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STORIES

COUNTY NEWS

pg 6

MITTAL STEEL
GO SLOW
Mine workers furious
Over Bonus Cut

NEWS EXTRA

pg 6

BOULEVARD
BLOODBATH

Another Motor Tragedy

Leaves Seven Dead

TRIBUTE

pg 6

SURAJ ALAO ABDURRAHMAN

GONE BUT NOT FORGOTTEN

PROFILE OF
A GENERAL

Liberia set to pay homage

to fallen former head of the
Armed Forces of Liberia

FrontPage
www.frontpageafricaonline.com

VOL 9 NO.122

MONDAY, AUGUST 17, 2015

PRICE L$40

IN HIS DESIRE FOR LIBERIAN PRESIDENCY

UREY EYEING US
SANCTIONS LIFT

I forwarded an appeal to them that there is no merit to this based on the fact the Treasury list was
created as a result of a U.N.-imposed sanction on us and the U.N. has lifted these sanction and other
international organizations the EU has lifted their sanctions on me; Great Britain has lifted theirs;
Canada has lifted theirs; France has lifted theirs. So we hope that the United States will do that soon.

News Extra - pg. 5

CENTRAL BANK OF LIBERIA

MARKET BUYING AND SELLING RATES

LIBERIAN DOLLARS PER US DOLLAR

BUYING

SELLING

L$87.00/US$1

L$88.00/US$1

FRIDAY, AUGUST 14, 2015

L$88.00/US$1

L$89.00/US$1

SATURDAY, AUGUST 15, 2015

L$88.00/US$1

L$89.00/US$1

SATURDAY, AUGUST 8, 2015

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

FROM PAGE 1

Page 2 | Frontpage

Monday, August 17, 2015

Monrovia
n tipping the low-key, Dr. Moses Zinnah, head of the
Agriculture Sector Rehabilitation Project, as only her
third Minister of Agriculture, President Ellen JohnsonSirleaf is taking a gamble from within hopes of reviving
a sector and ministry many regard as one of the lowest
performers of her presidency.
The last two ministers came from the Diaspora and with
high-profile credentials. Dr. J. Chris Toe, had risen from the
rank of a professor to head the U.S.-based Strayer University
while Dr. Florence Chenoweth, who had held the position,
thirty years earlier and etched in history as the architect
of the infamous 1979 rice riot. Chenoweth did go on, after
her dismissal from the Tolbert government to reinvent
herself as an influential global agriculture development
specialist with spells as a visitor at University of WisconsinMadison and Managing Director of the Wisconsin Human
Rights Initiative and Director of the Food and Agriculture
Organization (FAO) of the United Nations Liaison Office in
New York.
Chenoweth in April 1979, as Tolbert's minister of
agriculture, proposed an increase in the subsidized price
of rice from $22 per 100-pound bag to $26, asserting that
the increase would serve as an added inducement for rice
farmers to continue farming instead of abandoning their
farms for jobs in the cities or on the rubber plantations.
Political opponents criticized the proposal as self-serving,
pointing out that Chenoweth and the Tolbert family
operated large rice farms and would therefore realize a tidy
profit from the proposed price increase.
The Progressive Alliance of Liberia called for a peaceful
demonstration in Monrovia to protest the proposed price
increase. On April 14 about 2,000 activists began what was
planned as a peaceful march on the Executive Mansion. The
protest march swelled dramatically when the protesters
were joined en route by more than 10,000 "back street
boys" causing the march to quickly degenerate into a
disorderly mob of riot and destruction. Widespread looting
ensued with damage to private property estimated at over
$40 million.
Prior to the civil war, agriculture was the main source of
livelihood for majority of Liberians but over the past few
years, the sector, though not at the level the pre-war era,
remains in the words of President Sirleaf, the most viable,
sustainable and renewable source of national income.
In a foreword to the countrys Food and Agriculture policy,
Sirleaf acknowledges that the agricultural sector is strategic.
Approximately 70% of our people depend on it for their
livelihood; it is a significant net contributor to the economy
because it exports more and imports less; and it contributes
significantly to employment and foreign exchange earnings.
Regrettably, protracted conflicts, structural constraints and
poor policies of the past decimated a sector that is now
rebounding but remains challenged by the need to mobilize
private sector investments to improve the value chain from
land and water management to market access.
But despite the policy roadmap for rehabilitating the
sector within the overall framework of the Sirleafs
administrations poverty Reduction Strategy, the lack of
accessible roads and processors to aid the enhancement of
goods, is making it nearly impossible for farmers to break
even.
More importantly, the government continues to subsidize
rice exports, which currently make up 60% of the countrys
consumption with farm yields low owing to the fact that
many farmers are being forced to grow enough food for
subsistence.

Rodney D. Sieh, rodney.sieh@frontpageafricaonline.com

is embedded in the agricultural potentials and possibilities
we possess. With the application of modern science and
technology by an alert enterprising and determined people,
our virgin forests, the productive soil and the evergreen
flora can be transformed into a great granary of production,
principally for home consumption and to provide surplus
goods for world markets. Experience has already proved
to our satisfaction that there is every justification for a
programme of this kind, geared to the stimulation and
maximum tapping of our agriculture resources to be
given priority consideration in our national planning and
implementation.
Tubman professed at the time that the response to his
Operation Production programme was greeted with more
spontaneity than his administration had envisage, to the
extent that people in many areas have moved forward more
rapidly that the governments arrangement for organization
and handling the disposition and sale of products. This,
more than any other factor, has brought great satisfaction
and the government is determined to continue to stimulate,
lend assistance to and advance the programme of Operation
Production in all its conceived ramifications.

produce locally, 15,000 cattle on the advice of his agriculture

minister but said it would require the development of
approximately 100,000 acres of pasture land. The president
then declared that government should provide additional
facilities to expand the cattle program.
Doe: Green Revolution Continues

Preceding presidents also flirted and were partly successful

in coming up with catch-phrase mantras aimed at mobilizing
Liberians to get back to the soil and grow more food in a bid
to become self-sufficient.
Delivering his annual message in 1963, late President
William V.S. Tubman, trumpeting his famous Operation
Production, declared: Ours is a nation whose basic economy

Tubmans successor, President William R. Tolbert adapted

the Green Revolution which he touted in his 1971 annual
message to the nation by stating: One of the prime
responsibilities of the government is to help the traditional
farmer to move from a subsistence farming level to a
market-oriented agriculture. It has been demonstrated
that land clearing, irrigation works, and farm-to-market
roads greatly assist the farmer set into a traditional bushfallow agriculture. The development of swamp land rice
cultivation, along with irrigation works will allow such
farmers to devote much more labor to actual production
activities. Thus with the creation of AGRIMECO, the necessity
of having to clear land each year can be eliminated. Not only
can more be cultivated per man unit of labor, but production
per man unity will be increased by at least ten-fold.
Under Tolberts Green Revolution, the president sought to

After the 1980 coup, Tolberts successor Samuel Doe

continued the Green Revolution program with limited
results.
Doe, was forced to concede in a television interview in
the late 80s to some of the challenges, as he struggled to
convince Liberians about the importance of farming even as
his government tried multiple efforts to encourage farming.
I know for sure that no country can survive without food,
Doe told an interviewer once while dismissing the notion
by some foreign friends that Liberians were incapable
of growing rice. This is very false and I can remember
in the late 60s people used to get foods from their farms
upcountry to Monrovia. Everything that they ate, they grew
it themselves. The only thing to do is to tell our people that
to grow more food is good and so we should continue to
encourage them until we realize that the food is important
for any development. Without food theres nothing you can
do even if you get money
With two years remaining to the Sirleaf presidency, many
are unconvinced that Zinnah can succeed where his two
predecessors have failed. Not due to his qualification but
mostly due to the limited time left and the tense campaigning
period for the 2017 presidential elections.
But noted political economist, Mr. Sam Jackson who recently
worked with Dr. Zinnah on a study on funding for agriculture
disagrees. Dr. Zinnah is a consummate professional with a
passion for agriculture. I had the privilege of working with
him on a recent study I conducted on funding to agriculture.
His support was indispensable to the final product. Dr.
Zinnah understands the needs of the agriculture sector
and I am sure he will promote food security, value addition
and overall agribusiness in Liberia. He should have been
Minister proper a long time ago.

LATE PRESIDENT TOLBERT

LATE PRESIDENT TUBMAN

LATE PRESIDENT SAMUEL DOE

Tubman: Operation Production

Tolbert: Green Revolution

BREAKING THE CURSE: How Former Liberian Leaders Struggled in dealing with the Delicate Agriculture Sector
It
has
been
demonstrated
that land clearing,
irrigation
works,
and farm-to-market
roads greatly assist
the farmer set into
a traditional bushfallow
agriculture.
The
development
of swamp land rice
cultivation,
along
with irrigation works
will
allow
such
farmers to devote
much more labor to
actual
production
activities.

Ours is a nation
whose basic economy
is
embedded
in
the
agricultural
potentials
and
possibilities
we
possess. With the
application
of
modern science and
technology by an
alert enterprising and
determined people,
our virgin forests, the
productive soil and
the evergreen flora
can be transformed
into a great granary
of production.

I know for sure

that no country can
survive
without
food, Doe told an
interviewer
once
while
dismissing
the notion by some
foreign
friends
that
Liberians
were incapable of
growing rice. This
is very false and I can
remember in the late
60s people used to
get foods from their
farms upcountry to
Monrovia.

Monday, August 17, 2015

Page 3

FrontPage COMMENTARY
SETTING
BROAD
BASED
AGENDA
EDITORIAL FOR RIVERGEE ASSOCIATION IN
Frontpage

THE USA CONVENTION

LIBERIA
POLITICAL W
HUSTLERS
By: Tony Hilton, Baltimore, MD ; Contributing Writer

Jokers Must Leave Politics

for Serious People
IN COUNTRIES THE world over, politicians are the ones
who govern and make all the decisions for the growth and
development of their respective countries.
WHATEVER THE FORM of government, those in politics are
the decision makers upon whom the general public relies
to lead their nation(s) to prosperity, providing the best
opportunities for the citizenry.
THIS IS WHY in very serious countries, politics is not for
jokers but rather people who can offer the best to transform
these countries by making it competitive amongst other
countries.
BASED ON THE IMPORTANT nature of decisions by
politicians, the people hold them accountable when they
fail to ensure that the necessary improvements are made
through visible growth and development.
IN MANY AFRICAN countries, there are leaders credited for
putting their countries on the right trajectory of development
and despite making decisions several years ago, they are still
remembered and honored by the people of these countries
today.
THE GHANAIANS WILL say Kwame Nkrumah was one of the
pioneers for the foundation of Ghanas growth, while the
Tanzanians today still remember Julius Nyerere for setting
the pace of development for current day Tanzania. While in
power, Nyerere issued the Arusha Declaration, which called
for the implementation of an economic programme that
propelled Tanzania to one of the powerhouses in East Africa.
NKRUMAH WHILE SERVING as leader of the Gold Coast
which became Ghana, the Gold Coast was among the
wealthiest and most socially advanced areas in Africa, with
schools, railways, hospitals, social security and an advanced
economy.
NEXT DOOR IVORY Coast still remembers Flix HouphoutBoigny who served as President for more than three decades
until his death.
UNDER HOUPHOUT-BOIGNY'S politically moderate
leadership, Cte d'Ivoire prospered economically. This
success, uncommon in poverty-ridden West Africa, became
known as the "Ivorian miracle" and was due to a combination
of sound planning, the maintenance of strong ties with the
West (particularly France), and development of the country's
significant coffee and cocoa industries.
FOR LIBERIA, SOME say it was William Vacanarat Shadrach
Tubman who served as President from his election in 1944
until his death in 1971. To be remembered for what is still
unknown.
TUBMAN IS REGARDED as the "father of modern Liberia";
his presidency was marked by attracting sufficient foreign
investment to modernize the economy and infrastructure.
During his tenure, Liberia experienced a period of prosperity
and he also led a policy of national unity in order to reduce
the social and political differences between his fellow
Americo-Liberians and the indigenous.
ON THE OTHER hand, some Liberians do not want to credit
Tubman because the visible result of his work as compared
to his compatriots like Nkrumah, Nyerere and HouphoutBoigny is not seen in Liberia today.
NOW, ONE MAY wonder why Liberia does not have godfather
like the other African countries to be honored by Liberians
for taking the country to another level. The answer is simply
the number of hustlers who take politics as a money grabbing
venture parading the corridors of Liberian politics.
THESE HUSTLERS CONFUSE the Liberian people by
establishing dozens of political parties and splitting the votes
of the people which they later use for political bargaining to
secure appointed jobs.
MANY OF THESE political parties lack structure and fully

hen River Gee was granted a county

status far back in 2000, the people of
River Gee celebrated with the hope
that their geopolitical recognition and
inclusion in the body politic of Liberias existing
counties would have catapulted the development of
the county. Fifteen years on this dream is yet to be
realized as the county languishes in backwardness
and lack of development.
River Gee with its abundance of green forest, rivers,
and mountains is full of potential for tourism. The
county unexplored mineral deposits, including
gold, diamond and timbers when transparently
exploited will lift the county from the shackles of
impoverishment and backwardness imposed upon
it by the impulsive gluttonousness of its political
predators.
In the past decade the county's administrators,
officials and some influential big hands siphoned
county's fund in the name of unregistered NGO in
violation of Liberian laws. Board members on these
NGOs are family of officials who award contracts
onto themselves, placing self-aggrandizement
above the interest of the people thereby stagnating
development. How long will we let our arrogance,
demagoguery and political ambivalence stand in
the way of development, peace and reconciliation.
The people of River Gee have suffered in the hands
of their own leaders and there must be an end to
this anti-development and anti-people cartel.
The end is here now. The county development fund
has become the proverbial "elephant meat" for
avaricious officials as they seek to hoard richest
in fleeting time. The county's projects that are
intended to benefit grassroots people are executed
without prior consultation in communities and
towns across the county. Where are your records
of minutes of meeting with the people who are the
direct beneficiaries of the projects.
Projects are literally "force down the throat" of the
people, while officials feast at the high table and the
people scramble beneath for the crumbs. So When
NGOs suddenly turn Construction Company to build
v

functioning headquarters but are rather controlled by an

individual or a few individuals who establish these parties
to gain relevance and make business out of politics and are
not serious politicians endeavoring to change Liberia for the
better.
WHEN THE ELECTORATES have no option but to choose
between dozens of unserious minded individuals desirous
of lining their pockets and getting rich overnight, they end
up selecting an unserious one from amongst the dozens of
unserious people.
WITH THE WISE saying that Charity begins at Home today,
when the over 18 political parties are asked to show what
they can offer Liberia, all the Liberian people hear is rhetoric
and empty promises when many of these political parties
cannot boast of clean headquarters from which they sit to talk
politics.
AT THE SO-CALLED headquarters of some of these political
parties, clothes and other personnel effects are seen hanging
like private homes while others are mere market grounds.
STILL SOME OF these political parties headquarters are
perpetually closed only seeing life when it is time to talk
politics.
FROM THE LOOK of the headquarters of many of these political
parties, it is glaring that owners of these political parties are
mere hustlers, looking to make business out of politics and
survive at the expense of the Liberian people.

