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LEGISLATIVE
BEAT
NEWS EXTRA
VOL 8 NO.600
FRIDAY, MAY 23, 2014
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CENTRAL BANK OF LIBERIA
MARKET BUYING AND SELLING RATES
LIBERIAN DOLLARS PER US DOLLAR
These are indicative rates based on results of daily surveys of
the foreign exchange market in Monrovia and its environs. The
rates are collected from the Forex Bureaux and the commercials
banks. The rates are not set by the Central Bank of Liberia.
Source: Research, Policy and Planning Department, Central Bank Liberia, Monrovia, Liberia
THURSDAY, MAY15, 2014 L$88.00/US$1 L$89.00/US$1
BUYING SELLING
L$84.00/US$1 L$85.00/US$1
L$85.00/US$1 L$84.00/US$1
WEDNESDAY, MAY21, 2014
THURSDAY, MAY22, 2014

Politics pg. 10
WAR ON
TRANSPARENCY
CDC STRONG WOMAN GERALDINE DOE SHERIFF
QUITS, SAYS PARTY CANNOT ACHIEVE

FAILED CDC?
The Party will never achieve its initial goal of forming an institution with
the sole purpose to emancipate our people, the downtrodden included, from
the dungeon of poverty to the celestial heights of a decent life through
participatory democracy with the imperialistic tenets currently entrenched
in the party,, Senator Geraldine Doe Sheriff
SIRLEAF CONFERS WITH
EMIR OF QATAR, SIGN FOUR
BILATERAL AGREEMENTS
CRIME WATCH
Government News
HOUSE DISMISSES BUDGET
SUBMISSION CLAIM
WHERE IS THE
BUDGET?
Internal Politics Stife
PPCCs Work
TWO SUSPENDED
AS POLICE CORRUPTION
DRAGNET WIDENS
Page 2 |
Frontpage
Friday, May 23, 2014
Rodney D. Sieh, rodney.sieh@frontpageafricaonline.com
Monrovia
M
orris Dukuly Liberias Minister of Internal
Affairs, return to the Ellen Johnson Sirleaf
led government as a senior Minister
after seven years out is under threat
with barrage of calls for his resignation following a
comment at a peace initiative in which he is perceived
to have referred to the people of Grand Gedeh County
as Chicken Rogues.
The Ministers comment has overshadowed the purpose
and intent for the peace initiative as several individuals
some genuine advocates and perhaps others wanting
to settle divergence with Dukuly are holding unto the
comment to ensure he once again painfully leave the
public sector.
Dukuly only lasted about six months while serving as
Minister of State for Presidential Affairs during the
early days of the President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf regime
after he took responsibility and resigned his post after
fre gutted the Executive Mansion building during the
celebrations of Liberias 159 independence.
In four days, calls for Dukuly resignation have
heralded headlines across Monrovia and environs with
more people joining the advocacy for the Minister to
immediately step down.
Darius Dillon, a Senior Policy Advisor in the
opposition Liberty Party was full of praise for Liberias
Peace Ambassador George Weahs recent initiative at
reconciling Liberia. But the commendation came with
some reservations.
Said Dillon: I hold this very strong view that no amount
of Conferences or Programs can ever reconcile a people
and country so divided by marginalization, no access
to equal opportunities, high rate of unemployment,
selective and a largely poor justice system, unhealthy
living conditions, messy educational and poor health
sectors, little or no empowerment, especially for the
youthful population, the high income disparity in the
public sector, etc.
Dillons comments come in the backdrop of the
controversy which has been dogging Weahs
reconciliation event, which on paper brought key
fgures from Grand Gedeh and Nimba County on the
table for the frst time in years.
The controversy involves a comment made by Internal
Affairs Minister Morris Dukuly in which he is purported
to have said: My late Mother used to say that when a
chicken rogue is in the village, and whenever a chicken
disappears, all fngers point to the chicken rogue.
The statement has been interpreted by some to mean
that Minister Dukuly was making reference to the
people of Grand Gedeh.
Dukulys statement eclipsed his poignant issuance of a
challenge of peace making, peace building, and peace
strengthening, as he urged leaders and people of Nimba
and Grand Gedeh Counties to work together to build
and advance peace between their counties and peoples.
The controversy over the assertions attributed to
Dukuly also eclipsed a reconciliatory embraced by the
former head of the Liberia Peace Council, Mr. George
Boley and Senator Prince Johnson, the former leader
of the Independent National Patriotic Front of Liberia
(INPFL)
Representative Zoe Emmanuel Pennue( Grand Gedeh
County Electoral District # 1) was reportedly enraged
with Dukulys statement and declared that Grand
Geded people are not chicken rogues, followed by a
call for Minister Dukuly to apologize.
For Dillon, Minister Dukuly was wrong and should
issue an apology. I vehemently condemn comments
made by Internal Affairs Minister, Morris Dukuly at the
recent Peace Initiative held between Grand Gedeh and
Nimba Counties under the auspices of Amb. WEAH,
which he (Min. Dukuly) made an insinuation to the
effect that Grand Gedeans are noted for being 'bad
people'. I encourage Min. Dukuly to publicly retract
such insinuation because it is divisive and totally
absurd.
DUKULY HAS SINCE CLARIFIED HIS CHICKEN
ANALOGY STATEMENT.
But following reactions against his statement Dukuly
said his comment was taken out of context and expressed
regrets that the environment created by Representative
Pennue, misrepresented and overshadowed the launch
of the Nimba-Grand Gedeh peace initiative. The
minister went on to slam Pennue for embarrassing
partners and members of the diplomatic community
who participated during the program.
The minister went on to clarify that his remarks were
never directly or indirectly intended to refer to Grand
Gedeans or any other county or citizen groups of
Liberia.
Outside the controversy many political observers say,
the governments failure to address core issues affecting
Liberia is a contributing factor standing in the way of
Liberia to complete the transition from war to peace.
Says Dillon: The Holy Bible says... "Seek ye frst
the Kingdom of God and HIS righteousness; all other
things shall be added unto you". Likewise, I wish to
urge Amb. Weah to make recommendations to national
government seeking to address the core issues (as stated
above). After all, these are the core issues that have
led to the division. If we, as a country and people can
frstly address these core concerns, reconciliation will
naturally take root.
DUKULYS SCHOOL FRIEND OUTRAGED
A Liberian economist Samuel Jackson who said he
was a school friend to Dukuly has harshly described
the Internal Affairs Minister as an idiot, calling on the
president to dismiss him.
I went to school with Morris Dukuly. On several
occasions, this man had shunned me in public refusing
to shake my hand and saying things really stupid even
in public gatherings. So, what I am about to say may
seem part of the history we have. He claims he just be
joking, but I don't think you will joke with a school
mate by public derision on public occasions. But be as
it may, I stand by my convictions, and people should
know me by now, despite what a few people think.
Morris Dukuly is an idiot. I am not sure how he got into
St. Patrick's High School, but I never thought of him
as a smart person, Jackson wrote on his offcial social
media page and told FrontPageAfrica the statement is
his offcial position on the matter.
Jackson insisted that the Minister should immediately
resign his post.
Stated Jackson His recent remarks calling Krahn
people Chicken Rogues in public and on the occasion
of reconciliation between the Krahns and Gios proves
the trueness of the Peter Principle, where a person rises
to their level of incompetency. Morris Dukuly should
resign immediately.
He furthered The peace process cannot be obstructed
by such incompetence. His choice of words tells me
he is part of an old Liberian mindset that has no place
in our new dispensation. Ultimately, he is a threat to
peace. I hope Ellen fres him if he does not resign.
Jackson told FPA he has offcially written the President
through an email calling for the dismissal Minister
Dukuly.
Dukulys sour public showing
The chorus for Dukulys resignation has intensifed
since the Monday peace initiative as the issue has
overshadowed discussions on radio talk shows and
local intellectual centers.
George Solo, Chairman of leading opposition political
party, the Congress for democratic Change (CDC) has
added his voice to the call for Dukulys resignation.
Solo Said: Lets look at a the minister comments
generally from our own prospective when it comes
to reconciliation he uttered those words very poorly
because his analogy were not in place, so I strongly
believe that this is one of the situations where the
Minister of internal Affairs made a damaging statement
intentionally or unintentionally that cannot be repaired
and cannot not be easily washed away from the minds
of Grand Gedians. This issue is not a Zoe Pennue or
George Solo issue so it is fair to say lets fnd a new
person to work with us.
Under pressure, Dukuly is a long time close ally
for President Sirleaf a key fgure in Sirleaf's 2005
presidential campaign as during the campaign process
Dukuly served as key member of Sirleafs media team
and was appointment to serve on that transitional team
for the new post war government.
Right into the new regime, Dukuly was appointed
Minister of State for presidential Affairs to work directly
in the offce of the president but his service was short-
lived as less than seven months in government, during
the celebration of the 159th independence of Liberia,
the Executive Mansion was gutted by fre sending
fear across the country. With the presence of several
international dignitaries who show up to celebrate
including with Liberians the Executive Mansion fre
incident brought the new regime to its kneels in shame.
The leaders of Ghana, Ivory Coast and Sierra Leone
were guests of Sirleaf to celebrate the independence
when the fre started.
Dukuly did not taste the sweet side of power as he
resigned his post, taking responsibility for the fre
incident. Dukuly in 2006 refused to make public
comment on the incident but said he was saddened
that all his efforts in organizing the program was
overshadowed by the fre incident.
At the time, Sirleaf declared that she respected Mr.
Dukuly's resignation because "when there is some
failure, someone takes responsibility."
Shortly after his resignation Dukuly went into the
private sector operating a Public Relations Firm which
won contracts from several multinational companies
and other government entities.
Dukuly's seven-year hiatus from public service was
over recently when he was appointed Minister of
Internal Affairs replacing Blamo Nelson.
Should Dukuly bow to pressure in the wake of the
ongoing controversy over his comment, it will be his
second time leaving a government he helped ushered
into power.
Frontpage
Friday, May 23, 2014 Page 3
KENYA: TERRORISM AND
GRAFT, DEBT AND CREDIT
FrontPage
v
v
Commentary
EDITORIAL
DAYS AFTER THE President through the Ministry of Finance
submitted the 2014-2015 National Budget to the National
Legislature, the House of Representatives through its Speaker
Alex J. Tyler Tuesday harshly expressed that the rejection of a
proposed budgetary allotment of $73 million as Direct District
Development Fund by the Liberian senate was due to hidden
hands.
THE SPEAKER DID not mince his words when he said the
House of Representatives remains resolved in its decision to
allot the 73 million United States dollars in a budget hovering
around US$529 million, a statement that some at time the
country is experiencing shortfall in generating revenue to
support the 2013-2014 national budget, with the overall defcit
staggering over US$70 million..
SPEAKER TYLER SAID: The budget we talk about today is
the budget of the Liberian people; nobody can be prioritized
over the Liberian people and as a government and responsible
and intelligent as some of us are, if we have an issue to be
discussed, I think it is appropriate to stop playing politics and
sit around the table where all of us can reason.
THE PROPOSAL BY the House of Representatives though in
line with Article 34 of the 1986 Constitution of Liberia which
provides that the legislature shall have the power to make
appropriations for the fscal governance of the Republic but it
is not people driven as the timing of the proposal cast doubts
on the sincerity of the lawmakers in portraying that the amount
is intended to improve the well-being of their people.
ARTICLE 34 D, I of the 1986 constitution provides The
Legislature shall have the power: d) to levy taxes, duties,
imports, exercise and other revenues, to borrow money, issue
currency, mint coins, and to make appropriations for the
fscal governance of the Republic, subject to the following
qualifcations: (i) all revenue bills, whether subsidies, charges,
imports, duties or taxes, and other fnancial bills, shall
originate in the House of Representatives, but the Senate may
propose or concur with amendments as on other bills. No
other fnancial charge shall be established, fxed, laid or levied
on any individual, community or locality under any pretext
whatsoever except by the expressed consent of the individual,
community or locality. In all such cases, a true and correct
account of funds collected shall be made to the community or
locality.
THE STATEMENT BY the Speaker suggests that the House
of Representatives remains resolved in ensuring that the
$73 million is inserted in the 2014-2015 budget which is an
indication that he and his colleagues are rolling their sleeves
to hold the country hostage like it has been done in the past
by insisting that its unrealistic $73 million is forced into the
2014-2015 national budget before passage into law.
IN PREVIOUS BUDGETS, the National Legislature has failed
to approve and pass into laws the budgets on time, holding the
country hostage for months with projects unimplemented as
many ministries and agencies of government are compelled by
law to only use 1/12 of their past budget which is primarily for
payment of salaries and procurement of essential goods.
MORE INTERESTINGLY SPEAKER Tyler, the crafter of
the proposal has served the National Legislature for over
eight years now and his recent proposal raises questions as to
whether during all these years he did not know that the plight
of people living in the various districts in Liberia needed to be
COMMENTARY
BUDGET
CAVEAT TO
LEGISLATURE
U
proar followed the news on 16 May that British
tourists were being shipped home from Mombasa
on security advice. Tourists, inconvenienced and
disappointed, were sceptical of the threat. The
Kenyan government and public accused western governments
of destroying their tourist industry. Within days, local media
reported the loss of 4,000 jobs lost at the Coast.
Only hours later, news arrived of explosions in Nairobi. Ten
Kenyans died and some 70 were injured. These indicated that
the threat in Kenya presented a new and more dangerous level
of lethal sophistication.
The tragedy lies in the deaths and injuries of innocent Kenyans.
Their government has failed them twice over.
These events coincide with renewed public attention in Kenya
to corruption scandals exposed ten years ago while I was
British high commissioner, but reaching back longer. These
comprised 18 dodgy contracts, almost all in the security
sector, called collectively Anglo-Leasing. They illustrated
how Kenyan procurement could be subverted for private gain
on a huge scale, cloaked under secrecy deemed necessary for
such security-related equipment. They also demonstrated how
grand corruption in Kenya had become institutionalised, with
contracts like these being handed on from rent-seekers in one
government to the next.
The Kenyan government cannot get out of paying for these
fraudulent contracts. One result of that is the government has
to re-schedule part of its debt. Another is to delay Kenyas
issuance of its frst Eurobond. Terrorism itself reduces
confdence in Kenya further.
The dodgy contracts have delivered nothing commensurate
to Kenyas defences. Nor has the extensive foreign assistance
rendered in the last 15 years. The governments insouciance
in face of the threat combines with a thin-skinned response
to criticism. When 18 ambassadors signed a call for renewed
efforts against graft last month, they were duly berated by
President Kenyattas attack dogs.
The fact is that Kenyas institutions are so corrupt that the
large funds allocated over the years to security have been
largely squandered. Its leadership is repeatedly embarrassed
by recurrent demonstrations of how Kenyas declarations of
intent on graft fail against the engrained venality in the system.
Its citizens are effectively swindled twice: their taxes stolen
while their security is not one whit improved, leaving them
exposed to violent criminality and terrorism, culminating in
last years attack on the Westgate shopping mall, and now
these events. The UN calls Nairobi its most dangerous posting.
Finally, no tragedy is complete without the element of farce.
Nine years ago, a man called Joshua Kulei was declined a visa
to visit Britain a privilege he had hitherto regarded as a right.
Mr Kulei was a personal assistant to former President Moi,
and one of the iconic fgures of the grand corruption associated
with that regime. Although Anglo-Leasing reaches back into
that era, it was not the most egregious case.
When Mr Kulei was told in 2004 that his presence in this
country was not conducive to the public good it was a shock.
Mr Moi rang me to intercede, in vain. As the news spread, it
caused disbelief, then glee, in Kenya.
Last month, Mr Kulei again visited the United Kingdom,
rejoicing at his freedom to travel here in his usual style after a
denial of ten years.
The question arises, what has he done to redeem his unsavoury
reputation?
I put exactly that question to my constituencys MP, Justice
Secretary Chris Grayling. The Home Offce refused to confrm
or deny anything out of respect for Kuleis privacy. The
Foreign Offce, for its part, provided a long bromide from Mark
Simmonds about the UK governments unchanged policy on
corruption in Kenya.
But something clearly has changed, and we have a right to
know what. Corruption fourishes in Kenya as ever. The policy
of excluding a couple of dozen luminaries of a corrupt elite has
had a useful effect: it helped disrupt the corruption networks
which run through the UK, incidentally and exposed to
public ridicule those affected. It dented their confdence that
they could rely on entry to the UK as a safe haven if life ever
got too hot.
It signalled to Kenyas long-suffering citizens that we were on
the side of the anti-graft movement.
Our interests, like theirs, are in a government which is effective
in service-delivery and especially in combating insecurity.
Badly run institutions and venal leadership are a menace to
these interests.
So, why has Mr Kulei been let off? What signal does his
presence here send to us and to Kenya? How many more
Kenyan VIPs denied visas will quietly be allowed back? Will
we protect their privacy at the expense of seeing Kenyas
security attacked by dedicated terrorists who raise their game
faster than the better-resourced but lumbering Kenyan state
and its fawed elites?
SEVENTY THREE MILLION
PROPOSAL IS GREEDY,
SELFISH, NOT PEOPLE
DRIVEN
addressed.
EVEN MORE BAFFLING is the platform used by the speaker
and fnding a justifcation for his proposal cast further doubts on
the sincerity of the Speaker and his colleagues from the House
of Representatives in lifting the Liberian people from poverty
as claimed.
SPEAKER TYLER AND colleagues while using a jackpot of
over US$1 million from the National Oil Company of Liberia to
engage in a road show dubbed country wide consultations, where
the recommendations from the people are nowhere near the laws
regarding the oil sector passed and some still being reviewed
by the National Legislature, claimed to have accessed the living
conditions of the Liberian people through their perdiems driven
trips around the country.
THE JUSTIFICATION FOR the $73 million is very weak as
there is no history of performance for previous funding allotted
to counties including the County Development Fund (CDF)
which was introduced by President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf in
2006.
THERE ARE NUMEROUS instances of massive abuse of
the CDF from Grand Gedeh to Grand Kru, River Gee, Sinoe,
Speaker Tyler own Bomi County and nearly all the counties
lawmakers involvement in the expenditure of the CDF has been
contrary to the guidelines governing the use of the fund.
SEVERAL LAWMAKERS ESTABLISHED shell companies for
the sole purpose of obtaining construction and other contracts for
the implementation of CDF projects. Majority of these projects
were not implemented while payments where made on projects
that were later abandoned.
THERE IS NO success story in the implementation of the CDF
which could serve as a benchmark for the advocacy by the
Speaker and his colleagues for the allotment of more money for
such purpose, therefore we believe that the attempts to hijack
the national budget with such huge inclusion of $73 million is a
disservice to the Liberian people.
SPEAKER TYLER AND colleagues have failed to get the
needed support from the public in whose interest they claim to
be working on the $73 million proposal. Talk shows and other
