The Bureau of Public Affairs

Ministry of Foreign Affairs

Monrovia, Liberia

NEWS SUMMARY FOR WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 26, 2014

 News of Liberia-China 13.5 million Economic and Technical Cooperation Agreement, President Johnson Sirleaf’s visits to Nigeria and Chad, the additional appointment made in government and  Save the Children’s report on the premature death of over 3,000 babies in 2012 are stories highlighted in our Wednesday, February 26, 2014 news summary.

DOMINANT STORIES

LIBERIA, CHINA SIGN US$13.5M ECONOMIC & TECHNICAL PACT

The FrontPageAfrica newspaper reveals that the Governments of the Republic of Liberia and the People’s Republic of China have signed an Economic and Technical Cooperation Agreement for China to provide gratuitous assistance of 13.5 Million United States Dollars (80 Million RMB Yuan) to Liberia aimed at further enhancing the friendly relations and cooperation between the two countries. Foreign Minister Augustine Kpehe Ngafuan signed on behalf of Liberia while Chinese Ambassador to Liberia, H.E. Zhang Yue signed for his government. According to a Foreign Ministry Release, the Agreement, which is valued at approximately 13.5 Million United States Dollars, will be used to cover expenses of projects to be agreed upon by the Governments of Liberia and China. Speaking at the signing ceremony, Foreign Minister Augustine Kpehe Ngafuan lauded the People’s Republic of China for the assistance and stated that the signing of another agreement between the two governments is historic following the appointment of a new Chinese Ambassador to Liberia just a few weeks ago. While thanking the new Chinese Envoy, Minister Ngafuan stated that Liberia looks forward to signing more agreements with China, which will bring mutual benefits for the two nations. We are happy that you have come with new vigor, and that we at the Foreign Ministry will make sure that your tour of duty will be fruitful and rewarding.” the Minister added. Earlier, Chinese Ambassador, H.E. Zhang Yue, expressed joy over the signing and stated that the Government of China values its relations with Liberia stressing that the signing of this agreement and the recent provision of technical equipment to the Defense Ministry signifies good news for Liberia-China cooperation. Ambassador Zhang Yue also expressed his government renewed commitment to enhancing cooperation with Liberia and support the country’s development program with the aim to assist the livelihood of the Liberian people, adding “we can work together cooperatively with Liberia using our resources to enhance cooperation.”

Related Caption: Liberia/China sign US$13.5m Pack, (New Dawn), Liberia, China Sign Economic Pact…Also Agree To Technical Cooperation (The Analyst), Liberia – China sign US$13.5 M economic & technical cooperation agreement (Heritage) Liberia-China Sign US$13.5 M Agreement (In Profile daily), US$13.5m for economic & technical cooperation-Liberia, China sign new agreement (Insight newspaper

PRES. SIRLEAF LEAVES FOR OFFICIAL VISITS TO NIGERIA AND CHAD

The New Dawn newspaper reveals that President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf is expected to depart the country today for official visits to Nigeria and Chad. An Executive Mansion release said President Sirleaf’s visit to Abuja is in response to an invitation from Nigerian President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan to attend that country’s Centenary on its amalgamation, scheduled to take place in Abuja on February 27. Immediately thereafter, President Sirleaf will travel to N’Djamena, Chad, to chair the Heads of State Committee of the African Union Authority on the African Common Position of the Post-2015 Development Agenda. It may be recalled that last year the Liberian leader was privileged to have been chosen by the United Nations Secretary-General to co-chair a development agenda that would succeed the Millennium Development Goals. Upon the completion of that task, in May 2013, at the Assembly of Heads of State of the African Union, she was again selected to the chair a Committee that would draw up a Common African Position to be adopted into the final Post-2015 Development Agenda. While President Sirleaf is away from the country, Mr. Morris Dukuly, Minister of Internal Affairs, will serve as Chairman of the Cabinet in consultation with the Vice President, Amb. Joseph N. Boakai, Sr. She is expected back at the weekend.