roads, schools, clinics and chief compound there

should be some questions to answer. When NGOs
rushed to pre-finance CDFs projects, there should
be reasonable grounds to raise eyebrows and ask
who stand to benefit when incorporators and
boards of NGO are officials and family members.
Are you running an oligarchy in the county and
is there something that violate code of conduct--conflict of interest. The Delaware convention should
be embolden and endeavored to address these
vexing concerns raise by the people of River Gee. The
Delaware convention should endeavors to address
the issues of disunity amongst River Gee splinter
organizations, serving as an umbrella to encourage
diversity of opinions and interests. The convention
should propose initiatives and recommendations to
negotiate the continuous and unsettled leadership
impasse. On the issues of reforms, the Delaware
convention should be embolden to initiate reforms
where necessary and there is a need to address the
issues of constitutional reforms.
The majority of the crises hinge on the constitutional
interpretation
ambiguity.
This
convention
should be about sharpening and highlighting the
contradictions between the corrupt officials and
the people. Its matters, even if it is about creating
awareness through information sharing and
dissemination so that the people will be informed
about the activities of their officials and elected
representatives. The Delaware convention should
throw out complacency, because it is time to speak
to the heart and soul of River Gee.
The
Delaware
convention
should
adopt
implementable measures and through pragmatic
steps endeavor to work with the government
and other reputable organizations at home and
abroad to alleviate the pain and suffering inflicted
by corruption. Igniting the debate is so necessary
no matter who it troubled, because this debate is
about taken initiatives, encouraging diversities
and setting a broad based agendas for county wide
development.

THEY REALLY LOOK unable to make any kind difference in

changing the current failed state of Liberia.
FOR TOO LONG Liberia has seen political hustlers rather
than transformational leaders that are willing to bring the
necessary reform for the country and its people.
GOING FORWARD, IT is time for Liberians to look back and
see where the Country is coming from and say no to political
hustlers who only want to make business out of their votes.
IN 2011, PRINCE Johnson said he wanted to be President
but after a failed bid in the first round, he pledged support
to eventual winner Ellen Johnson Sirleaf with reports that
money might have changed hands.
HERE COMES ANOTHER election in 2017 which has so far seen
18 registered and certificated political parties all claiming to
have the solution to the countrys numerous problems. From
Joseph Jenkins Roberts to President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf,
arguably Liberians can agree that the country has not had the
opportunity to get a leader like the Paul Kagame of Rwanda
and other good leaders.
SINCE THE LIBERIAN people are yet to learn a lesson about
politicians in their country, these so-called politicians must
themselves stop fooling the people and leave politics for
serious people who want to govern and change things for the
better in the country.
POLITICS IS NOT for jokers and these many jokers must leave
politics with the prepared and serious people.

Monday, August 17, 2015

Page 4 | Frontpage

The Reader's Page

FrontPage

WHAT READERS ARE SAYING

ABOUT OUR STORIES ON THE
WORLDWIDE WEB

COMMENTS FROM
FPA ONLINE
LIBERIAS PARTY POOPERS:
MULTIPLICITY AMID FILTHY
& MESSY HEADQUARTERS
BOIMA GBELLY WORKS AT SELF-EMPLOYED
The future of Liberia is really in "BIG, BIG. BIG TROUBLE!"
When these crooks, calling themselves political parties cannot
simply maintained their so-called headquarters, how in the hell
can they govern Liberia? For 12 years now, the Unity Party led
government cannot even rent a plane in the name of the country,
Liberia! What a shame! With all the money being pumped in
Liberia, Robertfield Highway, the gateway to the world, is still
a graveyard! The constitution needs to be changed so that
there should be at least "4 years time-limit" for the positions
of president, vice president, senators, and representatives. This
way, the crooks will not steal the people money and buy votes
to stay in power, perpetually. Let us vote only for independent
candidates!
THOMAS NAH MONROVIA, LIBERIA
The look of party headquarters represent the quality of
leadership we can expect from these many ragtag parties.

BESTMAN K. MONDAYE STUDIED AT AME UNIVERSITY

Ehummmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm, this is to
proof to the Liberians that our so-called politicians are not
prepare to move this country forward but instead to accomplish
their selfish motives, no serious political party will abandoned
their headquarters and allow it to be in ruins. They're simply
telling us that many of them a 'COME- BY- CHANCE POLITICIANS'
who only dream is to deplete the covers of the country when
elected. If you can't manage your wn party headquarters what
assurance can you give the people that you can manage the
country and its resources...............................WHAT A DISGRACE
AND SHAME'.
JESSE FAHNGON METROPOLITAN STATE UNIVERSITY
Electioneering institutions vs political institutions. Liberia is
rich with the FORMER and the latter, non-existence.

VICTOR GEE GBENEE

I believe there should and must be a serious law pass to limit
the numbers of Political parties in Liberia. It is becoming a
joke around the World and in Liberia that we are foolish and
greedy people with no love for our Country. Why do we have(
21) Political Parties? Are there any reason for Liberians to be
this stupid and greedy for power? Won't it be right for Liberians
to look and observe those making contribution to our Society
and let them lead the Country? We have personalities to lead
Liberia but Liberians are blind when it comes to selecting a well
rounded Leader. This is why we have this mess of 21 Political
Parties with empty buildings and no supporters. Please, let's
change our ways to seek power. I prefer (2) Political Parties to
exist in Liberia and no more. Let us put this law on the books.
Thanks
TONY LEEWAYE FOUNDER & EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR AT
GOLDBERR INVESTMENTS & MARKETING CORPORATION
INC.
What a shame and national disgrace! These are bunch of
criminals hoping to loot our resources with impunity.
FREDERICK JAYWEH EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR AT CENTER FOR
IMMIGRANTS AND IMMIGRATION SERVICES, (CIIS)
NEC, shut these death traps down they are in absolute and total
violation of the Elections Laws of Law and endangering the
lives of our people. If these hustlers and actors cannot manage a
political party head office, why should anyone think they are fit
to manage Liberia. Shut these criminal cells down.
Cllr. Frederick A.B. Jayweh
fjayweh@hotmail.com
Website: www.liberianlaw.org
Ph: 720-278-8735
YEPLAH DOE KONOLA ACADEMY
Still joking

ROBERT O. DAVIS PRESIDENT & CHIEF EXECUTIVE

OFFICER AT LIBUSA
Folks use these institution as political condom, after usage it's
worthless and abandon, to paraphrase FM Ngafuan. SMH in
disgust to all, especially the ruling Unity Party!
Jeroy Jabez Jehoshaphat Cummings

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Send your letters and comments to:

editor@frontpageafricaonline.com
YOU WRITE; WE PUBLISH; THEY READ!

OPEN LETTER TO MADAME ELLEN JOHNSON

SIRLEAF ON THE PRACTICE OF FGM IN LIBERIA

The Editor,

s an advocate for the abolishment of Female Genital

Mutilation and a native of one of the biggest tribes in Liberia
that practiced FGM, I poses a wealth of understanding and
testimonies which propelled my heart to this campaign and
awareness by means of the print, electronic, social media since early
2012, We named our organization NA-GBAA (SAY NO in the bassa
varnacular) to educate, enlighten and recommend an alternative to the
age-old practice of FGM. Allow me to provide a summary of the entire
FGM rituals, the dangers, and risks involve.
Female Genital mutilation (FGM) or the Grebo Bush as we locally call
it, comprises all procedures involving partial or total removal of the
female external genitalia or other injury to the female genital organs
for non-medical reasons, without sterilized tools, neither is it effected
by a trained medical practitioner, least to mention a surgeon.

Types of FGM
Female genital mutilation is classified into four types:
Type I: Also known as clitoridectomy, this type consists of partial or
total removal of the clitoris and/or its prepuce.
Type II: Also known as excision, the clitoris and labia minora are
partially or totally removed, with or without excision of the labia
majora.
Type III: The most severe form, it is also known as infibulation or
pharaonic type. The procedure consists of narrowing the vaginal orifice
with creation of a covering seal by cutting and appositioning the labia
minora and/or labia majora, with or without removal of the clitoris.
The appositioning of the wound edges consists of stitching or holding
the cut areas together for a certain period of time (for example, girls
legs are bound together), to create the covering seal. A small opening
is left for urine and menstrual blood to escape. An infibulation must
be opened either through penetrative sexual intercourse or surgery.
Type IV: This type consists of all other procedures to the genitalia of
women for non-medical purposes, such as pricking, piercing, incising,
scraping and cauterization.
Recent estimates indicate that around 90% of cases include
clitoridectomy, excision or cases where girls genitals are nicked but
no flesh removed (Type IV), and about 10% are infibulations.
It is held as a non-scientific belief/reason, rather superstitious that the
practice of FGM makes the following impact in a female life:
FGM is being practiced based on the following superstitious belief/
reasons:
1) Women having control over their sexual feelings.
2) Being good housewives
3) Cultural Identity
4) Religion (practice by most religions, christains, Muslims, Jews,
ect.) Female Genital Mutilation remains a taboo subject in Liberia, as
it is difficult to compile accurate data on how widespread the practice
is. The procedure takes place as part of initiation into a secret society
called the Sande Society/Grebo Bush. For this reason, in the 2007
demographic and Health Survey (DHS) women were asked whether
they had heard of the Sande Societies or not.
72% of all women belong to the Sande Society in urban areas. Only
about 39% FGM is most widespread in the Northwest of the country
(84%) and in the Central Northern region (92%) near the borders
with Sierra Leone and Guinea, where the procedure is also carried out
as part of initiation into secret societies. About half of Liberias 16
ethnic groups subject women and girls to FGM.
Effects or consequences of FGM
Shock from bleeding, pain and stress resulting from cutting very
sensitive and delicate area of the genitalia without the use of anesthetic.
Bleeding or hemorrhage: the cutting of the blood vessels in the
vulva (clitoral artery) during the operation leads to bleeding. Serious
bleeding can also cause shock. Protracted bleeding can lead to anaemia
and even death.
Urinary retention from fear of pain, tissue swelling or injury of the
urethra cause pain and discomfort which could easily lead to bladder
and urinary tract infections.

Infection caused by the use of unsterilized instruments in

unhygienic environment may lead to other complications and even to

death.
Infections can also cause pelvic inflammation. It could result directly
in blood poisoning and in having tetanus, and if untreated finally death
may follow.
There is also high risk of HIV transmission through the use of one
instrument for multiple operations.
Damage to organs such as the anus, urethra and the bladder from
unexperienced circumcisers.

