The Bureau of Public Affairs

Ministry of Foreign Affairs

Monrovia, Liberia

DAILY NEWS SUMMARY FOR TUESDAY, AUGUST 29, 2018

News of ECOWAS’  Plan to assessSDGS Implementation ; the recent Impeachment Bill passed by the lower House to remove Associate Justice  Ja’neh are among stories topping today’s  local dailies selected for our summary.   

ECOWAS Concludes Plans To Assess SDGS Implementation  

The leadership of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) says it has concluded plans to assess the state of implementing the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), and Poverty Reduction in West Africa. In order to carry out this activity, the ECOWAS Commission in Abuja, Nigeria, will send technical delegations to all member states in August, and September, 2018, to collect existing documentations, and latest socioeconomic data on SDGs and Poverty from 2010 to 2017 in all member states. In a communication from the ECOWAS Commission to Finance and Development Planning Minister Samuel D. Tweah, the Mission to Liberia is scheduled from August 29-31, 2018, and will be led by Christopher Ajaero, Department for Macro-economic Policies and Economic Research. According to a Release from the ECOWAS National Office in Monrovia, members of the ECOWAS data collection Mission will hold a working session with team from the Ministry of Finance and Development Planning on Thursday, August 30, 2018, and also interact with other national and international stakeholders involved in monitoring the SDGs and Poverty Reduction in member states. .reads that InProfile Daily.

Related Caption:ECOWAS to Assess Implementation of SDGs, Poverty Reduction(Daily Observer)

Impeachment Bill Passed, Ja’neh on Edge-House passes Bill for impeachment, As Senate set to extend session for the impeachment trial

The INSIGHT newspaper reports that The House of Representatives yesterday, August 28, 2018, during the 52nd day sitting of the 54th Legislature voted to pass a Bill of Impeachment against Associate Justice Kabineh Mohammed Ja’neh. Chief Clerk Mildred Sayon has since, yesterday, submitted the approved Bill of Impeachment and the Rules and Procedures for all Impeachment of President, Vice President, members of the Supreme Court and Judges of Subordinate Courts to the Senate. County Legislative Caucus are said to have walked out of Tuesday’s session as well as Lofa County District #5 Representative Beyan Howard and Grand Bassa County District #4 Representative Vincent Willie, also walked out in solidarity with their Nimba County colleagues.

West Africa Tax Officials Train In Monrovia

According to the New Dawn newspaper, A three-day Taxpayers Service Training for revenue authorities in West Africa opens in Monrovia About35 participants from tax administrations across West African countries including Liberia, Ghana, Nigeria, Benin, Burkina Faso, and Gambia among others are participating in the ongoing training, which kicked of Tuesday. According to a press release, the exercise organized by the West African Tax Administration (WATAF) in collaboration with PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) and the Liberia Revenue Authority (LRA) serving as hosts, seeks to augment skills of taxpayer service attendants in ensuring effective customers relations. It is being held on the theme: “Enhancing Voluntary Tax Compliance Through Effective Taxpayer Service”, discussing ways to formulate strategies for the development and implementation of effective taxpayer services.

WFP, Partners End Smallholders Workshop In Bong

The World Food Programme (WFP) Liberia in collaboration with the Government of Liberia has ended a two day Agriculture Development Project workshop in Bong County. The workshop was held through the Ministry of Agriculture and Samaritan Purse International Relief, to enhance project implementation and smallholder food production skills of stakeholders. Included in the workshop were cooperating and implementing partners, local government counterparts and beneficiaries. Speaking in an interview with this paper, the Program Coordinator of WFP Mr. Michael Musili Nzau stated that the project is aimed at supporting smallholder Farmers in Bong County in promoting resilience agriculture practices for staple food production. According to Mr. Nzau, the initiative seeks to support vulnerable women and youths from approximately 1,200 households with the goal to organize them into viable agricultural producer groups. Pens the INSIGHT newspaper

Related Caption:WFP, Partners End Agriculture Development Workshop In Bong(The New Dawn)

