What Can We Do Positive?

"Jeadpo–Sorbo Statutory District?”

2013-09-15T13:15:00.000-07:00

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723 Tyson Avenue

Philadelphia, Pa 19111

215 500 8821

September 15, 2013

Dear Honorable Aaron J. Manneh:

I present my compliments, and pray that all is well with you and your wonderful family.

My Honorable senior brother, I have read your piece below, and I notice too much anger in you about three main things:

1. Jedepo’s departure from a “Jedepo/Sarbo Statutory District” which, according to you, had been passed into law by one of our many war-time transitional governments;

2. Relocation of the seat of the “Jedepo/Sarbo Statutory District” from your beloved town, Doodwicken;

3. Your alleged connection to (or support for) the deadly and demonic force ironically named Liberia Peace Council (LPC) during the Liberian civil war.

Big brother, I am wondering if the important issues you raised can be resolved with the level of anger I see from your writing. Whatever your answer may be, here are my two cents on the three issues:

Your alleged LPC connection

The Dugbe River Union was founded long before the war. As you are fully aware, I was its founding Secretary-General while the late Adam Tefleh (then of the Bureau of Immigration & Naturalization) was the organizing Chairman. It was during our Administration and advocacy that the Jedepo/Jlay Statutory District was created.

You and the late Honorable McCully Chenteah Wleh were among the strong pillows upon which DRU rested comfortably. The headquarters of the District were in Doodwicken/Jarboeville. The first Superintendent was J.W. Nyenswah McCully, who is the current Representative of the Jedepo/Jlay Electoral District (Sinoe County Electoral District Number 2).

I was in Monrovia, next door to your house, throughout the war (except for the one that drove Taylor out in 2003 when I was already in America). I am not aware that you were EVER A PART OF ANY WARRING FACTION, be it LPC, AFL, NPFL, INPFL, LOFA DEFENSE FORCE, ULIMO-K, or ULIMO-J. Also, from its founding in 1984 to date, I am not aware of any war activity by the Dugbe River Union, of which you now appear to be the Secretary-General “for life.”

Sarbo/Jedepo Statutory District

I am not aware of the creation of any Statutory District called Jedepo/Sarbo. Be that as it may, I think we should all follow any political road that elevates Jedepo, whether in collaboration with other tribes or on its own. We should care less about a particular location for the capitol city of anything (county or district) of which Jedepo is a part.

District seat

As a life-long democrat, I subscribe to the tendencies of participatory democracy, mainly majority rule, in decision-making. This rule is not new. It is as old as Planet Earth. Jedepo has five solid traditional quarters, and decisions about the area are made collectively, with the majority taking the day.

If majority of the Jedepo people decide to take their capitol into the Atlantic Ocean, I disagree with any fight about that, especially if the fight is based solely on maintaining a previous decision that had identified a particular spot (Saybliah, my lovely town) as the Capitol.

Can we remember that Washington, DC is not the first capitol of America? I am told Philadelphia was. Today, it has moved to DC. How many blows have Pennsylvania thrown at anyone for moving the seat?

What Jedepo needs

Jedepo needs a road, Jedepo deserves a road. Jedepo needs modern schools, and Jedepo deserves modern schools. Jedepo needs modern health care facilities, and Jedepo deserves modern health care facilities. Jedepo needs safe drinking water facilities, and Jedepo needs safe drinking water facilities. Jedepo needs electricity, and Jedepo deserves electricity in these modern days.

Jedepo needs many more facilities that put us on par with our fellow human beings in these civilized days. For me, these things are much more important than whether my town becomes the capitol city or the tail city of Jedepo. These are the things I had in my when I took the leadership of JETCO/USA to see my friend, President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf, in New York in 2010. These are still the same things for which I am taking the Vice President (first) and the President of Liberia (second) to Jedepo later this year.

This capitol city business is too petty, and I expect NO serious Jedepo citizen from any Jedepo town to waste my/his/her time on it.

I will waste no precious time on frivolous discussion about district seat. If Jedepo can get a district status in its own name, why should it be compulsory for Jedepo to be tied to Sarbo or Bosar or Jlay or Layjlay?

Just my two cents, Sir. By the way, please hurry up and return home. The soup for all this dumboy is in Jedepo, NOT in the USA and NOT in Monrovia. I spent my last Christmas and New Year in Doodwicken, my adopted home town, and Saybliah, the home town of my birth.

God bless…!!!!

Sincerely,

Jay Nagbe Sloh
Jay Nagbe Sloh
Paynesville, Liberia
(231) 886 315 022 / 777 679 900I pray for eyes that see the best in others, a heart that forgives the worst in others, a mind that allows me to forget the bad things in my life, and a soul that keeps up my faith.

In a message dated 9/15/2013 1:51:30 P.M. Greenwich Standard Time, nyenpan@sbcglobal.net writes:

Ladies and gentlemen:

I am doing a favor for those of us who cannot open this document for any reason(s). I have no hand in it. Please read it and note that I do not have any comment because I am a little "BOY" who wants to live and see my great-grand-children tomorrow.

The Jeadepo National Conference

In the United States of America

Ladies and Gentlemen:

When I appeared before this body as your Keynote Speaker for just a year ago and spoke and highlighted series as contributing factors which undermined the peace and unity of the people of Jeadepo for decades and continues to keep us backward in term of development and progress. As an eminent citizen, I came here with open mind and not to pretend that all is well when indeed that is not the case. We should not lose sight of the divisive tendencies that have been displayed among the people of Jeadepo. If not checked, this would continue to undermine the peace, unity, and development aspirations of the people of Jeadpo. That said I pinpointed to number of issues; if not addressed it could hamper the peace, human understanding and the development of the tribe of Jeadpo.

The people of Jeadepo in collaboration with our sister tribes jointly petitioned the Liberian Government for a Statutory District to be styled and named “Jeadpo –Sorbo Statutory District,” maintaining its seat in Doodwicken City being the original Headquarters of Kpanyan Statutory. The Jeadepo-Sorbo petition received the collective blessings and endorsement of the tribal authorities of Jeadpo, including then the Superintendents of Kpayan District, Superintendent of Sinoe County on one hand; and Central Administration of the Internal Affairs Ministry on other. The petition was then forwarded to the then Interim Legislative Assembly where it was deliberated and passed into law, creating the Act what is now as known as the Jeadepo /Sorbo Statutory District. While the Jeadepo/Sorbo Statutory Act had been printed into a handbill at the Ministry of Foreign, there came another dubious and divisive act styled as Jeadpo Statutory District to the utmost surprise of the petitioners of the Jeadepo-Sorbo Statutory District.

The improper detachment of Jeadpo from original petition without the input and knowledge of the entire citizens of Jeadepo and Sorbo had been viewed as a legislative scandal that required inquiry; creating a parallel act to be styled as Jeadepo Statutory District, contravening the collective agreement our people reached among themselves. Something that we need to be pursues to avoid it happening from among us in the future. Some elements within this council have engaged in acts which have the tendencies of dividing the people of Jeadepo instead of uniting them. This is causing confusion, and taking us backward of the hard earned agreement our people reached among themselves for the sole purpose of sustaining peace, unity, development and progress, including our neighboring sister tribes. Let it be known that any development whether it is a political autonomy must be built on diversity and required the collective consensus of the entire citizenry of that region. No one section should be marginalized because of their minority status. As a former staffer at the Senate Wing at the Capitol from 1986 to 1987 I do have a working knowledge and experience as to how petitions or counter petitions are fashioned on the legislative floor into a bill. There is a legislative procedure that is required, if there was any problem found with a given petition and a need for adjustment or amendment needed to be made that particular lawmaker who is sponsoring that petition must refer or consult with petitioners to that given petition before a change or correction is to be made on said petition. There shall be no unilateral change to a said petition without the input and knowledge of the entire petitioners as it was done in this instant case. This particular case under discussion had fallen short of this procedural question and later considered as illegal and be treated as null and void. I therefore urge each citizen of Jeadpo to get involved on issue that will unite our people rather than get involved on issue that will divide them. The collective decision reached by council of chiefs and elders of Jeadpo signed in black and white should not be altered by any means. As we continue to take counsel from outside influences whose aims and purposes to get us (Jeadpo people) divided as years old tactics which deprived Jeadpo of many meaningful developments over the years. Let me restate that, whatever was given to one section of Jeadpo for over 22 years, to be specific given to Doodwicken and again reconfirmed in the Jeadpo Sorbor Statutory District petition and printed handbill must not have be altered. Those who made the change for the purpose of removing what was given to Doodwicken are held accountable of the division and disunity within the council at this time and at the home front.

I seize this occasion once more as I did during my first visit in the United States in 1998 when my attention was invited by this council if I had any role with the LPC during the civil war. I repeatedly told this council that I had no relationship or role with any armed factions in the Liberian civil conflict. My constant condemnations as my personal opinions and that of my advocacy group (Dougbe River Union). It was Hon. Kleyon Chea that told me of some group of Sinoe citizens were meeting in Postal Affairs Ministry and making plans to rescue Oscar Quiah from Sinoe. I intend to use the occasion to dismiss such notions once more been held in some quarters: Aaron Manneh never ever lent any support to any armed factions. As Secretary General of the Dougbe River Union, as Chief spokesperson for that Advocacy Group remained opposed and continues to oppose to any violent means as ultimate end to settle our political differences in Liberia. Dougbe River Union remains opposed to human rights abuses by all factions in the Liberia civil war. I am not surprised of this negative stereotyping name with the aim to paint my good name and all my good services rendered and continue to render the people of Jeadepo over the years. Even if meant flying a grieved or lost Jeadpo citizen back home from Greenville to Jeadpo Jarpuken.

. When I briefed Amanda Potepa Administration, Hon. Kleyon Chea was in attendance. Reemphasizing that it was Chea who drawn my attention that a group of Sarpo citizens were making plans to go Sinoe County to rescue Oscar Quiah. It was Hon. Kleyon Cheah who told me when he paid me a visit at the Ministry of Internal affairs. Kleyon Cheah asked if City Mayor Amos Tarpeh told me anything. I told him no. Then Cheah briefed me of what Sarpo people were making plans to go on a rescue mission for Oscar Quiah their tribal member. And these meetings were held at the Ministry of Post and Telecommunications. According to Mr. Chea who attended some of those meetings advanced my name but my name was rejected on grounds that if Aaron Manneh was in the know he would expose our plan to President Dr. Amos Sawyer and President would let ECOMOG know. Thank you.

Aaron

A ‘Very Sick Bastard’: Lebanese Man Video Taped Sex Act With Liberian Girls, Ages 7-15

2013-08-28T23:56:00.001-07:00

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Written by Wade C.L. Williams, wade.williams@FrontPageAfricaonline.com; Tecee Boley, tecee.boley@frontpageafricaonline.com

Thursday, 18 April 2013 23:01

“It beats our own imagination as to why a man of 43 years will get involved in such and not even someone above 18 but children as young as 7, 9, 10, 11, 12 and he’s having this sexual rendezvous with them- everybody in the room at the same time, lying all over the place – and video taping it at the same time.”- A Source at the LNP, speaking on condition of anonymity Thursday.

Monrovia – In what some are describing as the most sickening news out of post-war Liberia, a Lebanese national, Mr. Jafar Bashir, 43, is currently in the custody of the Liberia National Police facing a cloud of allegations that he has been involved in the raping of young Liberian children within the age range of 7, 9, 10, 11, 12 and 15.
Mr. Bashir, according to police, videotaped his encounters with the young children. FrontPageAfrica has gathered that investigators of the LNP are currently going through the home-made videos to gather more evidence against Bashir.
“What he was doing was having sex on video and making pornographic movies of the kids. The investigation has reached a point of conclusion by the police and he has been charged for rape, sexual assault on minors, pornography and gang rape,” a senior LNP official, unauthorized to speak about the case told FrontPageAfrica Thursday.

The Xpert Garage said to be owned by the suspect Bashir was nearly deserted when a FrontPageAfrica reporter visited the site Thursday. Authorities say Jafar Bashir allegedly lured girls as young as 7-years-old into his home and videotaped his sexual encounters.

The source said the process is now underway to have Mr. Bashir appear before court to answer to the charges before him.
“We have video evidence to prove our case. It beats our own imagination as to why a man of 43 years will get involved in such and not even someone above 18 but children as young as 7, 9, 10, 11, 12 and he’s having this sexual rendezvous with them- everybody in the room at the same time, lying all over the place.”
The source told FPA that the LNP was able to move in on Bashir, on the basis of intelligence. “He was caught and admitted to the crime because we have video evidence.”
Continued to LNP official: “We are concerned about minors being abused. At this time we would like to appeal to parents to watch the movement of their children, because the police will only get at the end point of it, meaning that even though we have arrested this guy, the damage has been done.”
The official wondered what more society can do to prevent the damage. “The only thing we can do is to caution parents to watch the movement of their children.”
Another young man was also arrested because, according to police, he tried to interfere and prevent police for carrying out the arrest.
The man, whose name has not been released, has been charged with obstruction of law and both were expected to appear in court Thursday.
Police say, the Bashir has been committing the crimes over time and has been successful in abusing a good number of children within the area. “We are talking about pretty close to ten or twelve kids; that’s the ones that we can recall. We want to strongly believe that the victims are many.”
Gender Ministry on top of case
In observance of International Women’s Day this year President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf declared zero tolerance on sexual Gender Based Violence. But it seems there are some are finding it hard to live by the president’s pronouncement.
Gender Minister Julia Duncan Cassell contacted Thursday confirmed to FPA that her ministry was in the process of gathering information and will respond appropriately.

FrontPageAfrica has gathered that investigators of the LNP are currently going through the home-made videos to gather more evidence against Bashir.

A team from the ministry reportedly visited the Police Central Station Thursday to ensure that the case involving Bashir was not compromised and also to get information on how they can visit the victims.
Our source said the head of the Women and Children Protection Vera Mendy is under serious pressure from authorities for exposing the Bashir.
In Battery factory where Bashir runs his Xpert Garage Thursday morning, the business was deserted. A FrontPageAfrica reporter who visited the area saw about ten old cars parked and a huge pile steel rod on a concrete floor.
A man appeared to be guarding the premise gazed at the reporter as he collected a broom and started to sweep the front yard.
“I don’t know what happen o… plenty police people came here yesterday and carry my boss man. Since they go he not come back yet.
And all the big big people not come to work yet … so we can ask them.” the security who refuse to give his name to our reporter.
Like the police, neighbors in the Battery Factory community were tightlipped about the alleged molestation of young children by Bashir. For years, since the end of the civil war, the issue of rape and child abuse has been rampant in Liberia.
Children bearing scars
The Bashir report comes in the wake of a new report by the charity Group, Save the Children which reports that the majority of victims of rape and other sexual violence in many of the world's conflict zones are children.
The report is based on data and testimonies from several countries including Colombia, Liberia and the Democratic Republic of Congo. The issue is being discussed by foreign ministers of the G8 group this week.
The Save the Children's report, Unspeakable Crimes Against Children, says figures from a range of countries affected by conflict over the past decade show that children are often the majority of sexual abuse victims in war and its aftermath.
According to the report, a study in Liberia - still recovering from civil war - found that 83% of victims of gender-related violence in 2011-12 were below 17 and almost all of them were raped.
In post-conflict Sierra Leone more than 70% of sexual violence cases seen by the International Rescue Committee were girls under 18, and more than a fifth of those were girls under the age of 11, the report says.

- See more at: http://www.frontpageafricaonline.com/politics/42-politics/5787-a-very-sick-bastard-lebanese-man-video-taped-sex-act-with-liberian-girls-ages-7-15.html#sthash.EId8iSjM.dpuf

Eight years Down the Road, A Corrupt Government under Ellen's Watch

2013-08-28T23:53:00.003-07:00

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Written by Martin K. N. Kollie, Contributing Writer

Saturday, 24 August 2013 11:36

Eight years Down the Road, A Corrupt Government under Ellen's Watch

The Editor,

Every time I go to bed and wake up, array of questions pertinent to Liberia’s current economic, political, and social status keeps flowing through my mind. I wonder where our future is heading in the midst of endless uncertainties. Then it brings me to a fearless and courageous arena to query our Head of State who takes greater responsibility for the untold suffering of the Liberian people. The gap between poor and rich citizens in Liberia continues to expand under Africa’s first elected female President even after approximately 8 years of peaceful and democratic rule.

Hardship is the most frequent word on many lips in Liberia. Our people are disrobed of their national dignity, pride, and self-esteem each day because the cancer of corruption keeps hunting them down. Their hope for a brighter destiny is yet too far from realization under a group of unpatriotic stewards and self-seeking economic migrants. The shackles of today have surpassed yesterday and every single attempt to reclaim a prosperous tomorrow seems illusive. How long will we blame our underdevelopment on civil war even after10 years of uninterrupted peace? Are we the only country that has been affected by civil unrest?