Related Caption: Pres. Sirleaf Departs For Nigeria And Chad (The Analyst), Pres. Sirleaf Departs Country on Official Visits to Nigeria and Chad (Insight newspaper)

NEW INVESTMENT DIRECTOR HERALDS LATEST GOVERNMENT APPOINTMENTS

The FrontPage newspaper says President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf has appointed the following officials to positions in Government, pending confirmation hearing where applicable:

Liberia Agency for Community Empowerment, Mr. Peter Z. Kamei    –    Chairman of the Board of Directors, Liberia Telecommunications Corporation Board of Directors, Cllr. Carlos Smith   -    Member (replacing Dr. El Mohamed Sheriff) ,Liberia Bank for Development and Investment Board, Mr. Eugene Peabody   –   Member  (representing Liberian shares),National Investment Commission, Mr. George G. Wisner   –   Executive Director, Bureau of Immigration and Naturalization,Mrs. Asatu Bah Kanneh   –   Deputy Commissioner for Immigration, Drug Enforcement Agency, Mr. Benedict O. Johnson –   Deputy Director for Operations, Mr. Gwee K. Porkpah    –    Deputy Director for Administration, Ministry of Youth & Sports, Mr. Henry B. Yonton - Deputy Minister for Sports
(Replacing Mr. Dionysius Sebwe who is being reassigned).

Related Caption: President Sirleaf Makes Appointments To LACE, LIBTELCO, LBDI, Investment Commission, Immigration and Naturalization, Drug Enforcement Agency, Ministry of Youth & Sports, (The Analyst), New Appointments at LACE, LIBTELCO, BIN, etc (Insight Newspaper), Ellen Makes More Appointments in Gov’t- Departs for Nigeria & Chad Today (Heritage)

 PRES. SIRLEAF RECEIVES INDIANA UNIVERSITY DELEGATION

President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf has described as rewarding the collaboration between the University of Liberia (UL), Indiana University (IU) and the John F. Kennedy (JFK) Medical Center. The collaboration between the two universities and the government referral hospital has led to the near completion of a nursing curriculum to be included in the UL academic program that will lead to the establishment of a School of Nursing.

In remarks to the 11-member delegation comprising the IU Schools of Nursing and Business, President Sirleaf said she was happy that the collaboration was moving forward and was about to bring to fruition plans to  further strengthen government’s efforts to improve health care. She told the delegation that although infrastructural development remains cardinal in Liberia’s post-war recovery, education remains a government’s topmost priority, which is not a quick fix but requires long-term planning and efforts to bring it to realization. The Liberian leader thanked the IU for being part of the solution to rebuild Liberia’s human resource capacity. Commenting on the recent strike action by health workers witnessed by the IU delegation, President Sirleaf said their action was further demonstration of Liberia’s democracy that her government has strongly supported. She added that government is committed to improving the working conditions of health workers across Liberia. The Dean of the IU School of Nursing, Ms. Marion E. Broome, speaking earlier, said she was glad that the partnership was about to realize a long-term dream,  and would remain committed to the collaboration to see that UL executes the program.  She renewed IU’s unflinching support to the development of the School of Nursing at the State-run University as their way of supporting President Sirleaf’s development agenda. The Head of the IU Kelley School of Business, Mr. Philip Cochran, said he was impressed at the progress made so far, describing it as “breathtaking” since his last visit to Liberia over a year ago. He expressed, on behalf of the IU Kelley School of Business, the hope that the partnership would benefit the three institutions and their respective countries as well. In separate remarks, UL President, Dr. Emmet Dennis, and JFK Medical Center Chief Administrator, Dr. Wvannie Mae Scott-McDonald expressed gratitude to President Sirleaf whose leadership created the enabling environment for the formation of the partnership. Dr. Dennis informed the President that the first admittance of students into the School of Nursing would commence September of this year at the UL. Dr. Scott-McDonald told President Sirleaf that the curriculum of the School of Nursing, although taking time to complete, is nearly concluded and will be ready for the September 2014 entry of students. The JFK Chief Administrator welcomed President Sirleaf’s suggestion that the current Tubman National Institute of Medical Arts (TNIMA) should serve as a feeder school to the proposed School of Nursing at the UL. She said this will erase the perception that government is about to close down the TNIMA and replace it with the UL School of Nursing. Students graduating from TNIMA’s three-year programs, when enrolled at the University of Liberia’s School of Nursing, will have only two years to obtain Bachelors of Science (BSc) degrees in their area of specialization. The first class is expected to graduate in 2016. The curriculum, according to Dr. Scott-McDonald, is structured in line with the West African College of Medicine program, with help from Indiana University, in order to remain on par with the sub-region and the rest of the world since the WACM is internationally recognized, New Dawn newspaper reports.

