The Bureau of Public Affairs

Ministry of Foreign Affairs

Monrovia, Liberia

DAILY NEWS SUMMARY FOR FRIDAY, APRIL 28, 2017

Today’s edition of our summary of the local dailies includes news of the arrival of Gambian President Adama Barrow on his two-day visit to Liberia, President Sirleaf’s address at the opening of the 14thAnnual West Africa Telecommunications Regulatory Assembly in Monrovia and the Defense Minister's disclosure of a halt of the May 1, 2017 planned eviction of occupants at the 72nd Barracks.

DOMINANT STORIES

Gambian President Adama Barrow Pays Two-Day Visit to Liberia

Gambian President, Mr. Adama Barrow has arrived in the country on a two-day official visit as guest of the Liberian government. The FrontPage Africa newspaper quotes a Foreign Ministry release as saying that President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, who is also Chairperson of the Authority of ECOWAS Heads of State and Government, was on hand along with officials of government and members of the diplomatic and counselor corps to welcome the Gambian leader to Liberia. Upon his arrival in the country, the Gambian leader held a meeting with Gambian residing in Liberia. Meanwhile, on Friday, April 28, Gambian President Barrow begins his day’s activities with a meeting with Ambassadors of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) and later hold a meeting with President Sirleaf at her Ministry of Foreign Affairs office for brief tête-a-tête. He departs the country later Friday evening, for Banjul, the Gambia.

Related Captions: Gambian President Says Thanks (Daily Observer), Gambia’s Barrow Meets Ellen (The New Dawn)

Ellen Opens Annual West Africa Telecommunications Regulators Assembly

President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf has opened the 14th Annual West Africa Telecommunications Regulatory Assembly in Monrovia.  She recalled that when the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) was organized many years ago, the main purpose for its formation has been to seek and promote political dialogue and settlement of various kinds amongst and between countries of the Sub-region.   According to an Executive Mansion release, President made the statement on Thursday, April 27, 2017, when she officially opened a two-day West Africa Telecommunications Regulatory Assembly Conference - at the Bella Casa Hotel in, Sinkor, which brought together delegates from ECOWAS Member States under the auspices of the Liberia Telecommunications Authority (LTA).  Speaking earlier, the Chairman of the West Africa Telecommunications regulatory Assembly (WATRA), Mr. Gaoo Gomes, said even though judging from what they have been experiencing over the years, it is difficult to protect the interests of consumers in the sector. However, he was quick to add that despite that - the key tasks of (WATRA) is to fight for the better and keep improving the sector with a view to protecting the interests of consumers, FrontPage Africa newspaper reports.

Related Captions: Ellen Detests Telecom Roaming Charges (The New Dawn), Ellen Wants WATRA Tackle ICT Gaps, Regulations (Heritage)

72nd Barrack Eviction Halted! Acting Defense Minister Discloses

Appearing before the Plenary of the House of Representatives Thursday, the Deputy Minister for Administration at the Ministry of National Defense, Minister Joseph Johnson, said the Commander-In-Chief (CIC) of the Armed Forces of Liberia (AFL), President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, has put a halt to the May 1, 2017 planned eviction of occupants at the 72nd Barracks. Min. Jackson statement was in adherence to a summoned communication to the Defense Ministry by the House of Representatives, backed by a communication of complaint to Plenary by Montserrado County District Five Representative, Thomas Fallah. Minister Joseph informed the House of Representative Plenary that the halt placed on the eviction by President Sirleaf is intended to discuss with the National Security Council with regards to how the eviction would continue, the In Profile Daily reads.

Related Captions: Prez Sirleaf Halts 72nd Eviction Order (Daily Observer), Stay Order On 72nd Eviction (The New Dawn), Eviction On Hold Pres. Sirleaf Issues Stay Order on Removal of Ex-combatants From 72nd Barracks (FrontPage Africa)

OTHER STORIES

UNMIL Departure Worries ECOWAS

Concerns surrounding the departure of the United Nations Mission in Liberia (UNMIL) in March 2018 were discussed last Wednesday in Abuja between the President of the Commission of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), Marcel de Souza, and the UN Undersecretary-General and Special Representative of the Secretary-General and Coordinator of United Nations Operations in Liberia, Farid Zarif. According to a release from Abuja, UNMIL’s departure is already underway with the drastic reduction in the United Nations’ civilian, military, and police components in Liberia. Marcel de Souza and Farid Zarif exchanged views on appropriate measures to ensure peace, stability, and security in Liberia after the final withdrawal of the United Nations, especially in light of the presidential election on October 10 this year. For the ECOWAS Commission President, elections in Africa are generally a period of risks, or unrest. To that end, he sued for the implementation of civilian and military actions by the regional organization with support from the United Nations, which will include assistance to Liberia’s Electoral Commission, deployment of a long-term ECOWAS Mission to work with the Commission on the voter register, joint ECOWAS-African Union-United Nations visit as well as sending soldiers to Liberia, reports the Daily Observer.