Papa is yet to reach home because times are hard and mama is forced to abandon the kids each day in search of family survival. Prostitution nowadays is the only option for unskilled young women. If we must be real to our consciences and people who we claim to represent, it is time to recognize our faults and take accurate actions to eliminate them. It pains me every second when politicians misuse public offices for personal gains while a university student whose dream is to become a Mining Engineer does not have text books and adequate support to pursue his ambition.

Madam President, it has been barely 8 years since you publicly pronounce to the world that CORRUPTION would be public enemy number one in your government; unfortunately, anyone can now believe that your declaration was just another mere tale intended to politically romance most Liberians. I sat very close to my radio that afternoon on January 16, 2006 in an anxious and excited mood to listen to your sweet inaugural address with several good plans for Liberia, but later did I know our present situation would have been contrary to what you said. Many people, including myself saw you as a champion of change when you were sworn into office as Liberia’s Chief Executive, but today your administration has deliberately crucified public trust and confidence. Basic social services are still far from reaching a girl child who lives in Blemieplay, Nimba County. Quality education in urban and rural communities is a major challenge as tuition fees continue to increase at private institutions. Academic malfeasance at higher institutions of learning remains an incurable virus with little effort to promote intellectual competition and academic excellence. Our closets are filled with empty promises and pledges! We gained independence 166 years ago, but yet we are economic slaves and political scapegoats in our own territorial boundary.

The shift of our economy is dictated and directed by foreigners and aliens. What are we doing Madam President to reduce hunger as 44 percent of child deaths in Liberia are associated with malnutrition? 64 percent of Liberians live below the poverty line, of whom 1.3 million live in extreme poverty. With a very rich soil in Liberia, food insecurity still affects 41 percent of the population. Are we fair to ourselves as public servants when we sit in our air conditioner offices and comfortable vehicles and see an old lady selling cold water from morning to night just to provide for her grandchildren? Unemployment among the youth remains very high and a major challenge for the government. Blowing political horns of providing 20,000 jobs for youngsters around the country is not a recipe for growth and development, but another dangerous pathway to creating an angry environment. Why must we turn our backs on young people when they form over 60 percent of our total population? Are we really honest to ourselves when we proclaim in our speeches that youngsters are future leaders? True reconciliation, national unity, social transformation and societal integration can only yield substantial fruits when smiles are on the faces of youth! Have we forgotten that most of the heinous crimes and atrocities carried out during Liberia’s senseless civil conflict were committed by young people? Now is the moment to invest in youth empowerment and employment. Madam President, with just 53 months to go, it would be in your best interest to protect your legacy by ensuring young Liberians resurrect from the wilderness of poverty, unemployment, illiteracy, disease, ignorance, prostitution, hardship, and internal bitterness.

The future of Liberia lies in ruin due to mass corruption, nepotism, patronage politics, deceit, international conspiracy, unpatriotism, greed, and impractical economic policies. Duty bearers no longer believe that all power is inherent in the people evident by their persistent failure to promote and perpetuate national interest over self-gains. The current governance system of our common patrimony has performed dismally in its campaign to conquer social vices and economic deficiencies which are ill-fated pillars that can eventually culminate into dissatisfaction, disunity, desolation, and general violence. Our people are weary by endless and empty promises since January 16, 2006. Their tears keep rolling down their eyes like a waterfall even in the midst of unprecedented international support and multi billion investment companies. Inequality and Injustice continue to crumble their hope and aspiration for a better tomorrow. Countless anger and agony is tearing our people apart as they battle with poverty on a daily basis.

The outcry of commoners and downtrodden people has been intentionally ignored by a cartel of economic pillagers since the last gunfire was heard in 2003. It was not strange to us when the Commander-In-Chief described our education system as a mess. How will our education system not be a mess when teachers and other school workers are underpaid? How will our education system not be a trash when modern libraries and laboratories at high schools and universities do not exist? How will our education system not be a mess when government refuses to initiate tangible programs to motivate more Liberians venture into the teaching profession? How will our education system not be a mess when we only care about establishing sub-standard community colleges without investing in human capacity? Bribery and sex for grades are chronic illnesses killing our educational institutions. Students are no longer willing to study and make adequate research to succeed in private and public examinations because a poor teacher is awaiting extra cash to augment his minimum wage at the end of every period or semester.

This government continues to unremorsefully fertilize its marital relationship with corruption as poor citizens anxiously await the divorce ceremony between Ellen’s administration and corruption. Are we not ashamed that Liberia ranks 182nd of 187 countries in the human development index? Our Country still depends on food imports and is vulnerable to economic disaster. Food insecurity and poverty will continue to intensifying as long our agriculture markets in rural areas are not prioritized. When we assemble at ballot boxes nationwide in 2005 to elect you as our President, our hope to renew and rebuild a better society was unbending. Our affirmative action reflected our resolve and determination to wage relentless war against corruption and malpractices in public service.

Ignorance, illiteracy, and disease remain widespread nowadays under a government noted for false impression and fiscal indiscipline. Prices of major commodities in Liberia are unstable under the supervision and management of a Harvard trained Public Administrator and Colorado University skilled Economist. Our national currency has been totally devalued as inflation of exchange rate continues to undermine the stability and sustainability of our economy. When a professional Liberian Nurse Aid is paid $79US dollars as monthly net wage for saving lives at hospitals, clinics, and health centers while the office of the president operates a budget of 31 million plus in 12 months, I wonder what kind of health policy this government has in place to reduce death, fistula, maternal and infant mortality rates. When patients at medical facilities across the country die regularly due to shortage of drugs and other services, I still ponder over reasons why millions of dollars are being spent in the health sector. When referral hospitals like Tappita and JFK lack the human, financial and logistical capacity to handle critical medical cases, then someone somewhere needs to tell us where our taxes are going!

When health workers across the country abandon their duties in demand for better wages and incentives while high-status employees at NOCAL, MARITIME and other government agencies receive extra and extractive bonuses, it brings one to an objective conclusion that the remaining 4 years under Ellen’s watch would be too terrible to bear. Should we continue to pay taxes to a government that has no plan to equitably distribute national wealth and ensure the welfare of its citizenry? Majority of our people have no choice but to die at age 57 because access to proper and adequate healthcare is still a nightmare. After 8 years of governance, out of every 100,000 women who go to give birth, 770 die. What kind of national reconciliation and integration are we hoping to achieve when only 41% of our population has access to health delivery? Why should 72.71 out of every 1, 000 children die at birth when we claim to have good system in place to prevent infant mortality rate. Where is the press freedom when Rodney Sieh is behind bars for exposing corruption in government?

Today in our society, no one needs to verbally define poverty because this visible and deadly disease is steadily defeating the destiny of most Liberians. You don’t need to go to college before you know what poverty really is under Ellen’s administration. Just ask the shoeshine boys, penpen riders, petit traders, marketers, farmers, push-push riders, wheelbarrow men, taxi drivers, car loaders, teachers, etc. These are people directly affected by this menace as few group of dishonest public trustees continue to lavishly misuse government offices at the expense of ordinary people. What impact did $US556.8 million of our 2012 national budget make on the lives of ordinary Liberians? Was there any cause of having a deficit of -1.1% of GDP during 2012 fiscal year? We demand to know what our money was used for when the educational system is still a mess and unemployment rate continues to escalate!

The purpose of our true existence as a Nation is under serious threat especially with Liberia recent corruption award. It was no surprise when Transparency International 2013 global report ranked Liberia as the most corrupt country on planet earth. The government of President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf has made big public commitments to restoring water and sanitation since it came to power, unfortunately it has failed miserably to keep up to its pledge. At the moment, only 25 percent of the population has access to clean water while 15 percent has access to sanitation services, but government officials claim they are working vigorously to address water and sanitation issues. Eighteen percent of all deaths in Liberia are related to illnesses caused by poor water and sanitation.

The anti-social foundation on which all these downturns are built is corruption. Corruption continues to pay rent in various government ministries and agencies. Madam President, when will we give corruption official notice? When will we stop ratifying concession agreements in the absence of public participation and debate? The time to auction national resources and desert public interest must come to end! The National Vision 2030, The Agenda for Transformation, and The Strategic Roadmap for National Healing, Peace-building and Reconciliation are yet too far from achieving their respective goals because rampant corruption has become a common practice in public service.

Having pointed out some of our problems in Liberia, I am again compelled as I have always done to present proposals that would assist to defeat corruption and promote transparency:

1.Let a special court be established to hear and judge only cases of corrupt charges.
2.Any public official guilty of corruption be imprisoned and barred from public service for 20 years with his/her assets frozen and sold to restore stolen resources.
3.Let additional legislations be enacted to further strengthen anti-corruption institutions and programs and protect people who expose corruption.
4.Let laws be enacted and enforced to make elected officials and political appointees more responsible and accountability to the people.
5.Let asset declaration of public servants be made quarterly for the purpose of effectively managing national wealth and preventing misuse of public office.
6.Let a team of honest and well-paid anti-graft personnel be deployed at all government ministries and agencies to perform regular audits to ensure proper accountability and transparency.

My foremost vision is to see Liberia turning into an economic, political, and social paradise where press freedom, free speech, civil liberty, and other democrat tenets will be the cornerstone for our existence. This can only happen if we amalgamate forces to fight corruption and gown all sectors of our sovereign boundary with uncompromising transparency. Above all interest, Liberia is supreme!

Martin K. N. Kollie
Martinkerkula1989@yahoo.com

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Liberia’s Emerging Gospel Singing Princess Spreading God’s Message

2013-08-28T23:51:00.003-07:00

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Written by Nat Bayjay, Contributing Writer

Thursday, 29 August 2013 02:48

Liberia’s Emerging Gospel Singing Princess Spreading God’s Message

Monrovia - Upon first sight without a mic in her hands, one may tend to ignore her ability to shake an entire congregation and even get a roof on fire musically.
But when Patricia Aroniyo handles a mic to evangelize God’s message through her unique choice of Gospel music, every member of her audience gets chilled from the very start.
That is why she is already being referred to as the newest Gospel princess sporting her style among the country’s numerous performing Gospel artists.
With a keen interest in helping to spread God’s message through her songs, Princess Aroniyo had been in no rush.
She began to take unto the stage in 2004 but it was in 2011 that she decided to spread her beautiful inspiring Gospel music when she released her maiden album titled ‘Johee’ (interpreted in the local Krahn vernacular “My Lord”).
That 6-track album quickly sank its way into the Gospel industry, paving the way for her second successive album a year later.
And ofcourse, that 2012 album titled ‘En-Blay-Nyansweh’ (another Krahn message meaning “I have Jesus”) is currently taking Liberian radio and television stations by storm while being regularly played at religious and related functions. Even with its formal launch slated for November this year, the 6-track album is already a hit.
But with such an enthusiastic start to what promises to be booming musical career, Princess Aroniya’s passion remains keeping a focus on advancing God’s message through her songs.
“To maintain a balance in terms of reaching people from all walks of life, I usually translate such messages in the vernaculars as well”, she says.

She hasn’t only done music in local Liberian dialects like Krahn and Vai but Patricia has extended her message to her fellow West African brothers in Nigeria who understand and or speak Yoruba.

Her passion for spreading God’s message through music has landed her a new role at the Clara Town Dominion Christian Fellowship Center where she is vigorously helping to restructure an inactive youthful choir, this time taking them to higher heights just within few months.

Acknowledging the difficulties associated with producing a single album, Patricia answers in the affirmative but disclosed that Mr. Prince J. Aroniyo who doubled as a loving husband and a manager has been committing his personal resources to helping to push her dream. For Mr. Aroniyo, it’s all about evangelism through the use of one’s God given talent.

“Luckily, it has to be my wife and that’s while I’m enjoying doing it, though with meager resources but with no regrets”, he explained.

The couple currently sponsors over 15 less-fortunate school kids and eyes stretching such help to other needy people. They hope that out of the sales from albums and with any additional sponsorship, they would be reaching other needy youths, the aged, disabled and sick through a foreseen foundation.

And God’s grace, Princess Aroniya is getting there; ofcourse with every little sponsorship and contribution she can gather along the way.

Nat Bayjay is a Liberian journalist reachable on nbayjay2010@gmail.com or 0777-40273

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Old Or New Car? UP Lawmaker US$11,000 Gift To His District

2013-08-28T23:49:00.003-07:00

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Written by Henry Karmo (0886522495) henrykarmo@yahoo.com

Thursday, 29 August 2013 02:16

Old Or New Car? UP Lawmaker US$11,000 Gift To His District

Monrovia - Several elders, women and youth groups from District #3 Maryland county Wednesday trekked to Monrovia to receive a 4-wheel Nissan pathfinder jeep from their lawmaker Isaac Roland (UP-district #3 Maryland County).
Presenting the jeep which according to Representative Roland is a first class used car valued at US$ 11,000 is part of capacity building to enhance the five-year development plan of the district.

Roland said: “It is our right; it is our responsibility to come to you and keep you inform and organize programs in our district that will enhance growth and development in our district,” he said.

“The UP has a blueprint that talks about vision 2030.what I have done I feel proud that my party stands by me and I believe the confidence imposed in the Unity Party by the Liberian people and we represent the party.”

Receiving the vehicle the residents called on their representative to put aside any differences he may have with people from the district and foster development and also commended him for the gift.

The citizens expressed gratitude for the gesture with hope that the vehicle will help them reduce some of the challenges faced by them in getting to places especially to health centers.

Though many citizens at the presentation of the vehicle were pleased by the Rep. Gesture, many side comments were heard questioning the durability and lifespan of the vehicle that cost 11,000 according Rep. Roland.

Many expressed concern that with the deplorable road condition, especially during the raining season many are questioning the lawmaker’s gift with the entire under carrier of the car almost corroded by rust.

A resident of the area said jokingly after the presentation. “We appreciate the gesture of the honorable man but my brother look at that car, look at the under carrier of that car how well will this vehicle help us.”

- See more at: http://www.frontpageafricaonline.com/county-news/61-county-news/7002-old-or-new-car-up-lawmaker-us11000-gift-to-his-district.html#sthash.BMCgSAhQ.dpuf

Source of Empowerment: Commercial Motorcycle Business on the Rise

2013-08-28T23:45:00.002-07:00

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Written by Selma Lomax, selma.lomax@frontpageafricaonline.com

Thursday, 29 August 2013 02:52

Source of Empowerment: Commercial Motorcycle Business on the Rise

Monrovia/Gbarnga - Commercial motorcycles locally known as Pehn-Pehn in Liberia are providing jobs to thousands of young people in the country. It is one of the primary means of transportation in Liberia, and comprises a cheap and adjustable transportation system, the most popular informal one in the country by far.
“Taxis and buses are insufficient to efficiently transport the over 3.5 million Liberians. The roads are poorly constructed and congestion is very common. And that makes Pehn-Pehn very popular and almost indispensible in Liberia where students, civil servants and businessmen prefer this mode of transportation to overcome the traffic congestion and arrive at school or work on time. So the motorcycles are now part and parcel of the people” said Transport Minister Sampson Tonorlah Varpilah.

The Liberia Motorcycle Transport Union (LMTU) Wednesday estimates to FrontPageAfrica that over 55,000 young Liberians have been employed by the sector. In Bong County, it employs about 5,000 youths, 25% more than government employees in the county, said Jefferson Gbaryan, Bong County’s personnel director.

“I completed my secondary studies in 2008 and went in search of a job for over three years to no avail. I decided to borrow money to buy a motorcycle to begin operating as a commercial motorcyclist. That is how I got self-employed,” Jerry Scott, a Pehn-Pehn rider in Monrovia.

Peter Williams, another Pehn- Pehn rider in Monrovia said: “I have been riding the motorcycle for five years. I am now married with two kids. The motorcycle has helped me to open a small business for my wife and my younger brother. They now run their own businesses thanks to the motorcycle.”

In Bong County just like in Monrovia, hundreds of the commercial motorcyclists use the income generated from their activities to create other businesses. It is the case with Samuel Elliot, President of the Association of LMTU branch in the county who now owns five motorcycles and six other small businesses.

“I realized much profit within a short time when I bought my first motorcycle and decided to multiply my business by operating in other sectors. I now employ over 10 young people,” said Elliot.

FrontPageAfrica has gathered there are no official statistics regarding the contribution of commercial motorcycle to the GDP but it is believed that it is relatively significant.

“It is affecting the economies of both countries positively to a very large extent. The influx of Pehn- Pehn has reduced unemployment rate. It is advisable for Government of Liberia to conduct studies as to how much they contribute to the economy and see how this sector can help boost the economy,” said deceased Cuttington University lecturer G. Mitchell Seleweyon.