Related Caption: Ellen Receives 11 Member Indiana University Delegations (Heritage), Pres. Sirleaf Receives 11-Member Indiana University Delegation (The Analyst), UL to Open School of Nursing in September (Insight newspaper), Ellen Receives 11-Member Indiana University Delegation (Heritage newspaper)

ONE MILLION BABIES DIE ON THE FIRST DAY OF THEIR LIFE-SAVE THE CHILDREN

Save the Children, a leading children welfare organization says Liberia has lost 3,300 babies to preventable causes during labor and on their first day of their lives in 2012. According to the story, Save the Children report published on Tuesday, the first 24 hours of a child’s life are the most dangerous with more than one million babies dying each year on their first and only day of life.

The new report-Ending Newborn Deaths-shows one half of the first day deaths around the world could be prevented if mothers and babies had access to free quality health care and skilled birth attendant, according to the Insight newspaper.

Related story: Over 3,000 Babies Die During Labor-Report Reveals (The Inquirer)

Other stories

PRESIDENT SIRLEAF PRESSES FOR PASSAGE OF KUWAIT LOAN DEAL

President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf has written the Legislature to ratify the loan agreement between the Port of Greenville and the Kuwait Arab Economic Development barely two weeks after the appointment of  a Special Envoy to the Arab nation to lead government negotiation efforts on petroleum product. The US$14 Million project involves the rehabilitation works required to fully re-open the port of Greenville, shipwreck removal, construction of the port, roads, container yard and shoreline fence, according to the President in a communication to the legislature. The President told lawmakers that the project will also include service boat ramp, rehabilitation of the port buildings and utility networks, and the installation of security system and navigational aid. The project is also expected to include the procurement of marine’s crafts and Cargo handling equipment consultancy service for the design and supervision of the civil works and institutional support. “In view of the above and with the aim of bolstering economic activities along the southeastern corridor of Liberia, thereby contributing to the economic and social development of our nation, I ask for ratification of the loan agreement,” stated President Sirleaf in the letter dated February 17, 2014 and addressed to the House of Representatives in session, The FrontPageAfricanewspaper writes.

EGYPT NAMES MAHLAB NEW PRIME MINISTER

Egypt’s President has named outgoing Housing Minister Ibrahim Mahlab as the country’s new Prime Minister, Mahlab addressed the nation Tuesday and said he hopes to have a new government in place within the “next three or four days.” Mahlab, who was also an official in deposed President Hosni Mubarak’s national Democratic Party, gave a mostly jovial address on state TV, downplaying the critical issues facing the country, Journalists grilled him about Egypt’s security situation and the economy, and he gave mostly blunt answers. Presidential elections are widely expected to take place in April. Mahlab told journalists that he is to form his new government “within the next three or four days, God willing,” and he stressed that one of his priorities would be to “provide logistic and material support for the police,” the IN PROFILE DAILY reports.

AFELL ON WOMEN’S RIGHTS

The IN PROFILE DAILY top inside lead story reports that the President of the Association of Female Lawyer of Liberia (AFELL), Esther Seaton Cee, has demanded that women across the country be given full rights and equal social justice. Madam Cee made the statement Monday, at program marking the observance of the 20^th anniversary of the association; at the organization’s head office in Monrovia. According to her, every woman in the country must be given full rights and equal social justice because it is their basic fundamental rights as citizens of Liberia under the law of the country.

LAWMAKERS UNCERTAIN?

The New Dawn newspaper reports that questions are emerging here as to whether or not Liberian Lawmakers will survive a legal fight launched by loyalists of Executive Central Bank of Liberia Governor J. Mills Jones before the Supreme Court of Liberia. The primary objective of the legal battle is to overturn a hasty amendment of some provisions of the Act establishing the Central Bank. Amidst a citation by the Supreme Court for the appearance of the Legislature and its leadership in a conference today, the Senate Pro-Tempore of the Liberian Milton Findley described his state as confused over the early intervention of the high court. Senate Pro-Tempore Findley argued that the bill, which probates the Central Bank of Liberia or CBL Executive Governor for contesting any elected post or resign three years ahead of an election year, has not been signed into law by the President of Liberia, and printed into handbill by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to attract the intervention of the Court. The Grand Bassa County Senator noted that it was beyond his sense of thinking that the Supreme Court would intervene at this early stage, when in fact the process that should make the document legal material has not been completed, says the daily newspaper.