Female Genital Mutilation in Liberia

President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf is Liberias 24th and current President
since January 16 2006. She was re-elected again in 2011 by the people
of Liberia, and majority of her votes came from women all across the
country including myself being a strong member of the Unity Party from
which Madame Sirleaf hails. We ran a massive campaign for Madame
Sirleaf, with high hopes, and with the anxiety that a lot of problems or
circumstances faced by Liberian women and girls will be addressed.
Yet our little sisters are being subjected to this unwholesome practice,
which cost some of their lives and deep physiological burdens for the
rest of their lives, without any support and or protection against those
perpetrating this act. I personally had high hopes in Madame Sirleaf
acting and speaking against Female Genital Mutilation, being the first
African Female Head of State, and also the first Female President of the
Republic of Liberia. But that is yet to be addressed by Madame Sirleaf.
Liberia has no intentions to criminalize the act of FGM.
Madam Sirleaf was awarded the 2011 Nobel Peace Price, jointly with
Madam Leymah Gbowee of Liberia and Tawakel Karman of Yemen.
These women were recognized "for their non-violent struggle for the
safety of women and for women's rights to full participation in peacebuilding work. This she has not achieved or yet fully proven to be
worthy of. Sirleaf was conferred the Indira Gandhi Prize by President
of India Pranab Mukherjee on 12 September 2013.As of 2014, she
is listed as the 70th most powerful woman in the world by Forbes.
Where is your power Madame Sirleaf when our Girls, and Women, are
yet to be set freed of the forceful practice of FGM?
With all these archeived awards and international affiliations that
Madame Sirleaf posses, I sometimes get baffled why she cannot
eradicate the act of FGM a very educated woman, who knows all the
health risks involved with this act. Notwithstanding, Madame Sirleaf
has a lot of female government officials in high offices who are also
mute on this issue most especially the Minister of Gender Madame
Pinky Duncan Cassell.Madame Sirleaf, you are a fighter you fight for
whatever you want and do not give up till you get it. You fought for the
presidency for decades; you did not give up, until you succeeded. I urge
you to fight for the rights of our women and girls. They go through this
all in the name of tradition. Most of your counterparts around Africa
are doing all they can to put an end to Female Genital Mutilation, but
you remained categorically silent and is yet to throw a stand on this
issue. I want to use this forum to express my deepest dismay knowing
the fact that you are Liberia and Africas first female Head of State.
Your tenured expires soon when do we expect a firm action in support
of our fight against FGM? Our girls have the right to live, they have the
right to say no to FGM, they have the right to a better education, and
they too can become the next female President of Liberia in the future
once they are educated properly. They do not have to go through this
trauma to be good housewives or leaders in the society. All we need
is more sensitizations to stop the practices of FGM in Liberia, good
education, good schools, universities, improved health care, inorder to
be better citizens tomorrow.
Again Madame President, please see the need to eradicate Female
Genital Mutilation in our country, though it seems like a taboo, to be
talked about, for fear of death threats, or other possible humiliations,
but I have to speak out for the voiceless, those who are afraid to say no
but are hurting, crying, bleeding and dying because of this act. I hereby
urge every woman who feels the pains I feel for these girls to join me in
saying NA-GBAA (SAY NO) to FGM.
Caroline Kalloh Neepaye (Mrs.)
FGM Activist and Founder Naa-Gbaa

EDITORIAL TEAM

Rodney D. Sieh, Managing Editor, 0886-738-666;

077-936-138, editor@FrontPageAfricaonline.com;
rodney.sieh@FrontPageAfricaonline.com
Samwar S. Fallah, News Desk Chief, 0886-527
541, samwar.fallah@frontpageafricaonline.com
Gboko Stewart, Copy Editor 0886 484974
gboko.stewart@frontpageafricaonline.con
Danesius Marteh, Sports Editor, danesius.
marteh@frontpageafricaonline.com, 0886236528
James-Emmanuel D. Cole, Jr, Graphics Designer
& Layout Editor, echange4life@gmail.com;
0886 211 390, 0777 027 030
Henry Karmo, Reporter, henry.karmo@
frontpageafricaonline.com
Bettie Johnson, Reporter, , / betty.johnson@
frontpageafricaonline.com/0886971922

Al-varney Rogers, Reporter, al.rogers@

frontpageafricaonline.com, 0886-304498
Kennedy L. Yangian, Reporter, kennedy.yangian@
frontpageafricaonline.com 0777296781
A. Macaulay Sombai, Sports Reporter, macaulay.sombai@
FrontpageAfricaonline.com, 077217428
COUNTY NEWS TEAM
Grand Bassa, Alpha Daffae Senkpeni, 0777432042
Bong County, Selma Lomax, selma.lomax@
frontpageafricaonline.com, 0886-484666
BUSINESS/ADVERTISING
Kadi Coleman Porte, 0886-304-178/ 0777832753,
advertise@frontpageafricaonline.com

Monday, August 17, 2015

Monrovia
n his bid to solidify his
quest for the Liberian
presidency, candidate
Mr. Benoni Urey says he
is still holding out hope that
the United States Department
of Treasury will lift existing
economic sanctions still
hovering over his candidacy.
In an interview with the Voice
of America, Mr. Urey, one of
several former associates
of former President Charles
Taylor, placed under United
Nations sanctions and a
travel ban but recently
removed,
acknowledged
that he is still under U.S.
Treasury
Department
sanctions but has made a
request to have him removed
and remains hopeful that
at the appropriate time the
United States will remove
its sanctions on him. I
forwarded an appeal to
them that there is no merit
to this based on the fact the
Treasury list was created as
a result of a U.N.-imposed
sanction on us and the U.N.
has lifted these sanction
and other international
organizations the EU has
lifted their sanctions on me;
Great Britain has lifted theirs;
Canada has lifted theirs;
France has lifted theirs. So we
hope that the United States
will do that soon, Urey said.
The Office of Foreign
Assets Control ("OFAC")
of the US Department of
the Treasury administers
and enforces economic and
trade sanctions based on US
foreign policy and national
security
goals
against
targeted foreign countries
and regimes, terrorists,
international
narcotics
traffickers, those engaged
in activities related to the
proliferation of weapons
of mass destruction, and
other threats to the national
security, foreign policy or
economy of the United States.
According to the U.S.
Treasury
department,
the
Former
Liberian
Regime of Charles Taylor
Sanctions represent the
implementation of multiple
legal authorities. Some of
these authorities are in the
form of executive orders
issued by the President.

Frontpage

Page 5

IN HIS DESIRE FOR LIBERIAN PRESIDENCY

UREY EYEING US
SANCTIONS LIFT
I forwarded an appeal to them that there is no merit to this based on the fact the Treasury list was created
as a result of a U.N.-imposed sanction on us and the U.N. has lifted these sanction and other international
organizations the EU has lifted their sanctions on me; Great Britain has lifted theirs; Canada has lifted
theirs; France has lifted theirs. So we hope that the United States will do that soon.

Other authorities are public

laws (statutes) passed by The
Congress. These authorities
are further codified by OFAC
in its regulations which
are published the Code of
Federal Regulations (CFR).
Modifications
to
these
regulations
are
posted
in the Federal Register.
In addition to all of these
authorities, OFAC may also
implement United Nations

Security Council Resolutions

(UNSCRs) with regard to the
Former Liberian Regime of
Charles Taylor Sanctions.
The sanction blocks the
property and interests in
property in the United States,
or in the possession or control
of United States persons, of
the persons listed as well as
of any person determined by
the Secretary of the Treasury,
after consultation with the
Secretary of State: To be or
have been an immediate
family member of Charles
Taylor; To have been a senior
official of the former Liberian
regime headed by Charles
Taylor or otherwise to have
been or be a close ally or
associate of Charles Taylor or
the former Liberian regime;
To have materially assisted,
sponsored, or provided
financial,
material,
or
technological support for, or
goods or services in support
of, the unlawful depletion
of Liberian resources, the
removal of Liberian resources
from that country, and the
secreting of Liberian funds
and property by any person

whose property and interests

in property are blocked
pursuant to E.O. 13348; or
To be owned or controlled by,
or acting or purporting to act
for or on behalf of, directly or
indirectly, any person whose
property and interests in
property are blocked.
Unless otherwise authorized
or exempt, transactions
by U.S. persons, or in or
involving the United States,
according to the Treasury
Department, are prohibited
if they involve transferring,
paying,
exporting,
withdrawing, or otherwise
dealing in the property or
interests in property of an
entity or individual listed on
the SDN List. The property
and interests in property of
an entity that is 50% or more
owned, directly or indirectly,
by a person on the SDN List
are also blocked, regardless
of whether the entity itself is
listed.
The USTD says it considers
applications
for
lifting
the sanctions on a case
by case basis to authorize
transactions that are neither

exempt nor covered by a

general license.
Urey, has not hidden his
desire to contest the Liberian
presidency. The businessman
and former Commissioner
of the Bureau of Maritime
Affairs during the Taylor
presidency, said he wants
to be president to improve
the living condition of all
Liberians.
Im certainly desirous of
being president because I
want to improve the living
condition of my people. I
want my people to be placed
among nations that are
developing. For too long,
our people have been in
darkness. Its about time
that they move into an era
of renaissance so they can
see the light, where they can
experience some of the basic
essentials that are necessary
for life in the world today,
Mr. Urey told the VOA.
Last year, the United
Nations panel of experts
recommended that Mr. Urey
be removed from the travel
and assets freeze ban. The
panel also said it did not
find any reason to suggest
that Urey was involved in
activities that would be used
to destabilize Liberia and
West Africa as a whole.
Urey who says he has
refused
to
criticize
President Ellen Johnson
Sirleafs government, says
his presidency will unite
Liberians while providing
the basic essentials of life,
including water, shelter, and
electricity. He also promised
to fight nepotism and
corruption.
Ureys All Liberian Party
(ALP) was recently certified
by the National Elections
Commission.
He faces other strong
contenders including Vice
President Joseph Boakai
and two-time presidential
contender
Charles
Brumskine of the opposition
Liberty Party.
The ALP political leader
described
as
comical
accusations that he has
no experience to run a
government. He said he has
more political experience

and education than all the

candidates who are running
for the presidency. Of all the
people that will be running
for the presidency, I have
more political experience
than them; I have more
education than them; I have
more education than them,
and I have more business
experience and leadership
experience, Urey said.
The VOA report noted that
some of Ureys critics describe
him as the embodiment of all
of former President Taylors
alleged crimes against the
Liberian people. But Urey
is unapologetic, saying he
worked for the Liberian
government and not Taylor.
Besides, he said, hes not the
only one who knew Taylor.
He points to President Sirleaf
and many in her cabinet.
Our present president was
a colleague of Mr. Taylor;
more than 30 percent of her
cabinet were ministers under
Taylor. I dont understand
why it would be a problem for
me. I want you to be aware of
one thing, I did not work for
Charles Taylor; I worked for
the government of Liberia.
Charles Taylor government
was a legitimately elected
government and I worked for
the government of Liberia,
he said.
Urey said it is about time
Liberians
stop
putting
down those who served
their country in the Taylor
government. After all, he
pointed out, Taylor is serving
almost a life sentence in
Europe, and he does not
understand why people
would continue to tie capable
leaders of Liberia to Taylor.
Urey said Liberia is desirous
of a change.
Urey, a businessman and chair
of LoneStar Communications
Corporation
also
has
investments in residential
housing, hotels, car rental
companies,
radio
and
television stations and a
newspaper. In addition, he
has a farm that produces
poultry and other farm
products, and is estimated to
be worth millions.

Monday, August 17, 2015

Page 6 | Frontpage

SURAJ ALAO ABDURRAHMAN GONE BUT NOT FORGOTTEN

PROFILE OF A GENERAL
Liberia set to pay homage to fallen former head of the Armed Forces of Liberia

W
Monrovia-

Monica Melton, monica.melton@frontpageafricaonline.com

hen Liberia emerged from nearly

15 years of unbroken fratricidal
civil wars in 2003 the country
was without a unified national

army.
The Armed Forces of Liberia became
factionalized during the civil crisis serving as
one of the fighting groups.
Following the death of President Samuel K.
Doe, soldiers of the army joined either one of
the many belligerent fighting groups.
After election in 2005 that ushered the first
democratic government, rebuilding a new
army amid division amongst the population
was a tedious task and a Nigerian Suraj Alao
Abdurrahman was appointed through an
arrangement to serve as Chief of Staff.
The Nigerian rose to the occasion and worked
along with Liberian officials and international
partners in recruiting and training new corps of
officers of the national army.
General Abdurrahman is known in Liberian
for whipping the Liberian Army into shape as
from the time of his appointment as Command
Officer-in-Charge of the Armed Forces of
Liberia (AFL) until his mysterious and untimely
death in January of this year he innovated and
improved Liberias military and armed force
capacity.
Serving as the Nigerian Ambassador to Liberia
General Abdurrahman strengthened the
Economic Community of West African States
(ECOWAS) peace mission in all of West Africa.
He came to be commanding officer by succeeding
Nigerian Luka Yusuf in 2007, previously
Abdurrahman served as a General in Nigeria and
Olusegun Obasanjo, the president of Nigeria at
the time, personally nominated Abdurrahman.
During his tenure as Chief of Staff of the
Liberian Armed Forces, there were countless
innovations to the AFL under Abdurrahman
including his initiation of the Annual Training
Directive assessed the needs and threats to the
armed forces in the country, allowing the army
to operate more efficiently.
This reform brought the manpower the AFL
lacked and regulated the activities of army
personnel and served as a precursor to the
National Defense Act of 2008.
On the anniversary of the National Defense Act
of 2008 this August 21st the Armed Forces of
Liberia is planning to honor the fallen Nigerian
general.
In 2008 Abdurrahman also created the Armed
Forces Day Symposium, where contemporary
issues are brought up for deliberation by the
AFL in concert with learned colleagues both
in and out of uniform, according to a briefing
produced by the Ministry of Defense. The
forum coincides with the Armed Forces Day
Celebration in February.
Abdurrahmans performance proved exemplary
in times of peace and conflict. He oversaw
military operations during the conflict between
Liberia and Cote d Ivoire in 2011. Cote d
Ivoires second civil war brought fighting to
the eastern border of Liberia. It was said that
Liberian militia were responsible for a number
or civilian casualties in the Cote d Ivoirian city
of Blolquin.
He was a diplomat
David Dahn Assistant Defense Minister for
Public Affairs of the Armed Forces of Liberia
in remembering General Abdurrahman said the
Nigerian was more of a diplomat.
General Abdurrahman was more of a diplomat,
said Assistant Defense Minister for Public
Affairs David Dahn.
In reference to the eastern border problem, he

was bilingual if not trilingual, Dahn cites the

Generals command of language as an advantage
that helped quell the conflict.
He spoke French very well so with his Ivorian
counterparts it was much easier to relate to
them,
Under the command of Abdurrahman the border
control effort with incoming refugees from Cote
d Ivoire operated more peacefully.
Through him the Liberian Army successfully
implemented its first major operation, which was
Restore Hope that focused mainly on the eastern
border, Dahn added.
Impeccable Appetite for perfection
Defense Minister Brownie Samukai told
FrontPageAfrica by phone that the late general
Abdurrahman contributed immensely to the
rebuilding of the new Liberian army describing
him as a man who had the appetite for perfection.
He had an impeccable appetite for perfection,
said Minister Samukai.
The Minister also spoke to the late Generals
forward thinking nature, He played the moral
of building an aircraft while flying at the same
time. Always moving forward.
He described the Nigerian as doing much
to move the military forward in Liberia by
supporting the peacekeeping efforts in other

parts of West Africa.