Already in Bong, the local government has recognized its contribution to the economy and is planning to regularize and reorganize the sector.

“Take, for instance, the case of motorcycle taxi riders; most of the youths involved are simply looking for a means of livelihood. Are we not happy that we can reach difficult locations quickly and cheaply? To avoid unbecoming conduct, there is clearly a need to organize the profession and consider providing training courses covering both the Highway Code, especially the wearing of helmets, and two-wheeler riding techniques,” said Bong Assistant Superintendent for Development Anthony Sheriff

Continuing, he added: “Right off, I believe the Ministry of Youth and Sports is best suited to organize such training courses, either through existing structures involved in youth socio-economic empowerment or by establishing other bodies.”

- See more at: http://www.frontpageafricaonline.com/county-news/61-county-news/6999-source-of-empowerment-commercial-motorcycle-business-on-the-rise.html#sthash.pRXnf7G6.dpuf

CPJ Holds Liberia Responsible for Rodney Sieh's Well-being

2013-08-28T23:43:00.002-07:00

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Written by CPJ News Report

Thursday, 29 August 2013 03:00

CPJ Holds Liberia Responsible for Rodney Sieh's Well-being

New York - The Committee to Protect Journalists is alarmed by today's hospitalization of leading Liberian independent journalist Rodney Sieh, who has been on hunger strike since his imprisonment on August 21.
Sieh, the Publisher of FrontPageAfrica, was taken to John Fitzgerald Kennedy Memorial Hospital Wednesday morning after vomiting and fainting in his cell at the central prison in the capital Monrovia, according to local journalists.

Sieh was imprisoned and his newspaper closed down last week pending the payment of US$1.5 million in libel damages.
The lawsuit relates to a FrontPageAfrica story on the findings of a government investigation that accused a former official of corruption.

"We are troubled that Rodney Sieh's health has deteriorated during his imprisonment and we hold the government of Liberia responsible for his well-being," said CPJ Africa Advocacy Coordinator Mohamed Keita.

"The excessive libel damages imposed on Sieh for reporting the findings of a government inquiry on corruption, his jailing, and the closure of an important independent newspaper are a blow to press freedom and the fight against corruption in Liberia."
CPJ is an independent, nonprofit organization that works to safeguard press freedom worldwide.

______
Contact:
Mohamed Keita
Africa Advocacy Coordinator
Email: mkeita@cpj.org
Facebook

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Education Crisis: Sirleaf Frowns on Mass Failure IN UL Entrance Exams

2013-08-28T23:40:00.001-07:00

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Written by Executive Mansion Press

Thursday, 29 August 2013 03:00

Education Crisis: Sirleaf Frowns on Mass Failure IN UL Entrance Exams

Monrovia - President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf has expressed concern over the reported mass failure of students that sat the entrance and placement exams recently administered by the University of Liberia (UL).
The authorities of the State-run University recently announced that all 25,000 candidates had failed the test for admission, which has sparked widespread public criticism. A university official said the students lacked interest and did not have a basic grip of English.

According to an Executive Mansion release, President Sirleaf, making an impromptu visit to the University’s Main Campus on August 27, told UL authorities that the students’ failure did not come from the university but rather from the schools that prepared them. She termed the results as alarming, further confirming her recent statement that the educational system is a mess.

“Why are the students of the system not performing to the standards expected? Why are they not comparative with those in other countries? Why are our WAEC exams not at the same level as the rest of the African countries, and we have to have a lower standard to adjust?” the President asked.

She said that unless everyone sees it as a national emergency, the system will continue to suffer in a disappointing manner. It is now time, the President said, for all Liberians, irrespective of political background, to tackle the issue of quality education.

President Sirleaf and UL President, Dr. Emmet A. Dennis

“The problem is not just taking the test and failing. The problem is where they are coming from – so we have to go into those high schools, into those elementary schools and see what is lacking and what we can do about it,” she said.
The Liberian leader equally frowned at the students themselves, saying they, too, will have to muster the courage and willingness to learn.
President Sirleaf told the University authorities that if resources are directed at the educational sector, it will still take commitment from the students to show willingness to adequately prepare themselves. Unless this can be done, the effort may still lead to an embarrassment.
“This mass failure points to the issues we all came up with during the last Round Table Conference, and what we can do now is to sit together to look at it as a problem and see what we can do to address it,” she stated.
The Liberian leader called upon the University authorities to work with the Ministry of Education and others to arrange another Round Table Conference so that not only government but all stakeholders will be able to explore lasting solutions to the problem she described as embarrassing.
Speaking earlier, the UL President, Dr. Emmet A. Dennis, reiterated the institution’s uncompromising principles in its quest to impart quality education to the people of Liberia.
He said the results from the exams, though alarming, were real, and he agreed with the Liberian leader that there is a need for repeated engagements in addressing the low-rated education in the country.
“Madam President, thanks for your interest, and we’d like to inform you that, yes, indeed, no student out of the 25,000 plus students scored the required 70 mark.”
He added, “After much deliberation, the Faculty Senate set 50 percent in Math and 70 percent in English for passing; again, nobody whatsoever made the mark.”
According to Dr. Dennis, the poor results prompted authorities to conduct a scale that produced a little over 1,600 students in both undergraduate and post-graduates programs.
Also speaking, the UL Vice President for International Affairs, Cllr. Luvenia Ash-Thompson, pledged to work with the Liberian President in fixing the problem and hoped all educators will see it, not as a political thing, but as a national imperative.
She said the youth, who are over 60 percent of the population, are yet to show their willingness to prepare themselves for the future which she said must claim the attention of parents as well.

Attending the meeting with President Sirleaf were the Deputy Education Minister for Research and Development, Dr. Khalifa Bility; the Dean of the Louis Arthur Grimes School of Law, Cllr. David A.B. Jallah; the Vice President for Fiscal Affairs, Professor Wilson Tarpeh; and the head of the Ibrahim B. Babangida School of International Studies, Dr. Jonathan Taylor; among others.

- See more at: http://www.frontpageafricaonline.com/news/general-news/7000-education-crisis-sirleaf-frowns-on-mass-failure-in-ul-entrance-exams.html#sthash.QhDXmnm2.dpuf

2013-02-09T15:38:00.001-08:00

West Africa Regional Communications Infrastructure and Central African Backbone Programs



Facebook Tweet LinkedIn Digg ??? ???? Google buzz Stumble Upon Delicious Delivering High-Speed Affordable Broadband Connectivity to West and Central Africa through the Africa Coast to Europe (ACE) Submarine Cable: The ACE cable has landed, and will start operations in 2012 Overview The governments of West Africa aim to deepen integration of their economies to improve economic growth in the region. IDA has provided financing for three countries (Liberia, Sierra Leone and São Tomé and Príncipe) under Public Private Partnership (PPP) arrangements, allowing them to connect to the ACE submarine cable project connecting the west coast of Africa to Europe and to the rest of the world. For these countries, this was likely the last opportunity to connect to a submarine cable for years to come—switching from satellite to fiber has the potential to reduce prices dramatically and increase quality for communications services, allowing the three countries to capitalize on the transformative power of information and communications technology (ICT). More Results more information West Africa Regional Communiations Infrastructure Program Liberia Country Website Sierra Leone Country Website Sao Tome and Principe Country Website Data and Statistics Challenge Poor access to communications services, in particular to international telecommunications capacity, over-dependence on costly satellite technologies and absence of competitive access to capacity via submarine cables are limiting constraints that are significantly hampering opportunities for growth and development in West and Central Africa. Liberia, Sierra Leone and the Democratic Republic of São Tomé and Príncipe are some of the countries with the highest costs of communications in the world. Until 2011, limited speed packages in Sierra Leone cost US$200 a month, or 56.8 percent of per capita gross domestic product (GDP). In Liberia, users paid two to three times more than the regional average for connectivity. These countries that have been connected to the global network using expensive satellite-based connectivity are now switching to affordable and higher quality submarine optic fiber technology, used by most of the African nations. Approach The Africa Coast to Europe (ACE) cable, a private sector led consortium, is approximately a 17,000 km submarine cable system that will connect South Africa to Europe, potentially connecting up to 23 countries along the route. The ACE is an over US$700 million investment, with each country contributing approximately US$25 million to secure a landing station in its territory. The ACE is the most attractive and viable option for several countries to secure international connectivity along the coast of West Africa and with the rest of the world–and for some countries, the only viable option to connect for many years to come. Following requests from the governments of Sierra Leone, Liberia and São Tomé and Príncipe, IDA was able to mobilize resources quickly, in less than four months, to enable these countries to make initial payments to join the ACE project on time. This effort required mobilizing larger than normal project preparation funds (US$5 million for each country) in the three projects (.West Africa Connectivity Program (WARCIP, APL 1, Liberia and Sierra Leone - P116273) and Central African Backbone Program (CAB, APL2, São Tomé and Príncipe - P117652). IDA resources were used to cover the cost of the membership fee of participating countries using catalytic financing and PPP arrangements to minimize public investments. These countries did not want to miss the ACE opportunity, and clearly expressed their commitment to liberalize their sectors, and leverage and federate their private sector operators as much as possible to participate in the investment and to maintain open access principles to cable capacity so that any other operator in the country would have competitive access to the capacity. The projects focused on fostering an enabling environment in the sector, ensuring liberalization, open and non-discriminatory access to capacity as well as building capacity of regulators to ensure that fair rules of competition apply in the sector. Results The project was declared effective in April 2011 and is still in early phase of results. To date the following results have been achieved: Key positions for project and fiduciary management have been recruited. Payments to the ACE consortium are on track. The PPP framework for Liberia has been finalized with Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) creation and adoption of shareholder agreement. The ACE cable has already physically landed in all three countries, and is expected to go live during the last quarter of 2012. In 2015, international capacity prices are expected to go down two to five times from current prices in 2012 due to the implementation of the ACE cable. Improving international connectivity through the submarine cable will support cost reduction for international communications, while expanding the use of the Internet through lower prices, with a significant potential development impact. Bank Contribution IDA’s approval of US$71.5 million for three projects is expected to leverage private sector resources to provide citizens of the three countries with affordable broadband services and put them on par with other nations. The submarine cable will lower prices for enterprises and the private sector in general, providing them digital communications tools to become effective players in the Africa region as well as in the global economy. Along with infrastructure, IDA will help the countries to modernize policy and regulatory frameworks and develop public-private participation frameworks to continue leveraging private investment into the telecommunications sector. Further, the São Tomé and Príncipe project will facilitate the launch of a second global telecommunications operator. In Sierra Leone, IDA will support the commercialization of the state-owned operator Sierratel, and the liberalization of the country’s international gateway. In Liberia, support will be provided for rules and regulations to support operators to increase the reach of their networks to underserved areas. Partners The financing vehicle for the ACE submarine cable was structured as a Public Private Partnership in each country to maximize private resources as much as possible. Government financing also helped close the financing gap to make the project happen, as well as guarantee that access to the cable will be open to all operators under fair and non-discriminatory conditions. In Sierra Leone, an additional partnership with the Islamic Development Bank is helping to scale up connectivity at the national level. Toward the Future In 2007, the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) and the West African Economic and Monetary Union finalized a joint regional poverty reduction strategy (R-PRSP) for West Africa, the first of its kind in Sub-Saharan Africa. Recognizing that the region is not on track to achieve the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), the regional PRSP emphasizes the need for enhanced cooperation among West African countries and deeper regional integration to help them accelerate growth, reduce poverty, and improve performance on the MDGs. The strategy proposes four strategic directions for regional intervention: (i) improve governance, prevent and manage conflicts, and facilitate the free movement of people across the sub-region; (ii) integrate markets to increase competitiveness and economic growth; (iii) develop and interconnect infrastructures; and (iv) build up human resources. The integration and opening up of the regional market should lead to improved competitiveness for the service sectors but also for the productive agricultural and industrial sectors, which would benefit through greater access to more efficient and less expensive basic services (transport, telecommunications, banking and insurance). The World Bank Regional Integration Assistance Strategy for Sub-Saharan Africa (RIAS) (2008) and the West Africa Implementation Action Plan (2010) supports these efforts and aims to create a unified economic space. Since IDA facilitated the participation of the three countries in the ACE consortium, other countries have also requested financing. To this end, similar projects are currently under preparation for Gabon (expected in March 2012 under the Central African Backbone (CAB) Program) and for Benin, expected in July 2012 under the West Africa Regional Communications Infrastructure Program (WARCIP). The WARCIP and Central Africa Backbone Projects are examples of projects which IDA is supporting to promote broadband connectivity and availability of affordable bandwidth in Africa. Other noteworthy activities in the connectivity area have been undertaken in Chad, Cameroon and the Central African Republic (CAR) (as part of the CAB), in Burundi (as part of the Regional Communications Infrastructure Program (RCIP) and in Burkina Faso (as part of WARCIP). Beneficiaries The WARCIP will benefit the entire population of West Africa. All over Africa, businesses, governments, teachers, doctors, farmers, and fishermen are using ICT to communicate, share information, improve productivity and service delivery, find better prices, improve access to markets, and increase their bargaining power. Additionally it is expected that the entire West Africa region would benefit by having access to new communications services, sources of information and knowledge, enhanced and diversified employment opportunities, improved delivery of public and private sector services, increased productivity and transparency of government, and more rapid and coordinated response to emergencies. Overall, the region would see a boost to its competitiveness, social inclusion, economic diversification and regional integration efforts. "Liberia will be an integral part of the global community with faster Internet connectivity,” says Angelique Weeks, chairperson of Liberia Telecommunications Authority. “It will provide easy video conferencing, improved access to knowledge bases linking multiple entities for e-governance, e-learning, e-commerce, e-health, and enhance the services of government functionaries." While the technology shift will benefit business and government, it will also make a world of difference to consumers like Steven Nyalay. The high cost of communication is taking a toll on Nyalay’s finances. As one of the leaders of a cocoa-farmers’ co-operative in Sierra Leone’s eastern district of Kailahun, he is constantly linking up with global partners to keep abreast of the latest cocoa prices in the world market. “This information determines our sale price of cocoa beans and the profit or loss we make,” says Nyalay. “But I always find it very costly to communicate via the cell phone and Internet.” Connection to the ACE submarine cable is good news for people like Nyalay: prices are expected to drop dramatically, making it easier for people to run their businesses and communicate with each other and the rest of the world.

'Poor Liberians' Brainstorm on What They Want from High Level Panel Meeting in Monrovia

2013-02-03T21:33:00.001-08:00

Written by Massa F. Kanneh, FPA STAFF WRITER, 0886848625

Thursday, 31 January 2013 21:48

'Poor Liberians' Brainstorm on What They Want from High Level Panel Meeting in Monrovia

“Development is not about building bridges, building skyscrapers. It should be about developing the people.” Thomas Doe Nah, executive director of the Center for Transparency and Accountability (CENTAL).

Monrovia - Standing in the dusty field under a blazing sun Thursday, Thomas Doe Nah, Executive Director of the Center for Transparency and Accountability (CENTAL) officiated a forum many say was a grassroots alternative to the High Level Panel convening in Monrovia this week.
For Nah, the forum was a way of brainstorming some of the real issues plaguing Liberia’s poor as he led a conglomeration of Liberians from all walks of life aiming to draw attention to what role they could play in the post 2015 agenda.

“This [event] provides the opportunity to speak to the HLP what common people are saying and want impacted,” Says Mr. Nah.
“To those who think that our state’s resources will be used for grand cars, the nice wine that they are having, we want to say we are against that. The people must have food, quality education, and health care. This is a human right.”
As Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and British Prime Minister David Cameron Join their counterpart President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf for the United Nations High Level Panel to deliberate on the way forward for the world in terms of sustainable development and ending poverty, the forum Thursday outlined the way forward toward a better future.
Highlighting poor’s plight
The forum’s setting Congo Town was abuzz with ordinary Liberians who gathered together in one place as the VIPs trooped to the Royal Grand Hotel on Tubman Boulevard for the first day of the HLP meetings.

While the main boulevard and all roads leading to the area was closed to traffic, average Liberians gathered at the YWCA building to make their voices heard on the current state of global poverty and obstacles that undermine the development of poor countries like Liberia.
The forum, highlighted the plight of Liberia’s poor- those denied justice and access to affordable housing, a society damaged by corruption and the continued mismanagement of state resources.
“Development is not about building bridges, building skyscrapers. It should be about developing the people,” Nah explain. “Our country is very rich - we have iron ore, we have one of the last richest forests in Africa, we have gold, diamonds. But we cannot even afford to send our children to decent schools. We cannot even afford to ensure that our people live in decent homes.”
The event, code-named “The People’s Forum,” took place in Monrovia on Thursday, January 31, simultaneously as members of the HLP including President Yudhoyono with the HLP taking place inside the posh Royal Hotel in Sinkor.
“The common people who are depressed, who have concerns about land, and people who are affected by corruption and the people who are affected by lack of justice, it is the time for these people to have their voices heard and to have impact on this meeting that is taking place at the Royal Hotel,” says Nah.

