THE BUREAU OF PUBLIC AFFAIRS

Ministry of Foreign Affairs

Monrovia, Liberia

NEWS SUMMARY FOR FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 2, 2016.

Today’s edition of the Summary highlights news of Foreign Minister Marjon Kamara’s meeting with the Egyptian Ambassador, His Excellency Mr. Alaa Khairat Issa and the Head of the Mission at the African Union Liaison Office in Liberia, Mr. Prosper N. N. Addo, House Speaker Alex Tyler’s decision to recuse himself and the departure of 27 Liberians to Nigeria for a three-twelve-month short-term Meteorological Services Training in Lagos, Nigeria among others.  

DOMINANT STORIES

Foreign Minister Kamara Meets with Egyptian Ambassador Issa

The Ambassador of the Arab Republic of Egypt, His Excellency Mr. Alaa Khairat Issa has assured Foreign Minister Marjon Kamara of his country’s willingness to train Liberian Foreign Service officers learn the Arabic language. “It is possible to do it and the mechanisms exist,” Ambassador Issa assured. However, he noted the mechanisms for that is not specific to his country’s Foreign Ministry but through the educational scholarships his country provides Liberia annually. According to a Foreign Ministry release, the Egyptian Ambassador made the commitment when he met with Foreign Minister Kamara during a courtesy call where the two exchanged views on Egypt-Liberia relations as well as other issues. Responding, Foreign Minister Kamara said Liberia is pleased that the Arab Republic of Egypt very active on the international scene, especially occupying one of the non-permanent seats on the United Nations Security Council, and Liberia has high expectations about Egypt’s interventions in that very important world organization that deals with African issues, which is about 80 percent. Meanwhile, in a related development, Foreign Minister also met with Head of the Mission at the African Union Liaison Office in Liberia, Mr. Prosper N. N. Addo. During a courtesy visit, Mr. Addo said discussions are ongoing within the AU Peace and Security Council on President Sirleaf’s request to the AU Chairperson to reconsider the decision to transfer the AU Liaison Office from Liberia to Cote d’Ivoire. “I’m hoping that pretty soon we will get some information in that regard,” he said. Mr. Addo noted that whether AU continues to remain here or the office is transferred to Abidjan, the presence of AU is still assured and there will be an engagement to ensure that the consolidation of the peace in Liberia is guaranteed. “It is critical because as Liberia gears up for elections, the AU presence is critical; and going forward, Liberia is able to move on its own,” he said. Responding, Foreign Minister Kamara thanked Mr. Addo for all of AU support to Liberia especially during the Ebola crisis in Liberia. She hoped that until a decision is reached, they continue to collaborate and undertake those projects that they are currently engaged with, reports the FOCUS newspaper.

Related Captions: Foreign Minister Kamara Meets With Egyptian Ambassador Issa, Head Of Mission At The AU Liaison Office In Liberia, Mr. Addo(FrontPage Africa), Foreign Affairs Minister Kamara And Egyptian Ambassador Issa Confer(Daily Observer)

Speaker Tyler Recuses Himself

The two-month leadership crisis at the House of Representatives ended Thursday with Speaker Alex Tyler finally bowing to pressure to recuse himself from presiding over Plenary. Tyler told a press conference that he stepped aside in the interest of the nation. “The interest of the people remains supreme and as such I cannot continue to hold back the work of the National Legislature,” Tyler said. He has been under pressure from a majority bloc of the House to recuse himself from presiding over session owing to his indictment on criminal charges by the Grand Jury of Montserrado County, the FOCUS newspaper writes.

Related Captions: Speaker Tyler Recuses Himself(FOCUS), Protests End Tyler Era(New DEMOCRAT), Majority Bloc To Consecrate Chamber(The New Dawn), Speaker Tyler Out! (Daily Observer)In a related development, prior to the House Speaker’s decision to recuse himself, all entrances leading to the Capitol Building, seat of the National Legislature, were Thursday barricaded for hours as a result of a sit-in action by a group of women under the banner of Women in Peace-building Network (WIPNET). The women, who gathered in the compound of the Capitol Building prior to sealing the gates, said their action was intended to compel members of the National Legislature, particularly the House of Representatives, to bring the than leadership crisis to an end. The women contended that the crisis had the propensity to hamper not only legislative functions, but the operations of the entire government, the Focus news daily reports under the caption “Aggrieved Women Block Capitol over House Crisis”.

27 Off For Meteorological Service Training In Nigeria

Two females are among twenty-seven Liberians who are expected to depart  the country today to participate in a three-month to one year short-term Meteorological Services Training in Lagos, Nigeria as part of a US$6 million project managed by the UNDP. At a departure program held for them in the conference room of the Ministry of Transport yesterday, Minister Angela Cassell Bush said the program is geared toward setting up a meteorological center in Liberia, the INQUIRER writes.