phone in radio programs and discussions at street corners have
all shown that the Liberian public is greatly against the proposal
but yet Speaker Tyler and colleagues say their proposal is in the
interest of the people they represent.
THE SPEAKER AND his colleagues proposal for allotment of
$73 million is greedy, selfsh and not people driven and should be
abandoned. Until the existing CDF can show sign of success and
progress, there is no rationale for a Direct District development
Fund.
A CAVEAT TO Speaker Tyler and colleagues not to hold the
countrys national budget hostage because of a belly driven
allotment which impact will certainly not be felt by the Liberian
people based on the experiences of the past regarding the
expenditure of the CDF.
Edward Clay
Page 4 |
Frontpage
Friday, May 23, 2014
FrontPage
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DISCLAIMER
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Rodney D. Sieh, Managing Editor, 0886-738-666;
077-936-138, editor@FrontPageAfricaonline.com;
rodney.sieh@FrontPageAfricaonline.com
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E
DITORIAL TEAM
WHAT READERS ARE SAYING
ABOUT OUR STORIES ON THE
WORLDWIDE WEB
FGM IS HARMFUL
PRACTICE, BUT
The Reader's Page
EMMETT M. WATSON JR.
Good always win. Proud of you!
INYENE EKAH TOP COMMENTER WORKS AT
LUTHERAN SOCIAL SERVICE OF MINNESOTA
While I do not know much about Peggy, I am proud of the stance she
has taken. Many people claim that you you can't fght institutions
from the "outside", you have to join them to create the change you
desire. However, in Liberia, this statement means, join them and
be a part of the status quo and maintain the same system that was
criticized. Peggy joined, attempted to create the change, and realize
it was not happening so she decided to get out. Thanks Peggy for
doing the right thing. I pray that many Liberians will follow your
footsteps!!!
PLEEBOCOLLINS25 (SIGNED IN USING YAHOO)
Peggy, you have done the right thing. I would have told you that
your job was not worth paper because all these old women who did
nothing wit their lives are now trying to enrich themselves through
their friend Ellen and she is allowing it. Gardner is a good time girl
who is absolutely useless. Now she gets a contract to fry fsh and
cook dry rice worth more than a million dollars and our President
calls herself the iron lady. Liberia is going down the drain.
ELIJAH BARNARD UNIVERSITY OF LIBERIA
Sometimes I wonder how some people are comfortable stealing
government resources while most Liberian can highly afford a
decent meal. Liberia has nothing to show for the billions of dollars
pumped in the economy except Audits pointing out the theft of the
country's resources by "Big Shots". What a shame.
T
hank God for Robert Kamanuyu discourse on pages
7 and 8 of FrontPage Africa Thursday May 8th,
2014. As a preacher and teacher of the bible, I agree
with him that FGM is a harmful practice but at the same
time Robert is wrong to make us preachers and teachers
compromiser/supporters of cultural landmark, because
he does not know what we do at the pulpit. If you are a
preacher, please re- examine his systematic and expositional
theology that has questioned your faith.
You are also wrong to have used *Leviticus 19:28-29*
,as your main scripture to misinterpret, insult and accuse
the Church of Jesus(Christians).Robert please read
Exodus20:16 and Matthew 5:17 to understand that your
use of Leviticus 19:28-29 to challenge Church is wrong.
Please also answer the following questions to further help
you respond to this memo if you consider it necessary.
1) What is your present religion and what was your
former religion?
2) Are you married to a victim of FGM?
3) Do you have daughters who are also victims?
4) At what point did you see the Church as part of this
evil practice?
5) Have you ever read Matthew 5:27-30?
Beloved Robert you cannot use the scripture to attack
Christians particularly preachers and teachers of the bible
because you are not biblically very exposed. Finally, I want
you to know that no culture is
(100%) hundred percent evil from the biblical perspective
(*GET A COPY OF MY BOOK MISSION HEART
BEAT OF GOD *published 2009), to understand your
mistakes of accusing the Church of compromising sermon
against FGM John8:7-9.A far as I know many of us
have preached against FGM on so many occasions on
our pulpits(UNPUBLISHED). If you need some contact
me. *The Church cannot be accused for supporting or
compromising FGM, our duty is to persuade practitioners
2Corinthians 5:11-12,the choice is theirs to accept or reject
our message. This is the conclusion I expected you to draw
at the end of your discourse, rather than castigate preachers
and teachers of the bible. ONLY THE GOVERNMENT
HAS THE RIGHT AND POWER TO ENFORCE LAWS
NOT THE CHURCH OR PREACHERS*.Once again
thanks for your effort.
SHALOM
EZRA .S. JOWOH
Nwesu2014@gmail.com
PPCC BOSS, AT ODDS WITH LIBERIAN
GOV'T NON-COMPLIANCE, QUITS
CHICKEN ROGUES FALLOUT: CDC
CALLS FOR IA MINISTER RESIGNATION
LIBERIA POLICE OFFICERS DISROBED,
CABBIE ARRESTED FOR LD$30 BRIBE
RICHARD P. DAHN
Solo, stop these kinds of things. If the peace process between
Grand Gedeh and Nimba become fruitful, which I want it to be,
George Weah will take the praise. You as chairman of CDC like
any other political party must give peace a chance. I will say to
Prince Johnson, George Boley, Alahaji Kromah, Sekou Konneh
and all those big names that are connected to the war, to let us
shake PEACEFUL HANDS and put the past behind us. I will
challenge you guys to go into your respective counties as peace
ambassadors and preach peace that will unite us. Brothers, I am
from Nimba and live in the Diaspora, I would like to see the Krahn,
Mano, Mandingo, Gio and all other tribes that are at lockerheads to
come together to unify ourselves to build Liberia. We look at other
countries, particularly african and feel ashamed of ourselves.. I will
say to Dukuly and Pennoh, you boys stop degrading us. Grown ups
do not talk like children - give peace a chance.
ALEXANDER GANDAH AME ZION UNIVERSITY
Zoe Pennue is not ready for peace the statement made by Hon.
Dukuly was not made by the people of Nimba
MAURICE NYOLA TOP COMMENTER (SIGNED IN
USING HOTMAIL)
Wow, Pot is telling teakettle that it is black. the law is there only for
the weak and those with no connection in the society. the director
disrobed an offcer that govt spent huge sum for his training, what
is the crime? for taking 30LD from taxicab. wasn't there another
disciplinary measure in the LNP code of conduct? Hope, Chris, u
would restore the generator taken from LNP HEADQUARTERS
AND FOUND AT UR sweet's place during the transitional period.
lets refrain from this publicity stunt disagreed with this action, it is
too cheap. we are going to audit the LNP INORDER TO CLEAR
St. Chris Massaquoi
DUFFY DAVIS KAPLAN UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF
BUSINESS
Awesome Chris! It is becoming too frequent that just driving
without violating a traffc rule offcers are stopping vehicles and
getting in the car only to tell the driver, you know it is hot outside
today, or you know it is the weekend ooh. I can name a couple of
locations that this is happening on a regular basis. When does the
respect for the offcers come in when the offcer stoop so low and
leave a sense of disrespect in the mind of the drivers...? PLEASE
increase the Vice Squad on the beats to monitor these. Thanks for
a good start.
MOMOH KPEHE HOHARVARD UNIVERSITY
This needs to continue even at the various Depots...
HARRIBOY JOHNSON BOOKER WASHINGTON
INSTITUTE
Good initiative, but how far will this go. This Liberia
STOP THE LIBEL
The Editor,
Being calm and resolute on the part of the people of
Grand Gedeh County should not be a premise for this
government to insult the people of Grand Gedeh County.
Minister Morris Dukulys irresponsible comment during
a Nimba-Grand Gedeh peace meeting, inferring that the
people of Grand Gedeh are chicken rogues springs out
of recklessness from the that minister. Given the offce he
holds as Minister for Internal Affairs, it behooves him to
know better in dealing with inter-county issues. His role
should be the provision of the missing link rather than
attempting to divide the people.
His statements confrm the popular opinion of Grand
Gedeans that for one reason or the other, the injustices
that are meted out to them is based upon prejudice and
presumptions. The minister has no justifable ground upon
which he stands to single out the people of a particular
county as troublemakers. If he is in want of information,
past and present, on the perpetrators of confict in Liberia,
he can turn to the Truth and Reconciliation tapes for in-
depth knowledge. And they will serve as guidance to him
when he utters words during an inter-county reconciliatory
gathering.
We are making fervent efforts to fully recover from a
chaotic past. Individuals holding sensitive public offces
should play a vanguard role in this process. It does not
augur well to handle delicate national affairs with a
beclouded perception about a particular group of people.
It is more than a decade since the civil war ended. It is evident
enough that Grand Gedeh and Nimba are at substantive
peace with each other. They enjoy intermarriages, a fuent
cross-border trade and buoyant youth and traditional
interchanges. These so called reconciliatory conferences
are inherently libeling and stigmatizing. They are non-
consequential, Grand Gedeh and Nimba should not be
pictured as the causative elements of our nations ugly
past. Let us make national healing a national business
instead of superfcially reducing it to a tribal issue.
Our energy should be focus on genuine national balance
wherein every citizen or groups of citizens have a relative
stake in the affairs to the state.
We understand that there are calls for Minister Dukulys
apology. We also know that outright refusal to apologize
or resign for fop is not uncommon in Liberia. His apology
will be welcomed, his inability to do so exhibits his
unmanliness in not saying sorry for wrong done. While
impunity resigns, the court of public opinion with its
boundless jurisdiction will weigh the ministers comment.
Richmond Kaydea,
kaydearichmond@gmil.com
IA MINISTER MUST APOLOGISE
FOR CHICKEN ROGUES
REFERENCE TO GRAND GEDEANS
Frontpage
Friday, May 23, 2014 Page 5
SIRLEAF SET TO LAUNCH
CAP ON POST-2015
DEVELOPMENT AGENDA
Monrovia
P
resident Ellen Johnson Sirleaf will launch the Common African
Position (CAP) on the Post-2015 Development Agenda at a
ceremony in Monrovia aimed at acquainting Liberians about
the CAP and enlightening policy makers and stakeholders on
Africas development priorities.
According to an Executive Mansion release, the two-day program
begins with the launch on Monday, May 26, at the Ministry of Foreign
Affairs C. Cecil Dennis Auditorium at 11:00 a.m. where members of
the Cabinet, Legislature, Judiciary, the Diplomatic Corps, Heads of
National Institutions and Autonomous Agencies have been invited to
attend.
On Tuesday, May 27, beginning at 9:00 a.m. at the Bella Casa Hotel,
there will be a full day of presentations and discussions with members
of the private sector, civil society, academia, the media, and other
stakeholders to encourage their involvement and support of events
concerning the CAP.
The High Level Committee (HLC) chaired by President Sirleaf was set
up by the African Union during its May 2013 Summit to draft a CAP
on the Post-2015 Development Agenda by identifying areas of priority
to Africa.
The HLC, which comprises 10 Heads of State and Government from
the fve regions of Africa, has held several consultative and technical
meetings to look at the list of priorities developed by institutions around
the continent to reach a consensus on the development framework that
should succeed the Millennium Development Goals in September 2015.
The Committee completed its work and the African Union adopted the
CAP on January 31, 2014 and subsequently launched it in March 2014
in Ndjamena, Chad.
The CAP is built around six pillars: Structural Economic Transformation
and Inclusive Growth; Science Technology and Innovation (STI);
People Centered Development; Environmental Sustainability, Natural
Resources and Natural Disaster Management; Peace and Security;
and Financing and Partnership for Implementation of Post-2015
Development Agenda.
In the next phase of its work, the HLC will begin negotiations with
other regions of the world as well as development partners to ensure
that Africas vision is included in the United Nations Post-2015 Global
Development Agenda.
Monrovia-
T
he National Oil Company of Liberia (NOCAL) has donated
three buses to the National Transit Authority to help boost
the NTAs capacity to provide affordable commercial public
transport to the public.
Valued at US $204,000.00 (two-hundred & four thousand), the buses
were part of a consignment of nine buses turned over Wednesday (May
22, 2014) to the NTA by the Government of Liberia.
Presenting the keys of the buses to Vice President Joseph N. Boakai at
a ceremony on Wednesday at the National Port Authority, Counselor
Althea Sherman, Chief Operating Offcer of NOCAL, reaffrmed the
companys commitment to improving the lives of the people of Liberia
through its corporate social responsibility initiatives.
She said through its Corporate Social Responsibility, NOCAL will
continue to be faithful to one of its core responsibilities of giving back
to the society. Cllr. Sherman noted that Public transport, much like
our port, is critical to the economy as well as to the social wellbeing of
our people.
In addition to the donation of three buses, Cllr. Sherman disclosed
that NOCAL is also providing funding for the construction of three
bus terminals for passengers in Grand Cape Mount, Margibi and Bong
Counties, valued at $450,000.000 (four-hundred & ffty-thousand),
bringing the overall total value of NOCALs collaboration with the NTA
at US$654,000.00 (six-hundred & ffty-four thousand).
Dedicating the buses later, Vice President Joseph Boakai thanked
NOCAL for its interventions in the public transport sector, noting that
mobility of people is a very important part of economic development.
For his part, Tarnue Jeke, Managing Director of the NTA, while
extolling NOCAL for the immense fnancial contributions to the NTA,
pointed out that the donation of the buses will reduce the gap between
those with and those without access to transportation.
Mr. Jeke reiterated the NTAs obligation to provide the public access
to affordable, reliable and convenient means of public transportation.
Also making remarks at the dedication program was the Acting Chairman
of the Board of Directors of the National Port Authority, Minister Morris
Dukuly, who thanked NOCAL for the gesture, which he described as a
true demonstration of your corporate social responsibility.
NOCAL has over the years also made signifcant interventions in the
areas of health, education, housing and sports, among other social
projects as part of its corporate social responsibility initiatives.
SIRLEAF CONFERS WITH
EMIR OF QATAR, SIGN FOUR
BILATERAL AGREEMENTS
F
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PAGE
GOVERNMENT NEWS
DOHA, STATE OF QATAR
T
he Governments of the State of Qatar and Liberia
have signed four bilateral Agreements aimed at further
strengthening, expanding, and consolidating the already
strong ties of friendship and cooperation between their
two countries and peoples.
According to a Dispatch from Doha, the Agreements include:
an Air Services Agreement which seeks to assist infrastructural
improvement at the Roberts International Airport and ensure
fights by Qatar Airways to Liberia and a Regulation of Manpower
Employment in the State of Qatar Agreement which enables
Liberian workers to beneft from employment opportunities in the
State of Qatar.
Others are an Agreement for the Reciprocal Promotion and
Protection of Investment aimed at boosting private sector
investment and exchange activities in Liberia and the State of Qatar
which obligates the State parties to create favorable conduction
for investors and investment in its territory in accordance with the
laws and regulations in force; and an Agreement on Economic,
Commercial and Technical Cooperation which seeks to strengthen
commercial, economic and technical cooperation between the
governments, business sector and Chambers of Commerce of
the two countries to enhance and promote trade and economic
activities.
Under the Air Services Agreement, Qatar Airways will enter
into an arrangement with the Government of Liberia to assist
the Civil Aviation Sector of Liberia and ensure that the airline
which is considered one of the worlds fve-star airlines begin
fights to Monrovia soon. The two sides signed a Memorandum of
Understanding in this regard, which takes immediate effect.
Liberias Minister of Foreign Affairs Augustine Kpehe Ngafuan
and the Director-General of the Liberia Civil Aviation Authority
Richelieu Williams signed on behalf of the Government of Liberia.
On Wednesday, May 21, President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf and
delegation held bilateral talks with the Qatari Government
delegation led by the Emir of Qatar, His Highness Sheikh Tamim
Bin Hamad Al Thani at the Kingdoms Palace in Doha, Qatar.
The Liberian leader and delegation arrived in Doha Tuesday, May
20, for a three-day State Visit to that Western Asian nation at the
invitation of the Emir.
During talks at their bilateral meeting, both leaders reaffrmed
their commitment to further strengthen, deepen, expand and
consolidate the already strong ties of friendship and cooperation
between the two governments and peoples.
The discussions focused on wide-range of issues of mutual
interest and international matters of common concern. They called
for diplomatic solutions to crisis that threaten world peace and
stability. They emphasized the need to safeguard and uphold the
United Nations principles of respect for national sovereignty and
integrity and also talked about the crisis in the Middle East, South
Sudan, Mali, Nigeria, among others.
Emir Sheikh Tamim Bin Hamad Al Thani vowed to personally
take steps aimed at strengthening the relationship between the two
countries and expressed Qatars strong interest to invest in various
sectors of Liberia, especially mining and food security.
Qatar will also contribute to the successful implementation
of Liberias Agenda for Transformation, with assistance for
infrastructure, human capacity development, healthcare delivery,
agriculture and food security, among others.
President Sirleaf appealed to the Emir of Qatar to consider
investing in the aviation sector, particularly airline services and
the terminal of the Roberts International Airport, the countrys
main international airport.
Both governments agreed to expand cooperation beyond traditional
sectors into areas presenting new opportunities, including the oil
and gas sector in environmentally sustainable ways that would
economically beneft the two countries and peoples.
Earlier, President Sirleaf toured Education City in Doha and held
extensive discussions with the co-founder and chairperson of the
Qatar Foundation (QF), Her Highness Sheikha Moza Bint Nasser
who expressed interest in supporting Liberias educational system.
A special delegation of Her Highness is expected to visit Liberia
in a weeks time for an assessment and follow-up activities.
The Liberian leader also held several meetings with various
groups and individuals during the State Visit including the Energy
Minister of Qatar, African Ambassadors accredited near Doha, the
Chief Executive Offcer (CEO) of the Islamic Bank, Chairman
of the RAF Foundation, and authorities of the Qatar Investment
Authority.
Others the Liberian leader met with included authorities of
Qatar Minings, National Bank of Qatar, Red Crescent Society
of Qatar, Qatar Charity Society, Hassad Food, Bilai Trading,
Katara Cultural Village, an array of Qatari investors, including the
richest businessman and a member of the Royal Family in Doha,
His Excellency Sheikh Faisal Bin Qasim Al Thani, founder of Al
Faisal Company, founder and chairman of the Al Faisal without
Border Foundation, chairman of its board since 1964 and Trustees
of the University of Qatar.
The meetings, which were requested by the different institutions,
businesses and individuals were aimed at exploring opportunities
to assist Liberia in its reconstruction drive, invest in the private
sector and provide charitable and humanitarian support to the
people of Liberia.
The Liberian President also met members of the Liberian
community in Qatar who briefed the her about their activities in
Qatar and the desire of some to return home and contribute to the
countrys rebuilding efforts.
Members of the President Sirleafs delegation to Qatar were the
Minister of Foreign Affairs, Augustine Ngafuan; Deputy Minister
for Foreign Affairs, Sylvester Grigsby; Deputy Chief of Staff to
the President, Gyude Moore; the Director-General of the Liberia
Civil Aviation Authority, Richelieu Williams; Montserrado
County District No. 1 Representative, Josephine Francis; and
Assistant Minister for Afro/Asian Affairs, Ardia Kaikai; among
others.
The Liberian leader and delegation returned home on Thursday,
May 22, following successful visits to the United States of
America and the State of Qatar respectively.
NOCAL PROVIDES BUSES
FOR COMMUTERS
Page 6 |
Frontpage
Friday, May 23, 2014

