Ministry of Foreign Affairs

Monrovia, Liberia.

NEWS SUMMARY FOR TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 3, 2015

Today’s edition of our regular summary of the selected local dailies include President Johnson Sirleaf’s Proclamation declaring Thursday, November 5, 2015 as a National Thanksgiving Day and news of her just ended a two-day visit to Fujian Province, People’s Republic of China where she held talks with local officials as well as the 52.8Kilometers road project launched by the Ministry of Public Works in Nimba County.

Thursday Is National Thanksgiving Day

The New Democratnewspaper reports that President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf has by Proclamation declared Thursday, November 5, 2015 as a National Thanksgiving Day and is to be observed throughout the Republic as a National Holiday.The Proclamation calls on all Liberians and foreign residents, priests, imams, bishops, pastors clergies and all religious organizations in Liberia to gather together in their various places of worship to give thanks and praises to the Almighty God that His blessings and mercies may continuously rest upon the Nation and its people. A Foreign Ministry release quotes the Proclamation as saying that at this moment of the Nation's existence, the Liberian people are overwhelmingly confronted by a deadly Ebola disease which is wreaking havoc on the country and has cofounded the collective effort of the Nation and the international community to contain its effect, having already claimed the precious lives of more than 1,800 of persons. The Proclamation is in consonance with an Act of National Legislature which at its session in 1883 did enact a statute declaring the first Thursday in the month of November of each year as National Thanksgiving Day. The Proclamation further stated that it is befitting that a day be set aside for the Nation and its people to give thanks and adoration to the Lord for this dispensation of grace, mercy and providence for the preservation of the lives of its people to overcome the spreading of the pathogenic disease. According to the release, the people of Liberia have always given thanks and praises to the Almighty God for His mercies showered upon the Nation, especially for His continuous protection and blessing in time of peace, disaster and other natural phenomena upon the people of Liberia politically, socially and economically over the years.

Related Caption: Thursday Is National Thanksgiving Day(Heritage)

President Sirleaf Completes Visit to China’s Fujian Province  

Beijing, People’s Republic of China - President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf has ended a two-day visit to Fujian Province, People’s Republic of China where she held talks with local officials and toured a number of companies and factories involved with the manufacturing of varieties of fruit juices and canned food. Fujian Province is the home of the current President of the People’s Republic of China, H.E. Xi Jinping and former Chinese Ambassador to Liberia Lee Songtiang. According to a dispatch, the Liberia leader and delegation returned to Beijing Monday evening to continue with activities marking the second State Visit of President Sirleaf to China. She is expected to hold a number of private sector meetings with Chinese companies, attend a formal and official welcoming ceremony to be hosted by Chinese President Xi Jinping and hold official talks at the Great Hall. Three agreements are expected to be sign during the meeting including the Maritime Agreement with the PRC; an Agreement for Visa Waiver for holders of diplomatic passports and a Technical Cooperation Agreement for the construction of the Ministerial Complex in the tone of 300,000,000 RMB. The President and delegation will later be honored with a State Dinner to be hosted by the President of the People’s Republic of China, H.E. Xi Jinping at the Great Hall to conclude her visit to the world’s most populous country. The Liberian leader’s two-day visit to Fujian Province was intended to strengthen economic cooperation with the province and attract investors in the agriculture sector particularly fisheries and fruit juice production. She also used the occasion to further consolidate political cooperation and collaboration with the provincial government, reports that New Democrat.

Related Caption: Ellen Completes Visit To China’s Fujian Province(Heritage)

MPW Launches 52.8-Km Road In Nimba

The Ministry of Public Works has launched a 52.8Kilometers road project in Nimba County. The road, which is being executed under the auspices of the Swedish Government’s feeder road project, runs from Graie to Bellewalay Town near the Ivory Coast border. Speaking at the launch of the project, Deputy Public Works Minister for Feeder Roads, Isaac Paye, said when completed, the road will connect Kparblee district to the Nimba-Grand Gedeh highway.  He said the project is for six months, and added that the Swedish Government along with the Government of Liberia will execute similar project in Bong and Lofa Counties, respectively. Citizens at the ceremony thanked the Government of Liberia for embarking on the initiative, reports the New Dawn newspaper.