Related Captions: Gov’t Strengthens Meteorological Sector(Daily Observer), UNDP Sponsors 27 Young Liberians To Study Meteorology in Nigeria(FrontPage Africa)

Liberia Tops UNICEF’s 10 Worst For Access To Primary School

The Daily Observer quotes the United Nations as saying that Liberia has the highest proportion of children missing out on primary school education with nearly two-thirds of its children never stepping inside a classroom. African countries hit by conflict featured prominently in UNICEF’s first global out-of-school ranking, with South Sudan coming second with Eritrea on the list. In both countries, 59 percent of children are out of school.  “For countries affected by conflict, school equips children with the knowledge and skills they need to rebuild their communities once the crisis is over,” UNICEF’s chief of education Jo Bourne said in the statement.  A crisis fund was launched in May at the World Humanitarian Summit to increase funding for children missing out on school due to war and natural disasters. Liberia, which emerged from two civil wars in 2003, temporarily shut its schools to stop the spread of the Ebola epidemic, which ended in June. The 18 million children in the 10 worst countries for access to primary school account for almost one third of the world’s 61 million primary school-aged children who are out of school, UNICEF said.

Related Captions: Worse Education Record-UNICEF Says Liberia Has Most Children Out Of School Worldwide(FrontPage Africa), Liberia Tops 10 Worst Countries For Access To School(New DEMOCRAT), Liberia Tops Worst Countries For Access To Primary School(FOCUS), Liberia Tops 10 Worst Countries Where Two-Third Of Children Never Enter Classroom(The New Dawn)

Commerce To Host MSME Conference Aims To Promote Women's Entrepreneurship

The Ministry of Commerce and Industry (MCI) has announced its 4th flagship annual Micro, Small and Medium Enterprise (MSME) conference to be held from November 15-18, 2016 at the Monrovia City Hall. At the Ministry of Information regular press briefing on Thursday, Deputy Minister for Small Tax, Andrew Payegar, announced that the conference which was initiated in 2013 to strictly respond to the four core challenges of MSMEs in Liberia namely; the access to finance, access to market, legal and regulatory reform and capacity building, will be officially launched this year by President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, the FOCUS says.

Related Caption: Commerce To Host MSME Conference…Aims To Promote Women’s Entrepreneurship(FOCUS)

OTHER STORIES

Liberia Congratulates Malaysian King, President of The Kyrgyz Republic

President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf has sent separate independence anniversary messages to the King of Malaysia, His Majesty Yang di-Pertuan Agong Abdil Halim and the President of the Kyrgyz Republic, His Excellency Almazbek Atambayev. The New Dawnnewspaper quotes a Foreign Ministry release as saying, in the message to the King of Malaysia, His Majesty King Abdil Halim, President Sirleaf hope that the bond of friendship so happily subsisting between the two countries will be further strengthened for the mutual benefits of both peoples. In a related development, the Liberian leader, in the message to her Kyrgyz counterpart, told President Atambayev that as Liberia and the Kyrgyz Republic work together in furtherance of peace, security, and global economic development within the context of the sustainable development goals, she prayed that the Almighty Allah will endow him with wisdom and strength as he leads his country to greater prosperity.     

Ministerial Complex Construction Starts Soon-Chinese Contractors In Town

The New Dawnnewspaper reports that a team of Chinese contractors has arrived in the country for the demolition of the existing new Defense Ministry structure in Congo Town – just opposite Peace Island where many had suggested the ministerial complex be built due to the available land space there. The demobilization of the huge structure, according to the Executive Mansion, will pave the way for the construction of the Ministry Ministerial Complex in Congo Town outside Monrovia.  According to the daily, the pronouncement was made during a meeting chaired by President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf at the Foreign Ministry on Capitol Hill in Monrovia. The ministerial complex is estimated at US$60m, to be funded by the Government of the People’s Republic of China. The Agreement for the project was signed four years ago by former Foreign Minister Augustine Kpehe Ngafuan – representing Liberia, and former Chinese Ambassador Zhou Yuxiao- representing the Chinese Government witnessed by President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Monrovia. The US$60m Agreement for the construction of the ministerial complex was reached with the aimed of reducing the huge expenditure undertaken by the Liberian Government in rentals for public buildings owned or managed by relatives and friends of some government officials.