F
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PAGE
CRIME WATCH
F
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PAGE
NEWS EXTRA
TWO SUSPENDED
AS POLICE CORRUPTION DRAGNET WIDENS
Monrovia-
P
olice authority
in Monrovia has
suspended fve offcers
of the Police Support
Unit for desertion of post.
Police Spokesman Sam Collins
said the fve PSU offcers
deserted their post in Jallah
Town, after they were deployed
to enforce the restriction imposed
on motorcyclists not to ply the
principal streets of Monrovia.
The LNP Media Chief said the
action of the fve PSU offcers
to abandon their deployment
contravened Chapter iii Section
1.12 of the New Police Duty
Manual Captioned Prohibited
Conduct.
A release issued by the LNP
spokesman stated that the
fve PSU offcers will remain
suspended for two weeks with
appropriate salary reduction, and
have requested the suspended
offcers to turn over all
Government of Liberia properties
currently in their possession and
refrain from associating with the
Liberia National Police during
the time of suspension.
The release named the fve
suspended offcers as Corporal
Yassah Korvah, Patrolman
Justine Nah, Patrolman Alfred
Paye, Patrolman Josephine Hare
and Patrolman Emmanuel Siaffa.
At the same time the LNP stated
that it will remain vigilant in
fghting misconduct from the
police department, and called
on the public to make use of its
Professional Standards Division
to complain misconduct among
police offcers.
On Wednesday, May 20, 2014,
Police Director Col. Chris
Massaquoi disrobed for soliciting
bribes and a taxi driver who was
allegedly facilitating bribery was
also arrested for giving L$30 to a
police offcer.
Making the disclosure of the
acts by the police offcers and
the taxi driver Col. Massaquoi
said he sees the action of the
police offcers barley days
after his warning to them at the
42nd graduation exercise of the
Police Training Academy on last
weekend as an act of defance.
We would like to bring to the
mind of the public, our statement
made on Saturday, May 17,
2014 at the 22nd graduation
ceremony of the Liberia National
Police Training Academy in
which among other things; we
warned offcers of the Liberia
National Police as well as the
driving public as well as the
driving public against engaging
in corrupt practices, especially
bribery, said Col. Massaquoi.
Regrettably, and as if to test our
resolve, two members of the very
class 42, were on Tuesday May
20, 2014 just three days after
sounding this warning; at about
11:30 and 11:45 respectively,
together with a civilian driver
named Morris Herbert, operator
of Toyota Corolla taxi with
License plate TX-9743 were
caught in an act of soliciting
bribe. The incident took place
at the ELWA Junction involving
offcer Humphrey Karn, who
received L$ 30 from the operator
of TX-9743 Mr. Morris Herbert
and Offcer Varney Massallay
who was caught soliciting bribe
on the Capitol Bye- pass.
Col. Massaquoi said the
offcers who were also a part
of the graduation ceremony on
Saturday, along with the operator
of TX-9743 identifed as Mr.
Morris Herbert were arrested
by a member of the LNP vice
squad and the senior inspector
of police respectively and were
brought to the headquarters for
investigation.
The police boss said the action
taken by the LNP against the
offcer and the taxi driver is
meant to serve as a deterrent
measure to others who continue
to bring the police into public
disrepute.
Since these offcers chose to
test our resolve and mistook our
warning as a bluff; they have
been summarily dismissed and
will be forwarded to court along
with operator Morris Herbert for
prosecution, he said.
The LNP under our watch is
determined and will not relent
in identifying and weeding
out from our midst any and all
undesirable elements within
the Liberian National Police
when identifed, with the aim of
drastically dealing with unethical
behavior or practices.
He said the Taxi marked TX-
9743 have been impounded
and will only be released upon
payment of the impoundment
fee into government coffers in
keeping with law.
Col. Massaquoi noted that the
police will punish its offcers
engaged in acts of corruption,
but in the same light it holds
the public accountable for
facilitating such acts.
The same goes for any member
of the driving public who along
with police offcers attempt to
tarnish the image of the police by
engaging in or soliciting bribes.
Let me therefore reemphasize that
LNP remains uncompromising
in this endeavor, no matter who
is involved; no matter his or her
status, he said.
Let me sound this caveat again,
gone are the days when the image
and integrity of the police were
trampled upon by elements of the
public as well as those within the
police. Today therefore begins
a declaration of full-scale war
as well as the reaffrmation that
this administration will continue
to fght against the practices of
corruption by some elements
within the police and those of the
driving public.
Let this serve as a strong warning
to those who wish to test our
determination to win this fght.
Acts of corruption intolerable
On Saturday Col. Massaquoi
told police academy graduates
at a ceremony that he would
tolerate nothing less than
police offcers full adherence
to training in terms of their
performance adding that the
LNP would deal decisively with
any police offcer who engages
in unethical behavior such as
Police Misconduct, bribery and
other misdemeanor.
Talking about bribery, let me
caution all police offcers, and
I am zooming in especially
on Traffc Police offcers, to
desist from soliciting bribe
from traffc offenders, either by
seizing their vehicle documents/
drivers licenses for minor traffc
offense that might warrant only
a warning, and then walking
away with the aim of soliciting a
bribe, he said.
Continued Col. Massaquoi: This
is unacceptable, unacceptable
and therefore, perpetrators will
be punished under the rule of
Prohibited Conduct as found
in the LNP Duty Manual. But
let me also sound this warring
to the general public; in order
for bribery to take place, it will
involve more than one person.
Let me, therefore sound this
caveat to all who are in the
habit of offering bribe to police
offcers to desist or the police
will be left with no alternative
but to arrest those concerned
when caught.
Monrovia-
I
n the face of logistical
constraints facing the Liberia
National Police (LNP)
as reported by the LNP
authority, Chinese serving in the
United Nations Mission in Liberia
have donated computers and
printers to enhance the work of the
police.
Yi Xu Commander of the Chinese
Contingent on behalf of the
Guandong Province who presented
the six computers and printers
to the LNP Deputy Director for
Administration, William Mulbah
stated Wednesday that the LNP is
a counterpart to the contingent and
that the donation of the computer
was the way of identifying with the
Niamey, Niger
T
he report of the just ended GIABA 2014 plenary meeting
in Niamey, Niger indicates that Liberia has scored success
in its efforts to implement a robust Anti-Money Laundering
and Combating Financing of Terrorism (AML/CFT)
system.
The meeting, which was held May 59, commended Liberia to have
taken signifcant steps in implementing a robust AML/CFT system.
The steps include enacting several laws including the AML/CFT act
and the Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) act.
These laws have strengthened the countrys legal and institutional
framework to combat money laundering and terrorist fnancing.
Liberia has established an FIU, issued the AML/CFT regulations and
adopted an AML/CFT national strategy, which provides the basis
for implementing the United Nations Security Council Resolution
(UNSCR) 1267.
The report however asserts that GIABA enjoins Liberia to accelerate
actions to address the outstanding gaps in its AML/CFT regime
without delays.
The plenary recommended strongly that Liberia: a) ensures the full
functioning of the FIU including providing budgetary support and
recruiting qualifed technical and administrative staffs; b) establishes
adequate procedures and mechanisms for implementing UNSCR 1267
and 1373 which deal with predicate offenses and terrorist fnancing;
c) ensures effective AML/CFT supervision for reporting entities
such as banks, insurance companies and designated non-fnancial
businesses and professions; and d) intensifes efforts to continue the
implementation of the enacted laws dealing with AML/CFT issues.
It can be recalled that GIABA conducted a mutual evaluation of
Liberia in November 2010, which was used to assess the AML/CFT
regime of Ecowas.
The Mutual Evaluation Report (MER) was adopted at GIABA 2011
plenary and required Liberia to submit Follow-Up Reports (FURs)
annually.
Liberias frst and second FURs were submitted and adopted at
GIABAs 2012 and 2013 plenaries respectively while the third FUR
was submitted and adopted in Niamey.
GIABA, the Inter-Governmental Action Group against Money
Laundering, is a specialized institution of Ecowas responsible for
facilitating the adoption and implementation of AML/CFT.
It is also a FATF-Styled Regional Body (FSRB) working with members
to ensure compliance with international AML/CFT standards.
The objective of the plenary is to discuss, among the members the
threats and challenges related to money laundering and terrorist
fnancing in the region.
It also serves as an opportunity for members to share experiences in
the effective implementation of AML/CFT measures.
FAFT, the Financial Action Task Force, is an independent inter-
governmental body that develops and promotes policies to protect the
global fnancial system against money laundering, terrorist fnancing
and the fnancing of proliferation of weapons of mass destruction.
The FATF recommendations are recognized as the global AML/CFT
standards.
The FIU was established as an autonomous agency of the government
by an act of the National Legislature in 2012 to serve as the central,
national agency of Liberia responsible for receiving, requesting and
conducting preliminary investigations, analyzing and disseminating
information concerning suspected proceeds of money laundering,
terrorist fnancing and other fnancial crimes.
It is headed by Alexander Cuffy as the director-general and GIABA
national correspondent/ambassador, and overseen by a board chaired
by the Central Bank of Liberia.
UNITED NATIONS CHINESE CONTINGENT
DONATES COMPUTERS TO LIBERIAN POLICE
force in enhancing its work.
He stated that China is committed
in working with the United Nations
Mission In Liberia (UNMIL) in the
attainment of peace in the country.
I am very happy to donate these
computers to the LNP in enhancing
its works said Yi Xu.
Yi Xu called on LNP authorities
to ensure that the Forensic Unit,
Professional Standard Division,
Police Support Unit as well as the
Human Resource Division beneft
from the donation.
Juan Lou a member of the
Guandong Police Force who
donated the computers speaking
through an interpreter also stated
that she was happy to be in the
country to donate the computers
as China is committed in working
with Liberia to promote mutual
interest.
Deputy Director of Police for
Administration William Mulbah
who received the set of computers
expressed thanks and appreciation
to the Chinese Government for
the donation adding that the
Government of Liberia was
working hard to ensure that the
LNP get the needed logistics.
He promised that the computers
donated by the Chinese to the
Liberia National Police contingent
will be used for its intended
purpose and called on other
contingents in UNMIL to emulate
the example of the police.
It is very regrettable to see when
donations are not used for its
intended purpose said Director
Mulbah.
Director Mulbah called on the
Guandong Police Chief for the
Province Police Force and that
of the LNP to collaborate where
both organizations will beneft
from training as well as other
opportunities.
LIBERIA MAKES
PROGRESS IN
AML/CFT SYSTEM
Frontpage
Friday, May 23, 2014 Page 7
F
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PAGE
TRANSITIONAL JUSTICE
WAR CRIMES IN LIBERIA: LONG ARM OF THE LAW
Monrovia (AFP) -
A
t midday the streets of Liberia's capital bustle with life,
a thousand raised voices drowned out by motorbike
horns and the air thick with the aroma of boiled casava
and palm butter.
Further out, empty buildings peppered with bullet holes bear
silent witness to an all too recent trauma, their crumbling facades
disfgured by charred window frames resembling hollow, dead
eyes looking out at Monrovia.
Liberia is entering its second decade of fragile peace after one
of the bloodiest civil wars in African history, yet the spectre of
renewed confict haunts the battle-scarred streets of its shattered
capital.
At his desk in a squalid offce in downtown Monrovia, Liberia's
wartime rebel leader Sekou Damateh Conneh warns of growing
discontent among his former fghters.
"If I were a troublemaker we would have trouble here every
day because, as combatants who are ready for trouble, they are
talking to me every day," says the onetime head of the disbanded
Liberians United for Reconciliation and Democracy (LURD).
"They are ready," Conneh warned.
"They don't have money and they are frustrated. They can do
anything. I tell them no, we can't do that now, we need peace in
this country. People have suffered in this country a lot."
Deep psychological and physical scars persist after two back-to-
back civil wars that ran from 1989 to 2003 and claimed a quarter
of a million lives.
Numerous rebel factions raped, maimed and killed civilians, some
making use of drugged child soldiers, and deep ethnic rivalries
and bitterness remain across the country of 4.2 million.
In June 2003, LURD laid siege to Monrovia, deposing warlord
president Charles Taylor after several bloody battles in which
fghters were accused of fring mortar shells into civilian areas,
killing dozens.
Taylor bowed to pressure to go into exile and is serving a 50-year
sentence in a British jail for arming rebels during neighbouring
Sierra Leone's civil war, which claimed 120,000 lives.
- Broken promises -
Since 2004, the United Nations has disarmed some 100,000
Liberian fghters, providing each with $300 (219 euros) and
promises of free education and training -- which opposition
politicians say were never kept.
In the bleak economy of post-war Liberia, thousands of
experienced killers are suffering ill health and drug addiction, but
have no access to welfare.
"There are a lot of people who, as combatants, there are no jobs
for them, no programmes for them. Everybody is abandoned,"
Conneh said.
Humanitarian and security organisations regard such people as a
regional threat, noting that many were recruited as mercenaries by
Ivory Coast's ex-president Laurent Gbagbo in the 2010-11 crisis,
when he sought to cling to power after an electoral defeat.
Unlike other countries in the wake of confict, Liberia did not
absorb former combatants into the security forces and instead laid
off more than 14,000 soldiers.
"This ... constitutes a relatively large number of unemployed
and highly disgruntled individuals who feel disadvantaged,"
ACCORD, a South African NGO specialising in confict
resolution, said in a 2013 report.
"The fact that the majority of these former combatants are idle
means that the chances that they can be mobilised and used to
destabilise other countries in the region... is high."
Liberia's Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, a Harvard-trained former World
THE ECONOMIST
D
OES the arrest in the United
States of one of the key fgures
in Liberias civil war for
allegedly lying on his citizenship
application about his involvement with a
rebel group, the National Patriotic Front of
Liberia, mean that America is getting tougher
on Liberian war crimes? If more arrests
follow, then ties with the west African nation
that was founded by freed American slaves
must be strained.
Jucontee Thomas Woewiyu, aka Jucontee
Thomas Smith, 68, of Collingdale,
Pennsylvania, was arrested at Newark airport
when he arrived on a fight from Monrovia.
Mr Woewiyu was a key player in the NPFL
that invaded the country to overthrow
President Samuel Doe during the civil war
(1989 to 2003, with a break in the middle).
Mr Woewiyu later became defense minister
in the government of Charles Taylor and then
labor minister. Of the Liberians who were
involved in the war he was among the most
vocal and open about his involvement. Mr
Woewiyu was planning to run in the Liberian
senate.
While the indictment that led to his arrest
focuses on technical violations on his
citizenship application it also accuses him
of being a war criminal. It claims that under
Mr Woewiyus tenure as defense minister
the NPFL tortured adversaries, executed
civilians, killed west African peacekeepers,
raped and forced girls and women into
sexual slavery, conscripted child soldiers
and murdered humanitarian aid workers. Mr
Woewiyu was charged with seven counts of
perjury, two counts of fraudulently attempting
to obtain citizenship, four counts of fraud in
immigration documents and three counts of
false statements in relation to naturalisation
and faces a maximum possible sentence of
110 years in prison and a $4m fne.
This is the second American prosecution of a
Liberian for involvement in the war recently.
The former leader of the so-called Liberian
Peace Council, George Boley, was arrested
on an immigration charge and deported for
allegedly recruiting child soldiers. Charles
Taylors son, Chuckie Taylor, an American
citizen, was the frst person to be convicted
under the Alien Tort Statute for crimes
committed in Liberia.
Peter Pham, the director of the Africa Center
at the Atlantic Council in Washington, says
this is a positive move. Even if United
States law only permits him to be charged
with technical offenses rather than the
underlying war crimes, it is a measure of
justice for the hundreds of thousands of
victims of the cycle of violence he helped
unleash. he says of Mr Woewiyus case.
While some Liberians welcome the arrest,
others see it as politically motivated, and a
form of selective justice that undermines
Liberian sovereignty. He should be tried
here, says youth activist Mamasie Kabba.