The AFLs peacekeeping role in implementing
The
United
Nations
Multidimensional
Integrated Stabilization Mission in Mali
(MINUSMA) established by the UN Security
Councils Resolution 2100, was spearheaded by
Abdurrahman.
The success of the troops under Abdurrahmans
command in association with Mali peacekeeping
efforts got Liberia back into the UNs
peacekeeping mission in Africa after an absence
of more than 50 years.
As an active voice at Committee of Chiefs of
Defense Staff Meetings he secured a seat for
Liberia in the African Union (AU) peacekeeping
mission by presenting a convincing argument for
the countrys inclusion.
His work for the military capacity of Liberia did
not cease until the time of his death. Before his
demise he established 1st and 2nd Battalions,
Armed Forces Training Command (AFTC) and
the Joint Headquarters of the AFL.
He also made sure that the Liberian Coastguard
became operational. These works insured that
the AFL and other military branches of Liberia
had a better foundation.
Solidifying the AFLs foundation included
providing advance training of the AFL personnel.
Military men were brought in from the United

States, China, Rwanda, Ghana, Nigeria, and

Sierra Leon to train soldiers.
To ensure that competent soldiers joined the
ranks of the AFL, Abdurrahman introduced
the Promotion Examination. The merit
based assessments and courses helped with
appointment within the AFL. Abdurrahmans
foresight, created a legacy and structure to the
AFL that will continue to have a lasting impact
on the military operations in Liberia.
Abdurrahman enjoyed respect throughout
West Africa and was awarded two national
awards from the Federal Republic of Nigeria
by President Shehu Musa Yaradua, (Order of
the Niger in 2007) and President Goodluck
Ebele Johnathan, (Commander of the Order of
the Niger in 2014), according to the Ministry
of Defense. President Sirleaf presented the
Distinguished Service Order to Abdurrahman in
2009 and the Knight Commander award in 2014.
His wife Fatima Wali-Abdurrahman and four
sons Surajudeen, Abduljabbar, Abdulaziz and
Abdulmalik also continue his legacy.
He is accredited for where we are and all that
we did, said Dahn. You cannot talk about the
contemporary history of the military of Liberia
without giving indelible credit to Abdurrahman.

BOULEVARD

Monday, August 17, 2015

Monrovian Friday August

14,
2015,
the
Tubman Boulevard
in Paynesville was
another scene of a bloody
motor accident leaving stains
of blood on the sidewalk
as officers of the Liberian
National police fought to
clear debris of smashed
vehicles by using a tow truck.
Two Vehicles, a Commercial
Bus and a 4x4 private jeep,
traveling from opposite
directions collided leaving at
least seven dead and several
wounded.
According to eyewitnesses,
the driver of the Jeep was
traveling from the main
Congo Town Junction of
the Boulevard while the
Bus was moving from the
opposite direction heading
to the commercial district of
Red Light when the incident
occurred.
The bus from Red-light,
according to eye witnesses,
was moving at a high speed
until he met the Jeep Driver
who was attempting to make
a U-turn.
Alex Siaway, a motorcyclist
on the scene of the tragic
accident told FrontPage
Africa that the Driver of
the Jeep is believed to be a
mechanic who had taken the
vehicle on a test drive.
I was not too far from the
scene, I saw the Jeep driver
making the turn but the bus
driver came speeding and
it was too late to hold his
brake, Siaway explained.
The
eyewitness
further
said, when the accident
happened, I rushed there but
from the Jeep I could smell
alcoholit seems someone
in the Jeep was drinking.
Bulk of the passengers on
board the bus are believed
to be petty traders who had
gone to do business and many
sustained serious injuries.
According to an ambulance
driver, the driver of the bus
was pronounced dead upon
arrival at the hospital.
Police and health authorities
of the John F. Kennedy

Frontpage

Page 7

BLOODBATH
Another Motor Tragedy Leaves Seven Dead
Henry Karmo (0886522495) henrykarmo@frontpageafricaonline.com

Hospital where the victims

were taken are tight-lipped
on providing information
about the status of the
victims.
Recently
the
Gbarnga-

Monrovia
highway,
still
under construction, was
a scene of another motor
accident when a bus from the
Monrovia Transit Authority
was involved in an accident

which led to several deaths.

At least six persons died
when an NTA bus skidded
of
the
GbarngaZeanue
Highway and somersaulted.
The tragic accident is said to

have left 36 critically injured.

Five of the victims reportedly
died on the spot. The accident
comes a month following
UNMILs Road Safety Week.
The Tubman Boulevard is one

of those newly constructed

roads in Liberia that is yet
to benefit from road safety
signs.

Buchana, Grand Bassa

County rontPage
Africa
has
gathered
from
reliable
sources
within
ArcelolMittal Liberia that
workers of the rail and
mine departments of the
company are on a go slow in
demands of bonus and shift
allowances. The go slow
is happening in Yekepa,
Nimba County northern
Liberia, where the ore is
mined and transported
to the port of Buchanan,
Grand Bassa County for
shipping.
A source tells FPA the
company has opted to

pay bonuses and shift

allowances to workers
of the Port, Transport
and
Human
Resource
departments among others
while refusing to pay the
rail and mine sections. The
company insists the two
departments have achieved
limited production and will
not get their stipulated
bonuses, the source said.
It is unclear what their
employment contract says
about receiving bonuses
in relation to achieving
production.
Management has change
the whole issue of shift
bonus and allowances by
giving to certain section

and leaving out the others

thats why these workers
are angry, the source
added.
For now, the mine workers
are leading the go-slow in
Yekepa and the labor unrest
may spill over to Grand
Bassa County where many
rail workers are based.
The steel giant has come
under criticism this 2015
after slicing more than
200 jobs due to what the
company called unfavorable
market condition. There
were reservations by the
workers union before and
after the redundancy but
there have been calmness
so far since the job cuts.

MITTAL STEEL GO SLOW

Mine workers furious Over Bonus Cut
Alpha Daffae Senkpeni, alpha.senkpeni@frontpageafricaonline.com

Page 8 | Frontpage

INTERVIEW

Monday, August 17, 2015

AFRICA: POWER PROJECTS TAKE

TIME BUT ACCESS TO ELECTRICITY
IS SPREADING PAUL HINKS

Washington, DC
aul Hinks, CEO ofSymbion Power, has had a 30-year
career in the energy sector, the last five focused
on Africa. The independent power producer and
engineering contractor builds, owns and operates
electricity infrastructure. Since 2012, Hinks has also served
as chairman of theCorporate Council on Africa. He was
interviewed in the company's Washington, DC headquarters.
Let's start with Nigeria, with great potential but also
major challenges. Why are you doing business there?

Nigeria is a country of 173 million people, the largest in

Africa - 173 million people, a large majority of which don't
have access to affordable electricity basically. All over the
country, people use diesel generators. The cost of producing
power by burning diesel is something like $0.35 to $0.45 per
kilowatt depending on location. But Nigeria has abundant
natural resources - coal, gas, renewables and of course
solar. There is plenty of land where biomass can be planted,
and there is hydro. They don't have to import really expensive
diesel that's crazy - and it's happening right across the
African continent. Liquid fuel importation is a major source
of corruption. If countries focused on getting rid of diesel
for power supplies, they would save an absolute fortune. We
have a policy at Symbion, which is that we prefer to rely on
indigenous fuel resources. It's only in emergencies that we
will consider diesel. Our view is if locally available, er fuel
sources are used, rather than imports, It's the best thing a
country can do.
What propelled you to take Symbion into Nigeria and
what are you doing there now?

It's pretty obvious that in a country with a 173 million

people where just about everybody uses diesel generators,
there is a huge opportunity for anybody in the affordable
independent power business. We spent two years studying
Nigeria before we actually started investing. We spent
most of 2012 and 2013 bidding for the acquisition of
Ughelli Power Plant. 2013 was when we actually made the
investment. InNovember, we took over the plant.
You invested in partnership with Transcorp?

Transcorp, Woodrock Energy Ltd and Heirs Holdings, mostly

other Nigerian companies. Great partners.
What subsequently happened with that investment?

When we took over, Ughelli was only producing 160

megawatts, although it has an installed capacity of 972
megawatts. So we started rehabilitation and have been
working on that rehabilitation right up until today. Earlier
this year, we got the plant up to 650 MW. Then, about three
months ago Symbion decided that we had completed our
role there. The partnership had created Transcorp Ughelli
Power, Ltd. We staffed it with our own people and with
former employees of the Ughelli power plant and everything
worked out fine.
Transcorp Ughelli Power, Ltd. today is a self-sufficient, well
managed organization. It doesn't need Symbion as it did in
the early days. We felt that we were at a good point and there
was an opportunity to sell our interests. We had a minority
position, and so not feeling that our value was as important
anymore in terms of the rehabilitation and operation of the
power plant and with an opportunity to sell to our local
partners, who were in an acquisitive mode, post-elections
interestingly - we made a very amicable deal and exited.
So ours is an investment success story. In less than 18
months, we leveraged our expertise and we exited with a
very acceptable multiple on our original investment - in a
country where many American companies are frightened
to invest. It's a good story, an important lesson, because a
private equity investor is interested, not only in how to get
into a deal and invest, but also how to get out and make good

money. It's a great story for Nigeria too.

Do you have other investments in Nigeria?

We have a good pipeline of mostly gas projects, and we
are looking at some embedded projects in distribution
companies. We are seeking to make new investments where
we will have a majority, or larger stake. We would hope that
by the end of this year that we are invested in another good
Nigerian project.
Nigeria's power sector privatization has received good
marks, but earlier this year the power generation in the
country reached a record low level. Does that worry you
as an investor?

I have been very close to the whole privatization program,

so I see what Nigeria is really doing. Yes, the results in
megawatts connected to the grid around the country are not
yet satisfactory or on the scale they should be. But things
have been happening. And generation has been improving.
Ughelli Power is one success story. Egbin Power, a plant
owned by Sahara Power is another example of the successful
rehabilitation of a power plant that wasn't producing to
capacity. . When these plants are fully rehabilitated, it's
not going to be helpful if they are not able to transmit their
electricity to the towns and the cities across Nigeria where
the power is needed. It all has to go hand in hand. I come
from the power industry, and I understand what it means to
do a privatization on the scale Nigeria has embarked upon.
They did really well until probably early 2014, when things
started slowing down.
Let's be realistic though. For the last 12 months, the election
in Nigeria and change of government has delayed the
privatization program because everybody has been focused

on politics and elections. We are now seeing things start to

recover but it may take a while longer for the privatization
to get back up to full speed. Unfortunately though, the
transmission infrastructure is very poor, and they haven't
been investing in a big way into the system. They must get
on with that.
The other significant problem is with the new distribution
companies. Distribution is probably the most difficult and
risky investment to make in the power sector in Nigeria. To
appreciate how difficult it is, you only have to walk around
Lagos and look up at the power lines around the city and
imagine what it will take to fix them and to go around to
connect all the houses and install new meters. Prepayment
metering was a condition that the Bureau of Public
Enterprises set out for the privatization. I can't imagine how
difficult it's going to be to get into some of those large blocks
of condominiums to put prepayment meters in a place where
many people have been used to not paying for electricity.
The distribution companies have a tough job, and some do
not have the technical partners I think they need. Personally,
I wish that some of the really large power utilities from the
United States, UK and other parts of Europe who have a lot of
spare cash available could muster the confidence to go into
Nigeria and get involved in this. Those are the companies
who can sort it out. It is a huge undertaking that needs a
lot equity (cash) to be able to fix up those distribution
companies. All of the three elements of generation,
transmission and distribution must come together for this
to be a success, and I think that eventually it will be.
How serious is the shortage of available natural gas for
generating companies like Ughelli?

I can tell you that Ughelli is already having gas shortage

problems, and many of the other gas-powered plants are

Monday, August 17, 2015

having problems too. Nigeria flares gas because it does not
have the infrastructure to take the gas from where it is to the
consumers. A lot of gas is stranded because the investment
required for the gas infrastructure has not been made.
There are complaints from investors in the gas supply and
gas treatment plants who say they can't get paid sufficient
amounts of money to justify the investments. (See New Tariff
for Nigerian Gas.) The tariff for gas in Nigeria is around $2.50
cents per MMBtu, compare this only to Tanzania, where gas
coming from the south in Mtwara is likely going to be sold
to Symbion for around $6 per MMBtu. Gas pricing is a huge
subject all over Africa these days. W want cheap gas but the
producers say they need higher prices in order to invest
more money.
There's also incessant vandalism and terrorism problems.
People are blowing up pipelines. (See How Oil Thieves, Cabal
Milk Nigeria Dry.) I was told recently that the condensate
lines running parallel to the arterial oil pipelines in the delta
are being punctured because the condensate can be used
for cooking oil. People are cooking with it. And a while ago I
was told that something like 21 IEDs (improvised explosive
devices) went off simultaneously on an oil pipeline. That's
pretty sophisticated.
When we were working in Iraq the U.S. government and the
Iraqi government deployed a pipeline protection force from
the private sector. I think this is what Nigeria needs. They
should outsource the security for pipelines and let the army
focus on the other security problems that exist with Boko
Haram. In Iraq they managed in those days to keep the oil
flowing in the most dangerous parts of the country. Much
more deadly than anywhere in Nigeria. The security firm
worked with the indigenous population. It was successful.
Looking to other parts of Africa, give us an overview of
where Symbion is investing.