Nah raised the issues of last week’s demolitions in the 24th Street neighborhood in Monrovia, and of ongoing resource deals as he lamented: “Even while our people struggle to find places to live, we are now in the course of development rooting them out from their homes, breaking down their businesses. Those who have are those preying on our resources. We pay our taxes - those people squander it,” he said.

Hip-hop star Takun J., as well as musicians Peter Cole and Lucky Bucky performed at the forum in front of a crowd of about 150 persons. “I have been beaten and sent to jail for speaking about the ills in society, speaking the reality about the police as it relates to corruption in Liberia,” Takun J., of “Pot Boiling” fame, told FrontPageAfrica in an interview. The hip-hop star has alleged he was beaten and jailed by police for his song about police corruption “Police Man”.

‘Not managing resources’

Attempts to reduce poverty in Liberia and elsewhere in Africa must focus on improving governance, said Peter Quaqua, President of the Press Union of Liberia.
“The people who lead us . . . are squandering our resources, are responsible for the problem that we have on the continent. People we put in leadership, they’re not properly managing ourselves, not managing our resources properly,” he said.
Continue Quaqua: “There is corruption everywhere. As a result of that we will not be able to get water for the ordinary people, no electricity. The government should build hospitals so that we don’t have to take people to Ghana for treatment, so that . . . mothers will not have to die from child birth.”

The forum drew contrast from the High-Level meeting. But despite the concerns expressed some say, in the final analysis the HLP is good for Liberia at this tim.
“I think it does credit to our country because some of these issues that this panel will deal with affect our country. It affects conflict affected countries; it affects poverty levels and development that is hampered by so many things,” says Marjon Kamara, Liberia’s Ambassador to the United Nations. “It is good that the Panel members are here, they can see the efforts that the President has made and they can also get an assessment of the challenges.”
The envoy noted that through the meetings, Liberia has been able to show to the world that it is on the right trajectory for moving forward.
“This morning we have been fortunate to have a number of Liberians around the table at the first discussion that was held,” she said.

HLP ‘Good for Liberia’

“It was a source of pride to have a number of Liberians around the Table including women. Besides the Minister of Commerce, you had two or three female entrepreneurs making the case for childcare services for children so that women are freer to engage in business and so on and so forth.”
United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki Moon, named UK prime minister David Cameron, Liberian president Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf, and President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, of Indonesia, as co-chairs of a high-level panel to advise him on the global development agenda after 2015, the expiry date for the Millennium Development Goals(MDGs).
The HLP’s mandate is to find ways to build and sustain broad political consensus on the post-2015 development agenda around the three themes– economic growth, social equality and environmental sustainability.

The Monrovia meeting is the third of four meetings on the HLP, the first meeting was held in New York in September, 2012 and the second held in the U.K in November.

My Autobiography

2013-01-11T13:36:00.000-08:00

I was born unto the union of Mr. & Mrs. Donald D. Nyenpan in Harbel, Liberia, West Africa on May 18, 1967. As I was told, my parents resided in Camp One, Harbel 45, Firestone and worked with the Firestone Rubber Company for some number of years before relocating to Monrovia. While in Monrovia, my father sent me and my little sister Jartu to live with our late uncle Josiah Wesseh in New Kru Town. But as a little child and at this present I do not have any first-hand information or recollection about our stay with our uncle. At the age of 5, I was told that my late uncle George Dedday Nyenpan [former Clan & and Paramount Chief of Jedepo] took me to Jedepo, Sinoe County in 1972. Eventually; I cannot remember anything concrete about my childhood years in both Harbel, Firestone and Monrovia.

I remember more greatly scene after my departure from Monrovia to Jedepo, Sinoe County. I remembered how my late sister Linda W. Nyenpan and I were given away to our late uncle George Dedday Nyenpan in order to learn more about our native values and cultural upbringing. We lived in a little village called "Cheemon" located around the vincinity of Nyennaricken town in Upper Jedepo. Since we were not fully wise when we were in Monrovia, village life was something that we were well attracted to and cherished as we started to cope with the unfading culture of our people life in the village. We would go to the stream called "Soygbanee" to fetch water, which was used for drinking, cooking, and bathing. This little stream was always cold as ice. I did enjoy fetching water and watching the fishes swing and some funny movement inside the water. We would go there and wash our clothes and shower as well. Soygbanee was so pure and clean by human sight. Both women and men would go fishing in the identical stream for fish. As a child, I began to learn how to fishing in the stream with my fishing hook my uncle George had purchased for me. As time goes by, I became the 'fisherman' in the village. Whenever our uncle was not around the entire villagers would go without eating meat nor fish for weeks or months. As a child, I was curious to know how thing work. As a child, I decided to take up some responsibilities because I dislike eating rice without fish or meat. I would go into the forest and set traps for animals just by looking at my uncle. I would leave the village to the stream and bring abundant fishes for food. My uncle first or head-wife "Myname Nyenpan" helped me to learn other manhood trades in the village. When I was of age, she could reveal to me where my uncle single barrel gun and shots were kept in the absent of my uncle. I have a strong belief that my uncle did not want me to remain a just another villager who did not care about western education. I have this belief because he did not tell me anything about fishing, hunting, and other traditional teachings.

THE HUNTING CHILD

One day after uncle George left us and his 7 wives without fish or meat while he was out for a month and half his headquarters in Docurfree, Central Jedepo, Sinoe County; I was obliged to resume a manhood and become a hunter. It was about 7:30 pm in the village and everybody had just arrived from their various farmlands. It was about time to cook dinner, but there was no fish or meat for the nearly 25 women and children who resided on the village. I was always moved with zealousness to find means of doing or accomplishing something. I was compounded with ego to let some motivation and the right time emerge. While the women were murmuring as to what to cook, I sneaked into my mother's bedroom where my uncle kept his headlight, gun and hand-gun shots. At first I took the headlight and choked some Eveready batteries in it. I quickly ran outdoors hearing some tracking sounds in the nearby bush around the village. So I cleverly approached the bush and lit up the headlight, and what I saw was glaringly impressive, knowing not what to do I decided to backup. No one had noticed me and my activities at the time. I ran into the my mother's bedroom once more, this time for the gun and some shots. I quickly loaded the gun and ran to the same site. The deer was still undeterred and did not move at all. This was my first encounter with a gun, but numerous time I have followed my uncle on hunting trips and had seen how he would hold his gun and take a shot. There was nothing that brought fear to me and I swiftly landed the shot at the head of the deer. Everybody in the village was afraid and wondering who it would have been that shout the gun, but to their upmost surprised I started rejoicing as I dragged the deer to the hut. This day was my motivation, and therefrom I became a hunter and a fisherman. Though, my uncle did not approve of my new found ambition, but he could not stop me doing what I like and love doing.

EDUCATION

Though uncle George did not attend any formal school, but was fond of education and educated people. He would tell me all about how education made common people become like big shots, ministers, and presidents. He asked me to study Accounting when I go to the university. He said, accountants make lot of money and work with money always. When I did reach the age to start school, he registered me at the Florence Bing elementary school in Nyennaricken town, the big town. He promised to buy me shoes and clothes when I pass in all my school works, which I did over and over. He would never stopped telling people around Jedepo about my smartness or cleverness. I spent three-year in the elementary school because I have double promotion each year in a given school year. But because of my body size (structure) and tiny voice, I was always afraid of my earlier achievements. When I graduated from the Florence Bing Elementary School in 1976, I was transferred to the Jarpuken Mission School in Central Jedepo in 1977. After meeting the registration and admission requirements, I then commenced my Junior High Education, in a very different environment and upbringing. This mission school was more sophisticated; there were more books in the library, and each subject has its own book and students were given all materials to enhance their learning process. Unlike the Florence Bing Elementary School, the Jarpuken Mission School has two sessions - Morning and Afternoon. I was in the Morning session because I was in the 7th Grade. At the Jarpuken Mission School I encountered lot of friends. I remembered some of my former classmates that included: Pastor Dweh Chebo, his late brother Albert, Leslie Wesseh, Doris Toe, Ruth Helen Kantan-Swen, Jonathan Muiteh, Joe Teh, Thomas Queatteh, and a whole lot of them that I am unabled to name. Life at the Mission School was rewarding and pleasurable. Ducorfree at that time was booming and there was much competition in academics and extracurricular activities especially soccer, kick-ball and volley ball.

I spent two years and left in 1979 to attend the Gbeapo Central High School in Gbeapo Kanweakan, at the time called Lower Grand Gedeh County.

RECONCILING LIBERIA AND ITS PEOPLE

2013-01-10T17:19:00.000-08:00

Moses Saylee Nyenpan

Liberia has gone through major political hoodoos that resulted to the lose of over 250,000 Liberians lives and millions of dollars of properties damaged. Who really benefited most from the civil strife? In political terms the called progressives benefited enormously.

When Master Sergeant Samuel Kanyon Doe came to power April 12, 1980 he did not have single collection of what his inspiration and political life would have been. Samuel Doe, like any other native Liberian was naive to political power and was very far from maintaining those political engagements ahead of him. As an enlisted man in the Armed Forces of Liberia (AFL), he was educated to obeying the power that be until April 12, 1980 the late Samuel K. Doe, former President of the Republic of Liberia vehemently disobeyed that power and slaughtered the then late President William R. Tolbert. Doe was led to believe that former government officials during the realm of the True Whig Party had maltreated the vast majority of the Liberian people therefore they needed to die by a firing squad on Liberia's famous going beach (The South Beach in Monrovia). Native politicians taught by removing these men and women from the political stage, they would have had the opportunity that they did not had for the 131 years prior to the 1980 coup.

Did the native politicians pay back the evil done to them by the Americo-Liberians who ruled the country for 131 years? It is possible that they did, but through the regime of the late Samuel Doe who did not know the future implication. After the public execution of the former 13 government officials during the Tolbert's administration, Doe finally decided to reconcile with Americo-Liberians and brought them back in the governing affairs of the country. Samuel Doe practically noticed the withdrawal of native politicians from his administration and started to chat their own course. Doe decided to avenge by implicating native Liberian politicians in failed coup plot early in 1981. The first person to form part of the endless list of coup plotters was Dr. Togba Nah Tipoteh, former Planning and Economic Affairs Minister. Dr. Tipoteh was implicated in the late Flanzamaton's coup plot, but was quick to escape the country for Ghana into exile.

The late President Samuel K. Doe plunged himself into political mess arising from political immaturity and his unwillingness to reconcile the country and people. Doe was left in the middle when former government officials started to emerge on the political scene as superintendents of counties and mayors of major cities around the country. The re-emergence of these people on the political scene became a threat to native politicians who deemed this as a remarriage of the old system. Native Liberian progressives did not see reconciliation as a practical thing initial with Americo-Liberian. Both President Doe and the Liberian progressive politicians failed commensurately to reunite the Liberian populace. Reconciliation was needed to reunite the entire country because there was much hatreds with President Doe loosing support from the vast majority of Liberian natives who embraced his regime after the 1980 Coup.

The re-emergence of the Americo-Liberians in the final days of 1989 was a clear indication that there was trouble and revenge insight. Using the same native people to murder one another was the only practical way in achieving the objective. Doe and the Nimba County's people were at loggerhead and with the relationship between Doe and Washington soured, Doe became a wounded lion with nowhere to turn, but to his Khran people. As the civil war intensified in the hinterlands, living in the capital city became tense as indiscriminate killing by government troops increase. Government troops which was predominately Doe's Khran elite soldiers continuously arresting Gio and Mano people. It was believed that Gio and Mano people were fighting for the rebels. The National Patriotic Force of Liberia (NPFL) entered Liberia through Nimba County and since Nimbaians were targeted by Doe and his Khran soldiers they embraced the NPFL to prosecute the war. A breakaway group of the NPFL (INPFL) led by Prince Y. Johnson captured and killed President Samuel K. Doe at the Freeport of Monrovia on the Bushrod Island. The NPFL and INPFL were bitter enemies and rivalry between Isaac Musa and Prince Johnson made it much more difficult to reunite the two warring groups or the two tribal groups (Gio and Mano). Reconciliation is a matter of most in Liberia - it is the way to genuine peace and progress in Liberia. Liberians need to come together and talk about how to reconcile one another. Reconciliation should be a process on total involvement of all Liberia's tribal groups. No one should be left out of the process of reconciliation. Would Ellen Johnson Sirleaf's government open the conversation on reconciliation? Does it matter much for her government? Ellen Johnson Sirleaf is liked by majority of Liberians. The Liberian people want her to start the conversation and they will tell her how to go about it their own way. Reconciliation must begin from the villages, towns, districts, townships, and counties. It does not matter what trend a village takes to reconcile its people.

TO BE CONTINUED!!!

Sunwabe Replies Dortu-Siboe-Doe

2013-01-10T13:00:00.000-08:00

Dear Mr. Dortu-Siboe-Doe:

Happy New Year, my dear brother! It has been quite a while since I became familiar with your virulent response to my question. I sent out an email to interested readers on the Every- Liberian listerv on December 5, 2012, asking if you were absolutely certain about a particular “legal position” that you had advocated in your debate with Attorney Alvin Teage-Jalloh. My question was asked in good faith and out of curiosity. I had no prior malicious or suspicious intent, when I asked you.

Candidly I anticipated an educated response, since you had previously professed to be an“attorney” and a “scholar.” Along these lines, I expected actual case-law from the Liberian Supreme Court or a reasonable legal analysis that tended to remotely supports and offers credence to your position. I wanted to become educated, as far as the foundation of your assertion. Regrettably, you offered little, if anything, in this direction.

Surprisingly, you responded to my honest and innocent question in “the typical Liberian fashion”:You became insulting, dismissive, and unnecessarily demeaning. In the process, you not only failed to answer my question, but engaged in a behavior that was questionable and raised question about your professed scholarship.

Please allow me to address your response to my communication. According to you, my question regarding the certainty of your advocated legal position was an “illogical” undertaking. In fact, you wanted me to jump in and state a position rather than asking you “illogical question”. Mr. Legal Scholar, this position of yours is murky and acutely disconcerting. Let me point out that lawyers and judges routinely asked questions—mainly to unearth the truth, adopt or change legal positions, and to advocate their clients’ particular position. In fact, asking questions is a vital legal tool—lawyers who ask good questions are highly effective in and out of the courtroom. Additionally, they tend to write effective legal briefs and motions. Thus, I argue the questioning skills of lawyers are essential, cardinal, and central to the practice of law.

It is stunning, if not totally unheard of, for a professed attorney to begrudgingly dismiss a pertinent and pointed question as being illogical. In the ongoing debate between you and Attorney Jalloh, my question was pointed directly at your advocated legal position. From a lawyer’s perspective, a sufficient or minimally acceptable legal response was anticipated. Your response in this capacity, in concert with the sum total of your writings regarding Mr. Jalloh’s pending lawsuit challenging the 1973 “automatic loss” of citizenship law, leaves one with the impression that you are not a licensed or practicing attorney. No serious attorney, irrespective of his or her jurisdiction of practice or place of legal education, would respond to a well-intentioned question as you have done here.

You did not answer my question and I am still inclined to ask you even more pointed questions: What case law (from the Republic of Liberia) are you relying on to support your assertion? Where are your legal analysis? Where are the Liberian constitutional provisions that you believe support your position regarding the automatic loss of citizenship question? How are you applying those provisions? For some of us who have followed the debate between you and Mr. Jalloh, it is a foregone conclusion that you have offered nothing remotely substantive or legally coherent. You have offered a number of poorly researched Google’s legal terms and opinions. These Google’s legal terms have not been analyzed and applied with the unique skills of a lawyer. In fact, they are starting to appear like a display of infantile legal preoccupation—they lack serious legal intuition and scrutiny.

Lastly, in responding to my question, you intentionally omitted the original list-serve that was used to communicate my question to you. I had no means of knowing that you had in fact responded to my questions, since I am not subscribed to the host of other Liberian list-serves on which you posted your response. By not including the original medium of communication, you directly created the impression that I was somehow incapable of responding to your “legal” opinion. This, however is not the case, I simply did not know that you had written back. It is unacceptable for a professed scholar to behaved in this erroneous manner. Please include me on the original list-serves of communications, in all future engagements.

As for the other issue you raised, know that we, the friends of Attorney Alvin Teage Jalloh, will make gifts to support his lawsuit against the Liberian government.

Thanks,

Charles Kwalonue Sunwabe, Jr., Esq.

