liberian daily observer 01/09/2014

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VOL. 16. NO. 52 THURSDAY , JANUARY 9, 2014 PRICE: LD 40 VISIT OUR  WEBSITE AT WWW. LIBERIANOBSERVER . COM TODAY! www.liberianobserver.com I NSI D E T H I S ED I T I O N EDITORIAL Lofa in Neglect? LOCAL NEWS NEC Certifcates CSOs in Nimba HISTORY & US The Loma Weekly Describes the New Executive Mansion in 1964 Know Your Legislators COMMENTARY The World Economy’s Shifting Challenges BUSINESS Exchange Rate Soars: L$86 to US$1 SPORTS The Shame of Belonging to SWAL  See Pg. 4  See Pg. 3  See Pg. 5  See Pg. 6b  See Pg. 9  See Pg. 4  See Pg. 11 $59 20GB  50GB Enjoy Bigger and Better 4G packs with Unbeatable Speed!!!  See story on Pg. 14  See story on Pg. 14 1 WATCH OUT FOR GRAND DRAW JANUARY 10, 2014! Drug Dealing on the Rise in West Point -Who’s Behind It? Two centers where cocaine and marijuana are sold in West Point  By Omari Jackson I ts original moniker (name) was Kru Beach,  but since the advent of the Liberian Maritime Authority’s Beaches & Waterways Project, it is now known as Riverside. It occupies a wide stretch of the Atlantic coast in the populous community of West Point in Monrovia.  A tour of the community last Tuesday, January 7--- following allegations of the massive infu- sion of drugs, (marijuana, and cocaine) in the community--- re- vealed a far cry from those who were allegedly linked to them. As I walked through several zinc shacks towards the rendez- vous, accompanied by a gener- ous resident who informed me that it would be extremely dan- gerous for me to visit alone, we Cont’d on pg. 10 ‘I Won’t Run Away from Liberia’ -Canadian Investor Assures  Mr. Lindstrom addresses reporters as Liberty operations manager, Charles D. Davis, listens keenly  See story on Pg .10 ‘JPC Faces Challenges, But Not Dormant’  Archbishop Zeigler; War-time head of JPC, Ko Woods  By J. Burgess Carter M ost Rev. Arch-  bishop Lewis Jerome Zeigler of the Catholic Archdiocese of Monrovia has Cont’d on pg. 10 Monrovia’s Ecological System Faces Degradation  As Beaches Encoun ter Pollution Th reats from Coastal Structures, says Lutheran Bishop  By Edwin M. Fayia III E ven as public concern mounts over the unsani- tary conditions of Monro- via’s beaches, residents continue to face issues from ecological degradation owing to wastes be- ing dumped on the beaches. Cont’d on pg. 10 THURSDAY, JAN. 9, 2014, vol. 16, No.52indd 2 1/8/14 11:26 PM

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Page 1: Liberian Daily Observer 01/09/2014

8/13/2019 Liberian Daily Observer 01/09/2014

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/liberian-daily-observer-01092014 1/14

VOL. 16. NO. 52 THURSDAY, JANUARY 9, 2014 PRICE: LD 40

VISIT OUR  

WEBSITE 

AT WWW.

LIBERIANOBSERVER .

COM TODAY!

www.liberianobserver.com

I NSI DE THI S

EDI TI ON

EDITORIAL

Lofa in Neglect?

LOCAL NEWS

NEC Certifcates

CSOs in Nimba

HISTORY & US

The Loma WeeklyDescribes the NewExecutive Mansion

in 1964

Know YourLegislators

COMMENTARY

The WorldEconomy’s

ShiftingChallenges

BUSINESS

Exchange RateSoars: L$86 to

US$1

SPORTS

The Shame ofBelonging to SWAL

 See Pg. 4

 See Pg. 3

 See Pg. 5

 See Pg. 6b

 See Pg. 9

 See Pg. 4

 See Pg. 11

$59

20GB   50GB

Enjoy Bigger andBetter 4G packs withUnbeatable Speed!!!

 See storyon Pg. 14 See storyon Pg. 14

1WATCH OUT FOR GRAND DRAW JANUARY 10, 2014!

Drug Dealing on theRise in West Point

-Who’s Behind It?

Two centers where cocaine and marijuana are sold in West Point 

 By Omari Jackson

Its original moniker

(name) was Kru Beach,

 but since the advent of

the Liberian Maritime

Authority’s Beaches &

Waterways Project, it

is now known as Riverside. It

occupies a wide stretch of the

Atlantic coast in the populous

community of West Point in

Monrovia.

  A tour of the community last

Tuesday, January 7--- following

allegations of the massive infu-

sion of drugs, (marijuana, and

cocaine) in the community--- re-

vealed a far cry from those who

were allegedly linked to them.