We are developing a large gas to power project in Tanzania

. Tanzania has found huge amounts of gas off the coast
of Mtwara in the south of the country, just North of the
Mozambique border. There is an existing gas field there
called Mnazi Bay, and there is already gas infrastructure
and a small 18MW power plant on the mainland. In a public,
private partnership with the utility TANESCO we are going
to build a 600 megawatt power plant at Mtwara. We are also
going to build a 550 kilometer, 400 kilovolt transmission
line and then hand it over to TANESCO because the law
requires that they own the transmission network. That
line will connect the Tanzanian grid, which the utility is
currently working to connect to other countries such as
Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda Malawi and Zambia.
We are also in discussions with Electricite de Mozambique
(EDM) about the construction of transmission from
Tanzania to the northern towns of Palma and Pemba where
huge developments will be taking place over the next 10
years. It is a very short distance from Tanzania and we are
looking at how we can fast track power supply to that area.
Mtwara is really an East and central African regional project
that's designed to introduce new large-scale power capacity
beginning three years from now in late 2018, when the
project is finished. Each year we are expecting to increase
capacity and eventually hope this will be a very large, 1000plus megawatt power plant on the Tanzanian coast and a
regional energy driver that will mitigate the risk that low
water levels in hydroelectric power systems create for the
entire region.
In Rwanda we are investing in a gas to power project to use
methane gas from Lake Kivu. Lake Kivu has quite a strange
phenomenon - it emits methane gas from the bed of the lake,
it's a volcanic area. One of only three lakes in the world that
does this. The methane is dissolved in the water, but right at
the bottom of the lake. The depth of Lake Kivu is between
300 and 400 meters, so we will bring equipment to Rwanda
and build four barges. From those barges we install HDPE
pipes down to 300-400 meters and siphon the water up
into a separation tank that is anchored below the surface.
As the water is sucked from the bottom of the lake, the
bubbles separate from the water - like a champagne effect.
You then put the water back into the lake and you take the
gas, compress it and send it to the land, and there we will
have regular gas treatment facilities. We remove the carbon
dioxide and put the methane into a gas-fired power plant
to produce electricity. This has two benefits - it produces
electricity and it reduces the methane load in the lake
significantly reducing the possibility of an accident caused
by methane and CO2 being evacuated into the atmosphere.
In Uganda we are doing a project in partnership with the
Madhvani Group, a very reputable family who are wellknown East African sugar farmers and hoteliers. We are the
majority owners in a power plant development to produce
electricity from peat. You dry the peat, turn it into a slurry
and burn it in a boiler to produce steam [to generate] power.

INTERVIEW
In Kenya we are a minority partner in a consortium of three
companies that is led by the geothermal power specialist
Ormat, which is listed on the New York Stock Exchange,
We have a concession at Menengai to build a 35 megawatt
geothermal plant which is scalable in the future, once we
have tested it at 35 megawatts. The other partner is the
private equity firm Transcentury from Kenya.
Our latest venture is in Madagascar , an island of 22 million
people in the Indian Ocean. During the course of the last
year, since the new democratically elected government came
into power, we have been working hard at this investment
studying Madagascar and looking at what we can do to
help them save money, and create a business for Symbion.
Madagascar has over 100 power sites and no national grid
at all - and the country is bigger than France. Can you believe
that? And most of those sites run on diesel or heavy fuel oil
(HFO).
The cost to this Island nation is mind blowing, and it has been
like that for decades. What Symbion has done is to complete
for them some studies, and we have made a proposal to
implement a program to reduce the reliance on dieselfired power across the island. We signed a protocol with
the government - actually with the Presidency - to develop
seven power plants over a three-year period. Three of them
are biomass - we are going to grow bamboo - each one is
5 megawatts in different areas. We need about 3000 acres
to grow the bamboo for each plant, and we are going to be
buying biomass for a given price with newly created bamboo
farmers producing and delivering the bamboo pellets that
we will burn in our boilers. Each plant will have this large
feedstock supply chain that will create jobs for literally
thousands of people. It will also produce cheap electricity
- and it's renewable. The President of Madagascar and the
power utility JIRAMA are keen to see job creation, so these
small plants will be a great stimulant for the economies of
rural areas.
We also have an agreement to build a nine-megawatts solar
plant, photovoltaic solar. The other projects that we are
involved in - one is a heavy fuel oil plant at a place called
Tsimiroro. There is a company there that is extracting heavy
fuel oil from the rocks by injecting steam into them. It's
called Madagascar Oil.
Power for Antananarivo [the capital] is all diesel and heavy
fuel oil at the moment. You can imagine the huge cost. So
we are going to build a 116-megawatts power plant at the
oilfield and then build a transmission line of approximately
300 km to Antananarivo. The oil that we will buy locally is a
lot cheaper than the oil that is now being imported. We will
provide the power utility JIRAMA with a good tariff, which
benefits the country and the people.
On July 29 we signed a Power Purchase Agreement
(PPA) to invest in the 40MW Mandroseza power plant in
Antananarivo. The plant is in poor condition although it
is only about seven years old, it's producing only 5MW.
JIRAMA has signed a PPA with Symbion for a tenure of 20
years where we will rehabilitate the plant and operate it at
the full 40MW.
When the news of the Mandroseza deal was announced there
was some concern that the government was privatizing
JIRAMA and that jobs will be lost, and there were reports in
the local media about possible industrial action. But in fact
that's not the case at all. It is the complete opposite. There
will actually be many new jobs created and the the utility
is not being privatized. We are purely giving support to the
utility and to the Malagasy people. The power is not going
to cost much, and less than it does today. Most of the unions
now understand that the deal that Symbion has done is
supportive of both JIRAMA and its staff in a country that has
very little electrification and chronic power shedding.
We are very optimistic about Madagascar. I have been all
over the country, and it's an amazing place with incredible,
unique biodiversity found nowhere else in the world. With
the level of political stability that we are seeing now, we will
certainly see lots of investment going into Madagascar next
year from both the donors and from the private sector. Later
this year Madagascar will likely receive a credit facility from
the International Monetary Fund, which will be the catalyst
for these new investments. It's all such good news for a
country that has suffered from political turmoil in the past.
The new government is doing a great job and this has been
the reason we have chosen to invest on such a large scale
there.
That's quite a portfolio!

Yeah, it's quite exciting here at the moment. But extremely

hard work for all our staff and our partners.
Let's conclude by getting your thoughts on the Obama
administration's Power Africa initiative, which is
marking its second anniversary. You were there for the

Frontpage

Page 9

launch.
I was certainly there. The President delivered his Power
Africa speechat our Symbion Power Plant in Dar es Salaam,
Tanzania in July 2013. I gave him a tour of the plant and
sat right in front of him, and I can remember every word
he said and exactly what he promised the people of Africa.
(See: Obama Initiative Aims to 'Light Up' Africa] Power
Africa has set-up a very good network of people across the
continent now. They are actively helping us on some of the
transactions and they have transaction advisors in a number
of countries. I think they are seen by the African utilities as
being on their side of the fence as opposed to ours, which is
fine and it's very helpful to have them there. Power Africa is
moving but - in my view - not moving fast enough. There is a
lot more that they can do.
When Power Africa was announced, everybody in Africa
seemed to think that there was a big pot of money. [They
envisioned] the usual World Bank style of 'here is the
money, go spend it'. That's not how the initiative was setup from the outset and that's not what President Obama
said. In his speech that day, he said that Power Africa
represents a different way of working - not traditional aid
where you put a grant or a loan on the table. The program
is coordinated by the United States Agency for International
Development (USAID) from South Africa and in Washington,
DC. Other U.S. government agencies the Overseas Private
Investment Corporation (OPIC), the EX-IM Bank, the Trade
and Development Agency (USTDA)- were tasked with
supporting the power sector in Africa and the Millennium
Challenge Corporation (MCC) are providing huge energy
grants to African governments.
The government also went to the private sector and asked
them to commit to investing in power. I can speak from our
own experience; they came to Symbion Power and asked us
to be a partner in the initiative. We agreed, and they asked
how much investment, how many megawatts we would do
over the next five years. We said we would invest $1.8 billion
and we signed a commitment letter to do that. So did many
others. In our case I think we will surpass the commitment
we made in that period of time. Our Mtwara project alone
represents a project cost of over $1 billion USD.
What does the $1,8 billion commitment actually mean? It
means we will use our own equity (cash), which is normally
30% of the project cost, and we will seek debt financing for
the balance. And for that financing, we will ask agencies
such as OPIC or Ex-Im Bank, if it is eventually reauthorized,
to back the purchase of materials and equipment. The
win for the United States is that if we get that financing or
credit support, what we buy for our projects gets made in
the United States. That keeps people employed and creates
jobs here, and for me that's where some of the Power Africa
flag waving comes from. As more of these projects get going,
there will be a better understanding of how Power Africa
works and where the benefits are to both the U.S. and to
Africa. I hope that Power Africa continues after President
Obama leaves office, and that will be more likely if the
legislation passes that is called the 'Energize Africa Act',
which is bipartisan. Africa has support across the aisle, not
much else does these days.
I think Power Africa, a bit like Nigeria's privatization, may
have slowed down a bit this year as they wait for new
projects to get funded, but I fully expect them to start to
deliver and show results as we now move into its 3rd year.
Power projects take years to get off the ground before
they generate, transmit and distribute the power they are
supposed to. It's still too early to judge the results of many
of the Power Africa Initiative efforts. Very little has been
translated into real electricity and much has to be done to
aim for the trebling of access to power in Sub Saharan Africa
as President Obama promised 50 Africa Heads of State at the
African Leaders Summit in Washington, DC in August 2014.
The United States has to deliver on this promise. If we don't
we will lose all credibility.
So you think Power Africa will have s long-term positive
impact?

I have confidence in Power Africa even though I can

sometimes be its biggest critic. But I do that privately. You
just can't build power plants in a few months or even a few
years. It takes a lot of development time sometime two
years, and then it takes time to construct the facilities. This
alone can be another two to three years for the larger plants.
Only after this time (up to five years) will we see the real
results. But I do think that this initiative is going to deliver
on President Obama's promises although sadly, the biggest
effect of it will only be seen after he has left office. We will
have to hope for and count on the next administration to
fully embrace Power Africa and continue the work that has
been started.

Monday, August 17, 2015

MOFA DONORS FUND SWINDLE

Page 10 | Frontpage

Monroviaiberia
recently
performed
better
in the latest 2015
Transparency
International
Global
Corruption Perception index
ranking coming 83 amongst
177 countries used in the
global survey.
The ranking indicates that the
country is improving from
its ranking in previous years
but while there appears slight
improvement, the country is
still facing challenges with
individuals heading financial
transactions ignoring prudent
financial practices, thereby
putting at risk accountability
for thousands of dollars of
donors funding.
While the country is finding it
difficult to account for internal
revenues
generated
with
numerous audits and other
investigations by anti-graft
institutions reporting massive
abuse of state resources,
donors funding are also at the
peril of swindling by those
in charge of expending these
funding.
At the Ministry of Foreign
Affairs, there has been
wrangling over the use of
over half a million United
States dollars provided by the
Japanese Government through
a grant for Institutional and
Human Resource Support
for Efficient Operation of the
Department of International
Economic Cooperation and
Integration (IECI) at the
Ministry.
According to financial records,
a 50% transfer valued at
LD$33,474,197.00
(US$
365,711.00) was requested,
approved by the Minister
and transferred from GoLs

Elias Shoniyin
consolidated account to the
Project's account at Afriland
Bank. An audit of the funding
reported that the project's
bank statement showed that
as of January 7, 2015, LD$
22,236,386.00 of the 50% has
been spent, while the account
balance is LR$ 10,990,036.00.
Foreign Minister Augustine
Ngafuan mandated an audit of
the funds after a senior official
in charge of managing the
Japanese grant left the country.
In a forensic audit of the
projects account, a draft
copy obtained by FPA,
auditors in their findings
stated that lack of adherence
to the Public Financial
Management
Regulations,
the Public Procurement and
Concession Act and other
financial regulations led to
huge expenditure from the
account
without
proper
documentations.
Auditors found numerous
deviations from existing laws

which created the condition

for fraud in the expenditure of
the funding.
During the audit, it was
observed that on July 4,
2014, the department of
IECI procured one SUV 2014
Ford Explorer XLT valued
US$ 49,000.00 with the
transaction not going through
a competitive bid process as
Prestige Motor was solely
selected with no approval from
the PPCC.
In the draft audit report, it
was also noted that payments
made for Scratch cards valued
LD$106,575 and Gasoline
valued LD$ 213,150 were not
supported by payment receipts
or invoices.
The IECI department project
on numerous occasions didn't
provide
relevant
source
document (invoice, receipt)
to substantiate claims of
payments/
disbursements
for scratch cards and gasoline
valued LD$ 106,575.00 and

have to support women, she

told the gathering.
She made the statement on
Thursday, August 13, 2015
in Marshall, lower Margibi
County following a One -Day
Womens Retreat organized
by the Ministry of Gender,
Children and Social Protection
in
collaboration
with
WONGOSOL.
The issues discussed included
traditional marriage, women
political participation, women
land rights, health care, female
representation in positions of
power, women empowerment
and employment and other
issues affecting women of
Liberia.
The women called for the issue
of Traditional Marriage, if
not captured into the Liberian
Constitution
or
recent
propositions
voted
upon
during the Constitutional
Review Committee Conference
held in Gbarnga, to be place
there before the 2016 National
Referendum.
President Sirleaf emphasized
that even if some of their
concerns are not captured in
the constitution, they can also
be achieve through statues and
other legal means. There are
a multiple ways, legal ways in
which a country can achieves
its objectives; the Constitution

is paramount. This is why, you

must be very careful about
how you amend this, so it
doesnt become something
you can change all of the time,
President Sirleaf said; noting
that policies, strategies and
programmes are also ways
through which the Constitution
can also be amended.