Arlington, Virginia

703-402-8589

From: "ZumoAmos@aol.com"
To: EveryLiberian@yahoogroups.com; ulibsaaforum@yahoogroups.com; horizonnewsmedia@yahoogroups.com; olm_adm04@yahoogroups.com; ulibsaaforum@yahoogroups.com; OLM_Adm04@yahoogroups.com
Sent: Thursday, January 10, 2013 3:18 PM
Subject: [EveryLiberian] Re: LIBERIAN PHYSICIANS TELE. CONFERENCE: (DR. ZUMO, DR. BORBOR, MD-Chief of Medicine at JFK Medical Center, and OTHERS)

TELECONFERENCE

LIBERIANS PHYSICIANS

DATE: JANUARY 12, 2013

TIME: 12 NOON EST; 9AM PST; 5 PM GMT(FOR LIBERIAN PARTICIPANTS)

218-844-3377

66784 #

ADDITIONAL PANELISTS (FORMALLY INVITED AND EXPECTED TO ATTEND)

1)James Elliot, MD (pathologist and medical director)

2)Eugenia Cooper, MD (pediatrician)

3)William J. Boyce, MD (intensivist, ICU doctor)

4)Cecelia M. Ndebe, CRNP, PhD (nurse practitioner)

5)Dougbeh Nyan, MD (medicine/researcher)

After pre discussions: the aim of the teleconference will be to: dissect the public health data on Liberia, infuse it with real time frontline medical practice experiences; then identify critical rate limiting steps and concretize suggestions and solutions; finally analyze impact of working document by its impact on decreasing morbidity and mortality rates of Liberian by long term outcome analysis (ie. translation of public health discourse to public policy for Liberia).

The role of Liberian economists; the Liberian press; civil society; the Liberian lawmakers in their oversight capacity will be infused in the discussions for the greater good of society.

All are welcomed and relevant contributions to this national discourse will be most welcomed.

TELECONFERENCE ARRANGEMENT:

THIRTY MINUTES FOR THE PANELISTS (NOT MORE THAN FIVE PANELISTS)

THIRTY MINUTES FOR THE OTHER LIBERIAN PHYSICIANS

THE REMAINING TIME WILL BE FOR THE GENERAL PUBLIC (COMMENTS AFTER THE PHYSICIANS)

As Liberia heads sluggishly to postwar infrastructural and economic recovery, we turn our attention to the health profession and professionals both at home and in the Diaspora as to find ways for this sector to dialogue and offer some concrete and practical pointers as to the way forward.

Using the WHO health statistics as a rough guide, these are key health indicators that our Country must address urgently:

1) Cancer

2) HIV/AIDS

3) Mental illness

4) Health concepts: Eg. changing concept of “open mole” pre war and post

war and new evidence that this is nothing more than complicated migraine (from travel data) embellished with erroneous beliefs, lingering because of lack of scientific study to debunk associated false notions.

5) Neonatal mortality and morbidity

6) Excessive deaths from malaria

7) Elevated blood pressure in adults-the silent killer and risk factor for stroke, heart disease, end organ damage

8) Disproportionate Communicable Diseases

9) Astronomical maternal mortality in childbirth

10) Inequities in childhood mortality

11) Severe shortage of physicians and nurses and midwives.

12) Poor sanitation and impaired access to improved water sources.

13) Availability of ambulation assistive devices (eg. wheel chairs, “seeing eye

canes”) and social services for disabled Individuals.

14) Availability, cost and affordability of necessary medications.

15) Format and availability of emergency services for eg. acute stroke, coma, surgical emergencies.

16) Patients’ Bill of Rights

17) Legal Redress for Medical Mishaps and Misadventures-the available options

18) Poison Control Center setup for reporting of medication adverse effects and directing therapeutic uses of eg. Anti-snake venoms, etc.

19) Quality assurance and training of medical and paramedical personnel.

20) Regarding compliance and enforcement of continuing medical education requirements.

21) Role of telemedicine between Diaspora physicians and local physicians.

and consideration of the feasibility of use in Liberia of the Mobile Stroke Van, a German concept with CT scanner mounted onto a van with onboard physician and CT scan technician serving as Rapid Response Stroke Team –aim to reduce the call-to-needle time in stroke care, etc.

22) Current state , location and bed-utilizations of acute and sub acute care

facilities.

23) Availability or lack of seniors living quarters and assessment thereafter.

24) Nutrition and physical therapy programs at Liberian hospitals, etc.

Several Liberia medical doctors have agreed to partake in this brain storming teleconference in the hope of offering a road map for the way forward:

Panelists include:

1) Lawrence A. Zumo, MD (who along with his technical team drafted the language and provided the medical facts and thorough background research for the multifaceted 2012 Foreign Medical Travel Restriction Bill sponsored by Rep Gabriel Smith, Independent, District # 4, Grand Bassa County (which has passed the plenary of the Liberian Legislature but presently lingers in limbo in Liberia ).

2) Abraham Borbor, MD-Chief of Medicine, JFK Medical Center, author of the seminal work on stroke epidemiology in Liberia: Stroke, the whip of death in the Young (Journal of the Liberia Medical & Dental Association, pp. 15-17, vol.16, no. 1, Sept 2010).

3) List of other participants and panelists to be listed as the teleconference date and time is finalized.

J. Yanqui Zaza/Lawrence A. Zumo, MD

Series Moderator and Facilitator

Rough Statistics from WHO (World Health Organization):

	Liberia	Region	Global
% of People in Urban	48%	38%	50%
Income per capita	$340.00	$2,448.00	$10,869.00
Life expectancy (M)	At age 54		At age 66
Life expectancy (F)	At age 57		At age 71
Life expectancy ( 5 less)	103 per 1,000 persons		57 per 1000 persons
Maternal mortality	770 per 100,000 births		210 per 100,000 births
Tuberculosis	476 per 100,000		176 per 100,000
Prevalence of HIV	15 per 1,000		8 per 1,000
Nurses and Midwives	2.7 10,000 persons	9 per 10,000 persons

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2012-12-20T09:06:00.000-08:00

Written by Nat Bayjay /nat.bayjay@frontpageafricaonline.com

Tuesday, 17 May 2011.

SKD Daughter: ‘Can’t Shake PYJ’s Hands’

Trenton, New Jersey, USA - Greeted with the news that her father had been slain six months after she, her other siblings and mother had escaped Charles Taylor’s insurgency, Celue Doe’s childhood immediately took a tailspin. She still fears the pain even after two decades.

Prince Johnson, Celue Doe & S. K. Doe

Now 28, the former president’s daughter told FrontPageAfrica that she holds no grudges against anybody for her father’s death; yet, she cannot afford a handshake with the man whose decision to kill former president Samuel Kanyon Doe left her and about 19 other siblings fatherless when she was just eight-years-old. For the young lady who plans returning home next year for the first time since 1990, she is not sure of the mood if she encounters the once-feared rebel leader: “I can’t say if I can shake Prince Johnson’s hand if I get to meet him now”. Johnson, now Senior Senator of Nimba County and presidential hopeful for this year’s election, captured and killed Doe in the latter part of 1990 as one of the continent’s deadliest wars raged against the country’s first native president whose 1980 coupe ended over 130 years of Americo-Liberians’ reign. Johnson to ‘Tango’ Most agonizing in the eyes of those who watched the capture, torture and subsequent killing of the country’s 21st president was the spectacle display Johnson exhibited as he sipped what appeared to be a Budweiser drink while chopping off Doe’s ear. The videotaped scene was seen on news reports around the world and remains available for viewing as Johnson calls ‘Tango’-meant for the US Ambassador at the time.Celue still holds fresh memory for a war that was to continue for almost 13 years later even following her father’s death, though Doe had been killed less than a year of the revolution initiated by now detained Taylor. Since that fateful September 9, 1990 in which Johnson’s breakaway Independent National Patriotic Front of Liberia (INPFL) had ceased Doe in a fierce Freeport battle before taking him to their Caldwell base for his final demise, several reconciliatory meetings had been held between Johnson’s Nimba group and Doe’s Grand Gedeh group. Celue who had escaped to the United Kingdom along with nine other siblings and her mother, Nancy Doe said she can manage a handshake with current president Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf despite the President’s admittance of sponsorship to the rebellion that killed and ended her father’s decade-long reign. Sirleaf presented her version of her part in the anti-Doe reign war during her appearance before the erstwhile Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) as providing just “US$10,000 for humanitarian” purposes only. Would shake Ellen’s hands Though the justification had since been doubted by many on grounds that she desperately needed to get to the presidency and that her contributed amount was unstated, Celue prefers her to the former warlord: “For Ellen, why not? I can shake her hands even though I heard that she sponsored the war against my father.” However, Celue who has since spent her entire life in exile for the past 21 years is not prepared to carry those burdens along with her. Not wanting to hold anyone responsible for her father’s death, she told FPA: “But I’m not carrying that burden along. After all, everyone else lost somebody in the war. So, what use is it, then?” Twenty-one years later, Celue says she still sheds tears for her late father. Told In A Heavy Way Says Celue: “I got told in heavy way. I was already eight years old by September, 1990. I loved TV and would stay up late watching it….we had this body guard [who accompanied them] who just woke me up and it was like, ‘Your father’s dead!’ I mean its like, ‘Your pa died! Imagine telling an eight-year old child like that. I gradually made my way up to my mother’s bedroom and my mom was like crying.’ Going down memory lane, she recalled the last time she heard from the father who was by then engulfed by rebels: “The last time I heard my father’s voice was like almost a month after we left and received a call from him. It was like a happy day for us all. My mom and my dad would speak in Krahn but I don’t understand Krahn but I could imagine him promising her that things could be better. She assumed that there are at least 20 of them left behind by the former President but only half of that number enjoyed Doe’s Executive Mansion’s immunities as first-children residing there at the time. She revealed that all 10 of them made the escape route to the UK, with the youngest being as young as less than a year-old and the oldest at the time being 15 years old.
The Last Time It took another six months following the escape to safety of Celue and her siblings before Doe was killed.” The last time I saw my father was back in March of 1990. The war was getting very heated at the moment and the First Lady [at the time], my mom Nancy Doe, my brothers and sisters and I and my other siblings who were already attending boarding schools in London were gathered together to leave. And the last time I saw my father was on the fourth floor [of the Executive Mansion] and had the opportunity to hug each other. And that was the last time”, she explained. But Celue, in her recollection, knew that their departure from their father was not one of those usual vacations: “I was very aware as a child….. I had some sense of awareness of what was going on was. I was thinking like why he isn’t coming. I wondered if I was ever going to see him again. It felt psychic. ”While not blaming her late father for whatever decision he made that led to his torture and death, Celue however thinks that Doe’s refusal to escape the last-minute battle in the midst of an opportunity to survive makes him a hero. Though that decision left her-and her numerous siblings fatherless, she praises him for the decision that turned the table on him that led to Johnson’s capture and subsequent killing of the former president: “Absolutely. He had an opportunity…. And as I grew up, I think about the character of a man who could make that kind of decision [to stay despite the raging war against him]. That I can’t still understand. He had said, ‘How can I leave my people?’ He was not going to do that. He couldn’t have abandoned his people, the people who elected him. ”The SKD Foundation A great admiration for her late father was the fact that he still chose to return to school despite being a president at the time. Now serving as the communication director and spokesperson for the newly established foundation named after the late president, Celue’s belief that her late father was one who believed in education led to her and some of her siblings forming the Samuel Kanyon Doe (SKD) Foundation Launched on a day that the former president was to turn 60 about two weeks ago, the SKD Foundation, according to her is founded to enrich the lives and welfare of individuals, families and communities in Liberia and worldwide as led by his children’s “beliefs in love, peace, justice, equality, unity and empowerment.” As children of the Late President of the Republic of Liberia, Dr. Samuel Kanyon Doe, we are proud to announce the creation of The Samuel Kanyon Doe Foundation! Through his loving memory and legacy, we his children developed this foundation. Our father was a great visionary who achieved so much in his short life”, reads a mission statement of the Foundation expected to get in full swing shortly.”Celue says the foundation is long overdue. “This is something we want to see for ourselves, to do our part for Liberia’s development.” The late president’s daughter reveals that the initial stages of the foundation will see her and some of her brothers and sisters personally funding it out of “our own pockets for now”.
No Room For Error “He was so busy as a president but he would come to check on us during our study class. He would like, ‘Have you done your homework?’ He would always urge us to be like Roland [one of her brothers] who was so smart”, she said, adding that there was no room for error in Doe’s Executive Mansion educational policy for his kids. Failed ’85 Coup Memory Though just three at the time when Commanding General Thomas Quiwonkpa launched his unsuccessful military overthrow against Doe, Celue’s memory still has sketches of that day that almost went fateful for the Doe family. Says Celue: “We the children were sleeping on the 8th Floor [of the Mansion] when bullets began to hit the window. Our maid called Ma Muna who used to look after us gathered every one of us and put us under the bed”, recalled Celue, continuing, “We didn’t get the usual breakfast that morning and other routines”. But one thing that shocked little Celue at the time was how could her father’s ‘best friend’ wish him dead: “And when the people told us that it was Uncle Quinwonkpa that overthrew our pa, I was like, ‘But aren’t da his friend?’ “Her entire family was fortunate however in a few hours’ time after Doe made a comeback, the aftermath which proved deadly for the General and both his supporters and perceived ones.’ No Fortune’ for Doe Clan Despite reports that the former President died as one of Africa’s richest presidents, Celue denied that she and her siblings ever had any fortune left with them or ever secured in any bank for them by their late father: “Fortune? I’ll look straight in your face and say no. I wish it was true”, she said laughingly.

The former president’s first period of military reign and later its civilian-converted reign were initially characterized with massive supports from some friendly governments and multinational groupings. Total grants to Liberia under Doe a year later were increased from US $13.8 million in 1980 to $51,5 million.

In September 1982 the International Monetary Fund (IMF) approved grants to Liberia totaled $88 million while a two-week official visit to the USA during to President Ronald Reagan in August 1982 yielded both financial aid of over US$20 million and military assistance among others.

But later, the table turned against Doe as other donors and some governments expressed reservations against misuse of the funds being provided at the time. For instance, in June 1985 the IMF ruled that Liberia was no longer eligible for IMF credits because of its failure to pay on time arrears of some $52.4 million. With no treasure from their late father, a bulk of the late president’s children seem to be doing well if clues from Celue are something to go by.