For Economic Growth, Others: Lawmaker Submits Bill to Partially Privatize Key Agencies

Grand Kru County Representative Numene T. H. Bartekwa has submitted to the House of Representatives a proposed Act seeking to establish Public Private Partnership (PPP) for three agencies of the Government of Liberia. The agencies include the Liberia Electricity Corporation (LEC), Liberia Water and Sewer Corporation (LWSC), and the Liberia Telecommunications Corporation (LTC). The LEC provides, distributes and controls the supply of electricity in the country; LWSC ensures the provision of pipe borne water to citizens, while the LTC provides public communication service to citizens. In a communication submitting the proposed Act to the House on Thursday, April 27, 2017, Representative Bartekwa noted that these agencies must be privatized to ensure efficient and effective delivery of basic social services to the Liberian people, the Heritage newspaper says.

Four Sentenced for Murder, Armed Robbery

The First Judicial Circuit Court of Montserrado has sentenced four men including: Alfred Sarplay, Tommy Nimley, Jerry Pauh and Anthony Sopah, for Murder and Armed Robbery. The court ruled on Thursday, sentencing Afred Sayplay to a 24-year high imprisonment at the National Palace of Corrections in Grand Gedeh County, and sentenced Anthony Sopah, Jerry Pauh, and Tommy Nimely to a 15-year imprisonment each. “The Act of the defendants, who are herein adjudged guilty, being a gross indifference to the life of Musa Kamara, defendant Alfred Sayplay is hereby sentenced to twenty-four years high imprisonment at the national Palace of corrections in Grand Gedeh County.”  According to the judge, the sentence is retroactive as of the date of the arrest  of these defendants, ordering Clerk of Court to make an entry of this final judgment and sentence and communicate with the executive branch to its effect, the In Profile Daily reads.

Immunization Campaign Intensified: 7th AVW Progresses

Liberia is among other African countries honoring the African Vaccination Week (AVW) celebration, with mounting calls for better healthcare for everyone against curable diseases, which if left inattended to can either cripple or lead to death. Though the AVW celebration was formally launched in Buchanan, Grand Bassa County on April 24, 2017, the weeklong event held under the auspices of the Ministry of Health with support from UN related organizations including WHO and UNICEF, withnessed another documentary program at the Duport Road Health Center in Paynesville on April 27, 2017, the In Profile Daily reads.

Liberia, Global Fund Deepen Partnership to Build Health Systems

President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf has outlined strategic areas of partnership between Liberia and the Global Fund, stressing the need to accelerate the process of building resilient and sustainable systems for health to prevent disease outbreaks. Liberia was the epicenter of the 2014 Ebola outbreak that claimed more than 11,000 lives cross West Africa. Meeting with Mark Dybul, Executive Director of the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, President Sirleaf cited the great value in investing strongly in health systems as a response to all diseases, including deadly outbreaks such as Ebola, the In Profile newspaper reads.

LEC To Introduce Smart Meters Soon

According to the Daily Observer, the Liberia Electricity Corporation (LEC) will introduce a new kind of electricity meter known as Smart Meter that can digitally send meter readings to energy suppliers and end power theft. The LEC said presently it loses 33 percent of its revenue to power theft. Mr. Adolphus Scott, External Relations and Corporate Coordinator at the LEC, told the Daily Observer in an interview in Monrovia last Wednesday that because the corporation is losing millions of United States dollars to power theft, the introduction of Smart Meters in Liberia will prevent such losses and enable the corporation to provide additional and effective services to consumers. He did not say how soon the smart meters will be introduced.  “Smart Meters are presently being used in Ghana, Nigeria and many other countries and Liberia is contemplating introducing the system very soon,” Scott said.

NOCAL Gives US$100K to Mental Health Company Says Its Part Of Social Responsibility Of Giving Back To Society

The National Oil Company has presented a check of US$100,000 to the Liberia Center for Outcome Research in Mental Health (LICORMH) as support to government, in an effort to reduce drug addiction and substance use disorder in Liberia. The money has been provided in partnership with TGS NOPEC’s an oil exploration company exploring Liberia for oil in commercial quantity. The US$100K project will be implemented in Montserrado and Margibi Counties. According to NOCAL the objectives of the project is among many things to address the rising rates of addiction in Liberia through provider capacity development.  The rationale of the project according Mr. Ambulah Mamey NOCAL’s Public education officer is to develop a short term plan to address issues of substance use disorders in Liberia, FrontPage Africa newspaper reports.