Thomas Kaydor
LD$ 213,150.00 respectively,
the audit noted.
Auditors observed that lack
of third-party documents
for payments creates a
room for misappropriation
and
accountability
and
transparency of the process
will be questioned.
Also fixed assets acquired by
the IECI, the audit indicated,
were not recorded in a fixed
asset registrar and coded which
could lead to the possibility of
assets going missing, abused
or misappropriated.
In conclusion, the audit
declared that the absence of
policies to guide execution
of basic activities of the IECI
project is a major gap that
management needs to remedy.
Financial transactions are not
routed through the Ministry's
major flow, and the PPCA and
PFM laws are often disregarded
or violated. Additions to the
Top-up roaster are not done
with regards to appraisal; there

is no attendance log to validate

staffs turnout on job. No set
criteria was made available by
the IECI project for additional
benefits assigned to staff, the
audit stated.
Two officials of the Ministry
are shifting blames for the
purported mismanagement of
the Japanese grant.
Thomas
Kaydor,
Deputy
Minister for International
Economic Integration and his
predecessor B. Elias Shoniyin,
are both failing to take
responsibility for the improper
use of the grant.
Recently Deputy Minister
Kaydor said the fraud took
place before he assumed the
position.
To ensure a smooth transition
of the project management
from the leadership of Hon.
Shoniyin to me, an internal
audit was conducted, however,
the fraud that has occurred
took place prior to our advent
as evidenced by the latest bank

for the good of their families,

communities and countries;
noting that the issue of taking
children from the streets has
no statues or constitutional
implication, but it can only
happened, if we all decide to
come together in unison, as
people with determine minds
to achieve that goal, it will
happen to save the future
of this country. Unless you
as mothers, and not just a
mother to your own child, but
a mother of any child whose on
the street, emphasizing that
all must work together to find

a means to do what we can to

help them.
President Sirleaf used the
occasion to thank all the
women for turning out en mass,
especially rural women who
left their various businesses to
be part of the one-day retreat.
The document was read by
Madam Ruth Ceasar and
presented to President Sirleaf
by Gender & Development
Minister, Julia Duncan Cassell
who thanked the President
for taking time off her busy
schedule to join the women of
Liberia in finding solutions to

statements released from the

bank, said Kaydor.
But Deputy Minister Shoniyin
on the other hand said he
has observed an attempt
to spread what he termed
misinformation about the
fraud.
Certain individuals in this
Ministry, for their own
ulterior
motives,
have
resorted to misinformation,
disinformation and twisted
facts
to
politicize
the
developments purposely to
damage my reputation as a
means of back pedaling the
many reforms that I continue
to introduce in offices to which
I have been entrusted in the
Ministry since early 2006, said
Deputy Minister Shoniyin.
The audit conducted by the
Internal Audit Bureau (IAB)
at the Ministry did not name
particular individuals for
transactions carried out at a
specific period to help put to
rest the ongoing exchanges
between Deputy Ministers
Kaydor and Shoniyin.
The audit report directed its
findings and recommendations
at management, calling on
them to implement corrective
actions, a situation that
will leave readers trying to
find out which of the two
officials presided over certain
transactions at a given time.
President
Ellen
Johnson
Sirleaf is yet to act since the
news of the fraud became
public perhaps waiting on the
outcome of the audit.
Although the final audit
report has not been issued,
the draft report does not
hold accountable particular
individuals to help with
decision making.

PRESIDENT SIRLEAF CHALLENGES LIBERIAN WOMEN

MONROVIA resident Ellen Johnson

Sirleaf joined several
women
groupings
from across Liberia,
particularly women from
political parties, NGOs, media,
rural women, female ministers,
civil
societies,
legislative
members and international
partners at a one day retreat
which focused on issues
affecting women.
According to an Executive
Mansion
release,
making
remarks at the retreat when
she received a statement
from
the
Women
of
Liberia calling for Equal
representation in government;
Equal Participation, Equal
Empowerment,
Equity
and Equal Rights, among
others,
President
Sirleaf
said women offer the chance
for other women from the
house, community, religious
centers, the neighborhood,
and everywhere to reach
out to each other, unite and
be stronger in partnership,
adding, women can change
the world; women can make a
difference; women can make
things happen; women can
move things; women can turn
things outside down; women
can do it right; but women
must act together and women

Despite that, President Sirleaf

noted that to the best of her
knowledge, some of those
things that the women are
pushing for were captured
amongst the 25 propositions
during the Constitutional
Review
Commission
conference in Gbarnga City,
Bong County earlier this year.
The Liberian leader indicated
that while their concerns
may have some legitimacy,
Liberians should be very
careful as to what is placed in
the constitution, as according
her, putting many things into
the constitution can sometimes
become
meaningless,
if
they are not implementable
to achieve their goals and
objectives for the good of the
country and its people.
The President said, she sees the
determination, potential and
the drive of women to improve
their lives and change things

issues affecting women.

For his part, Rev. Hermon
Brown of the Trinity Cathedral
Church, who served as
Inspirational Keynote Speaker
at the one day retreat, urged
the current generation of
Liberians, particularly women,
not to forget about getting
children who are currently
roaming all over the streets
back into their respective
homes and give better care,
training and education, if the
countrys future should be
secured for the better.

Monday, August 17, 2015

CHAMBERS DEFEATED

SUPREME COURT DECLARES BROWN LEGITIMATE MARYLAND SENATOR

The court therefore upholds the ruling of the board of commissioners of NEC that there was a hearing
conducted which the appellant failed to timely announce an appeal from NECs ruling, the appellant appeal
cannot be entertained and is therefore denied and dismissed- Justice Jamesetta Howard-Wolokolie

Bettie K. Johnson /betty.johnson@frontpageafricaonline.com

Monroviahe Supreme Court of

Liberia has sustained
the ruling of the
National
Elections
Commission in the case
involving Dr. Bhofal Chambers
and Gbleh-bo Brown of
Maryland County.
Dr. Chambers of the Congress
of Democratic Change (CDC)
filed an appeal to the High
Court against the National
Elections Commission and
Gbleh-bo Brown stating that
there were gross irregularities
in the special senatorial
election process conducted on
December 20, 2014.
It can be recalled the high
Court heard legal arguments
on a bill of exception filed
before it by Marylands County
Representative, Dr. Bhofal
Chambers.
A bill of exception is a formal
statement in writing of the
objections or exceptions taken
by a party during the trial
of a cause to the decisions,
rulings, or instructions of
the trial judge, stating the
objection, with the facts and
circumstances on which it is
founded, and, in order to attest
its accuracy, signed and sealed
by the judge; the object being
to put the controversial rulings
or decisions upon the record
for the information of the
appellate court.
The case involved Maryland
disputed Senator Gbleh-bo
Brown and Bhofal Chambers
who complained that there
were gross irregularities on
the election held in the county.
During arguments, the legal
counsels of Dr. Chambers
prayed the court to reverse
the ruling of the magistrate on
grounds that they were never
cited for an investigation as
presented to the court by the

commission.
Cllr. Famere Stubblefield said
they filed several complaints to
the NEC stating gross missteps
by the presiding magistrate in
Maryland.
Your honors, on December 23
we complained to the NEC on
gross missteps placed on your
bulletin we therefore request
the commission to make
available the 143 tally sheets
and we request for recount of
the ballots paper, he told the
court.
Cllr. Stubblefield said we
wanted to ensure justice from
the commission but they failed
to grant us an investigation and
did not afford us a hearing.
He added that during the
dispute, there was a hearing by
the NEC and the commission
did not give them a citation.
He said they were called but
he and his client rejected the
hearing on ground that the
disputed senator, Gbleh-bo
Brown, was absent from the
hearing.
We could not sit in the hearing
because the person we wanted
to be present was not there

and we rejected to sit in the

hearing the lawyer stated.
Cllr.
Stubblefield
said
the
magistrate,
Daniel
Newland, told him that he
had no jurisdiction over the
investigation of the recounting
of ballots but was later
ordered by the chairman of
the commission to conduct an
investigation.
In the NEC report read to the
court, the justices of the high
court named Michael Tipayson
of MOJIL, Robert Togba, and
Habbakuk Williams as some of
those that attested to the ballot
papers during the counting in
Maryland.
But
the
legal
counsel
representing Dr. Chambers
denied the report presented by
the NEC to the court.
Posing questions to Cllr.
Stubblefield, Chief Justice
Francis Kporkor asked if
the records before the court
were made up by the NEC
magistrate while Associate
Justice Phillip A.Z. Banks asked
if he is not in the know of the
CDCs witnesses who signed
the report.

But in his response, he

consented to Justice Korkpor
and further said though the
names on the reports are from
his clients party, but there was
no investigation carryout by
the elections commission.
In counter arguments, the
legal counsel of the National
Elections commission Cllr.
Joseph Blidi said there
were local and international
observers at the investigation
by the NEC.
He added that the Maryland
Magistrate of the commission
dismissed
Dr.
Chambers
complaint for a recount on
ground that the complaint
was not in the purview of the
magistrate.
Also, lawyer of the disputed
Senator, Gbleh-bo Brown
told the court that Chambers
lawyer did not deny in
the bill of exception that
witnesses appeared before the
commission.
The
complainant
said
Recount. Recount is what
before the court, so your honor
we expect you to hear the
recount issue and not to go

denied the party slot in favor

of Ranney Jackson, defeated
Bong
County
Senatorial
candidate Dr. Henrique Tokpa
who is expected to face rerun
election at three polling places

with incumbent senator Jewel

Howard Taylor has been
named head of the Board of
Directors of the National Port
Authority.
The NPA recently saw the
suspension of its Managing
Director, Matilda Parker for the
awarding of over US$800,000
contract to a bogus entity.
In an investigation by the
Liberian
Anti-Corruption
Commission (LACC) it was
discovered that the Board of
Directors was notified over the
awarding of the contract and
appeared not have exercised
due diligence before giving the
go ahead to award the contract.
As he prepares to battle Jewel
at the three polling places
with a little over 2,000 votes
to chase and Jewel already
having around 1,500 votes lead
President Sirleaf in the latest
appointments in Government

named Dr. Tokpa as Chairman

of the Board of the NPA.
Dr. Tokpa was predicted to be
the frontrunner to serve as
the Unity Party candidate in
Bong before delegates opted
to elect Jackson prompting him
to contest as an independent
candidate.
In spite of the hurdles Dr.
Tokpa managed second spot
behind the pronounced winner
incumbent Senator Jewel
Howard Taylor but he opposed
the electoral process with a
petition to the Supreme Court
citing irregularities at some
polling places.
The court in its August 7
ruling called for a rerun but
Dr. Tokpas appointment could
serve to ease the pain of losing
the senatorial election and the
Unity Party internal politics
which robbed him of the
opportunity to contest on the

DEFEATED BONG SENATORIAL

CANDIDATE HEADS NPA BOARD

Monroviafter a difficult time

with
the
ruling
unity Party ahead
of the 2014 special
senatorial election when he was

Frontpage
beyond the recount said Cllr.
Negbalee Warner.
He added that his client
Gbleh-bo Brown was not at
the investigation on ground
that he was never a party
in the complaint filed to the
commission.
Cllr. Warner said if you are
coming to the court for an
appeal that doesnt state new
facts in the bill of exception,
and it will be a danger if the
court dealt into factual issues.
He prayed the high court to
dismiss the appeal by Dr.
Chambers on ground that the
bill of exception was filed after
the commission investigated
and Dr. Chambers did not
object but rather took an
appeal to the court.
Wherefore in view of the
foregoing,
2nd
appellee
(Gbleh-bo)
prayed
this
honorable court to deny and
dismiss the appeal of the
appellant because the matter
acted upon by the 1st appellee
(NEC) which was never
objected neither excepted to.
Cllr. Negbalee argued.
Meanwhile, the Chief Justice
inquired
who
was
the
commissioner absent from the
hearing and signed the ruling,
in response Cllr. Stubblefield
named
Commissioner
Johnathan Weedor.
The question of the high
court followed an issue raised
by
lawyers
representing
Dr. Chambers who said
the commissioner failed to
followed section 2.4 of the
Elections commission law.
Section 2.4 of the Elections law
incorporated states Any five
(5) members, including the
Chairman, shall constitute a
quorum for the transaction of
business of the Commission;
they shall decide any question
before it, and said decision
shall be binding on the
Commission.
But speaking for the high
court in its Fridays opinion,
Associate Justice Jamesetta
Howard Wolokolie said Dr.
Chambers previously paid a
recognizance fee for exceptions
taken from the board of the
NEC ruling, ordering that the
court declared null and void
for the lack of quorum on the

party ticket.
Other members of the
NPA Board include former
Montserrado
County
Superintendent Ms. Grace
Kpaan who left the position on
controversial circumstances
after she was ordered detained
at the Monrovia Central Prison
with a vote of no confidence
passed in her leadership by the
House of Representatives.
Kpaan was involved in a
popular
audio
recording
you eat, I eat along with
Representative
Edward
Forh when she recorded the
lawmaker negotiating with
her to share portion of the
County Development Fund of
Montserrado County.
Other members of the NPA
Board include the Minister
of Finance and Development
Planning,
Minister
of
Commerce
and
Industry,
Minister of Transport, Director
General, General Services
Agency, Mr. Cecil Barnes
(Shipping and Stevedoring),
Mr. Rudolph Merab (Logging
Association), Mr. James Davies
(Land Leasers), Firestone
(Port Users), Mr. David Gibson,

Page 11

part of NEC board.

