The Bureau of Public Affairs

Ministry of Foreign Affairs

Monrovia, Liberia

DAILY NEWS SUMMARY FOR TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 6, 2018

News of President George Weah’s nomination of additional people to work in his government, his commendation to departing UNMIL servicemen and women for their sacrifices and bravery in sustaining the peace in Liberia and Vice-President Jewel Howard Taylor’s naming of Madam Florence Wayfa-Siafa as the new Executive Director of the Group of 77 are stories dominating today’s edition of our summary of the local dailies.

DOMINANT STORIES

Weah Makes More Appointments

The New Dawn newspaper quotes an Executive Mansion release as saying that President George Weah has made additional nominations in government affecting the Ministries of Health, Foreign Affairs, Information, Labor, State, Agriculture, Public Works and Justice. The daily says the President’s nominations also affected the Liberia Petroleum Regulatory Authority, National Port Authority, the General Services Agency, the Forestry Development Authority, Liberia Drugs Enforcement Agency, the Liberia Institute for Public Administration, the Liberia Petroleum Regulatory Authority, National Transit Authority and the Liberia Electricity Corporation, among others.

Related Captions: Weah Makes More Appointments In Gov’t (Heritage), New Appointments In Government- Weah Offers Soft Landing For Boakai’s VP Nuquay (FrontPage Africa), More Appointments In Government (INSIGHT), President Weah Makes Additional Appointments (In Profile Daily)

Weah Lauds Departing UNMIL Servicemen, Women

President George Manneh Weah has lauded departing UNMIL servicemen and women for their sacrifices and bravery in sustaining the peace in Liberia. “On a personal note, as President of the Republic of Liberia, when you return to your families, please secretly or openly say President Weah extends his thanks and gratitude for being so patient while you were away,” he noted. President Weah further wished the departing servicemen and women a blessed family reunion upon return to their individual families. He pledged his Government unflinching support and cooperation to the UNMIL Mission during their stay in Liberia. The Heritage newspaper quotes an Executive Mansion release as saying that, President Weah made the remarks on Monday, February 5, 2018 during a colorful send-off program held at the Mission’s Headquarters in Monrovia.

Related Captions: President Weah Lauds Departing UNMIL Servicemen, Women (INSIGHT), Weah Lauds Departing UNMIL Servicemen, Women (In Profile Daily), Liberia Appreciates UN Peacekeepers (The New Dawn)

Group Of 77 Gets New Head

Vice President Jewel Howard-Taylor has named Madam Florence Wayfa-Siafa as the new Executive Director of the Group of 77 on Newport Street. Madam Wayfa-Siafa, according to a press release from the office of the Vice president, replaces the wife of Ex-Vice President Joseph Boakai, Madam Katumu Boakai who headed the institution for twelve years. Speaking during her interactions with members of the disabled home, Madam Howard-Taylor asked members of the group to work with the newly appointed Executive Director to formulate new programs meant to address their plight, asserts the New Dawn newspaper.

Related Captions: VP Howard-Taylor Names New Head Of Group Of 77 (Heritage), VP Howard-Taylor Names Group Of 77 New Head (In Profile Daily)

OTHER STORIES

USAID, Others to Launch Liberia Development Conference Anthology Thursday

The United States Agency for International Development (USAID), the Embassy of Sweden and the University of Liberia will on Thursday, February 8, 2018, launch the Liberia Development Conference Anthology. U.S. Ambassador to Liberia Christine Elder, other members of the Diplomatic Corps and official of the Government of Liberia are expected to attend the ceremony. The INSIGHT newspaper reads that Anthology is a compilation of 39 analytical papers that discuss Liberia’s development challenges and opportunities.

Liberian Educators Undergo Country’s History Training

Several Liberian educators from across the country have benefited from a capacity building initiative focused on appreciating Liberian history through digital learning in Kakata, Margibi County. The 85 participants included teachers from junior and senior high schools, history departments of universities, recent graduates from the B-certificate in-service teachers’ trainee program and students from teachers’ colleges. The one-day training forum held on Monday, February 5,  organized by the University of Wisconsin-Madison in the United States of America in collaboration with the University of Liberia, KRTTI and the National Teacher Association of Liberia is being funded by the Carnegie Corporation of New York, USA. The Project Officer of the University of Wisconsin-Madison, Emmanuel K. Urey, disclosed that the training of the Liberian educators was to basically exposed them to a public history website titled “A Liberian Journey” (website) built through the collaborative efforts of the Center for National Documents and Records Agency in Liberia, the Center for History and New Media at George Mason University, University Liberian Collections, and the University of Wisconsin-Madison and funded by the National Science Foundation, reads the FrontPage Africa newspaper.

Related Caption: Liberian Educator Attend Liberian History Workshop (In Profile Daily)

GOL to Solve Problems at UL

The Government of Liberia assures the University of Liberia of its readiness to solve the institution’s registration problem which led to protests by students last Friday on two campuses of the university and parts adjacent. A UL press release says the assurance to digitize and automate the University’s entire registration system and provide resources to upgrade its ICT infrastructure to enable students and faculty perform regular academic functions digitally was made at an emergency meeting of the Board of Trustees of the University of Liberia held Saturday afternoon, February 3, 2018, on the Capitol Hill campus. The release says very high profile government officials attended the Board meeting, including the Minister of State for Presidential Affairs, Nathaniel F. McGill; the Minister of Finance and Development Planning, Samuel Tweah, Jr.; the Legal Advisor to President George Weah’s Counselor Archie Bernard and Minister of Education of Education-designate, Prof. D. Ansu Sonii, writes the New Dawn newspaper

Related Caption: Go Handle UL Crisis Senate Cancels Police Confirmation Hearing Over UL Students Protect (FrontPage Africa)

ECPF Focal Persons Map Out Coordination Strategies for Peacebuilding Action Plans

The Focal Persons of the 15 components of the ECOWAS Conflict Prevention Framework (ECPF) ended on the 1^st of February, 2018 their three-Day retreat where, among others, strategies were devised for the effective coordination and implementation of their Plans of Action. Themed: Collaborating Strategizing to Prevent Conflict in West Africa, the special Workshop which held in Goshen City, Nigeria, afforded the participants the opportunity to reflect on the current conflict dynamics, including major findings from the recently completed Conflict Risk and Vulnerability Assessments (CRVAs) as well as the Regional Trends in Human Security data and findings by the Early Warning Directorate, the Heritage newspaper.

Alpha Phil Alpha Inc. Inducts New Leadership

According to the New Dawn newspaper, the Alpha Phil Alpha Fraternity has inducted its new leadership. The officials who were inducted on Sunday, 4 February at the Corina Hotel in Sinkor include Bro. Nathaniel E. Kelvin president, Bro. William K. Morris vice president, Bro. Paul J. Hinneh Financial Secretary, Bro. Prince W. Kieh Treasure, Bro. Marcus S. Wleh, Recording Secretary and Bro. J. Alben Greaves, Chaplain. Addressing the audience on Sunday evening, the Master of Ceremony at the induction program Gerald B. Sherman said the fraternity was established on December 4, 1906 initially as a study and support group for minority students who faced racial prejudice, both educationally and socially, at Cornell. He says the Jewel founders and early leaders of the Fraternity succeeded in laying a firm foundation for Alpha Phi Alpha’s principles of scholarship, fellowship, good character, and the uplifting of humanity.