AFTER DECADE OF PEACE, THREAT OF VIOLENCE STILL STALKS LIBERIA
COMBATTANTS ARE READY
Bank employee, made history in 2005 when she became Africa's
frst elected female president.
Feted in the West as a visionary leader who brought massive
investment and a measure of stability to a nation ruled by guns for
so long, opinion of "Ma Ellen" at home is more nuanced.
She faces criticism for alleged nepotism and corruption in a
country with an unemployment rate of about 80 percent and which
lacks basics such as water and reliable electricity.
Sirleaf was forced to apologise to Liberia's Truth and
Reconciliation Commission for her previous support of Taylor,
having once helped fnance his rebels. The commission ruled
that Sirleaf should be banned from holding political offce for 30
years, although Liberia's parliament is unlikely to ever uphold the
decision.
- 'Mob justice' -
During her tenure the United Nations Mission in Liberia (UNMIL)
has been the guarantor of security but it is reducing its troop
deployment from a height of 15,000 to just 3,750 by next summer.
Responsibility for law enforcement is in the hands of an
underfunded, demoralised police force deemed by Liberians to be
the most corrupt institution in the country, according to a 2013
study by Transparency International.
The security situation in Liberia is "stable" but fragile, according to
UNMIL, which has pointed to a worrying rise in vigilante activity,
often by disgruntled, poorly paid workers in mining towns.
"Some Liberians call it 'mob justice'. We do not call it mob justice
because that is not an acceptable form of justice, where people are
hunted down sometimes on the basis of rumours alone and hurt or
killed by communities," UNMIL head Karin Landgren said in a
recent briefng to journalists.
Critics concede, however, that Sirleaf's management of the
transition to peace has not been an unmitigated failure.
The frst of a network of fve "justice and security hubs" with
a courthouse, police, human rights monitors and immigration
offcers has been set up in the central town of Gbarnga.
The launch is seen as an important step in the decentralisation
of government services and is also hugely symbolic of Liberia's
post-war progress, since Gbarnga was once the base of Taylor's
rebellion.
In a smart move to win hearts and minds, she has also appointed
longtime rival George Weah, a footballing legend who garners
respect on all sides, as "peace ambassador" and head of the
government's peace and reconciliation committee.
"A lot of people are bitter in this country. But they are human
beings like us. We need to talk to them," Weah told AFP at his
party headquarters at the southeastern edge of Monrovia.
"Things that we did before, we need to drive away from those
things and encourage (people) by integrating them into society
and letting them know that there is hope and that they need help."