Hoax: Liberia’s Biggest Secret-

2012-08-16T06:29:00.000-07:00

Hoax: Liberia’s Biggest Secret- 10.7 Billion Secret Oil Deal Leaks Saturday, 28 April 2012 09:32 Zeze Evans Ballah, Monrovia-Liberia Monrovia: A confidential document from a committee of Liberia’s Legislators has leaked and shows that the Government of Liberia and Chevron Liberia Limited signed a US$10. 7 billion United States Dollars contract without the knowledge of Liberian Stakeholders and the public. According to a Liberian media practitioner, Philipbert S. Browne who said he is in possession of the leaked contract documents none of the members of 53rd Legislature of Liberia ever read or debated contract due to its volume. “No Liberian has ever seen or read the documents as it is the biggest secret in the country” said Mr. Browne. He said the signing of the oil contract between the Liberian Government and Chevron was exposed by the United States Government due to transparency. Mr. Browne quoting documents in his possession said compilation of production sharing contract and abundant for block 11&12 between of the Republic of Liberia National Oil Company Oranto Petroleum Limited and Chevron approved April 16, 2007. Mr. Brown noted according to the Petroleum Laws of Liberia, Liberians suppose to get 10% equity shares but said this is not happening. He added that the Section 3.3 states that the National Oil Company of Liberia (NOCAL) participation in ownership and in addition NOCAL rights interest and benefits, it is entitled to receive under any and all production sharing agreements. It should also receive five of charge equity interest in all production operations and exploration of hydro carbon deposits in the Republic of Liberia. The Liberian media practitioner explained that the value of such interest shall be 20% of the authority issued and up standing capital shares existing at anytime without duration, adding that “under the 2000 Petroleum Law of Liberia, the Government has reserved for itself a 20% ownership share of each concession”. Mr. Browne revealed that what is even more astonishing is the under the 2010 contract abundant, the Chevron majority own blocks are 11, 12 &14 while the Government of Liberia has waved its equity share with the option to buy 10% stake in the future. But he said, if the Government of Liberia which own 20% stake waved that and says that in the future it will buy 10% pointing out that “ but the ten percent will cost the Liberian Government billions of United States dollars because he said when the drilling of oil starts, 10% could be three to four billion dollars. “What is the logic that the Government of Liberia will waved 20% to but 10% in the future” Mr. Browne wondered. He pointed out that the Government must explain to Liberians what was the terms and conditions for waving the 20%. “Section 3.4 of the Liberia Petroleum Law on Stock Purchase also states that the holder of the rights to hydro copy deposits shall nullify NOCAL that shares equivalent to 10% of its stock are available for purchase by Liberians and or any interested citizen”. Mr. Browne asserted this means that every block; Liberians have the right to 10% equity share noting that the 3D data that was purchase by each of the oil company in Liberia per block at the cost of 15million dollars clearly shows there is oil in the West African State. He said if Liberians does not have the capacity now to purchase these shares now-they should be reserve for the future generations as it is not in preview of the Government to wave them. “Why the Government did signed the agreement in the first place and attach cost to it” Mr. Browne asserted. He said what is even more important is the 10% royalty for Liberians. “On the gross when oil is being produce in the next four to five years, the Liberian Government supposed to have sixty-forty on the book but instead they have eighty-twenty and that Chevron can explore up to 80% of oil in the country and give the Government only 20%. A recent deal that oil giant Chevron investing billions in Liberia has been tainted by allegations of bribery and shows how hard it is to root out alleged corruption in the West African nation. Last July, five months before she accepted the Nobel Peace Prize, Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf welcomed Chevron CEO John Watson into the Executive Mansion to herald one of the largest investments in her country since the end of its devastating civil war in 2003. Liberia's Nobel Prize-winning President Sirleaf has made fighting corruption the centerpiece of her administration, but the document trail surrounding a recent multimillion dollar oil deal shows just how difficult that fight can be. But in the judgment of one of the Liberian government's own anti-corruption watchdogs, Chevron's investment had been tainted even before the multinational oil giant paid its first dollar. According to a report of the Auditor General of the General Auditing Commission of Liberia (GAC), a series of bribes-less than $120,000 when added altogether was allegedly paid in 2006 and 2007 so that the legislature would grant two small firms the rights to four oil concessions off Liberia's coast. One of those companies, which purchased rights to three offshore properties, sold its concessions to Chevron. Chevron's purchase of the rights to explore for oil off the coast of the West African nation. No one has been prosecuted or charged with wrongdoing for the alleged bribes. According to a cache of U.S. diplomatic cables obtained by ProPublica under the Freedom of Information Act, both Sirleaf and the U.S. State Department pushed for the three allegedly tainted concessions to be sold to Chevron even after the allegations became public. ExxonMobil is now zeroing in on the fourth concession. These transactions give U.S. companies potentially rich new oil reserves, and the Chevron deal alone marks the largest concession in Liberia's history, according to one of the diplomatic cables. What happened after the alleged bribes became public is a tale of compromise and competing priorities that shows how hard it is to root out alleged corruption even when a Nobel-laureate president has made that one of her main goals, and even when the United States has poured more than $84 million since 2007 into good governance and anti-corruption programs. The deepwater blocks, LB-11, LB-12 and LB-14 are located between 12 to 110 miles (20 to 180 km) south of the capital of Monrovia and cover a combined area of 3,700 square miles (9,600 square km). Under the agreement, Chevron’s Liberian subsidiary will conduct a three-year exploratory program that is expected to begin in the fourth quarter of 2010.

2012-01-01T17:23:00.001-08:00

Douglas Wisseh Nyenpan is Dead

2012-01-01T17:23:00.000-08:00

The Late D. Wisseh Nyenpan

Two Times Sinoe County Representative Post Contender

D. Wisseh Nyenpan is dead. He died Saturday, December 31, 2011 in Monrovia after a battle with Enlarged Heart. D. Wisseh Nyenpan was a son of the late George D. Nyenpan who served as both Clan and Paramount Chief of the Jedepo Statutory District in Sinoe County. D. Wisseh Nyenpan was a businessman and a former student of the Zwedru Multilateral High School in Zwedru, Grand Gedeh County. He traveled to most European countries from 1998 - 2002 on business tours.

D. Wisseh Nyenpan ran for the District #3 representative seat in Sinoe County during the 2005 and 2011 elections and came close to winning that seat on the CDC's ticket.

The late D. Wisseh Nyenpan was a brother of Moses Saylee Nyenpan, now General Secretary of the Jedepo Tribal Council (JETCO).

Other funeral announcements will be made as soon as possible after an ongoing family meeting in New Kru Town today.

IS THIS THE REVOLUTION YOU PROMISED?

2011-11-27T21:12:00.000-08:00

By: Jerry Wehtee-Maotee Wion

Washington, DC, Nov. 23, 2011: The great Nelson Mandela said it best: “there is no easy walk to freedom.” I first want to ask some of Liberia's self-anointed progressives---Dr. Amos Sawyer, Dr. Henry Boima Fahnbulleh, Jr., and Dr. Togba Nah Tipoteh--- who have now comfortably taken their seats at the master's table, if this is the REVOLUTION that you so eloquently advocated, articulated and engineered in the 1970s that has since put Liberia on a deadly path for four decades? In her "victory" speech on Nov. 12, 2011 following Bloody Monday (Nov. 7, 2011), President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf saw a falsely divided Liberia. "Political leaders have a special and a greater responsibility to bring our people together, to cement the FALSE DIVIDES," she said of a "victory" that is forever stained with the blood of the masses for who you preached, and now has led to the deaths of 250,000 Liberians and still climbing since 1979. I pray that you all sleep well every night when you go to bed.
I have said in my news commentaries that Liberia is Africa's first failed experiment at setting up a true democratic form of government on the continent. We got it wrong in 1847 and still can't seem to get it right after 164 years of trying. Had Liberia lived up to its promise then, perhaps Africa's long years of colonial subjugation may have been abbreviated. Look at where the country is today. How many more of our people must die before we get it (democracy) right? Do you take any credit for a nation that is adrift? Or, is this the REVOLUTION?
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. said "there comes a time in life when one must take a stand that is neither safe, nor popular, nor politics, but you take it because it is right, and that it is a cause worth dying for if needs be. And that if a man has not discovered something worth dying for then he is not fit to live. And that a man cannot ride on your back unless it is bent." For too long the masses of the Liberian poor have allowed others to ride on our backs. It is time that we straighten our backs up, and we thought you would lead us to the promised land of a utopian democratic Liberia. But I guess this is the REVOLUTION.
True democracy can become infectious and contagious and can spread to its immediate neighbors. Just look at North America (United States and Canada), Western Europe and the Asia Pacific nations. Practice the opposite and your people suffer like in most of Africa. You be the judge as to the type of democracy we have in Liberia that after 164 years of "independence" our people don't have electricity, safe drinking water, let alone a decent healthcare system.
You were the proponent of the popular political refrain "monkey works, bamboo draws." Flip the coin, and it is now today, "monkey is still working, let bamboo wait small." Please tell the Liberian people who is the monkey and who is the bamboo, since you've now crossed carpet and are receiving your decorations in the Humane Order of African Redemption and of the Knighthood of Pioneers. I guess the REVOLUTION has arrived for the masses.
Since it seems Sirleaf has put on political blinders, and you have failed to point out to her the many TRUE DIVIDES in our country, I have painstaking jotted down a few and ask you, where are the FALSE DIVIDES? Yes, where are the FALSE DIVIDES in Liberia:
 when Sirleaf and her cronies who grew up on the corrupt diet of the True Whig Party (TWP), became the cheerleaders and sang its mantra/anthem of “so say one, so say all,” then abandoned the TWP which is still a registered party, not for any philosophical or ideological convictions but so that you don’t go down with a sinking ship, and you hijacked instead political parties started by nationalist progressives who were marginalized by the TWP (Liberia Action Party of Jackson F. Doe and now the Unity Party of Henry Boima Fahnbulleh, Sr.);

 when you failed to push your ruling Unity Party members in the Legislature to include, while crafting the just defeated National Referendum, the rights of all Liberian citizens regardless of where they live in the world, and including the 1,000,000-plus driven out of the country as a result of the 14-year war you masterminded, the right to vote in presidential election;
Yes, where are the FALSE DIVIDES in Liberia:
 when US$7 million was allocated in the national budget for the repairs/renovation of the office and official residence of the President of Liberia (The Executive Mansion) that was gutted by fire on your watch six years ago on July 26, 2006, but is yet to be repaired and the money vanished in thin air and there is no accountability;

 when your “war on corruption” and “corruption is enemy number one” are now meaningless and empty lip-service slogans while funds meant to lift our people from poverty continue to enrich a few as the masses wallow in abject poverty;
Yes, Liberians want to know if these glaring and unscrupulous practices of your administration are not TRUE DIVIDES:
 when morality, fairness, transparency and accountability demand that you provide documented evidence of how taxpayers’ money (US$10,000.00 per foreign trip as per diem, and US$2 million allocated to your office annually for “presidential office use”) is spent, and if it is not all spent that the remainder goes back into the national treasury. Can you provide documented evidence?

 when without legislative oversight in the wake of the US$1,000,000.00 illegal money transfer from the Central Bank of Liberia to an account that matches your private account at Ecobank, and where the Governor of the Central Bank disclosed you had, without the knowledge of the Legislature, already transferred over US$10,000,000.00, for as you put it “my development agenda” using the underground railroad triangle of your office, that of the Deputy Minister of Finance for Revenue and the former Deputy Governor of the Central Bank of Liberia who has since been promoted to the position of Liberian Ambassador to Germany;

 when at the peak performance of the Liberian economy (1979-1980) the president’s official salary was US$36,000 annually and the lowest paid government worker earned US$250.00 a month. But when in your first national budget after you inherited a failed economy and a depleted treasury, you ironically doubled your presidential salary from US$36,000.00 to US$72,000.00, but lowered the salary of the lowest paid government worker from US$250.00 a month to the slave wage of US30.00, and six years later the lowest paid civil servant earns less than $US100.00 a month; I humbly ask you Madame President: are these FALSE DIVIDES?:

 when government police brutalize students repeatedly, and gunned down and killed opposition protesters;
 when you jailed 84 opposition protesters on the eve of elections;
 when you closed down media outlets to silence opposition dissent in the new "democratic" Liberia;
 when the police chief termed as "rumors" the killings of protesters;
 when the police chief blamed the killings on UN Peacekeepers;
 when you the President "regrettably extend my deepest condolence and offer government's assistance" for those killed;
 when the US government expressed condolence to the families of those killed and demand an independent investigation into Bloody Monday?
The Liberian people want to know and deserve to know about what you see as FALSE DIVIDES:
 when one is the architect who conceived, planned and financed Liberia's 14-year bloody holocaust that killed 250,000 Liberians (Tom Woewiyu’s Open Letter);
 when you publicly admitted in sworn testimony before Liberia's Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) about raising US$10,000 for Charles Taylor's National Patriotic Front rebel group;
 when you refused to implement the TRC Report which is the law to punish those who brought war to Liberia in which 250,000 people were killed;
Are these still FALSE DIVIDES:
 when you "won" in a landslide elections boycotted by the opposition in which protesters were killed;
 when the US, Jimmy Carter Center, Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch all condemned "police brutality" on Bloody Monday; and,
 when the US State Dept. Annual Human Rights Report since you were elected president in 2005, accuses your government of widespread corruption and a corrupt judiciary where judges take bribes to rule in cases; I humbly ask: are these FALSE DIVIDES in Liberia?
 when the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Liberia, who is supposed to know better about the rule of law in a democracy, violated the law with impunity by ordering his Court officers into a private business, arrested and handcuffed the manager of a private airlines on the flimsy charge that the foreign businessman owed the Chief Justice, without the due process of law, the amount of US$500 because the Chief Justice missed his returned flight to Liberia doing his thing? What a way to attract foreign investors to Liberia.
 when the same Chief Justice jailed the publisher of a leading newspaper in Liberia for one week because the publisher/journalist did not have a lawyer to represent him at a hearing before the Chief Justice after the journalist’s lawyer in court declined to represent him, and the Chief Justice should have requested that the government must provide a lawyer for the defendant/publisher, and warning the reporter: “you better not play with me”?
For Africa’s first female elected president and a Nelson Mandela want-to-be one termer as you promised; where are the FALSE DIVIDES in Liberia:
 when you still refuse to prosecute officials implicated in 30-plus audits of corruption conducted by the independent General Auditing Commission;
 when you the President--not during a corruption trial in a court of law--vowed to put her head on the chopping block to defend an accused corrupt minister, and trying to be the judge, jury and executioner;
 when the National Elections Commission (NEC) refuses opposition party request to re-count votes in a disputed election in which the NEC chair wrote the opposition saying it cheated the opposition;
 when in genuine democracies around the world including in the United States votes are disputed and therefore re-counted to promote a free, fair and transparent election process, and so why not in Liberia?;
 when the prisons in Liberia are overcrowded and not conducive to hold humans, and where suspects are held, some for over a year without trail in violation of their constitutional rights, according to the International Red Cross;
 when on foreign trips you constantly boast of attracting over US$16 billion worth of foreign investments to Liberia under your presidency, but with unemployment hovering above 85 percent;
 when in the failed Liberian economy, some of your friends and cronies are paid the outrageous salaries of between US$10,000 to US$15,000 a month while the lowest paid civil servant worker takes home less than US$100.00 a month; do you not see TRUE DIVIDES, but instead of what you see as FALSE DIVIDES in a country the United Nations says the average Liberian lives on less than US$1.00 a day?
Are these realities FALSE DIVIDES:
 when there is a broken healthcare system in Liberia that medical centers have literally become death-centers in themselves for the poor, while you and your friends get the best in healthcare every year at taxpayers' expense from the best hospitals in the United States;
 when roads are congested and in need of repairs that they have become death-traps for motorists;
 when traffic is a nightmare on the streets, roads and highways and not a single working traffic light in the country;
In a democracy where transparency and accountability are hallmarks, are these FALSE DIVIDES:
 when you authorized the spending of US$450,000.00 of taxpayers' money on the questionable "Elwood Dunn Commission" to investigate the Willis Knuckles Email Scandal and the Liberian people have long since forgotten about the recommendations now collecting/catching dust under your desk because you will not act on the Dunn Report;
 when you announced that the Dunn Commission was given US$450,000, but then Dunn at the conclusion of his Report when submitting it to you said he was given only US$250,000, and no one has been able to question either you or Dunn about the US$200,000 difference of taxpayers’ money;
 when Elwood Dunn himself who is a paid full time professor at an American University in the United States who refused to go and work in Liberia, but was —thanks to his friend Dr. Amos Sawyer-- placed on the payroll of the so-called Good Governance Commission and paid US$4,000 a month as a “Consultant” and was later chosen to head the investigation of his “classmates” from the William R. Tolbert cabinet, into the Willis Knuckles Email Scandal, and knowing very well that Dunn’s brother was working as a Protocol Officer in the President’s Office which would be a clear case of conflict of interest;
 when Amos Sawyer accused to members of the Good Governance Commission of corruption and incompetence over a questionable use of US$1200 of the Commission’s funds, and the two in turn sued Sawyer in a court of law for paying Elwood Dunn US$4000 so that the court may determine who is more corrupt as an effort to help you fight your “war on corruption;” but,
 when you the President urged the two employees of the Good Governance Commission to withdraw their case against Sawyer from court for as you put it, “we don’t need to wash our dirty clothes in public” and that killed the case since;
 when US$600,000.00 was fraudulently wired from a computer in your private residence linked to the Willis Knuckles Email Scandal, and you blamed it on your “friend” who is the sister of the president of one of Liberia’s neighbors, but the “friend” publicly denied ever being in Liberia on the date of the money transfer with supporting evidence of dates with stamped entry and exit visas in her passport; may I ask you Madame President and our “Progressives,” are these still FALSE DIVIDES in Liberia;?
 when you ironically set up a "Special Commission” after Bloody Monday in your artificial "FALSE DIVIDES" Liberia to investigate, and you promise that "all those found to have broken the law will be brought to justice;" I still ask, do you truly and honestly see "FALSE DIVIDES” that you can't see a bloody, bleeding and divided Liberia and the anger and tears of our people?
I await your answers as you ironically join your other classmates before you---Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr, The Madiba Nelson Mandela, Bishop Desmond Tutu, and others, and as you prepare to go and receive your Nobel Peace Prize early next year in Oslo, Norway. And what would they be thinking now if they could look back and see where Liberia is today: the late G. Baccus Matthews, Albert Porte, Tuan Wreh, David Coleman, Henry Boima Fahnbulleh Sr., Jackson F. Doe, Nattie Sieh Brownell, Dr. Morias, Juah Nimely and D. Tweh, just to name a few? Dr. Fahnbulleh, Dr.Tipoteh , and Dr. Sawyer, why, why and why? You have disappointed many who once believed in you. But it may not be too late to redeem yourself. History’s final chapter is not yet written. May God Bless Liberia! Print and pass a copy on to others; spread the message. More coming soon.
In the Cause of the People, the Struggle Continues!
Jerry Wehtee-Maotee Wion
Executive Producer/Director
Liberian African News Service, LANS
240-764-7267--LANS Newsline
301-789-7786

Email: WionLANS@aol.com
Mr. Wion was Executive Mansion Presidential Reporter for government-owned ELBS-TV 1979-1981 during the Administrations of William R. Tolbert, Jr. and Master-Sergeant Samuel K. Doe of the PRC.