Motor Accidents Kill 111

A police report says motor accidents claimed the lives of 111 persons, injured 851 victims and damaged 1,093 vehicles in Liberia out of a total of 790 cases recorded from January to 12 July this year. Vehicle occupants recorded the highest number of death toll during the said period. The report covered six of Liberia’s 15 counties including Montserrado, Margibi, Grand Bassa, Bomi, River Gee, Grand Gedeh and Bong. The accident statistics obtained from the office of Deputy Police Spokesman Mr. Lewis Norman showed that self-accident dominated the accidents chart, followed by hit-and-run incidents in which majority of the vehicles appeared to have no registration numbers. Police authorities have cited exceeding required speed limit by operators, reckless driving, lack of basic knowledge in road safety education for drivers and overloading of vehicles as some of the causes for such accidents, according to the New Dawn newspaper.

$4million World Class Slaughterhouse Opens In Careysburg

Today, Conex/M.D. Sow & Associates Enterprise Inc. unveils a newly completed; state-of-the-art slaughter house in Careysburg, Montserrado County, The Chief Guest, Minister of Agriculture, Dr. Moses Zinnah, will preside over the ribbon-cutting ceremony, which will be attended by other government dignitaries, key sector players and stakeholders from international development sector. Careysburg Slaughter House is the result of a four-year partnership between Land O’Lakes International Development and Conex/M.D. Sow & Associates Enterprise Inc. With funding from the American People through the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Foreign Agriculture Service, reports the Frontpage Africa newspaper.

PREVAIL SMC Ends August on High Note

The Social Mobilization and Communications Team at the Liberia-US Clinical Research Partnership, PREVAIL climaxed its month-long activities with the hosting of an impressive and much talked-about stakeholders conference in Kakata, Margibi County on Tuesday, August 30, 2016. The conference brought together hundreds of people from diverse backgrounds, INSIGHT reports.

USAID MOU Helps LTA

The New Dawnnewspaper say a Memorandum of Understanding has been signed between the United States Agency for International Development, (USAID) and the Liberia Telecommunications Authority (LTA). Under the MOU, USAID intends to provide financial and procurement support for the acquisition of spectrum monitoring equipment. The independent U.S. federal government agency also intends to provide acquisition and technical support through its primary implementing partner NetHope and stands ready to facilitate the training of LTA staff in the use and maintenance of the equipment. USAID Mission Director Dr. Anthony Chan said he was satisfied with the national regulators performance during the past year. In a detailed document outlining the collaborative participation of the two entities, strengthening Liberia’s access to and use of modern information and communications technologies to improve government performance, effectiveness and accountability is at the core. Signing on behalf of the Government of Liberia, LTA’s Chairperson Angelique Weeks stressed how urgently the equipment is needed.

Related Caption: USAID MOU Helps LTA(FrontPage Africa)

Firestone Liberia Lays Off Over 400 Due To Global Rubber Price Slum

According to Frontpage Africa newspaper, Firestone Liberia on Tuesday said it has now laid off a total of 432 staff as part of a targeted 500 redundancies in response to the sharp fall in the price of rubber on the world market. “Firestone Liberia will continue to implement a number of other measures to cut costs in its operation, including streamlining of the company’s business functions to reduce expenses, improving operational efficiencies, and discontinuing company employee-tapping operations in certain very old and low-producing areas of the concession”-Firestone Liberia statement.  “To date, we have made redundant 432 employees, 189 in August, and 243 in September,” Firestone Liberia, an indirect subsidiary of Bridgestone Americas Inc., said in a statement on Thursday.  Firestone will have to pay all laid off staff a severance package in conformity with the Labor Laws of Liberia and a collective bargaining agreement between the company and the Firestone Agriculture Workers Union of Liberia (FAWUL).

Related Caption: Liberia’s Firestone Lays Off 400 Workers(FOCUS)

USAID Showcases Farmers’ Products

The USAID Food and Enterprise Development activity (FED) is concluding its five years of operation with an Agribusiness Exposition under the theme: Building a food Secure Future in Liberia. The event is scheduled to take place on September 13 – 14, 2016 at the Monrovia City Hall. FED is funded by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) under Feed the Future, the U.S. Government’s global hunger and food security Presidential initiative active in 19 countries around the world, including 12 in Africa. FED operates in Liberia in close collaboration with Ministry of Agriculture, reports the New DEMOCRAT newspaper.

Liberia Set For Tunisia Decider On Sunday

Lone Star coach James Salinsah Debbah has named a 27-man squad for the Group A Day 6 crucial fixture away to Tunisia on Sunday, 4 September 2016 in Monastir. Liberia shares top spot with Tunisia on 10 points each, with the West Africans having the edge on the back of a lone goal win in the reverse meeting between the two sides last September in Monrovia.  As part of preparations for the decisive trip to Tunisia, the Lone Stars played a friendly with Morocco’s Team ‘A’ on 31 August 2016 in Casablanca to gauge their readiness before traveling to Monastir, writes the Daily Observer.