Page 8 |
Frontpage
Friday, May 23, 2014
PERSPECTIVE
Hunger Forces Lepers onto
Suakoko Streets
BRINGING BACK THE GIRLS
HOW THE WORLD QUICKLY STOPPED CARING
Hayes Brown
T
he girls are still
missing. Their mothers
still protest in Nigerias
capital. International
assistance is fowing into the
country to aid in the search.
Despite that, the interest in the
plight of the nearly three hundred
school-aged girls taken over a
month ago has plummeted since
the story frst became the latest
cause clbre on the Internet.
Its a common enough assumption
as to become cliche that interest
in news stories, barring large
fashy developments, tends to
fade over time. But the data
backs up that idea, particularly
in the case of the story of the
three hundred girlsfrom the
Government Girls Secondary
School in the town of Chibok,
located in Nigerias northeast
Borno state. Militants from
the terrorist group commonly
known as Boko Haram abducted
the girls on April 14, 2014,
with the news only reaching
American audiences weeks later.
And according to the data, that
interest lasted for roughly a week
before sharply dropping to the
levels seen today.
Since the kidnapping fnally
made its way into the
international press, the story
has been shared and tracked
on social media through the
hashtag #BringBackOurGirls,
serving almost as a brand for the
abduction, an easy way to refer to
the complex situation unraveling.
Google, the worlds largest
search engine, offers a service
called Google Trends which can
be used to examine how many
people worldwide search for
given terms compared to other
points over a certain period.
Plugging #BringBackOurGirls
into Google Trends, modeling
the last 90 days of search traffc,
shows a surge of interest in
the term peaking on Fri. May
9, before a sharp drop-off the
following Monday.
The hashtag originated in
Nigeria roughly two weeks
after the girls kidnapping, but
examining the search for the
term solely in the United States
shows a similar pattern of
interest. Searches for the hashtag
on Google skyrocketed the third
week of the girls kidnapping
with Americans reaching their
most curious about the hashtag
on May 8, midway into the
week when the most U.S. news
coverage about the girls was
being generated.
But a drop-off in interest into the
hashtag doesnt necessary mean
that interest in the story writ
large is also falling. As a way
to minimize the chances of that,
ThinkProgress also ran a query
for the term Nigeria girls, a
simple shorthand for the story.
The results are similar in terms
of a clear peak followed by a
substantial drop-off in interest. A
small surge can be seen around
May 1, the day after families of
the kidnapped girls launched
their frst protest demanding that
the government move faster to
locate their sisters, nieces, and
daughters. Interest began to climb
before as seen with searches
for #BringBackOurGirls
reaching an apex on May 8.
When modeled just for the
United States, the results are
again similar. By May 12, when a
new video featuring Boko Haram
leader Abubakar Shekau offering
to trade the kidnapped girls for
the release of jailed compatriots
and allegedly showing around
half of the kidnapped girls clad
in full-length jilbbs emerged,
the interest had clearly waned.
The other piece to this story is
the involvement of Boko Haram,
as the identity of the kidnappers
was suspected but unconfrmed
for the frst weeks of the
abduction. Once Shekau released
his video listing his demands, the
searches for Boko Haram on
Google worldwide peaked. But
much like the other search terms,
the interest has since fallen off
precipitously, though not to the
same degree.
In contrast, interest in the
terrorist group spiked on May
8, the day after the Daily Beast
released an article highlighting
the fact that former Secretary
of State Hillary Clinton did not
name Boko Haram to the State
Departments Foreign Terrorist
Organization list back in 2011.
Though the reasons for not doing
so then were numerous, adding
Clinton to the story clearly
generated even more interest,
and could serve to help explain
why the story peaked when it did
among American searchers.
Think Progress also ran a search
on LexisNexis for the terms
Nigeria AND kidnapping for
each of the days since the girls
were frst abducted to examine
whether a similar pattern could
be seen between the medias
coverage and the organic interest
from users of search engines and
social media. Its true that this
method could easily run into the
some of the same problems that
media outletFiveThirtyEight saw
when it used the GDELT
database for a similar purpose.
But here, rather than attempting
to show that the actual number
of kidnappings in Nigeria has
been on the rise, were focusing
on intentionally tracking media
stories about the issue. Some
duplicated stories likely exist
within the fndings, and several
stories refer to other kidnappings
that had taken place in Nigeria
during the same time-frame,
but the resulting graph tracks
closely to the Google searches
performed during the period.
CREDIT: LEXISNEXIS
Despite the lagging interest,
events continue apace in the
pursuit of the girls and the efforts
to rein in Boko Haram. A full
international presence has been
mobilized in Nigeria, though
President Goodluck Jonathan
showed hesitancy to accept the
outpouring of offers in the frst
weeks of the crisis. The United
States is currently fying both
manned and unmanned missions
over Nigeria in an attempt to gain
intelligence on just where the
girls may be located. Countries
as far-fung as Israel who has
sent intelligence experts to aid
the government have even
contributed to the cause.
Nigeria is also currently serving
a term on the United Nations
Security Council, the ffteen-
member panel charged with
matters of war and peace. On
Tuesday, Nigeria formally asked
the committee under the Council
responsible for upholding
sanctions on al Qaeda and its
affliates to add Boko Haram to
the blacklist. Boko Haram has
for nearly fve years now waged
a war against the government
and citizens of Nigeria, killing
an estimated 4,000 people since
it frst began its campaign. Just
on Tuesday, a new series of
explosions rocked the Nigerian
city of Jos while Boko Haram
hasnt formally taken credit for
the attack, the group are the most
likely culprits.
Even as the cameras leave the
country, Nigerians in the north,
where Boko Haram is strongest,
are still feeing the fghting
across the border. In all 250,000
people are now internally
displaced, according to the
Nigeria Emergency Management
Agency (NEMA), United
Nations High Commission for
Refugees spokesperson Adrian
Edwards said on May 9. Some
61,000 others have fed to
neighbouring Cameroon, Chad
and Niger. But now, Boko
Harams campaign appears to be
following them. An attack on a
Chinese work site in Cameroon
on Friday issuspected to be the
work of Boko Haram.
And the protests that frst
captured the attention of
international observers continue
on. This Thursday, activists
from the #Bring Back Our Girls
group say they will present
a charter of demands to the
president, including calls for
a more effective presence in
militant strongholds and greater
engagement with the community
of Chibok, according to the
Guardian. The chance remains
that the Jonathan government,
which has been sharply criticized
for its response to the crisis,
could react harshly to such a
strong rebuke and what is quickly
becoming a referendum on his
leadership. So while interest in
the tale of Boko Haram and the
kidnapped girls is exiting the
public imagination around the
world, the story remains sharply
burned in the minds of Nigerians.

Martha Mark, the mother of kidnapped school girl Monica Mark
cries as she displays her photo
Suakoko, Bong County
T
he meter-high concrete divider in the middle of the
Suakoko-Monrovia highway forms the main wall of
over 20 lepers of makeshift tents that adorn the highway.
In some cases, palm fronds form the roofs of the tents,
which extend for over fve kilometers along the road. In others,
its a piece of polythene less than a meter wide with the ends held
down by two rocks.
The men and women they shelter are mostly lepers. As the drivers
try to avoid the potholes and rough patches on the highway, they
move up to the vehicles. Brothers and sisters help me and God
will bless you, they chorus.
When passengers in a slow-moving 18-seater bus throw a few
banknotes onto the road, the beggars young children rush to pick
them up. None of the children appear to be more than eight years
old. The youngest is about three.
The more than 20 lepers from the Suakoko Leprosy Center, which
is about two kilometer from the highway, have been forced to beg
for alms along the road in order to survive.
It is appalling that the Phebe hospital, whose aim is to treat and
restore leprosy patients in the county, is on the verge of collapse
due to lack of fnance for the maintenance of the hospital, says a
doctor at the hospital who spoke on condition of anonymity.
The situation had led many of the patients to escape from the
camp, thereby constituting a medical threat to many, our source
added.
A few of the patients had deserted the camp a few months ago
due to the considerable hardship facing them, he explained. They
later returned and told the rest about the money they had made by
begging, and as a result, many of the other inmates joined them,
he added.
Food was being prepared with woods under the palm-frond roof
of Thomass farm roadside tent when FrontPage Africa stopped
by. The structure shields Joshua Gayfor, his wife and their two
children from the sun and the rain. I make nothing less than 200
Liberian dollars daily and with the money, we eat, he said. It is
better than going hungry in the camp.
His children, like those of other lepers who have deserted the
camp, are unable to go to school since they are forced to help their
parents beg alms.
Aaron Juahkollie, Foundation for International Dignity
Coordinator in Bong County, warned that if money was not
provided for the upkeep maintenance of the leprosy camp, an
outbreak of the infectious disease might be imminent in the county.
A woman commuter in the 18-seater bus, who gave her name as
Mary, said society should do something for the lepers. All these
new-generation church leaders who exploit people and make
thousands of Liberian dollars should at least help to take care of
them if the government can no longer help them, she suggested.
The Suakoko Leprosy Center is one of several leper colonies in
Liberia. It was established more than 30 years as a camp by a
group of white settlers, FrontPageAfrica has established.
The institution is maintained by the management of Phebe
Hospital. At present, the management of Phebe hospital can no
longer maintain the area single-handedly, our source said. The
hospitals quarterly subvention through the county leadership and
lawmakers cannot be suffcient unless others in the society come
to the rescue.
Our source did not say how much fnancial support is received
from the government and county leadership for the area. According
to Ministry of Health offcials, there are more than 5,000 lepers in
Liberia. Most are found in 10 areas where leprosy is endemic. The
government is now carrying out four pilot projects in as many
counties with the aim of wiping out the disease, the Ministry of
Health told FrontPage Africa.
F
RONT
PAGE
COUNTY NEWS
SEEKING
LIVELIHOOD
Selma Lomax, FPA Bong Correspondent
Frontpage
Friday, May 23, 2014 Page 9
Page 10 |
Frontpage
Friday, May 23, 2014
Henry Karmo (0886522495) henrykarmo47@gmail.com
CDC STRONG WOMAN GERALDINE DOE SHERIFF
QUITS, SAYS PARTY CANNOT ACHIEVE
F
RONT
PAGE
POLITICS
Monrovia-
C
ongress for
Democratic
Change (CDC)
suspended former
Party chairman Senator
Geraldine Doe Sheriff has
resigned from the party.
Madam Doe Sheriff in
her letter of Resignation
addressed to the Party
Secretary-General Mr.
Nathaniel McGill said the
party has lost its true meaning
as a grassroot political
institution.
The Party will never achieve
its initial goal of forming
an institution with the sole
purpose to emancipate our
people, the downtrodden
included, from the dungeon
of poverty to the celestial
heights of a decent life through
participatory democracy
with the imperialistic tenets
currently entrenched in the
party, she said.
The Montserrado County
senator said in a statement
issued in Monrovia that she
and others have made several
attempts to change this course
internally, but all efforts
proved futile. She said they
have instead suffered physical
harm as a result their stance
in reconciling the country
specifcally making reference
to her ordeal with partisans
who in 2011 chased her out
of the party headquarters.
Nevertheless, I thank you
all so kindly, especially the
ordinary Cdcians for the
opportunity to have served
as chairman and the many
moments shared together in
the party, said Doe-Sherriff.
When quizzed about where
next, the suspended former
CDC chairman is headed, she
could not say, but claimed that
she is now a private citizen
and when the appropriate
time comes she will make a
public disclosure of her new
political affliation.
Prior to her resignation on
Thursday rumors had it that
she has some affliation with
the breakaway Alternative
National Congress (ANC).
Responding to comments
about whether she supports
George Weahs candidacy
for the senate in the 2014
senatorial election she said;
as far as I am concerned
CDC has an incumbent
who is Senator Joyce-Musu
Freeman Sumo and until she
can be defeated in a primary,
FAILED CDC?
The Party will never achieve its initial goal of forming an institution with the sole purpose
to emancipate our people, the downtrodden included, from the dungeon of poverty to the
celestial heights of a decent life through participatory democracy with the imperialistic tenets
currently entrenched in the party,, Senator Geraldine Doe Sheriff
I cannot make a decision.
The resignation of Doe-Sheriff supports a recent
news article published in the FrontPageAfrica
Newspaper stating that there was internal wrangling
in the CDC but the party later rejected the claims.
When contacted Mr. George Solo chairman of
the CDC said, he welcomes the resignation of the
partys suspended former chairman.
Solo said: We are grateful for what she has done
for the party and for the betrayal she brought to us
as a party.
Shameless attention, betrayal
CDC Youth League Chair Jefferson Koijee termed
the resignation of Senator Doe-Sherriff from the
Congress for Democratic Change as laughable.
Well Let me say to you I dont know how can you
resign from an institution that you are not a member
of, it appears laughable, this Senator has been
expelled from the party since 2011.
According to the CDC Youth Chair Senator Doe-
Sherriff has betrayed her electorates adding that the
senator is striving for shameless attention.
She has betrayed the people who elected her, this
senator is striving for a shameless attention, and
we have come to correct the mistaken posture she
wants to exhibit.
Koijee continued: Her name has since been deleted
from the party data base, we extended executive
clemency to all of our expelled members and only
Professor Edward Forh took advantage and applied
to the party for membership and that process took
three months.
Madam Geraldine Doe-Sherriff never took
advantage of that, she existed in the past. Her name
is now been erased from the minds of the masses.
Geraldine is a composition of nothing less than
an ingrate. She has betrayed the principle of the
party, Geraldine was somebody who came from the
football feld we used to call her lady Zeko and we
made her somebody.