ULAA 37th ASSEMBLY ENDS ON A SUCCESSFUL NOTE

2011-10-02T16:54:00.000-07:00

~ Gaye Sleh Emerges in Special Elections

With the observing presence of Liberia’s Foreign Minister, Honorable Toga McIntosh, and Liberia’s Ambassador to the United States, His Excellency Ambassador William V.S. and Mrs. Cecelia Freeman Bull, as well as the watchful supervision of the ULAA Council of Eminent Persons, the Union of Liberian Associations in the Americas (ULAA), on Saturday, October 1, 2011, held its 37th National General Assembly and Special Elections in Burtonsville, Maryland.

Following a grueling but cordial process that lasted hours, ULAA Elections Commission Chairman, Honorable Frank Carter, and his twelve commissioners who were present announced the results which produced the following contestants as winners:

Mr. Gaye Duwah Sleh of Illinois as National Executive President
Mrs. Menseh M. Jones of New Jersey (North) as National Executive Vice President Mr. J. Fayah Nyumah of Ohio as National General Secretary
Mr. Musa V. Trawally of Pennsylvania as National Treasurer
Mr. Vamba Fofana of Staten Island (New York) as Eastern Regional Vice President Mrs. Bendu C. Hunter of California as Western Regional Vice President Mr. Albert V. Morweh of Illinois as Northern Regional Vice President Reverend Clifford E.B. Hooke of Georgia as Southern Regional Vice President.

Following the announcement of the results, the unsuccessful presidential candidates, Messrs. Isaac S. Zawolo of Washington, DC, and John P. Tarley of Minnesota, gracefully accepted the results, congratulated the winners and pledged to work with the incoming Administration.
Amidst thunderous applause, Mr. Zawolo, in his concession remarks, took the extraordinary step of issuing of a check of $ 500.00 to ULAA as a symbol of his continuing commitment to support the Union, notwithstanding his unsuccessful bid for the ULAA top post.

Minister McIntosh and Ambassador Bull who witnessed the entire process covering both the Assembly session and the elections hailed the ULAA Family for a splendid show of organizational democracy and hoped Liberians could demonstrate similar inclinations during the forthcoming general and presidential elections in Liberia.

Mrs. Mydea Reeves-Karpeh who chairs the ULAA Council of Eminent Persons which facilitated the mediation process that lead to the special elections, touted the massively successful 37th Assembly as a glorious opportunity for a new beginning of unity and cohesion in the Union.
Also held at the 37th Assembly was the regular election for the leaders of the ULAA National Board of Directors--the Board Executive Committee. With 24 Board members in session, the new leaders of the ULAA legislative organ were elected as follows:

Mr. Wilmot W. Kunney of Pennsylvania as Chairman
Mr. George Toto of Pittsburgh as First Vice Chairman
Mr. Abraham K. Kromah of New Jersey (North) as Second Vice Chairman
A total of 16 ULAA member chapters were represented at the 37th Assembly, with 11 chapter presidents personally present.

ULAA Motto:
"Together We Struggle for a Better Liberia"

Gaye Sleh Wins ULAA Presidential Elections

2011-10-02T15:25:00.000-07:00

Gaye Sleh Wins ULAA Presidential Elections

(Oct 1, 2011) By: ULAA Elections Commission

L-R: Sleh (101); Zawolo (60); and Tarley (16)

The ULAA Elections Commission is pleased to release names of participants and winners of the elections conducted on October 1, 2011. In same token, the Commission wants to thank all candidates and members of the union for the level of cordiality and support accorded the Commission during the process.

Accordingly, the Commission also wants to use this medium to inform the general public that certification of winners will be done in accordance with the timetable of the Commission.

Office of National President and Vice President

Gaye Sleh Jr and Menseh Jones 101 - winner

Isaac Zawolo and Sylvestine Gbessagee 60

John P. Tarley and Martha George-Toe 16

Office of National Secretary

Fayah J. Nyumah 84 - winner

James Y. Massah 41

Emmanuel Togbah Nah Davies 25

Office of National Treasurer

Musa Trawally 73 --Winner

Florence F. Harris 68 -

Regional Vice President Positions

Northern Region:

Albert Morweh 26 - winner

Michael Y. Gilman 8

Southern Region:

Rev. Clifford E. Hooke 12 - winner

Lao Sherman 0

Western Region:

Bendu C. Hunter 8 - winner

Olivia Karzon 7

Eastern Region:

Vambah Fofana 80 - winner

Charles Hiamah 36

Signed:
Allieu D. Golafale
Secretary
ULAA – ECOM

Approved:
Frank F. Carter
Chairman

ULAA – ECOM

Amb Weah is mainly popular with 'downtrodden youths'

2011-08-22T16:16:00.000-07:00

Weah Leads Campaign Team

Publication Date: August 22, 2011 - 12:01pm
Updated: August 22, 2011 - 12:08pm

By: Observer Staff

The opposition Congress for Democratic Change (CDC) has named its campaign team for the 2011 presidential and general elections. Cllr. Winston Tubman, serves as ex-officio and standard bearer while the party’s vice standard bearer, George Weah, serves as national campaign manager.

CDC, in a statement issued in Monrovia over the weekend said “The team is a reflection of the party’s grassroots support and governing ability for Liberia.”

The statement indicated that CDC’s campaign 2011 will be managed by a national executive campaign management team and supported by the party’s structure, national presidential campaign committee and national legislative campaign committee.

“Two senior advisors will provide strategic support and coordinate activities of a host of professional experts serving as consultants and fundraisers,” the CDC statement indicated.
According to the party, George Solo serves as deputy national campaign manager/administration and finance; and Nathaniel McGill, deputy national campaign manager/elections, mobilization and logistics who would be assisted by Mulbah K. Morlu with direct oversight as director of mobilization.

Senator Jewel Howard-Taylor serves as national general coordinator; Sylvester Williams and Cllr. Robert Tubman are senior advisors to the campaign team, the statement added.

Amongst personalities also named as members of the campaign team are the party’s national chairman, Geraldine Doe-Sheriff, secretary general, Acarous Moses Gray, and Ambassador Harry Tarr-Freeman, of the elder’s council.

Samuel D-Tweah is the campaign’s national spokesman, while Richelieu B. Urey is director of policy and communications.

The party’s vice chairman/adm., chief Budu Wilson, is coordinator of training and elections, and Jerror E. Tarwo serves as logistics coordinator.

Henry Wokolo is information officer; ; Yafa Baikpeh, research Officer, Rodney Wilson, planning officer; Samuel D. Tweah, campaign spokesman and strategist;
Varflay Tulay, director for strategic programs; James Dossen, director for political affairs;
Jewel Howard Taylor, national campaign coordinator; C. Mike Doryen, deputy national campaign coordinator.

Others are coordinator for central region, Alomenza Ennos; coordinator for eastern region, Ralph Harris; coordinator for Northern region., Varfley Dorley; coordinator, Western region, Ja Cummings, coordinator for southern region; and Julius Bantoe.

Also featuring prominently in the campaign structure are CDC’s auxiliary and advisory groupings.

The CDC campaign management team comes days to the holding of the national referendum, an event the party has called on all its partisans and well-wishers to boycott.

Culled: Daily Observer Newspaper, Liberia

Libya Rebels Overtake Tripoli As Gaddafi Regime Crumbles

2011-08-22T06:13:00.000-07:00

AP/The Huffington Post By KARIN LAUB and BEN HUBBARD First Posted: 8/22/11 01:12 AM ET Updated: 8/22/11 07:55 AM ET

TRIPOLI, Libya -- Euphoric Libyan rebels took control of most of Tripoli in a lightning advance Sunday, celebrating the victory in Green Square, the symbolic heart of Moammar Gadhafi's regime. Gadhafi's defenders quickly melted away as his 42-year rule crumbled, but the leader's whereabouts were unknown and pockets of resistance remained.

State TV broadcast Gadhafi's bitter pleas for Libyans to defend his regime. Opposition fighters captured his son and one-time heir apparent, Seif al-Islam, who along with his father faces charges of crimes against humanity at the International Criminal Court in the Netherlands. Another son was under house arrest.

Click here for live updates

"It's over, frizz-head," chanted hundreds of jubilant men and women massed in Green Square, using a mocking nickname of the curly-haired Gadhafi. The revelers fired shots in the air, clapped and waved the rebels' tricolor flag. Some set fire to the green flag of Gadhafi's regime and shot holes in a poster with the leader's image.

The startling rebel breakthrough, after a long deadlock in Libya's 6-month-old civil war, was the culmination of a closely coordinated plan by rebels, NATO and anti-Gadhafi residents inside Tripoli, rebel leaders said. Rebel fighters from the west swept over 20 miles (30 kilometers) in a matter of hours Sunday, taking town after town and overwhelming a major military base as residents poured out to cheer them. At the same time, Tripoli residents secretly armed by rebels rose up.

When rebels reached the gates of Tripoli, the special battalion entrusted by Gadhafi with guarding the capital promptly surrendered. The reason: Its commander, whose brother had been executed by Gadhafi years ago, was secretly loyal to the rebellion, a senior rebel official Fathi al-Baja told The Associated Press.

Al-Baja, the head of the rebels' political committee, said the opposition's National Transitional Council had been working on the offensive for the past three months, coordinating with NATO and rebels within Tripoli. Sleeper cells were set up in the capital, armed by rebel smugglers. On Thursday and Friday, NATO intensified strikes inside the capital, and on Saturday, the sleeper cells began to rise up.

President Barack Obama said Libya is "slipping from the grasp of a tyrant" and urged Gadhafi to relinquish power to prevent more bloodshed.

"The future of Libya is now in the hands of the Libyan people," Obama said in a statement from Martha's Vineyard, where he's vacationing. He promised to work closely with rebels.

By the early hours of Monday, opposition fighters controlled most of the capital. The seizure of Green Square held profound symbolic value - the plaza was the scene of pro-Gadhafi rallies organized by the regime almost every night, and Gadhafi delivered speeches to his loyalists from the historic Red Fort that overlooks the square. Rebels and Tripoli residents set up checkpoints around the city, though pockets of pro-Gadhafi fighters remained. In one area, AP reporters with the rebels were stopped and told to take a different route because of regime snipers nearby.

Abdel-Hakim Shugafa, a 26-year-old rebel fighter, said he was stunned by how easy it was. He saw only about 20 minutes of gunbattles as he and his fellow fighters pushed into the capital at nightfall.

"I expect Libya to be better," said Shugafa, part of a team guarding the National Bank near Green Square. "He (Gadhafi) oppressed everything in the country - health and education. Now we can build a better Libya."

In a series of angry and defiant audio messages broadcast on state television, Gadhafi called on his supporters to march in the streets of the capital and "purify it" of "the rats." He was not shown in the messages.

His defiance raised the possibility of a last-ditch fight over the capital, home to 2 million people. Government spokesman Moussa Ibrahim claimed the regime has "thousands and thousands of fighters" and vowed: "We will fight. We have whole cities on our sides. They are coming en masse to protect Tripoli to join the fight."

But it seemed that significant parts of Gadhafi's regime and military were abandoning him. His prime minister, Al-Baghdadi Al-Mahmoudi, fled to a hotel in the Tunisian city of Djerba, said Guma el-Gamaty, a London-based rebel spokesman.

NATO Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen said Gadhafi's regime was "clearly crumbling" and that the time to create a new democratic Libya has arrived.

It was a stunning reversal for Gadhafi, who earlier this month had seemed to have a firm grip on his stronghold in the western part of Libya, despite months of NATO airstrikes on his military. Rebels had been unable to make any advances for weeks, bogged down on the main fronts with regime troops in the east and center of the country.

Gadhafi is the Arab world's longest-ruling, most erratic, most grimly fascinating leader - presiding for 42 years over this North African desert nation with vast oil reserves and just 6 million people. For years, he was an international pariah blamed for the 1988 bombing of a Pan Am jumbo jet over Lockerbie, Scotland, that killed 270 people. After years of denial, Gadhafi's Libya acknowledged responsibility, agreed to pay up to $10 million to relatives of each victim, and the Libyan rule declared he would dismantle his weapons of mass destruction program.

That eased him back into the international community.

But on February 22, days after the uprising against him began, Gadhafi gave a televised speech vowing to hunt down protesters "inch by inch, room by room, home by home, alleyway by alleyway." The speech caused a furor that helped fuel the armed rebellion against him and it has been since mocked in songs and spoofs across the Arab world.

As the rebel force advanced on Tripoli on Sunday, taking town after town, thousands of jubilant civilians rushed out of their homes to cheer the long convoys of pickup trucks packed with fighters shooting in the air. One man grabbed a rebel flag that had been draped over the hood of a slow-moving car and kissed it, overcome with emotion.

Akram Ammar, 26, fled his hometown of Tripoli in March and on Sunday was among the rebel fighters pouring back in.

"It is a happiness you can't describe but also some fear. It will take us time to clear the entire city. I expect a long time for Libyans to get used to the new system and the new democracy," he said, dressed in camouflage pants and black shirt and sporting the long beard of a conservative Muslim. "But in the end it will be better."

The rebels' leadership council, based in the eastern city of Benghazi, sent out mobile text messages to Tripoli residents, proclaiming, "Long live Free Libya" and urging them to protect public property. Internet service returned to the capital for the first time in six months.

The day's first breakthrough came when hundreds of rebels fought their way into a major symbol of the Gadhafi regime - the base of the elite 32nd Brigade commanded by Gadhafi's son, Khamis. Fighters said they met little resistance. They were 16 miles from the big prize, Tripoli.

Hundreds of rebels cheered wildly and danced as they took over the compound filled with eucalyptus trees, raising their tricolor from the front gate and tearing down a large billboard of Gadhafi. From a huge warehouse, they loaded their trucks with hundreds of crates of rockets, artillery shells and large-caliber ammunition.

One group started up a tank, drove it out of the gate, crushing the median of the main highway and driving off toward Tripoli.

The rebels also freed more than 300 prisoners from a regime lockup, most of them arrested during the heavy crackdown on the uprising in towns west of Tripoli. The fighters and the prisoners - many looking weak and dazed and showing scars and bruises from beatings - embraced and wept with joy.

"We were sitting in our cells when all of a sudden we heard lots of gunfire and people yelling 'God is great.' We didn't know what was happening, and then we saw rebels running in and saying 'We're on your side.' And they let us out," said 23-year-old Majid al-Hodeiri. He said he was captured four months ago by Gadhafi's forces crushing the uprising in his home city of Zawiya. He said he was beaten and tortured while under detention.

From the military base, the convoy sped toward the capital.

Mahmoud al-Ghwei, 20 and unarmed, said he had just came along with a friend for the ride .

"It's a great feeling. For all these years, we wanted freedom and Gadhafi kept it from us. Now we're going to get rid of Gadhafi and get our freedom," he said.

The uprising against Gadhafi broke out in mid-February, and anti-regime protests quickly spread. A brutal regime crackdown quickly transformed the protests into an armed rebellion. Rebels seized Libya's east, setting up an internationally recognized transitional government there, and two pockets in the west, the port city of Misrata and the Nafusa mountain range.

Gadhafi clung to the remaining territory, and for months neither side had been able to break the other.

In early August, however, rebels launched an offensive from the Nafusa Mountains, intending to open a new, western front to break the deadlock. They fought their way down to the Mediterranean coastal plain, backed by NATO airstrikes, and captured the strategic city of Zawiya.

Rebel fighters who spoke to relatives in Tripoli by phone said hundreds rushed into the streets in anti-regime protests in several neighborhoods on Sunday.

"We received weapons by sea from Benghazi. They sent us weapons in boats," said Ibrahim Turki, a rebel in the Tripoli neighborhood of Tajoura, which saw heavy fighting the past two days. "Without their weapons, we would not have been able to stand in the face of the mighty power of Gadhafi forces."

Thousands celebrated in the streets of Benghazi, the rebels' de facto capital hundreds of miles to the east. Firing guns into the air and shooting fireworks, they cheered and waved the rebel tricolor flags, dancing and singing in the city's main square.

When rebels moved in, the regime unit guarding the capital, known as the Mohammed Megrayef battalion, surrendered and its commander ordered its troops to put down their arms. Al-Baja, the rebel official, said that the commander, Barani Eshkal, had secretly defected earlier to the rebels, embittered by the 1986 execution of his brother, who had joined a coup attempt against Gadhafi.

Eshkal also pointed out to the rebels the hiding place of Gadhafi's son Seif al-Islam in a hotel, al-Baja said. Rebel chief Mustafa Abdel-Jalil in Benghazi confirmed to the AP that the rebels captured Seif but refused to give details.