GT Bank MD Arrested for ‘Assault’ CBL suspends him for time indefinite

The Daily Observer has reliably gathered that officers of the Liberia National Police (LNP) are holding Ayodeji Bejide, managing director (MD) of Guaranty Trust Bank (GT Bank) Liberia, in custody on the charge of physical assault against an employee of the bank. Due to the severity of the wounds he inflicted on Edward Freeman, the assaulted employee who was on active duty, police will subsequently forward Bejide to court for prosecution. On Tuesday, August 28, a video shared on Facebook shows Mr. Freeman bleeding from his lips in Bejide’s office after Bejide reportedly threw a calculator at him, allegedly wounding him on his lips. After reportedly wounding Mr. Freeman, Bejide was heard in the video telling the employee to calm down, threatening to dismiss him if he made any further comment. Mr. Freeman then walked out of Bejide’s office at the end of the video. The GT Bank MD, who is a Nigerian, is said to be in the constant habit of insulting employees, a situation which has led to series of resignations at the bank. CBL’s Statement A statement issued last evening by authorities of the Central Bank of Liberia (CBL), announced that Bejide has been suspended for time indefinite from the bank, with immediate effect and without pay, “pending a thorough investigation by the Board into the allegations.

Minister Tweah to Speak at Harvard Ministerial Forum

Harvard Ministerial Leadership Program (HMLP) in the United States has invited Samuel D. Tweah, Finance and Development Planning Minister, to contribute to a special Harvard Ministerial Round-table on Human Development Policy Innovation in Johannesburg, South Africa. According to a publication from the Daily Observer Newspaper, The forum, which will be held from November 25-27, 2018, will convene a select group of about 15 serving finance, economic planning, education, and health and youth ministers, together with a similar number of outstanding young African leaders. In a communication to Minister Tweah, HMLP said the aim of the three-day conference is to combine far-thinking political leaders with smart young Africans, leading the way for their generation to develop substantive ideas for innovation in human development policy and fresh approaches to the major challenges impeding prospects for a demographic dividend.

Lıght Internatıonal School System celebrates Eid

The New Dawn newspaper reads that Resıdents of Sinkor community last week benefited from huge quantities of cow meet distrıbuted among them by officials of the Lıght International School system. Speaking on behalf of the Lıght International School System, Madam Jeroline Wright acknowledges that the distribution of cow meet among Liberians during every year Eıd (Abraham day’s) celebration has been going on for more than eight years. Madam Wrıght saıd members of the Turkish community in Liberia are always in prayer for unıty among them as foreigners and the Liberian people and they are committed to humanitarian activities in the country. Says Madam Jeroline “The Turkish people in Liberia are committed to humanitarian activity and every year especially during their Abraham Day’s celebration, they always slaughter cows and distributed it among residents of this Sinkor community and all over Monrovia but made it clear that the distribution is based on humanitarian reason and not for only members of the Muslim communıty or the less unfortunate.”

LMA Officials Suspended

After more than 6 months of wrangling, claims and counterclaims in the Liberian Marketing Association, the Government of the Republic of Liberia, through the office of the Vice President has with immediate effect suspended three official of the Liberian Marketing Association. According to the release, the three suspended officials are Madam Alice Yeebahn, President; Mr. Abraham Barchue, Vice President; and Madam Lawuo Hiami, Assistant Secretary General. The decision to suspend the three officials came as the result of perennial allegations of corruption, financial mismanagement, misappropriation of resources and other acts inimical to the existence of the Association. The Inquirer newspaper reports

VIMCEC Donates To Orphanage

The Virginia Immigrant Multi-Culture and Empowerment center (VIMCES) a united states-based organization has donated several books, cane food, used clothes, book bags among others to the Hope of Life Orphanage. The donation was made over the weekend at the Hope of Life Orphanage in Tokpah Town Old Road. According to the Executive Director of VIMCEC, Mr. Julius Brown, when he visited the Hope of Life Orphanage Home in 2016, he saw the need of helping the orphanages and promised to stand by them in supporting the orphanages in any direction. The Inquirer newspaper writes.

Finance Minister wants Exports On Rubber Reduced

…….As LBDI Concludes Rubber Sector Forum

Finance, Development Planning Minister, Samuel D. Tweah has stressed the need for the reduction of exports on rubber so as to add value to the commodity. Speaking at a one-dayrubber sector forumorganize by the Liberian Bank for Development and Investment ( LBDI) recently, minister Tweah called on the private sector to coordinate with the Government of Liberia in providing a cordial relationship that would in the end enable government’s support to the private sector thus creating more jobs and reducing burden on the Government. Says the Inquirer newspaper.