UNMIL’S New DSRSG Assumes Duties Here

The newly appointed Deputy Special Representative of the Secretary General for Political and Rule of Law to Liberia, Mr. Waldemar Vrey assumed his duties in Monrovia on Monday, 02 November 2015. According to a press release, Mr. Vrey previously served as Director for the Rule of Law and Security Institutions Group in the United Nations Assistance Mission in Somalia (UNSOM). He brings to his new position a wealth of senior management, political, rule-of-law, regional coordination and security-sector reform experience in the United Nations, having served since 2004 in political and peacekeeping missions in Burundi, Sudan, South Sudan and most recently in Somalia, respectively. He also served as Commander of South African peacekeeping deployments and as Chief of Staff of the African Union Mission in Burundi, according to the New Dawn newspaper.

LCP/Mercy Corps Launch ECAP-2

In its efforts to engage “communities” in continuing preventive health measures against the deadly Ebola Virus, the Liberia Crusaders for Peace has launched it second phase of the Ebola Community Action Platform (ECAP-2nd). Crusader for Peace launches ECAP-2^nd over the weekend at its local office in Senji, Grand Cape Mount County. The ceremony brought together hundreds of citizens and residents of the county as well as partners in the fight against the Ebola menace. The second phase of the Ebola Community Action Platform (ECAP-2nd) which is founded by USAID is intended to engage a wide network of Liberian NGOs and radio stations to bolster community preparedness against Ebola and other major infectious disease, according to the Inquirer newspaper.

U.S. Professors  begin Seminary Training for ELCL Pastors

According to the Inquirer newspaper, a three men team of professors from the Lutheran Church Missouri Synod (LCMS) from the United States is presently in the country as guest of the Evangelistical Church of Liberia (ELCL) and has begun a ten-day seminary training for Pastors of the Evangelistical Lutheran church of Liberia. The three visiting professors from the Lutheran Church Missouri  Synod in the United of America are Rev. Mark Maas, from the Shayamn Wyoming, head of the team, Rev. Gary Sears from Towa and Rev. Shawn Kumm,  Wyoming. The seminary training presently going on at the ELWA Guest House in Paynesville, outside Monrovia is being attended by 25 Pastor of the church in Bong, Grand Gedeh, RiverGee, Grand Bassa, Gbapolu, Montserrado, Nimba and Lofa counties.

Power Theft Persists: Another Youth, Electrocuted

According to the Daily Observer, the corpse of a 23-year man was discovered suspended high up from a high-tension LEC (Liberia Electricity Corporation) pole in the early hours of yesterday in the slum community of Buzzy Quarter in Monrovia. The deceased, known as Kaleko Kollie, had climbed the pole during the wee hours that morning to perform an illegal electricity connection for “a customer” and got electrocuted in the process. Kaleko’s death brought many onlookers to the scene, some expressing shock, yet sobered by the hard lesson learned, as they gathered under the light pole where the young man’s corpse hung. One of the onlookers described the death of the late Kollie as “unfortunate,” while a woman in the crowd of the onlookers recalled that Kollie’s electrocution brings to three the number of persons electrocuted in recent time. Emmanuel Kollie, father of the deceased, and an in-service teacher at the Teachers’ College, University of Liberia (UL), tearfully said: “It is hard to say, because a child who cannot hear can feel. I was studying late last night when he took pliers and said he was going to connect a customer. I advised him on many occasions, but he did not hear me until this morning we saw his lifeless body near the high tension LEC pole.” He said the late Kollie was one of four brothers. He leaves to mourn his girlfriend, Martha Tamba, his two year old son, and a host of relatives.

Related Caption: Man Electrocuted (New Democrat)

Local Based Lone Star Leaves For Dakar Wednesday

The local based senior national team the Lone Star, leaves for the Senegalese capital Dakar tomorrow, Wednesday, 4 November for the 2015 West African Football Union (WAFU) Nations Cup. According to the New Dawn newspaper, the tournament kicks off officially Thursday, 5 November and ends on the 11th, bringing together all 16 member countries in the regional competition. Liberia has been placed in Group 1 with host Senegal, Cape Verde, The Gambia, Guinea, Guinea Bissau, Mali, Mauritania and Sierra Leone, while Group 2 includes Benin, Burkina Faso, Ghana, Ivory Coast, Niger, Togo and Nigeria. The team is being headed this time around by Coach Joe Nagbe and assisted by Janjay Jacobs, writes the New Dawn newspaper.

Related Caption: U23 Lone Star For Dakar Wednesday--To Take Part in WAFU(Daily Observer)