She said the appellant (Dr.
Chambers) is not required to
pay a second recognizance fee
going out of the same case,
hence the appellees (NEC)
motion to dismiss the appeal
on said ground is denied.
Justice Wolokolie further cited
section 6.5 of the elections law,
adding that it can be equated
to section 51.7 of the appeal
statute, thus in accordance
with section 1.8 of the Civil
procedure law which allows
parties to file legal papers by
themselves or by their legal
representatives.
The bill of exception was
denied stating that the bill
should have been signed by Dr.
Chambers.
Associate Justice Wolokolie
furthered that the issue raised
by Dr. Chambers that he had
no hearing with the NEC
magistrate in Maryland was
not supported.
The appellant contention
that there was no hearing
of his complaint by the
election magistrate in Harper
on December 27, 2014 is
unsupported by the records.
Contrary, the records not only
show that the appellant (Dr.
Chambers) participated in
the hearing of the complaint
but there was no rebuttal by
the production of evidence
by Dr. Chambers, said Justice
Wolokolie.
Associate Justice Wolokolie
continued: the court therefore
upholds the ruling of the
board of commissioners of
NEC that there was a hearing
conducted on December 27,
2014 from which the appellant
(Dr. Chambers) failed to
appeal; having failed to timely
announce an appeal from the
ruling of the NEC magistrate
of Harper, Maryland County as
provided by NECS regulations,
the appellant (Chambers)
appeal cannot be entertained
hence the appeal is therefore
denied and dismissed.
The court ruling was dissented
by Justice Kabineh Janeh who
described the majority ruling
of the court as setting aside the
fundamental and closing their
eyes on the fact.
Ms. Grace Kpaan, Ms. Sheba
Brown, Cllr. James H.R. Cooper,
Rev. Emmanuel Bowier and the
Managing Director of the NPA.
The Liberian leader also made
appointments at the Ministry
of Internal Affairs affecting
Bong, Gbarpolu and Maryland
Counties.
In Bong County, Mr. Milton
Varney
was
appointed
Commissioner,
Sanoyea
District and Mr. Aaron Boe
Boimah, Sr. Commissioner, Teh
Administrative District.
While in Gbarpolu County, Mr.
J. Keyah Saah was appointed
Commissioner, Belle Yalla
Township and in Maryland
County, Mr. Robert Moore was
appointed Land Commissioner
Following the resignation of Dr.
Florence Chenowith, Dr. Moses
Zinneh has been appointed
Minister of Agriculture to
take over a ministry is that is
dormant.

Monday, August 17, 2015

Page 12 | Frontpage

NATIONAL COMPETITIVE BIDDING (NCB)

Invitation for Bids (IFB)

FOR THE PURCHASE OF

STATIONERY & SUPPLIES

REPUBLIC OF LIBERIA
MINISTRY OF HEALTH
PROJECT INPLIMENTATION UNIT (PIU)
Request for Expression of Interest

IFB NO. NASSCORP/SBA/NCB/005/15/16

Note: This advertisement applies only to
Liberian-owned Small Businesses that are legally
registered and are in compliance with Liberian Tax
Regulations and Social Security Contribution Payments.
The National Social Security & Welfare Corporation intends
to apply a portion of its 2015/2016 fiscal budget towards the
procurement of Stationery & Supplies under contract for IFB NO.
NASSCORP/SBA/NCB/005/15/16.
The National Social Security & Welfare Corporation now invites
sealed bids from eligible and qualified bidders for the supply of
the Stationery & Supplies.

Bidding will be conducted through the National Competitive

Bidding (NCB)
procedures specified in the PPCA and is open
to all Liberian-owned, eligible and qualified bidders.

Interested parties may obtain further information from the

Procurement Unit in the office of the Coordinator of General
Services at the NASSCORP Complex, 15th Street, Sinkor, and buy
a copy of the Bidding Documents written in English for a price of
US$25.00 non-refundable from August 14, 2015 thru 8, 2015 from
10:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. daily.
Qualification requirements include: past performance report
including names of at least two clients, Legal documents including
(current business registration, current tax payment receipts/tax
clearance and Social Security contribution payment receipts.
Deadline for the submission of bids is September 14, 2015 at 2:00
p.m. Bids will be opened on the same day at 2:00 p.m. in the Board
Room of NASSCORP located at the Complex Offices on 15th Street,
Sinkor, Monrovia in the presence of bidders representatives. All
bids must be sealed in a medium size brown envelop and labeled
as follows:
SEALED BID FOR THE SUPPLY OF STATIONERY & SUPPLIES
REFERENCE: IFB NO. NASSCORP/SBA/NCB/005/15/16

All bids must be hand delivered to the following address:

The Procurement Unit, NASSCORP Complex, 15th Street, Sinkor,

Monrovia.
Attention: Coordinator, General Services Department
Please note that electronic bids will not be permitted, and that late
bids will be rejected and returned unopened. NASSCORP reserves
the right to reject all bids.11

Signed:
The Management, NASSCORP

(CONSULTING SERVICES)
Liberia
EBOLA EMERGENCY RESPONSE PROJECT (EERP)
Loan No. /Credit No. /Grant No. : D0080

Assignment title: restoration of health care services

Reference No. MOH/EERP/QBS/001
The Government of the Republic of Liberia has received financing from the World Bank
towards the cost of the Ebola Emergency Response Project (EERP), and intends to apply part
of the proceeds for consulting services (Restoration of Healthcare Services) for the Ministry
of Health.
The consulting services (the services) under hybid management model and the PDF aims to:
i. Provide technical assistance to the CHT(s) to manage selected primary health facilities to
provide essential package of health services (EPHS); and
ii. Directly manage selected primary health facilities, in the selected 1-3 counties out of the five
counties (bomi, gbarpolu, grand cape mount, river cess, and sinoe).

The ministry of health of the republic of Liberia now invites eligible consulting firms
(Consultants) to indicate their interest in providing the Services. Interested consultants
should provide information demonstrating that they have the required qualifications and
relevant experience to perform the Services.
The short listing criteria are:

1) Minimum five years of experience in the EPHS deliveries both at health facilities and in the
communities in Liberia or similar environments.
2) Multiple years of experiences to work for the counties they propose to work or similar
environments since the pre-Ebola period are advantage.
3) Strong institutional experience health facility assessment and management involving HR,
Logistics & Stock management of medical supplies, finance as well as quality health service
delivery.
4) Strong supportive supervision and training skills mentoring and on-the job training.
5) Prior institutional experiences in performance Based on financing programs in Liberia or
similar environments.
6) Strong institutional experiences in M&E using performance tracking and log frame.
The attention of interested consultants is drawn to paragraph 1.9 of the World Bank
Guidelines: section and Employment of consultants under
IBRD Loans and the IDA
Credits and Grants by World Bank Borrowers January, 2011 and revised July 2014 (Consultants
Guidelines), setting forth the World Banks policy on conflict of interest in addition, please
refer to the following specific information on conflict of interest related to this assignment:
The Bank policy requires that consultants provide professional, objective, and impartial
advice and at all times hold the clients interest paramount, without any consideration for
future work and that in proving advice they avoid conflicts with other assignments and their
own corporate interest.

Consultants may associate with other firms in the form of a join venture or a sub-consultancy
to enhance their qualifications.
A Consultant will be selected in accordance with the Quality-Based-Selection(QBS) method set
out in the Consultant Guidelines.

Further information including a detailed Terms of Reference can be obtained from the PIU at
the address below during office hours 0800 to 1600 hours at www.mohsw.gov.lr
Expressions of interest must be delivered in a written form to the address below (in person,
or by mail, or by fax, or by e-mail) by proumohsw@gmail.com on or before August 26th 2015
at 1500 hours GMT.
Ministry of Health of the Republic of Liberia
Attn: Mr. Jacob L.N. Wapoe, Director of Procurement
Oldest Congo Town, Tubman Boulevard
1000 Monrovia 10, Liberia
Tel: +231886515565
Signed: _______________________
Attn: Mr. Jacob L.N. Wapoe
Director of Procurement

Approved: _______________________
Deputy Minister for Administration

Monday, August 17, 2015

Frontpage

Page 13

Tr i b u t e

MESSAGE FROM MADAM EMMA K. WUOR TO THE

WEST AFRICAN LEADERS MORE ESPECIALLY TO
THE LEADERS OF LIBERIA AND TRIBUTE TO MY
SON GRANT TOKUMBA DESBORDES

o the leaders, love your citizens just as America loves and care for her
people. My son a Liberian citizen was killed by some unknown men
and has been buried in foreign land without even allowing I who the
mother to go for his burial. I visited the president at her house thinking
she could put in words to the Consular office at the US Embassy, so that I can
get my visa to go to the United States to bury my son. She told me no one can
tell the embassy to give any one visa or not to give. From there, my hope was
gone because since I left the Ministry of Post and Telecommunications, in 2001,
I have never been able to get a visa to travel to the United States.
Before the burial of my son in the United States, I was called by the Consular
office August 6, 2015 just to again deny me without a reason. This time, the
interviewer said to me that they cannot give me visa because there has been
no clearance from Abidjan stating reason I was denied by them in 2002. I told
her before going to Abidjan that year, I was already denied by the US Consular
office in Monrovia reasons according to the interviewer at the time, I never told
them that I was no more Minister. My answer to her at that time was that I didnt
think it was my duty to go around telling embassies that I was not Minister
again. All I needed to do and I did was to have it stated in the form I filled in by
using the word former Minister and secondly, I was using a Diplomatic passport
and that was the same passport I took to Abidjan so, with a letter from MOFA
when US consular have close down. I never lived in Abidjan so, there will be
no record on me there. Since I returned from the United States in 1986 after my
study, I only live in Liberia and no other country.
Tribute to my friend and son, Grant T. K. Desbordes
May your soul rest in perfect peace. Baby, you love Liberia just like your mother
that is while you always came home to visit. Rest until we meet again.

Page 14 | Frontpage

BIN LADEN'S SON SAID TO

URGE ATTACKS ON WESTERN
CITIES IN NEW AUDIO

PAGE

RONT

WORLD NEWS

Monday, August 17, 2015

OVER CHINA BLAST MISSING

FAMILIES' FURY
Days after vast explosions lit up the night sky and left scenes of utter
devastation across an industrial zone in the northern Chinese city -- and
scores dead -- a father said he had yet to hear from his firefighter son.

l-Qaeda has distributed an audio message on Twitter

in which a man it claims is Osama bin Laden's son
Hamza calls for attacks on London, Washington, D.C.
and other allied cities.
If verified, this would be the first time the group has put Hamza
forward as a spokesman in their propaganda. He is believed to
be in his mid-twenties and is bin Laden's youngest son.
Hamza was initially reported dead in the 2011 raid in Pakistan
which killed his father, but further analysis showed it was
another son, Khaled, who had been killed, according to the
Telegraph. It is unclear where Hamza was during that raid and
his whereabouts since have been unknown.
Since Osama bin Laden's death, al-Qaeda has been led by Ayman
al-Zawahiri, who was his right-hand man. Hamza reportedly
took part in attacks in Pakistan and Afghanistan as early as ten
years ago.

