unrest in the country barely 10 years ago that left the entire country devastated. Amidst these challenges, there have been a number of calls made by the authority of the Liberia National Police to donors and other friendly countries to help the force with logistics and training in order for it to effectively discharge its statutory responsibility of protecting lives and properties. In the wake of these calls, the International Police organization, (Interpol),which the LNP is also a member of, has consented to provide training and equipment to help the police beef up its operation especially at entry points in the country. Interpol Secretary General Ronald Noble made the disclosure Friday at the Headquarter of the LNP when he met with police boss Chris Massaquoi during his one-day visit to the country. In the welcome remarks Police Director Massaquoi stated that he was very delighted to have the World Police organization Secretary General to acquaint himself with the activities of the LNP in the fight against crimes. “One problem facing us in our quest against fighting crime in the county is the issue of human trafficking, which has been experienced in recent times,” said police boss Chris Massaquoi.  Outlining the purpose of his visit, Interpol Secretary General Noble stated that he was in Liberia to discuss with the country’s police boss on how they and Interpol could work together in combating crimes. “Interpol is positive about how to collaborate with the LNP to combat piracy, human and drug trafficking and counterfeiting,“ said Noble. He said in the next three months Interpol will be providing equipment for the screening of passports for people entering the country and also training of Interpol staff of the Police and Immigration officers to carry out this task.  He also disclosed that by next week an interim response team from Interpol will arrive in the country to work with the LNP in this regard, FrontPageAfrica newspaper writes.

Finance Ministry Decentralizes Its Treasury Functions

The Ministry of Finance has taken a leap in an effort to decentralize its treasury functions across the country, particularly in the rural areas. Finance Minister Amara Konneh has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU), authorizing the Africland First Bank to operationalize the Cash centers in River Gee and Grand Kru Counties. The MOU is part of an overall effort of the government of Liberia through the Ministry to expand fiscal operations at county level by way of taking services to the grass root to encourage dispersed growth and development across the country, the Heritage newspaper reveals.