See Doe-Sheriffs Letter of resignation
REHAB COMMUNITY
MONTSERRADO COUNTY


Mr. Nathaniel McGill
Secretary General, Congress for Democratic
Change
Tubman Blvd, Congo, Monrovia, Liberia
May 19, 2014
Dear Mr. McGill:
REF: RESIGNATION FROM THE CONGRESS
FOR DEMOCRATICT CHANGE (CDC)
I present to you and members of your Executive
Committee my sincere compliments and with a
very heavy heart tender my resignation as member
of the Congress for Democratic Change (CDC).
You will agree with me, no doubt, that the
purpose for which we founded this once noble
party has lost. Our goal was to form an institution
with the sole purpose to emancipate our people,
the downtrodden included, from the dungeon of
poverty to the celestial heights of a decent life
through participatory democracy.
Mr. Secretary General, as it is, we will never
achieve this initial goal with the imperialistic tenets
currently entrenched in the party.
We have made several attempts to change this
course internally, but all of our efforts proved futile
as I even suffered physical harm as a result of my
stance in reconciling the country while serving as
chairman of the party.
Nevertheless, I thank you all so kindly, especially
the ordinary Cdcians for the opportunity to have
served as chairman and the many moments shared
together in the party.
I will miss all of those precious times but what is
most important, is our country Liberia.
On this note, I humbly beg to part ways in peace
and wish the party well in all that you endeavor for
the future.
May God bless you all.
Yours truly,
MUN YAN"
Senator Geraldine Doe Sheriff
Chairman Emeritus & Founding Member
Congress for Democratic Change

Frontpage
Friday, May 23, 2014 Page 11
INTERNAL POLITICS STIFLE PPCCS WORK
WAR ON TRANSPARENCY
F
RONT
PAGE
NEWS EXTRA
Monrovia-
I
n 2006, after the election of the
frst post war regime in Liberia,
the major promise was fghting
corruption head-on, a menace
which has been plaguing the country
for decades. The chorus was corruption
is public enemy number one, but eight
years on, the pendulum has shifted
the other way with transparency now
becoming the danger to bring down.
Liberias fght against corruption and
other forms of wastage in Government
continue to suffer setbacks with
individuals who have shown some
level of willingness and vigor in
ensuring bring transparency and
accountability in government painfully
leaving the jobs after frustration from
the system.
Former Chairman, Economic and
Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC)
of Nigeria, Malam Nuhu Ribadu, on
exile in the United Kingdom, once said:
when you fght corruption, corruption
fghts back and it seems this is now
the case of some individuals who took
the fght against corruption to a higher
level in Liberia.
About three years ago, Liberias best
performing Auditor General, John S.
Morlu, II had his tenure as Auditor
General not renewed after President
Ellen Johnson Sirleaf pronounced
that she did not like the mode of
operations of the Auditor General.
Global Witness, the Press Union of
Liberia and other international and
local organizations told President
Sirleaf that by not renewing the
contract of the Auditor General, she
has lost a fearless general who was
willing to fght corruption tooth and
nail.
Since the departure of the Auditor
general, the morale and integrity of
the GAC has since diminished and
Liberians turned to the Liberia Anti
Corruption Commission and the
Public Procurement and Concession
Commission to make a difference in
the fght against corruption and other
menaces.
With Cllr. Frances Johnson Morris
Allison, the LACC stood up to the task
after the sudden demise of the GAC
which was submerged in wrangle over
a successor to fll the huge void created
by the exit of Morlu.
The LACC in its report on verifcation
of assets of Government offcials
uncovered concealing of assets and
also noticed valuable assets belonging
to offcials whose salaries could not
permit them to own such worth of
assets.
Cllr. Allison departed the LACC under
strange circumstances and since her
departure the LACC is now nearing
another dead entity as the new head,
Cllr. James Verdier is yet to make any
signifcant impact although he has not
been in charge for a longer period.
PPCCs time to fall?
Also the PPCC witnessed the takeover
of outgoing Commissioner Peggy
Varfey Meres who within short
period brought high integrity to the
commission as the commission stood
in the way of bogus contracts and other
procurement related fraud.
Under the watch of Meres, high profle
procurements contracts were nullifed;
entities of government brought to
their knees and made to comply with
provisions of the PPC Act, 2010 by
submitting procurement plans at the
start of every fscal year to be reviewed
by the commission, amongst others.
Several high dollar contracts
were ordered halted by the PPCC
including the US$1.5 million
lease contract between the Liberia
Telecommunications Authority
(LTA) and a Chinese landlord and
other contracts that did not meet the
specifcations, guidelines and other
requirements of the PPC Act.
Like Morlu and Allison, it seems
fghting corruption in Liberia comes
with it severe consequences as Meres
has now fallen in the same web as
others who mustered the courage to
fght corruption and other malpractices.
Several ministries and agencies of
Government began blaming the
PPCC for what they termed delaying
the implementation of projects after
the Commission began vigorously
enforcing the PPC act.
Internal fght hampers PPCC
Documents in the possession of
FrontPageAfrica show that while
the head of the PPCC who has since
tendered her resignation to the
President was fghting outside forces
within the circle of government she
was under internal attack from within
the Commission.
According to the documents an
internal review team comprising three
members including Commissioner
Charles Collins, Chairman, Kona
Beysolow, member and B. Miller
Catakaw, member was setup by the
Chairman of the PPCC to review the
activities of the Commission.
The Committee, according sources
within the PPCC, did not perform its
function objectively and fairly with
the fndings not communicated to
individuals mentioned in the report.
PPCC outgoing Boss Meres in a
document described the work of the
committee as characterized by faws,
inconsistencies and contradictions.
Failure to ensure that the process
is characterized by the relevant
competence and qualifcation
has exposed some of the faws,
inconsistencies and contradictions
now inherent in the report of the
Special Committee. An elementary
principle of justice and administrative
procedures require that I would have
been consulted and/or interviewed
prior to the conclusion of the report to
afford me the opportunity to respond
to allegations and/or contribute to
the recommendations that will help
improve the work of the commission,
stated Meres.
Committee Report Imputes motives
She contends that the approach and
methodology used by the committee
ignored fundamental principle thereby
imputing motives other than the desire
to contribute to the commission.
Stated Meres The approach and
methodology adopted by the Special
committee ignored this fundamental
principle thereby imputing motives
other than a desire to contribute
towards the improvement of the
commission. This, in my own opinion,
appears to be a hurried attempt to call
into question, for ulterior purposes, the
professional services I have rendered
the commission, which have brought
us to an appreciable level of national
legitimacy and ensure compliance with
the PPCA, 2010.
The outgoing PPCC boss described
the Committee report as one that was
not based on facts, but rather largely
on hearsay and presumptions deeply
embedded in the biases and purported
interests of its authors.
Meres indicated that the committees
report was not supported by
documentary evidence.
I have observed with disappointment
that the report of the special
committee is not accompanied by any
documentary evidence to buttress a
majority of its claims and assertions.
The Special Committee in its report
indicated that the workfow chart
currently being used by the PPCC
Secretariat indicates that the receipt,
fow and handling of requests are
mainly processed by two employees
considered to be confdants of the
Executive Director, and the various
sections of the secretariat are not
involved in processing procurement
request.
Meres responded that the committee
in its haste to conclude its report
neglected the fact that the workfow
chart provided was limited to the
Offce of the Executive Director, not
the entire secretariat.
It should be noted that this document
was provided to the committee in an
effort to afford them an understanding
of how the Offce of the Executive
Director works. In addition, there were
three staff working in the Offce of
the Executive Director who assisted
the Executive Director in the proper
functioning of said offce, as at the
time of information gathering for this
report. It is therefore unfortunate to
term two of these staff as confdants,
without proof beyond reasonable
doubt, for performing their assigned
responsibilities, said Meres.
Cant achieve amid Gossips, rumors
The outgoing head of the Commission
warned in her communication that
the commission cannot achieve its
objectives unless its leadership is not
driven by gossips and rumors.
Stated Meres: It is noteworthy to state
emphatically that the Commission
would be served if its overall leadership
is not driven by gossips, rumors and
innuendos. It is counterproductive to
the gains weve made as a country
when we who are given leadership
roles to help mold the minds of our
young professional, especially given
the brain-drain experienced due to
the prolonged civil war, would dare
to stigmatize them and label them as
confdants, which has the propensity
of creating morale issues, job insecurity
and envy. Also, this would adversely
affect them emotionally and stife their
growth professionally.
She noted that the employees
mentioned in the report were recruited
through the President Ellen Johnson
Sirleaf Young Professional program
(PYPP), which recruits, trains and
places mentees in ministries and
agencies (M& As) under the guidance
of a mentor, based on match-making of
skills requested.
The committee also reported that
majority of the staff members of
the secretariat seem to be timid or
frightened to release unclassifed
information without frst getting
clearance and approval of the Executive
Director, stating such assertion is
dangerous for an integrity institution
such as the PPCC, but Meres described
such statement as unnecessary alarm.
Stated Meres I am disappointed
that the committee would present
that a majority of the staff members
of the secretariat seem to be timid
or frightened to release unclassifed
information without frst getting
clearance and approval of the
Executive Director, and that this is
dangerous for an integrity institution
such as the PPCC
Contrary to the committees report,
Meres said I believe that the
committee is for unknown reasons
raising unnecessary alarm by this
very misleading statement. The
Commission remains open and
accessible to the general public, and
it is worth noting that the Secretariat
has been very helpful in providing
information to several procuring
entities, PPCC Commissioners, foreign
and local consultants, as well as other
stakeholders. The Commission is very
opened and transparently and several
assessments of its operations have been
conducted by international institutions
including the United Nations
development program (UNDP and the
USAID Governance and Economic
Management Support project (USAID
GEMS), recommendations from which
have been successfully implemented
by the commission.
Observers believe Meres is another anti
corruption gurus who has fallen prey
to the system that has failed to change
and is being frustrated, resulting into
her resignation.

Page 12 |
Frontpage
Friday, May 23, 2014
BRAC Liberia, a not-for-proft organization, branch of BRAC
Headquartered in Bangladesh is registered with the respective
Governments department in Liberia since October 2008 and is
implementing program activities in the areas of Empowerment
& Livelihoods of Adolescents (ELA), Microfnance, Health,
Agriculture, Poultry and Livestock. We are accepting applications
for the following vacancies.
Program Assistant x 2 - ELA (These positions will be based in
BRAC Branch Offces)
Minimum requirements:
High school Graduate / Diploma in Business studies. A
Bachelors Degree in Development studies, Social work and Social
Administration, Counseling or its Equivalent is an added advantage.
Living in the Montserrado or Margibi Counties for at least
last 5 years and be a residence of Kakata, Paynesville, or West Point
is ideal.
Committed and willing to work with underprivileged people
especially adolescent girls
Morally upright in the community; Ability to work in a team;
willing to ride a bicycle
Good communication skills in English
Maximum Age of 27 years; FEMALE candidates are highly
encouraged to apply.
SERVICE STAFF: This person will be working in the Country
Offce /Guest residence and will be responsible for the following
tasks:
Ability to prepare food in a timely manner and maintain
cooking area
Make sure meal registrar is signed on a daily basis and records
kept
Coordinate purchases of grocery for cooking and other
cleaning items
Should be willing to take on additional responsibilities as
needed
Must be responsible, trustworthy and honest.
DAY/NIGHT GUARD: The Guard will be responsible for securing
Country Offce / Guest residence through regular foot patrols around
building perimeter and spot checks during the day/night.
Must be present at assignment area at all times
Request and collect information from visitors coming in the
offce/guest residence
To direct individual visitors or job seekers to the appropriate
Department
Verify all car requisitions from drivers before letting vehicles
out of the Offce
Should be willing to take on additional responsibilities as
needed
Must be responsible, trustworthy and honest.
Interested candidates MUST send an application with their CV and
three referees contacts with phone numbers, copy of certifcates and
2 passport size photographs, to the below address before 5.00PM on
30th May 2014. Please note that only short listed candidates will be
contacted and no allowances provided to attend interviews.
Where to Apply:
HR Department
Country Offce, Allison Street
Congo Town, Monrovia
Email: hr.bracliberia@gmail.com

Announcement
In keeping with the vehicle and Traffc Law; Title 38,
approved May 9, 1972, and published in 1978, the
Government of Liberia is pleased to announce the approved
rates for Third Party Compulsory Motor Insurance Policy
in Liberia. These rates take effect January 2, 1996.
Approved Rates Sticker Price
No. Category of Vehicles Price
1 Taxi US$300.00 $ 15.00
2 Transport Pick-Up
S/Size-1/2 Ton 400.00 15.00
M/Size- 1 Ton 425.00 15.00
B/Size 1 Ton 450.00 15.00
3 Transport Buses
S/S-Max 18 Persons 550.00 15.00
M/S-30 Persons 600.00 15.00
B/S-30 Over Persons 650.00 15.00
4. Transport Truck
10 Tons (10 Tires) 720.00 15.00
12 Tons (12 Tires) 750.00 15.00
14-18 Tons (18 Tires) 800.00 15.00
Trailer-22 Tires 1,000.00 15.00
5 Private Car (PC + Personal Plate
Sedan 150.00 15.00
Jeep 225.00 15.00
6 Business Car (BC)
Sudan 175.00 15.00
Jeep 225.00 15.00
7 Pick Up
PP 250.00 15.00
BP 300.00 15.00
8 Business Truck (BT)
10-Tons (10 Tires) 575.00 15.00
12-Tons (10 Tires) 600.00 15.00
14-18 Tons (18 Tires) 640.00 15.00
Trailer (22 Tires) 800.00 15.00
9 Business Bus (BB)
S/S-Min 6-8 Persons 250.00 15.00
S/S-Max 18 Persons 440.00 15.00
M/S- 30 Persons 480.00 15.00
B/S-30 Over Persons 520.00 15.00
10 Private Bus (PB)
S/S-Max 18 Persons 335.00 15.00
M/S-30 Persons 385.00 15.00
B/S-30 Over Persons 420.00 15.00
11 Private Truck (PT) 575.00 15.00
12 Private Motorbike 150.00 15.00
13 Business Motorbike 125.00 15.00
Please ask Pearl 0886 578 981/ Lucinda 0886 514 623
/ 0777 514 623 / AB 0886 529 776
American Underwriters Group
INTERNATIONAL INSURANCE
JG Bull BLDG, Randall Street, Adjancent DITCO Store
Frontpage
Friday, May 23, 2014 Page 13
REGULATOR STILL IN LACC DRAGNET
Commission on Higher Education Director General long Corruption tale