Liberia Benefits From US Military Cadet Program

From 161 countries that applied to benefit from the prestigious West Point Military Academy in the United States of America, Liberia is among 13 countries around the world selected. Scott Amos Collins, 22, is to represent Liberia. Collins, based on results from an aptitude test conducted by the West African Examination council (WAEC), was shortlisted by the Defence Ministry, among 16 other persons out of 152 applicants for the vacancy.  He was on Thursday 27 April, 2017 inducted into the Armed Forces of Liberia,( AFL) as an officer cadet at the Ministry of National Defence.  His admission qualifies him for a four-year degree in addition to military regimentation. He will be commissioned as a junior officer in the Armed Forces of Liberia upon his return. Upon successful completion of his studies, Scott Amos Collins will become the third Liberian to be trained by the Prestigious West Point Military Academy, which teaches graduates to become leaders, joining the ranks of Madison Tokpa and Fumba Sirleaf, FrontPage Africa newspaper reports.

Liberia Gets US$21.6M to Boost Feeder Roads South-eastern Region To Benefit

The Government of Liberia through the Ministry of Public Works Wednesday, April 26, 2017, signed a US$ 21.6 million agreement with the Sweden to support a third phase of the Swedish feeder roads project in seven counties.  The agreement will bring relief to citizens from the south eastern part of Liberia. The region has suffered from bad roads condition especially during the raining seasons.  The US$ 21.6 million contribution from the Swedish government is in support of a four year project titled “Liberia Swedish” Feeder road project phase 3. In the agreement the government of Liberia will provide funding of approximately US$ 8.7 million dollars for road maintenance through the new Liberia road fund.  The signing of the agreement held Wednesday between the Minister of Public works William Gyude Moore and Torbjorn Patterson Assistant Director General for Africa Affairs at the Swedish Embassy in Liberia is the third phase of the Liberia Swedish feeder roads project, FrontPage Africa newspaper reports.

President Sirleaf Breaks Ground For Construction Of Ministerial Complex

President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf has broken grounds for the construction of China-Aided Ministerial Complex and Capitol Building Annexes.  She termed execution of the two projects as a great relief for various ministries and agencies of the Government of Liberia, still operating from outdated buildings that do not meet current day reality. According to an Executive Mansion release, President Sirleaf made the statement on Thursday, April 27, 2017 at the construction sites of the former demolished Defense Ministry Building in Congo Town, outside Monrovia. The Liberian Chief Executive noted the contributions of former Chinese Ambassadors - Lin Songtian, Zhou Yuxiao and now Zhang Yue and acknowledged President Xi Jinping for working towards bringing to fulfillment the Ministerial Complex and Annexes at the National Legislature. Speaking earlier, Chinese Ambassador to Liberia, Zhang Yue, welcomed President Sirleaf and delegation for gracing the ground breaking ceremony, FrontPage Africa newspaper writes.

PUL Launches Media Council & Revised Code of Ethics for Journalists

The Press Union of Liberia (PUL) has launched the National Media Council & the Revised Code of Ethics for Liberian Journalists as part of efforts to enhance the Self-regulatory regime of the Liberian Media. Speaking at the occasion on Tuesday, April 25, 2017, in Monrovia, US Ambassador Christie Elder extolled the establishment of the National Media Council as a step in the right direction ahead of Liberia’s Elections in October. For his part, Press Union of Liberia President, Charles Coffey, Jr. warned that the National media Council will be proactive in Identifying and punishing violators of the Revised Code of Ethics for Liberian Journalists, the  INSIGHT newspaper reports.

PREVAIL Enrolls 46 Volunteers

The Partnership for Research on the Ebola Vaccine Study in Liberia or PREVAIL discloses here that the institution has enrolled additional 46 volunteers in phase five of its study. PREVAIL Co-lead on social mobilization and communication, Mr. Bartholomew Wilson, told reporters on Thursday, April 27, at the Ministry of Information’s regular press briefing in Monrovia that the institution’s presence in Liberia is as a result of the many lives that were lost during the outbreak of the deadly Ebola Virus Disease, which affected Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone.  He said in order to establish the cause of the outbreak, a West African Regional Consortium was formulated to share technology and collaborate efforts to develop a vaccine and therapeutics for Ebola.  Mr. Wilson discloses that on the 1st of April, PREVAIL started a vaccine study to assess three different vaccine tests and to find out which shows the most promise to prevent or quickly control future Ebola outbreaks in the sub-region, saying “This is an expansion of the vaccine study which started in February of 2015”,  the New Dawn newspaper asserts.