SUPREME COURT SUMMONS LEGISLATURE

The Supreme Court of Liberia has summoned the National Legislature to a conference slated for today. The disclosure was made Tuesday by Senate Pro-Tempore Gbehzongar M. Findley during session. Senator Findley did not provide reasons for the court’s citation but said the body will be represented by Senator Frederick Cherue of River Gee County and a legal counsel. It is not known what may have prompted the invitation however, it is believed that the action from the court to summon the legislature may have derived from the controversial passage of a bill which seeks to amend certain portion of the Central Bank of Liberia Act of 1999. The amendment of the CBL Act has sparked debate in the public domain, with some Liberians terming it as witch-hunt and intended to target certain individuals within government. Some visitors at the Capitol who spoke to our reporter believe that the court decided to call the legislature and the aggrieved party to a conference before the bill is approved by President Sirleaf, the News newspaper reports.

Related story: On Controversial CBL Amended Act: Supreme Court Cites Lawmakers (the Inquirer newspaper)

VICE PRESIDENT SEEKS UNITY IN LMA

Vice President   Joseph N. Boakai has urged the leadership of the Liberia Marketing Association (LMA) to forge a united front in order to move the association forward. Vice President Boakai observed that it is only when unity prevails within an organization that it can attain its development goals, noting that nobody would like to do business with an institution whose leadership is constantly in confusion.The News newspaper writes that the Liberian Vice President made the call Friday at the 2^nd National Convention of the LMA held at its head office in Rally Time Market in Monrovia.

BOAKAI URGES AGL LEADERSHIP TO BE COMMITTED

The News newspaper reads that Vice President Joseph N. Boakai has urged the new leadership of the Assemblies of God-Liberia (AGL) to remain committed in performing its duties. VP Boakai believes that good leadership will lead to success in its works as it presides in the house of God. He made the statement recently at the induction ceremony of the AGL new national leadership held at the Sinkor Assembly of God Church.

 Ambassador Boakai noted that commitment to serve in a leadership is something that leads to growth; therefore, he wants the leadership of AGL to focus on things that would lead the Church to the right path. Vice President Boakai indicated that true leadership also comes from the Church because it is where God recognizes truthful people to lead a nation or organization. He described the Assemblies of God Church as a hope to Liberia because, according to him, the Church has demonstrated true Christianity over the years. “I owed the Assemblies of God Church a lot because it is where I came from during my childhood days in Christianity, therefore, I will never forget the good of that institution towards my transformation in Christianity,” Vice President Boakai told the audience.  Also speaking at the occasion, the outgoing General Superintendent of AGL, Dr. Jimmy B. Kuoh said during his administration, there were lots of challenges including practices of tribalism among some members of the organization.  According to him, there was other crisis at AGL including confusion many times among members of the institution causing his leadership to face some difficulties. The outgoing Superintendent indicated that during his leadership, they worked harder to ensure that plans of the organization materialized in the interest of all members across Liberia. Dr. Kuoh said despite other challenges confronting AGL, the organization has managed to build 500 churches across the country. Dr. Kuoh stated that leadership is about working and promoting God’s image and his kingdom and not for self-promotion, something he claimed, others are doing. For his part, the newly inducted General Superintendent of AGL, Edwin A. Gbelly, said his leadership came at God’s time. He promised that the new leadership will work harder to ensure that the organization carries out more projects in the country.

COMMUNITY CONTRIBUTES L$71,000 TO RADIO PROJECT

According to the News newspaper, citizens of Sanniquellie-Mah District and its environs have contributed L$71,000 towards the construction of a modern structure to house their community radio. The community support followed the donation of a 300-watt transmitter and other radio equipment to the community radio station by the International Research Exchange Board (IREX) to improve its broadcast network. The News newspaper reports that the Board of Advisors and Management Team of the Institution held a dedicatory program last week at which time the equipment were turned over to the community dwellers.