Henry Karmo (0886522495) henrykarmo47@gmail.com
F
RONT
PAGE
NEWS EXTRA
Monrovia-
T
he Liberia National Police is currently
investigating a Proctor identifed as
Jestina Sieh for alleged Fraud and Theft
of property during the administering of
the ongoing West African Examination Council
(WAEC) for senior high school students.
According to the Police, suspect Sieh was
arrested on May 19, 2014 predicated upon a
complaint fled by Dyer Smith.
Smith alleged that suspect Jestina Sieh was
seen in the Examination hall distributing pieces
of papers to students, Police report states.
Exams malpractice is becoming a tradition in
Liberia. The incident is not unique to the Rocks
International high school in Duwazon. At the
Isaac David and Paynesville Community School
(PCS) in Paynesville students were caught with
pieces of papers with answers on them.
The students at Rocks International high school
in Duwazon were apparently on a holiday as the
center was without a Supervisor according to
complaint Smith.
"There was a situation at Rocks school on
Robertfeld highway the situation was that
there was no supervisor at the center and I was
designated to go and arrest the situation at the
testing center," Smith a monitor from the MOE
said.
Continued Smith: "When I arrived the exam
started after a few minutes, in twenty minutes
pretty close to six percent of the students were
fnished, I decided to check around while
checking around I saw this proctor her name is
Jestina Sieh passing papers on to the students,
when I took the paper from her and reconcile
it with the papers of some of the students that
fnish the test I found out that it was the same
paper she was distributing," said Smith.
The monitor believes by naming and shaming
people who are caught in such act it will help
curb the problem of exams malpractices.
He said, because some schools fail to prepare
students, that is why they are in the business of
paying people to help their students.
"They send these handicaps, so they are
compelled to follow them because they know
their students are not up to the task."
Smith said, a copy of the paper that was
distributed by the proctor amongst the students
is in his possession for further investigation.
Smith added that his decision to expose the
proctor involved in the act is intended to right
the wrong in the educational system in Liberia.
"I have a copy of the paper and Im doing this for
us to right the wrong in our educational system,
we have youth would cannot defend their little
education," Smith said.
He urged other monitors across the country to
exhibit high level of professionalism in the
discharge of their duty.
"I urge other monitors to exhibit the full potential
of their mandate so that they can be able to save
the future of Liberian children because if they
are not educated they will not be able to help this
country," Smith added.
He said there must be serious action taken
so as to deter people from getting involved in
examination malpractices. "If we do not stop
this it will become a future embarrassment for
this country," he said.
The police took statement from the proctor
who was alleged to have distributed answers to
students.
The alleged cheater was sitting down-stairs on
an armchair at the Rocks School and refused to
make comment on the allegations levied against
her.
The Principal of Rocks International High
School Augustine Nimely said, it is unfortunate
that proctor hired by WAEC will be involved in
such an act.
"Well you see, it is unfortunate that WEAC will
send a proctor who will get involved in such act.
For me defnitely I cannot condone such act. We
expect proctors to take strong actions against
students who are cheating; but if it is a proctor
then that proctor has his/herself to blame,"
Nimely said.
He said, most students go to public exams with
mindset that they [student] will get assistance
from somebody.
"That is why most of our students come to these
examinations ill-prepared with the notion that
somebody will help them," Nimely added.
For me I'm highly against what took place, I
was not in the hall when this act occurred."
Nimely asserts that a precedent should be set so
as to serve as a warning for other proctors who
will want to venture in such an act.
PROCTOR IN ALLEGED WAEC
EXAMS MALPRACTICE



F
RONT
PAGE
LEGISLATIVE BEAT
WHERE IS
THE BUDGET?
SPEAKER DISMISSES BUDGET
SUBMISSION CLAIM
Al-Varney Rogers alrogers2008@gmail.com
MONROVIA-
I
n the wake of claims by the Executive
Branch of Government that the
2014/2015 draft national budget has
been submitted to the legislature, the
House of Representatives is claiming that it
has not seen the document.
House Speaker Alex Tyler told members of
that august body during Thursdays session
that the Executive Branch of government
has only submitted what he referred to as a
symbolic draft budget to his offce and not
the budget in totality.
He further claimed that documents to
support the budget which include summary
of fnancial operations of each autonomous
agencies indicating the resources to be
transferred from the National budget,
summary of the annual fnancial plan of the
budget and operation of each state enterprise
or Financial institution, a specifc format
which is prescribed in the regulation and
identifying in summary of all donor fnancial
support to the budget, are yet to be submitted.
Tyler said: These documents have not
accompanied the budget yet, so we only
have symbolic copies. When that is done
the budget will be placed on the agenda and
subsequently turned over to the committee.
In other words there is no budget as of now.
The speakers comment was in response to
a concern raised by Representative Edward
Forh (CDC-District #16-Montserrado
County) about media reports that the budget
has been submitted to the Legislature.
The House Speaker in further comments
mandated the Houses Press Bureau to do a
formal communication on the matter but up
to press time the communication was still
being prepared.
The Ministry of Finance on Wednesday
issued a press statement indicating that it has
submitted the budget to the Legislature
Stated the Ministry of Finance President
Ellen Johnson Sirleaf has on Wednesday,
May 21, 2014, submitted the draft national
budget of US$557m to the 53rd national
legislature. The new austerity budget cuts
wastes in government and channels more
funds to infrastructure development as set
out in the Agenda for Transformation.
The Ministry of Finance further stated
Consistent with the Section 11.1 of the
Public Financial Management Act of 2009,
President Sirleaf, through the Ministry
of Finance submitted the draft FY14/15
budget which is the last cycle of spending
under austere conditions in the three year
Medium Term Expenditure Framework
(MTEF) introduced in 2012. The budget
focuses on investing in key areas including
energy, roads, ports, security, technology,
health, education, etc. that have the potential
for massive social and economic returns to
transform the Liberian economy.
This draft Budget calls for a period of
national sacrifce a sacrifce that calls for
better effciency in the allocation of available
resources as government combines
aggressive revenue generation with careful
debt management and scaled up spending
in security, energy and the road network,
said President Ellen Johnson in her budget
statement issued Wednesday.
According to the Ministry, the President
says the new draft budget also focuses on
programs and projects as the regular costs
of running ministries and agencies have
been cut drastically and savings moved into
key public investment programs that will
beneft the Liberian people. The draft budget
was developed after several months of
consultations and hearings with all spending
entities.
It is not clear who is saying the truth, whether
the legislature or the Ministry of Finance.
Dyer Smith whistle blower
Page 14 |
Frontpage
Friday, May 23, 2014
US STEPS UP EFFORT TO FIND NIGERIAN GIRLS
MALAWI PRESIDENT SAYS 'SERIOUS
IRREGULARITIES' IN ELECTION
Blantyre (Malawi) (AFP) -
M
alawi's President
Joyce Banda on
Thursday called
for an immediate
manual audit of this week's
election results, alleging serious
irregularities after the electoral
commission reported its vote
tallying system had collapsed.
"It has come to my attention
that there (are) some serious
irregularities in the counting and
announcement of results in some
parts of the country," she told
reporters.
Banda said unoffcial partial
results showed that some
candidates were winning with
numbers of votes that exceeded
the total numbers registered at
the polling centres.
Discarded and tampered ballots
had also been discovered, said
Banda who is facing her frst
electoral test since she succeeded
IN BRIEF
RUSSIAN ENVOY SET
FOR UK TALKS OVER
CHARLES COMMENTS
US PROMISES
NEVER AGAIN TO
LET CIA UNDERMINE
VACCINATIONS
'HAPPY' VIDEO
ARRESTS HIGHLIGHT
TENSIONS IN IRAN

London (AFP) -
A
senior Russian
diplomat is expected
to hold talks at
Britain's foreign
ministry Thursday after Prince
Charles reportedly compared
President Vladimir Putin's
actions to those of Adolf Hitler,
a government source said.
The heir to the British throne
made the apparently unguarded
comment during a trip to a
museum in Canada, in private
conversation with a Polish-born
woman who had fed the Nazis
as a child.
Moscow has not formally
commented but Russian media
said it threatened to further
"complicate" relations between
Britain and Moscow, already
tense over the crisis in Ukraine.
TEHRAN, Iran (AP)
A
n Internet video of
six young Iranian
men and women
dancing to Pharrell
Williams' "Happy"
has led to their arrests, showing
how far Tehran will go to halt what
it deems to be decadent Western
behavior despite the views of its
moderate president.
Criticism outside Iran was
predictably swift Wednesday, with
calls for freedom for the jailed
youths zipping around social
media. Williams tweeted: "It's
beyond sad these kids were arrested
for trying to spread happiness."
A tweet posted Wednesday evening
on President Hassan Rouhani's
account seemed to address the
controversy, even if it stopped
short of mentioning the video or
the arrests directly.
O
ne year after a letter
expressing their
concern, the White
House last week
fnally responded to public
health school offcials concerns,
promising to never again use
vaccination programs as cover to
gather intelligence.
The letter from White House
counter-terrorism adviser Lisa
Monaco to the deans of some of
the top public health schools in
the country including UCLA,
Harvard, and Johns Hopkins
was frst obtained by Yahoo
News on Monday. I wanted to
inform you that the Director of the
Central Intelligence Agency (CIA)
directed in August 2013 that the
agency make no operational use
of vaccination programs, which
includes vaccination workers,
Monaco wrote in the letter.

F
RONT
PAGE
WORLD NEWS
OPERATIONAL SUPPORT
Jos (Nigeria) (AFP) -
T
he United States
deployed 80 military
personnel to Chad on
Wednesday to help fnd
200 girls kidnapped by Boko
Haram, as Nigeria probed its
deadliest attack ever with the
militant group the main suspect.
In a letter to congress, US
President Barack Obama said the
personnel would stay in Chad
until their support in ending the
abduction nightmare that has
outraged the world "is no longer
required".
"These personnel will support
the operation of intelligence,
surveillance and reconnaissance
aircraft for missions over
northern Nigeria and the
surrounding area," Obama said.
The troops mark a signifcant
boost to an existing US military
effort which includes the use of
surveillance drones as well as
manned aircraft over Nigeria.
The Pentagon has criticised
Nigeria in the past for failing to
react swiftly to the rise of Boko
Haram, who have been blamed
for thousands of deaths since
2009 and until the kidnappings,
Nigeria had resisted cooperation
with the West in its fght against
the group.
Nigerian emergency services on
Wednesday picked through the
burnt-out remains of vehicles and
collapsed buildings in the New
Abuja Market area of the central
city of Jos, where two car bombs
exploded within 20 minutes of
each other on Tuesday.
Boko Haram is again blamed
for the atrocity that killed at
least 118 people as well as other
attacks near the town where the
schoolgirls were kidnapped.
The attack was the latest affront
to the Nigerian government's
security crackdown in response
to the April 14 mass abduction.
The wreckage of a charred
vehicle remains in front of
burning shops following a bomb
blast at Termin
The US described the Jos carnage
-- and a suicide car bombing
in the northern city of Kano on
Sunday -- as "vicious attacks on
defenceless Nigerian civilians".
Britain said the "cowardly,
inhumane crime" would only
strengthen the international
community's resolve to defeat
terror in Africa's most populous
nation.
Two more attacks in villages
near the girls' hometown of
Chibok in northeastern Borno
state were meanwhile reported,
with witnesses saying that 30
people were killed on Monday
and Tuesday.
- Boko Haram blamed -
In Jos, where Boko Haram
have attacked before, Plateau
state governor Jonah Jang's
spokesman said the bombing
bore the hallmarks of the Islamist
extremists.
"The investigation is still
ongoing but this is clearly an
extension of the terrorist activity
that has affected the northeast
of the country, the Boko Haram
insurgents," Pam Ayuba told
AFP.
The Roman Catholic Archbishop
of Jos, who also blamed Boko
Haram, said the insurgents
were trying to sow "chaos" in
the religiously divided city, hit
by waves of deadly sectarian
clashes over the last 15 years.
Kyari Mohammed, a Boko
Haram specialist and chairman
of the Centre for Peace Studies
at Modibbo Adama University,
said Boko Haram were "the only
ones capable of doing this".
"Every other rebel or fringe
group can use bombs but not of
this scale or sophistication," he
added.
"I have the feeling that what
they want to achieve is to
escalate things because of the
international pressure which
has built up (because of the
kidnapping)."
On the day of the mass abduction,
Boko Haram launched a car
bomb attack on a bus station in
a suburb of the capital Abuja
which killed 75.
They are suspected of a similar
attack in the same location on
May 1 which left 19 dead.
Four people were killed in
Sunday's attack in Kano,
although it was unclear whether
the attack was linked to Boko
Haram.
Death toll may rise -
Rescuers and residents gather
at the charred scene following a