In the Netherlands, the prosecutor at the International Criminal Court, Luis Moreno-Ocampo, said his office would talk to the rebels on Monday about Seif al-Islam's transfer for trial. "It is time for justice, not revenge," Moreno-Ocampo told the AP.

Seif al-Islam, his father and Libya's intelligence chief were indicted earlier this year for allegedly ordering, planning and participating in illegal attacks on civilians in the early days of the violent crackdown on anti-regime protesters.

Another son, Mohammed, was under house arrest. Mohammed, who is in charge of Libyan telecommunications, appeared on the Arabic satellite channel Al-Jazeera, saying his house was surrounded by armed rebels.

"They have guaranteed my safety. I have always wanted good for all Libyans and was always on the side of God," he said. Close to the end of the interview, there was the sound of heavy gunfire and Mohammed said rebels had entered his house before the phone line cut off.

___

Hadeel Al-Shalchi in Cairo contributed to this report

As Liberian Stands Trial, Investigators Lose Scent in Hunt for Missing Millions

2011-08-18T22:00:00.000-07:00

By DOREEN CARVAJAL

Published: June 6, 2010

MONROVIA, Liberia --

How much money did Charles G. Taylor, the deposed president of Liberia, siphon out of his destitute, war-shattered country, and where is it?
For almost seven years, since an international warrant was issued for his arrest, the search has stretched from the mangrove swamps and diamond fields of West Africa to Swiss banks and shell corporations -- a state-of-the-art version of the sweeping asset hunts that have accompanied the fall of autocrats since the shah of Iran's demise in the 1970s.
Investigators have crawled in the dirt under porches and buildings in this impoverished capital to seek out financial records. They have confronted bankers and government officials on four continents. They have cross-referenced mazes of documents charting the transfer of millions of dollars into and out of dozens of accounts.

But they have come up dry for any money in Mr. Taylor's name. In fact, four years ago, Mr. Taylor was classified as ''partially indigent'' by the Special Court for Sierra Leone at The Hague, where he is charged with instigating murder, mutilation, rape and sexual slavery during intertwined wars in Liberia and Sierra Leone that claimed more than 250,000 victims from 1989 to 2003.
That has left donor nations -- the United States being the largest -- to cover his monthly $100,000 legal bill and the broader costs of his $20 million trial.
But the investigators push on, and a review by the International Herald Tribune of court transcripts, bank records, and newly available government receipts and confidential prosecution memos indicates why they are reluctant to give up the hunt.

Some of the records show how the country's largest timber company sent tax payments to Mr. Taylor's private account rather than the national treasury. Others trace huge payments made by the dominant cellphone company to people suspected of being Taylor cronies. Others depict a web of front companies and banks from Hong Kong to New York involved in the movement of millions of dollars into Mr. Taylor's accounts in Liberia.
''Money would go to an arms dealer or an ally and from there to a money management firm and then back to Liberia, then cashed out and moved to another bank account,'' said Thomas R. Creal, an accountant from Chicago who for five years has led the search for the United Nations.
Retained by Liberia, he and three law firms are developing a new strategy involving filing civil damage claims against companies, governments and international banks that they contend aided Mr. Taylor in illegal transactions. The goal, after investigators have succeeded in freezing only about $8 million held by Taylor relatives and associates, is to win judgments for Liberia even if Taylor accounts cannot be found.

The estimates of hidden wealth -- believed to have been extracted from Liberia's timber and diamond trades, its international merchant shipping registry, tax coffers and the government of Taiwan -- run from as high as $3 billion to a middling range of $280 million. Mr. Taylor's own estimate is zero.
Last year, the flamboyant former warlord taunted prosecutors in court, dismissing the financial investigations as efforts to demonize him. ''I challenge any human being or organization in this world -- I mean this planet -- to bring one bank account that Charles Taylor has money in,'' he said. ''I have heard the prosecutor blatantly lie, saying, 'We found millions.' Bring the millions here.''
Stephen Rapp, the U.S. ambassador at large for war crimes issues and a former chief prosecutor on the case, said the hunt could continue for years. ''You will never find an account listed under Charles Taylor,'' he said. ''In all of these asset recovery cases of former leaders who have been accused of corruption or worse, it has taken a long time to achieve recovery. So this is not going to end.''
High-level targets.

In the banking world, investigators call high-profile targets, like deposed heads of state or military officials, P.E.P.'s -- ''politically exposed persons.'' Financially speaking, Mr. Taylor is one of the most elusive.

You Can't Look Back"

2011-08-06T23:11:00.000-07:00

You Can't Look Back"

Liberian warlord-turned-senator Prince Johnson speaks out about the war crimes charges against him and his plans for the future.

BY GLENNA GORDON |JULY 7, 2009

At the end of last week, Liberia's Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) released a report examining the causes and consequences of Liberia's 14 years of brutal and gruesome civil war. The war may have ended six years ago, but Liberia's 3.4 million people are still reeling from a conflict that displaced a million people, left a quarter of a million dead, more than three fourths of women raped, and everyone traumatized.

The commission's report has made waves in the Western media for its condemnation of internationally popular President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf over her past support for rebel groups. But the charges against another high-ranking government official are far more serious and might have more-lasting consequences.

Prince Y. Johnson is now a Liberian senator. During the war, he headed a notorious rebel group called the Independent National Patriotic Front of Liberia. The final TRC report names him the No. 1 most notorious individual perpetrator and recommends that he be prosecuted for gross human rights violations and war crimes, specifically mass murder, extortion, destruction of property, forced recruitment, assault, abduction, torture, and rape. Johnson labeled the report a "joke" and vowed to resist with force any attempts to arrest him, raising fears of renewed violence. Last week, just before the report was released, freelance journalist Glenna Gordon went to his home on the outskirts of Monrovia for an exclusive interview.

Excerpts:

Johnson discussed the (then forthcoming) TRC report, which he saw as biased and aimed at the wrong targets:

TRC is supposed to be neutral. It's supposed to be an institution that people of Liberia can depend on to help reconcile. But instead, it has disappointed the people of this country. It is supposed to bring together perpetrators and victims to reconcile both sides. But the TRC chose to keep the victims away from the so-called perpetrators. They never brought the two people together, so where is the reconciliation?

Reconciliation is not an overnight thing. It is a gradual process. There are many programs that can bring people together. If two people have a problem, how do you solve it? By keeping them apart? No, by bringing them together. The perpetrator can remember what he did and he may or may not say sorry. That's the first phase to begin reconciliation, and [it] was not done. And if you cannot reconcile yourself you cannot reconcile a nation.

Who supplied the guns to them? Who supplied the finance to buy the weapons? Who provided the training? It's a whole lot of questions that need answers.
The first group of people that bear the greatest responsibility is not the fighting man but the people who supplied and bought the weapons. I don't know who planned and bought all the weapons, but the men didn't just come here shooting guns from the sky.
When justice itself is unjust, there is injustice. So if you want justice, ... you have to go for the big Nigerian men who got the weapons, who supplied so many things. They are still in power.
I spoke at the TRC and said, "Forgive me for my sins, but when two elephants fight, the grass suffers." I was repentant. I've accepted Jesus.

Every country in the world knows the history of Nimba [Johnson's county]. They know what [former President Samuel] Doe did to my people. I had to defend my people.

Johnson originally allied himself with former President Charles Taylor, who is now on trial at The Hague for crimes against humanity committed in Sierra Leone. The two leaders soon became enemies as rebel groups splintered and fractured. Johnson thinks that Taylor came to power with the aid of the United States:

The people who helped Charles Taylor escape from jail in the U.S.A. said that upon the removal of Doe, this is what you should do: Return to speedy democracy and let us come in to vie for public office. But Taylor decided, I cannot work for you to enjoy!
To be frank, there was absolutely no need for Taylor to send people to Sierra Leone. Removing the government of Doe was the only problem. After the removal of Doe there was a need for reconstruction. Not only the roads, the schools, but the minds. To reconstruct the mind. Taylor was to focus on that. He didn't need to go to Sierra Leone to make new war.
I do not have any communications with him now. How can I communicate with him while he's in jail? He wants to be Jewish to be free! He thinks that the American officials, most of them are Jewish. [Taylor's wife recently told the BBC that her husband had converted to Judaism while in prison.]

Although Johnson is thought to be semi-literate and never to have finished high school, he speaks about the importance of wisdom over knowledge and why he might still run for president:

In Liberia, 99 percent of our leaders who have a university degree do not represent their home county. The framers of our Constitution did not make education a criteri[on] for political office. Don't look at anyone [as] ignorant because you have [a] master's degree.
If people say go there [run for president], I'll go. Leadership does not come from how much you know. Leadership does not go by how much education you have. A leader that is born, you can see the characteristics.
I'm honest, straightforward, disciplined. When I say "yes," it's yes. These are characteristics that make people ... trust you. Tolerance, etc., etc. It's a gift. An individual gifted with wisdom is more than the man who is knowledgeable. When you gain knowledge you also gain wisdom. But there is no institution where you can gain wisdom. You got too many institutions that teach knowledge. Wisdom is a gift from God.

Johnson wrote a book called The Rise and Fall of President Samuel K. Doe, which he says sold a million copies. In 1990, Doe -- then Liberia's president -- was tortured and executed. A videotape of the ordeal was distributed to news stations around the world. It showed Johnson sitting at a table and sipping a beer while Doe's ear was being cut off. Johnson says he has no regrets over what happened to Doe:

The problem with Doe was that he listened to advice that led to his attack on Nimba, and that's why we had to fight back. He was in our custody, so we are responsible for whatever happened. He was with us, that's all I say.
If you want to move forward, you can't look back. Jesus never looked back. He never looked back. We need to look forward. When you look back, you look left, you look right, you get distracted. You need to focus on what you want done for this country.
I sleep sound; I sleep good. I snore

www.foreignpolicy.com

World Bank and Liberian Government sign US$249 million agreement

2011-07-29T16:25:00.000-07:00

World Bank and Liberian Government sign US$249 million agreement for Monrovia-Ganta-Guinea border road project

MONROVIA, July 21, 2011 - The Liberian Government and the World Bank have signed an agreement totaling an estimated US$249 million for the rehabilitation of the approximately 249-kilometer Monrovia (Red Light)-Gbarnga-Ganta-Guinea border road. This Liberia Road Asset Management Project (LIBRAMP) also provides for the maintenance of the road over a 10-year period.

The objective of the project is to support Liberia's efforts to reduce transport costs and travel time along the road corridor from Monrovia to the Guinea border and to maintain the road in good condition over a 10-year period. Currently, much of the road corridor is severely deteriorated and some sections are not readily passable during the rainy season, thereby greatly undermining transport efficiency, reliability, safety and comfort of road users.

The total estimated project cost is US$249 million, of which about US$176 million is being provided from International Development Association -IDA (approx. US$68 million) through its credit to Liberia, and approximately US$109 million grant from the multi-donor Liberia Reconstruction Trust Fund (LRTF) administered by the World Bank. The Oversight Committee (OC) of the LRTF has already approved the project concept and committed funds to co-finance the proposed project, through contributions and pledges received from the governments of Germany, Sweden, Ireland, the United Kingdom and Norway, the European Commission and the World Bank.

Signing for the Liberian Government, Finance Minister Augustine Ngafuan thanked the World Bank and other Development Partners for funding this road project. Minister Ngafuan described the project as: "a significant milestone in Liberia's quest to reduce hardship on its population and boost trade and commerce with other parts of Liberia and neighbouring countries. He pledged the Liberian Government's commitment in achieving the full objectives of this Road Asset Management Project.

The World Bank Country Manager for Liberia, Mr. Ohene Owusu Nyanin, who signed on behalf of IDA, commended the Liberian Government for prioritizing the rehabilitation of basic infrastructure as published in its first full Poverty Reduction Strategy (PRS). "The PRS articulates the GOL priorities for re-establishing of the basic infrastructure, primarily rebuilding of the road network that was extensively damaged during years of war," he said.

Mr. Nyanin noted that the World Bank has actively supported the GOL's efforts for recovery since the war ended in key aspects of the PRS. He added that combining funds from IDA and LRTF, more than US$300 million has been invested in or committed for rebuilding of transport infrastructure. "This project marks a further deepening of the Bank's support to Liberia," the World Bank Country Manager intimated.

The LIBRAMP sets the medium and long term goals for the road sector. The policies and strategies developed draw on innovative international practices and adapt these to the particulars of Liberia by providing a platform for the continued building of institutional and managerial capacity in the road sector. The primary beneficiaries of the project are common Liberian road users whose travel time and transport cost will be reduced as a result of road improvement. Terms of lending of this project has a standard IDA credit terms with a maturity of 40 years, including a grace period of 10 years, whereas the LRTF provides grants to Liberia.

Liberia joins West Africa Agricultural Productivity Program

WASHINGTON, July 21, 2011 - The Board of the World Bank approved the third series of the WAAPP's first phase on March 24, 2011 to include these six countries with a total financing of US$83.3 million. Liberia's component of this funding includes a US$6 million credit, and an additional US$8 million grant from the Japan Policy and Human Resources Development (PHRD) Technical Assistance (TA) Program to support the Rice Research and Productivity Development Program.

This newly approved third series of the Program, known as WAAPP-1C, will also provide specific support to the Mano River Union countries to rebuild their adaptive research and technology transfer capacities. With the inclusion of six new countries - Benin, Liberia, Niger, Sierra Leone, The Gambia and Togo - the World Bank's West Africa Agricultural Productivity Program (WAAPP) will contribute to achieving increased economic growth and help reach the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) in the sub-region.

"This program which now involves twelve West African countries re-confirms the World Bank's long-term commitment to generating and disseminating technology and knowledge, building capacity, and fostering regional integration in West Africa," said Jamal Saghir, the World Bank Director of Sustainable Development for Africa.

The WAAPP is expected to provide a regional framework for ECOWAS countries to collaborate in the implementation of national and regional agricultural strategies for technology generation and dissemination. It will further this collaboration through the development of specialized centers for technology generation and dissemination, which will also serve as regional knowledge-sharing centers.

The four major components of the WAAPP-1C project includes: (i) Enabling conditions for sub-regional cooperation in the generation, dissemination and adoption of agricultural technologies, (ii) Support to national centers of specialization, (iii) Funding of demand driven technology generation and adoption, and (iv) Project coordination, management, monitoring and evaluation.

Launched in 2007, the first phase of WAAPP has already shown successful results in Ghana, Mali and Senegal in setting up centers of specialization for agricultural research and increasing cooperation among researchers and institutions among the participating countries.

The Regional aspect of the program will strengthen the platform for regional policy harmonization. It will provide a regional framework for ECOWAS countries to collaborate in implementing national and regional agricultural strategies for technology generation and dissemination. WAAPP is being implemented under the auspices of the Ministry of Agriculture of Liberia. Terms of repayment are the standard IDA credit, zero interest rate, 40 years repayment and a 10-year grace period.

Contacts:
In Washington: Aby Toure (+1 202) 473-8302, akonate@worldbank.org;
In Monrovia: Michael Sahr (+231) 6 514321, msahr@worldbank.org

For more information, please visit: www.worldbank.org/liberia

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What Can We Do Positive?

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'Poor Liberians' Brainstorm on What They Want from High Level Panel Meeting in Monrovia

My Autobiography

RECONCILING LIBERIA AND ITS PEOPLE

Sunwabe Replies Dortu-Siboe-Doe

[EveryLiberian] Sunwabe Replies Dortu-Siboe-Doe

Hoax: Liberia’s Biggest Secret-

Douglas Wisseh Nyenpan is Dead

The Late D. Wisseh Nyenpan

Two Times Sinoe County Representative Post Contender

D. Wisseh Nyenpan ran for the District #3 representative seat in Sinoe County during the 2005 and 2011 elections and came close to winning that seat on the CDC's ticket.

The late D. Wisseh Nyenpan was a brother of Moses Saylee Nyenpan, now General Secretary of the Jedepo Tribal Council (JETCO).

Other funeral announcements will be made as soon as possible after an ongoing family meeting in New Kru Town today.

IS THIS THE REVOLUTION YOU PROMISED?

ULAA 37th ASSEMBLY ENDS ON A SUCCESSFUL NOTE

Gaye Sleh Wins ULAA Presidential Elections

Amb Weah is mainly popular with 'downtrodden youths'

Libya Rebels Overtake Tripoli As Gaddafi Regime Crumbles

As Liberian Stands Trial, Investigators Lose Scent in Hunt for Missing Millions

Published: June 6, 2010

You Can't Look Back"

Liberian warlord-turned-senator Prince Johnson speaks out about the war crimes charges against him and his plans for the future.

BY GLENNA GORDON |JULY 7, 2009

World Bank and Liberian Government sign US$249 million agreement