IS 'BEHEADS' 12 IN BATTLE
FOR LIBYA'S SIRTE

Tripoli (AFP) slamic State group jihadists have beheaded 12 people and
hung them on crosses during a battle for the coastal city of
Sirte, the national news agency LANA reported Saturday.
The fighting for control of Sirte, hometown of slain dictator
Moamer Kadhafi, has been raging since Tuesday, with one top
Libyan diplomat warning of a "massacre" in the city.
LANA said the 12 people beheaded were local gunmen who
had been battling IS in the eastern Sirte district known as
"neighbourhood three".
The agency also reported that IS militants executed 22 other
Sirte residents who had taken up arms against the jihadist
group as they lay wounded in a city hospital.

urious, frustrated and

fearful, relatives of
the missing in giant
explosions in Tianjin
besieged officials Saturday
demanding answers on their
loved ones fates only for
security to intervene instead.
Three
days
after
vast
explosions lit up the night
sky and left scenes of utter
devastation
across
an
industrial zone in the northern
Chinese city -- and scores dead
-- a father said he had yet to
hear from his firefighter son.
"We tried to call him as soon
as we saw the explosions
on television, but it's been
impossible to reach him," said
the man in his fifties, surnamed

Liu, his voice trembling with

emotion.
Even so he was certain his
22-year-old son -- a new recruit
to the Tianjin fire service -must have been among the
more than 1,000 firefighters
deployed to the scene of the
disaster.
"The authorities have not
contacted us," he said in flat
tones, wearing a blue worker's
cap typical of the Maoist era.
At least 85 people were killed
by the blasts at a hazardous
goods storage facility -- with
21 of them firefighters.
Enormous
explosions
in
a major Chinese port city
left a devastated industrial
landscape of incinerat

The man was among a dozen

relatives of the missing who
were barred from a press
conference authorities gave at
a hotel on Saturday.
As unperturbed local officials
gave their presentation, their
cries and shouts penetrated
the doors that had been locked
by security staff to keep them
out.
"Nobody has told us anything,
we're in the dark, there is no
news at all," one middle-aged
woman screamed tearfully,
as she was dragged away by
security personnel.
A young man being pulled
into a stairwell shouted: "We
are the families of the victims!
What right do you have to treat

First, the FOIA does not require

an agency to search for and
produce records that are not
in its possession and control.
And, it claims that it is neither
in possession nor control of the
Clintons server. Obviously,
that is precisely the cause of the
entire outrage in the first place.
The initial legal violations exist
because the State Department
did not require, and Mrs. Clinton
did not use, the secure State.
gov for her official emails. Mrs.
Clinton should never have had
any official State Department
information in her personal
account or on her server
most especially any sensitive,
classified information or any
information respecting the

national defense such as drone

signal intelligence. See 18 USC
Section 793. Mrs. Clinton should
never have had any official
State Department information
in her personal account or on
her servermost especially any
sensitive, classified information
or any information respecting
the national defense such as
drone signal intelligence.
Judge Emmet G. Sullivan (Photo
Credit DOMINIC BRACCO II)
Everyone at the State Department
who knew she conducted all of
her business on a private address
and had the unsecured server at
her home is part of this problem
and violation. Thus, all at the
State Department of any ranking
during her tenure may very well
be implicated in her conspiracy
to violate numerous statutes,
including 18 USC Sections
793(d), (e), (f), & (g)each
of which carries a possible 10
year term of imprisonment. The
second and equally appalling
reason the State Department is
doing nothing to respond to Judge
Sullivans request is because it is
taking Mrs. Clintons carefullyworded sworn declaration to
mean that she actually provided

STATE DEPT TELLS JUDGE ITS DOING NOTHING

TO FIND HILLARY CLINTONS EMAILS

FIVE ARRESTED AFTER PUBLIC BEATING

OF AFGHAN FATHER AND DAUGHTER

olice in Afghanistan have arrested five people allegedly

shown in a video depicting the public beating of a
father and his daughter who were accused of theft by
a fortune teller.
The Afghan interior ministry said in a statement the arrests
took place near the city of Sare Pul in northern Afghanistan on
Saturday.
Footage posted online -- showing a man beating a young woman
and her father with a long stick as a crowd watches -- has gone
viral on Afghan social media.
The interior ministry said the beating took place on August 5th
after a home near the city of Sare Pul was burgled. The resident
consulted the village fortune teller in a bid to identify the culprit.

us this way?"
- 'Wait and wait' Volunteers and paramilitary
soldiers wearing masks stand
on patrol outside a temporary
shelter after
When disaster strikes in China
authorities regularly seek to
muzzle victims' families and
ensure that domestic media
focus on positive aspects:
rescuers' heroism or miracle
rescue.
Pictures of Zhou Ti, a 19-yearold fireman rescued from
the rubble on Friday, have
been given heavy coverage in
Chinese media, along with his
first words when he recovered
consciousness, according to
authorities: "Have the flames
been put out?"
But many social media posters
have lamented the heavy price
paid by the firefighters, most of
them young and with limited
experience. Questions have
been raised about whether
they could have contributed
to the blast by hosing reactive
substances with water.
One mother at the hotel, who
gave her name as Long, was
desperately awaiting news
of the fate of her son Zhiqiao,
a member of a brigade sent
to the Tianjin port before the
blasts.
"There are 25 people in a
brigade," she said. "A death
in my son's was confirmed
on Friday night. They haven't
said anything about any of the
others, they just make us just
wait and wait."
Rows of burnt out cars on
August 13, 2015 after a series
of explosions at a chemical
warehouse hit t

n its status report just filed,

the State Department has
told the judge that it is
doing absolutely nothing
to obtain any emails other than
those Mrs. Clinton already
provided.
Apparently, the State Department
hasnt read our prior reports on
Judge Emmet G. Sullivan or
taken note of how similar claims
have not been well-received
when made by the IRS. With
astonishing disregard for the
truth, the Judges questions, or
its responsibilities to Congress
or the citizens of the United
States, the State Department
advised that it is not currently
working with DOJ, the FBI or
other agencies for two reasons.

all of the relevant emails, and it

has found nothing responsive in
what the culprits have already
provided. It is content to let
the proverbial fox guard the
henhouse and let Mrs. Clinton
dictate what everyone sees.
If that is allowed, rest assured
there will be no evidence of
the Benghazi murders or Huma
Abedins conflict of interest,
because those emails were not
produced by Mrs. Clinton and are
no doubt among those she may
have successfully destroyed. No
problem. No need to look further.
We always let the person being
investigated limit the evidence
that can be reviewedright?
Futhermore, her declaration does
not even say that she actually
produced everything. We know
that she did not. We already
know from the production of
emails by her confidant, Sidney
Bluementhal, that Mrs. Clinton
obviously destroyed or failed to
produce all of her government
emails. Indeed, Mrs. Clinton
has admitted destroying tens of
thousands of emails, and then
she apparently had her server
professionally scrubbed.

Monday, August 17, 2015

Monrovia ince
July
2015,
everybody following
the beautiful game
cant stop talking
about the audacious Fifa
presidential bid of Liberias
FA chief, Musa Bility. The tale
is now taking a new twist just
less than two weeks after
the Confederation of African
Football declined to support
Bilitys bid and now there are
signals he was only testing
the waters.
Many Liberians have been
giving mix views about their
FA chiefs quest to succeed
Sepp Blatter, a long serving
leader now under increasing
pressure as a result of a
corruption saga dogging the
world governing body. Some
say Bilitys performance on
home turf is dismal evidence
by his countrys poor
showing on the continental
and world stage.
Liberias latest position on
the Coco Colas Fifa world
ranking which placed the
Lone Star at 161st below
Philippines, Grenada, and
Guyana is a gloomy stat
for a country that has
produced the only African
Fifa player of the year. And
the recent football trafficking
saga in Laos involving
some underage Liberian
footballers glints dismay
amongst many football fans
home and abroad.
Moreover,
Bility
has
experienced a rather seesaw
relationship with the powerto-be both in Africa and on
the worlds stage by breaking
ranks with most of his
African colleagues in 2011 to
vote against Blatter opting
to
support
Mohammed
Bin Hammam. Though Bin
Hammam was banned from
the election, the LFA Chief
affiliation with the Qatari
ended controversially when
the latter was exposed in
the Britishs Sunday Times
newspaper for paying bribes
to football associations
members to influence the
2018 and 2022 World Cup
bids. Back in Liberia, pundits

Sports

TRY & ERROR

Page 15

SPORTS

ROBBEN: I
MISS RIBERY

Is Liberias FA Chief Fifa Bid a Tryout ?

Alpha Daffae Senkpeni, alpha.senkpeni@frontpageafricaonline.com

criticized him and argued

he had a hand in the Bin
Hammam saga.
He was in 2013 hit with a
six-month ban by CAF for
violating statutes relating
to the use of confidential
documents. But he argued at
the time that his suspension
came as a result of his
attempt to tackle African
football's ruling body.
Some observers assert his
sour past with Caf is haunting
his ambitious bid.
It now appears the Liberian
Business man sees his quest
as unattainable and would
throw his support behind
another aspirant for the
Fifa job. Bility has earlier
mentioned that he has
the support of a dozen of
African FA presidents. But
Caf recently snubbed his
candidacy.
"Caf is the continent's body
and it has to listen to and
review all options. It has to
wait until the close of the
nominations and then assess

all the candidates before it

makes a decision, the 48
years old entrepreneur albeit
football administrator told
the BBC.
His longtime pal, former LFA
President now lawmaker
Edwin Snow has been
outspoken about Bilitys
ambition claiming recently
on a local radio station that
they had a fruitful meeting
with Caf president in Russia
outlining the objective of the
LFA boss in the ensuing Fifa
election.
If Africa comes up with a
candidate or Caf says this
is our prefer candidate,
(Mr. Bility) said I will step
aside and I will support that
candidate, Snow claimed
it was Bilitys position
during the meeting with Issa
Hayatou when he appeared
on Truth Fm, a station owned
by Bility.
The maverick Bility - as hes
described by British media
Sky sport insists its Africas
time to lead world football.

LISCR MAINTAINS GROUP B

LEAD OF LFA FIRST DIVISION

Frontpage

His concept of an African

Fifa presidency may conjure
him to support a potentially
sturdier candidate. And
Latest news reported by a
Ghanaian website suggests
that the Liberian is opting
to support a Ghanaian
candidate.
Kwesi is confident, he is
competent. He represents
absolutely one of the best
in our continent and I
absolutely believe that he
can make all of us proud as
president of FIFA definitely,
Bility told Ghanas Asempa
Sports.
Kwesi Nyantakyi, a lawyer,
is Ghana FA president and
Bility agreed hes more
experience, runs a better
football association, saying,
It will be a pleasure to give
him the opportunity to run.
With a perception that
great
leaders
emerged
out of difficult moment
his bid is vanishing like a
strikers frequent misses
in a league season that

quickly gets him down the

picking order. His platform
encompasses
reducing
power of the executive
committee; give more money
to poor confederations,
and declaration of assets
before joining the executive
committee.
Interestingly,
Bility says he will give his
salary to charity.
With the likes of Brazilian
Zico,
Argentine
Diego
Maradona, Uefa President
Michel Platini and South
Korean Chung Mong-joon
seeking to contest the 26
February 2016 election,
Bilitys chances are waning.
Pundits say he needs the
support of five associations
and now that Caf has already
given their position, its
becoming clear that Bility will
have to give up his ambition
for another African candidate
if his philosophy of the Fifa
presidency is reliable.

rjen
Robben
is
eagerly
anticipating
Franck Ribery's
return to action for Bayern
Munich, stating he is eager
to rekindle his partnership
with the French winger on
the pitch.
Ribery
featured
sporadically
for
the
Bavarian side last season
due to injury and has been
kept out of action since
March with persistent
ankle injuries as his
club bowed out of the
Champions League and
DFB-Pokal semi-finals.

SWANSEA CITY 2-0

NEWCASTLE UNITED: GOMIS
& AYEW ON TARGET AGAIN

efferson Montero put

in another dazzling
display as Swansea
City cruised to a 2-0
Premier League victory over
10-man Newcastle.
The Ecuador international
gave Branislav Ivanovic
the runaround as the Welsh
club picked up a 2-2 draw at
defending champions Chelsea
on the opening weekend, and
he was at it again on Saturday.
After Bafetimbi Gomis gave
Swansea a ninth-minute lead,
the lively Montero drew
two clumsy challenges from
Daryl Janmaat that earned the
full-back a pair of bookings
and saw him dismissed four
minutes before the break.
LUIS ENRIQUE: I'M TO BLAME FOR
BARCELONA BEATING AT BILBAO

A. Macaulay Sombai, sombaifrontpageafricaonline.com 0777217428

Monrovias the group stage of

the Liberia Football
Association (LFA)
national
league
season draws to an end,
LISCR FC over the weekend
maintained her lead at the top
of group (b) table with a 1-1
draw against sensational LPRC
Oilers at the ATS.
LISCR 1-1 draw against Oilers
increased her points to 22
from nine matches played
while Oilers now has 14 points
from the same nine games, and
remains in second to group

leaders LISCR.
Fassell FC forced Keitrace FC to
a 1-1 draw while Aries FC lost
1-0 to NPA Anchors all in the
same group (b).
Watanga FC moved on the
top of group (a) table after a
1-0 victory over first division
defending champions Barrack
Young Controllers (BYC).
The victory increased Watanga
points to 17 one above BYC and
Nimba United.
BYC and Nimba United now
have 16 points each from nine
games played respectively.
Nimba United increased her

points to 16 after a 2-1 win

against Jubilee while Monrovia
Club Breweries and Invincible
Eleven (IE) settled to 0-0 draw
from the same group (a).
The final matches of both
groups are expected to take
place this week where the
champions of each group will
be decided.
LISCR, well seated at the top
of group (b) table will face
Keitrace seated second from
bottom in their group last
game.
Oilers who are seated second
to LISCR in group (b) will

B
encounter Aries who are
seated bottom of the group
table while Fassell tackles NPA
Anchors in both teams last
match in the group.
In group (a) Watanga who are
now seated top of the table
will battle IE who are second

from bottom in their last group

game.
BYC who are second in the
group will come face to face
with Nimba Nnited who are
third in the same group while
Jubilee meet Monrovia Club
Breweries.

arcelona
coach
Luis Enrique has
said that he must
take the blame
for his sides shocking 4-0
Supercopa de Espana firstleg loss to Athletic Bilbao on
Friday.
With the Catalans having
been taken to extra-time in
Tuesday's Uefa Super Cup
win over Sevilla in Tbilisi,
the Blaugrana boss decided to
rotate his squad for the trip to
San Mames.

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MONDAY, AUGUST 17, 2015

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