her late processor Bingu wa
Mutharika two years ago.
She also alleged the
communication devices of
some polling monitors were
deliberately jammed, "thereby
limiting the monitors' ability
to effectively carry out their
duties."
"In light of these concerns
and concerns emerging from
other stakeholders which
includes other political parties,
I call upon the Malawi Electoral
Commission to carry out an
immediate manual audit of the
whole process," she said.
Election offcials announced
earlier that the vote tallying
electronic system had collapsed,
forcing them to resort to fax and
email, and delaying the release
of results.
The system "is refusing to
take the information from the
ground where our data clerks
are stationed to send the results,"
chief elections offcer Willie
Kalonga told AFP after the vote.
Banda, 64, began her term
two years ago as a darling
of the West, feted as one of
Africa's rare women leaders,
but her government has since
been ensnared in a $30 million
corruption scandal dubbed
"Cashgate".
Analysts placed her as the
favourite despite the scandal and
despite competition from her
hardline predecessor's brother,
Peter Mutharika.
The 74-year-old Mutharika was
allowed to run in the election
despite facing a trial for treason.
He is accused of trying to
stage a constitutional coup by
concealing his brother's death
in offce, and fying his body
around Africa as he plotted ways
of preventing Banda -- then vice
president -- from being sworn in.
bomb blast at Terminus market
in the
Rescue workers were among
those who were caught up in the
Jos bombings. As they tended to
the injured from the frst blast,
the second detonated.
Improvised explosive devices
were hidden in a minibus and
truck, the military said.
Nigeria's National Emergency
Management Agency (NEMA)
said late on Tuesday that 118
were killed and 56 injured but
warned that the death toll could
rise further.
Faced with escalating violence,
Nigeria's army announced a
major new recruitment drive,
with spokesman Olajide Laleye
warning that fresh recruits will
be sent to the frontline with Boko
Haram.
"If there is anybody who wants
to join the Nigerian Army and
who does not want to end up in
the northeast... such a person
need not volunteer," the army
spokesman said.
Parliament on Tuesday approved
a request for a further six-month
extension of a state of emergency
in Borno and neighbouring Yobe
and Adamawa states with the
caveat that non-military means
should also be explored to end
the violence.
Jonathan is adamant that there
will be no negotiations with Boko
Haram on swapping the girls for
militant fghters held in Nigerian
jails but the government has
maintained it is open to dialogue
on wider issues.
More attacks likely
In New York, Nigeria submitted
a request to the United Nations
to proscribe Boko Haram as an
international terrorist group.
Prior to Obama's troop
announcement, the international
attention on the plight of the
missing girls has already seen
specialist teams from the United
States, Britain, France and Israel
sent to Nigeria.
Mohammed, however, said
that while on the one hand
international pressure was
forcing the government in Abuja
to act, it was also emboldening
Boko Haram to mount further
strikes.
"They have sleeper cells all over
the northern part of the country
and they're activating them.
That's what they're going to do,"
he said.
Frontpage
Friday, May 23, 2014 Page 15
LFA, Kojo give contradictory explanation on the omission of
indiscipline Week, Williams and Doe from Sundays narrow win.
Sports
SPORT BRIEF
YAYA TOURE WANTS
MANCHESTER CITY
'JOB FOR LIFE' - AGENT
M
anchester City's
Yaya Toure wants
assurances he will
have a "job for
life" at the club, his agent has
said.
The 31-year-old midfelder was
said to be "very upset"
by a perceived lack of respect
shown him by City's owners.
But Dimitri Seluk says Toure
wants the "same club for as long
as possible" as well as similar
treatment to that given Zinedine
Zidane by Real Madrid.
Zidane became an adviser and
coach at Madrid after ending his
playing career with the Spanish
giants.
SAN ANTONIO
T
he Oklahoma City
Thunder were down
11 in a game that was
quickly spiraling out
of control, and Kevin Durant
and Russell Westbrook began
barking at each other as they
walked toward the bench late in
Wednesday's frst half.
Whether they were truly angry at
each other, the referees or their
team's continued struggles in
the Western Conference fnals,
the frustration only increased
for Durant and Westbrook. What
eventually cooled them off was
a seat on the bench for the entire
fourth quarter of the Thunder's
112-77 Game 2 loss to the San
Antonio Spurs.
"I was just getting on Kevin
about some stuff and he got on
me right back," Westbrook said.
"And that's what teammates do.
MARIO BALOTELLI SHOWS
HIS MATURITY AFTER BEING
RACIALLY ABUSED DURING
AN ITALY TRAINING SESSION
AS THUNDER GO COLD,
DURANT, WESTBROOK GET
HEATED WITH EACH OTHER
DIE IS CAST
M
ario Balotelli was
racially abused yet
again, this time
by spectators at a
training session for the Italian
national team. According to the
Italian football association (the
FIGC), "Some boys surrounding
the feld made some offensive
chants towards Mario Balotelli
and one of them pronounced
a racial insult." Police reacted
quickly and escorted that one
person away.
The slur can be heard clearly in
the video above, but Balotelli
stayed focused on his training.
The AP reports that the Milan
striker said, "Only in Rome and
Florence are they that stupid"
as he ran by. In the past, the
notoriously quick tempered
23-year-old might have reacted
to the provocation in a way that
would only hurt himself, but
instead he let the police handle it
and after the training session he
even stopped to sign autographs
for the fans that supported him.
MADRID
T
he century-old rivalry
between Madrids two main
clubs, Real Madrid and
Atltico Madrid, will reach its zenith
Saturday when they meet in the
Champions League fnal in Lisbon,
the frst time that teams from the
same city will play for the top prize
in European club soccer.
Yet unlike those in many other
European cities, derby matches
between Real and Atltico have
rarely descended into bitterness or,
worse, violence between their fans.
In fact, over the past decade, the
Madrid intracity rivalry has been
eclipsed by the Clsico matches
between Real Madrid and Barcelona,
the teams that had turned Spanish
soccer into a duopoly with their
fnancial clout before Atltico broke
through and won the league in its
fnal game of the season Saturday.
Weve got a long and strong
sporting rivalry, but its a healthy
one, Enrique Cerezo, the president
of Atltico and owner of 25 percent
of the club, said in an interview.
Youre, of course, always going to
have to deal with a few hooligans,
but this has been an example of a

L
iberia may have
beaten Lesotho 1-0
in a 2015 Africa
Cup of Nations
qualifers but the
omission of some regular faces
stunned supporters, who were at
the Antoinette Tubman Stadium
on May 18.
Theo Weeks, Dioh Williams and
Francis Grandpa Doe were some
of the foreign-based players, who
missed the narrow win with the
return leg due on the weekend of
May 30-June 1.
And now the Liberia Football
Association (LFA) and interim
coach Thomas Kojo have given
contradictory explanations as
to why Captain Anthony Laffor
of Mamelodi Sundowns in
South Africa, Alseny Keita of
JA Drancy in France and Sekou
Jabateh-Oliseh of POAK FC
in Greece were invited for the
match.
Kojo had submitted a list of nine
foreign-based players but the
LFA trimmed the list down to
three due to a lack of support
from the government.
Unconfrmed reports from the
FA had it that the trio, who
missed the game, were ignored
due to unruly behavior exhibited
in the past.
But LFA president Musa Bility
denied the report at a pre-match
press conference on May 16.
There is no other reason [why
we left them out] but because
we dont have the money. Those
are Liberians; they want to play
[for their national team and] we
love for them to play. Look, there
are some players that have come
and we have asked them to join
the team. The coaches give us
the names of nine players. We
dont have the money to send for
them, Bility responded.
WHOS TELLING THE TRUTH?

Danesius Marteh, danesius.marteh@frontpageafricaonline.com
Weeks (left) and Grandpa Doe last played for Liberia in a 2-0 defeat to Senegal in a 2014 World Cup qualifer at the SKD on June 16, 2013

Pressed by Sports Writers
Association of Liberia (SWAL)
president Roland Mulbah as
to whether Doe, Weeks and
Williams were left out due
to disciplinary reason, Bility
answered: No, no, those are
good players. Those are very
good players.
I would have loved to answer
that question if you had told me
that we brought players that are
not qualifed as compared to the
ones that we didnt bring. But
I am sure that the three players
that we brought fall among the
same category that those that we
didnt bring fall in.
We just have to choose three
due to the lack of money; thats
all. You know what Grandpa Doe
has done for his country. Theo
Weeks, all those boys are good
players. We like them. Infact, I
will tell you this, I am always in
touch with Grandpa Doe. Every
time I go on facebook, we are
always communicating. So,
these are our players. We will
love for them to come. Right
now, we dont have the money to
send for them.
But Kojo revealed in his post-
match news conference that the
uninvited trio were left out due
to indiscipline.
Actually, the LFA insisted that
they dont have money to bring
in nine players. And the three
players that we brought down, in
my nine players selection, they
were already in that selection.
But the problem is [and] what
you people have to understand,
there have been a lot of issues
with players coming to play for
the national team.
And most of them, because
they have been indiscipline, so
there is a problem with them
and the LFA. So if I make a list
and the LFA says they can only
grab three and the three players
were on my nine players list.
But people making statement
all around Monrovia is not
important, he pointed-out.
And Kojo also explained why
Keita, who capped 12 games
(totaling 837 minutes) for fourth
division side JA Drancy of
France was preferred to Weeks,
who capped 19 games for
Maritimo in Portugals Primeira
Liga (totaling 1,053 minutes
with three goals).
I just explained to you now.
There is an issue with certain
players and the LFA because
of indiscipline attitude. It is not
because of performance he was
left out. [He was left out] because
of problems that existed before.
And if the LFA is saying that
they dont want certain players
to play for the national team
anymore, then let it be. They run
the football [in this country].
There were issues and you
know about issues with players.
I dont want to talk about players
now but there are lots of issues
in the camp [such as] players
breaking the camp. Some of the
players you are naming now,
there was a game we played and
this same player left the camp to
come back home.
So the LFA says they dont
want to deal with certain players
because of indiscipline. It is not
because of performance. You
people will have to understand.
And if we keep condoning
indiscipline attitude from our
players, then Liberia will not go
anywhere, Kojo stressed.
So, whos telling the truth?
good rivalry.
Real Madrid will face Atltico for
the title of the Champions League,
the highest-level European club
competition, on Saturday in Lisbon.
Credit Javier Soriano/Agence
France-Presse Getty Images
Whenever Real Madrid plays
Barcelona, he added, his preferred
winner shifts depending on which
teams victory that day would beneft
Atltico more. Its a pure calculation
rather than about emotion, Cerezo
said.
Yet six years ago, Cerezo upset
Atltico fans when he was
photographed holding a Real Madrid
shirt. All sorts of stupidities were
said, Cerezo recalled, claiming
that the shirt had been a birthday
gift from Ramn Caldern, a former
Real Madrid president and personal
friend. I just showed it during a
private dinner.
Asked what differentiated Atlticos
fans from Reals, Cerezo said that
winning is always welcomed, but if
there is something that characterizes
our supporters, it is that they are
always behind us and ready to win
or lose.
We know how to win just as much
as we know how to lose.
Such tolerance, rare among Reals
larger and perhaps more expectant
fan base, has come in handy given
the roller-coaster path followed by
Atltico; the club was relegated to
the second division in 2000, only
four seasons after it won the league
and the Spanish Cup.
On Saturday, Atltico is hoping to
win Europes most important club
tournament for the frst time; it lost
the only other fnal it played, 40
years ago against Bayern Munich.
Real Madrid, on the other hand, is
going for la dcima, a record 10th
trophy, the pursuit of which has been
the main justifcation for the clubs
record spending on players like
Cristiano Ronaldo and Gareth Bale.
Weve got used to the highest
standards, and our experience is not
one of suffering, like that of Atltico,
but of winning, with style and with
a capital W, said Carlos Martnez
Cabrera, an advertising executive
who is a socio, or shareholder fan, of
Real Madrid.
Like many Real Madrid fans,
Martnez Cabrera said he felt
sympathy for Atltico, which has
nowhere near the fnancial clout of
its bigger neighbor. Real Madrid had
a budget of 515 million euros this
season (about $706 million), more
than four times the amount spent by
Atltico (120 million). And while
Real Madrids shirt sponsorship deal
is one of the worlds richest, in 2012,
Atltico spent a season unable to fnd
a main sponsor until it reached a
deal with the republic of Azerbaijan,
whose Land of Fire slogan is
printed on the players shirts.
I think that being a Madrid fan
is also being a bit for Atltico,
Martnez Cabrera said. If Madrid
doesnt win, let it be Atltico.
Martnez Cabrera also acknowledged
that the atmosphere in Atlticos
stadium was impressive and really
a lot more intense than that in Real
Madrids Bernabu stadium.
Indeed, when Real Madrid plays
smaller teams, its giant stadium is
rarely full, and many of the tickets
held by members are resold to
tourists. In contrast, the year that
Atltico was relegated to the lower
division, its ticket sales at home
a stadium only two-thirds the size of
the 81,000-seat Bernabu actually
rose.
Adelardo Rodrguez Snchez, a
retired Spanish national team player
who played a record 511 games for
Atltico over 17 seasons, said, The
difference between Madrid and us is
that Atltico has always really had
good and bad moments. He added
with a chuckle, I think people get
bored of the same thing and like the
diversity.
Which Madrid Will Land Champions League Final
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PRICE L$40 VOL 8 NO.600 FRIDAY, MAY 23, 2014

It is very frustrating
that our government
has neglected us, Be-
more N. Toe, one of
four Liberians recently
caught in the wrong place at
the wrong time and victims of
a shooting incident in Istanbul,
Turkey.
Toe, along with Patience Rob-
erts, Deddeh Simmonds and
Blessing Vinton were shot by
an unknown gunman at a coffee
shop located in Sisli Mecedi-
yeko around the Trump Tower in
Istanbul and seriously wounded.
In the days following the inci-
dent, the Turkish Foreign Min-
ister, Professor Ahmet Daavuto-
glu expressed his governments
deepest regrets over the shoot-
ing incident and assured his
Liberian counterpart, Foreign
Minister Augustine Ngafuan
that all efforts would be exerted
by security forces in Istanbul to
have the perpetrator arrested and
brought to justice. During that
same discussion via telephone,
Minister Ngafuan called on his
counterpart to press for proper
post surgical medical care for
the victims.
Minister Ngafuan also called on
his Turkish counterpart to ensure
proper security for the Liberian
victims in Turkey in order to
avert any possible recurrence of
the situation and urged the Turk-
ish authorities to step up efforts
aimed at ensuring the shooter is
speedily brought to justice.
The MOF went further to dis-
patch a Senior Ambassador-at-
Large, Marcus Kofa, to Turkey
on a special mission who met
with the victims and pledged
that arrangements had been
concluded for the victims to be
given continued and adequate
medical attention by Turkish au-
thorities.
Weeks later, however, the vic-
tims appear to still be experienc-
ing neglect from the Liberian
government.
Shooting victim Toe told Front-
PageAfrica Thursday that during
a recent visit to Turkey, Minister
Ngafuan informed them that the
Turkish government said that
there was not much more they
could do. The minister gave
us $200.00 each and he said we
should go back to our country.
Toe says the victims have been
left to fend for themselves.
Presently we can't walk we are
treating our self. We are appeal-
ing to every patriotic Liberian
and well-meaning organizations
to please come and assist us. We
are still calling on Gol to please
come and assist us.
As for the shooter, it appears au-
thorities have been unsuccessful
in apprehending him. Says Toe:
They never told us that they
have caught.
Toe laments that all of those
involved in the shooting are in
dire straits and are sending an
SOS call out for help. Things
are not easy here now, the house
we are living in, the people want
to put us out because of rent, we
have to feed ourselves and do
other things for ourselves even
though we are still lingering in
pain.
FRUSTRATED IN TURKEY

Liberian Victims of Recent Shooting in Istanbul, living
in Dire Straits, Says Government Ignoring Plight
Spot News FrontPage
WHOS TELLING THE TRUTH?
LFA, Kojo give
contradictory explanation
on the omission of
indiscipline Week,
Williams and Doe from
Sundays narrow win.