As I walked through several

zinc shacks towards the rendez-

vous, accompanied by a gener-

ous resident who informed me

that it would be extremely dan-

gerous for me to visit alone, we

Cont’d on pg. 10

‘I Won’t Run Awayfrom Liberia’-Canadian Investor Assures

 Mr. Lindstrom addresses reporters as Liberty

operations manager, Charles D. Davis, listens keenly

 See story on Pg.10 ‘JPC Faces Challenges, But Not Dormant’

 Archbishop Zeigler; War-time head of JPC, Ko Woods

 By J. Burgess Carter 

Most Rev. Arch-

 bishop Lewis

Jerome Zeigler

of the Catholic

Archdiocese of Monrovia has

Cont’d on pg. 10

Monrovia’s EcologicalSystem Faces Degradation

 As Beaches Encounter Pollution Threats from

Coastal Structures, says Lutheran Bishop

 By Edwin M. Fayia III 

Even as public concern

mounts over the unsani-

tary conditions of Monro-

via’s beaches, residents continue

to face issues from ecological

degradation owing to wastes be-

ing dumped on the beaches.

Cont’d on pg. 10

THURSDAY, JAN. 9, 2014, vol. 16, No.52indd 2 1/8/14 11:26 PM

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 DAILY OBSERVER Wednesday, January 08, 2014 Thursday, January 9, 2014  Page 2

World News

Mark Duggan Killing Lawful, Says Jury(BBC) Mark Duggan, whose

death sparked riots in England

in 2011, was lawfully killed

 by police, an inquest jury has

concluded by a majority of 8 to

2.

The 29-year-old was shot dead

 by armed ofcers in August

2011 in Tottenham, north

London.

Following the inquest at the

Royal Courts of Justice, his aunt

Carole Duggan said her nephew

had been “executed”.

Mr Duggan’s brother Shaun

Hall said: “We still ght for

 justice.”

There were angry scenes

outside the courts, with

supporters of Mr Duggan’s

family chanting “murderers”,

drowning out a statement by

Metropolitan Police Assistant

Commissioner Mark Rowley.

‘Lethal force’

Jurors concluded Mr Duggan

did not have a gun when he was

shot by ofcers.

They also said it was more

likely than not that Mr Duggan

had thrown a gun from a taxi

 just before he was killed. Theweapon was found about 20ft

(6m) away from the scene.

In the period between midday

on 3 August 2011 and when

state amber was called at 6.00

 pm on 4 August 2011, did the

Metropolitan Police Service

and the Serious Organised

Crime Agency do the best they

realistically could have done to

gather and react to intelligence

about the possibility of Mr

Duggan collecting a gun from

Mr Hutchinson-Foster? The jury

said a unanimous no.

Was the stop conducted in a

location and in a way which

minimised, to the greatest extent

 possible, recourse to lethal

force? Unanimous yes.

Did Mr Duggan have the gun

with him in the taxi immediately

 before the stop? Unanimous yes

How did the gun get to thegrass area where it was later

found? A majority of 9 to 1 said

it was thrown.

When Mr Duggan received a

fatal shot, did he have the gun

in his hand? A majority of 8 to

2 said no, he did not have a gun

in his hand.

Following the verdict his

mother, Pamela Duggan, was

led out of the court in tears,

while Mr Duggan’s brother was

seen screaming and shouting.

One man shouted: “A black

life ain’t worth nothing.”

BBC News home affairs

correspondent Dominic Casciani

tweeted: “I don’t think I have

ever heard of a jury, performing

their civic duty, being abused in

court by members of the public.”

Following the conclusion to

the inquest, an Independent

Police Complaints Commission

(IPCC) spokesperson said:

“We note the inquest jury’s

determination and ndings and

we are considering them as a

matter of urgency in relation to

our ongoing investigation.”

‘No justice, no peace’

Outside court, his aunt Carole

Duggan said: “The majority of

 people in this country know that

Mark was executed.

“He was executed and we still

 believe that, and we’re going to

ght until we have no breath in

our body for justice for Mark,

for his children, and for all of

those (unclear) with deaths in

custody that have had nothing.

“We are not giving up. No

 justice, no peace!”Family lawyer Marcia Willis

Stewart added: “We can’t

 believe this was the outcome.

He had no gun in his hand, yet

he was shot, he was murdered.

“To us, that is unlawful

killing.”

Deborah Coles, from

the charity Inquest, said

Mr Duggan’s family were

considering whether to apply

for the decision to be judicially

reviewed.

Outside court, Assistant

Commissioner Rowley

attempted to read a statement

which said the force had

sympathy with Mr Duggan’s

family.

“No ofcer sets out at the start

of the day to run an operation

that results in someone dying,”

he said.

He added that armed criminalshad shot dead more than 50

 people in the last three-and-a-

half years.

“We send out well-trained,

 professional armed ofcers

thousands of times a year to

combat this threat, only ring

shots once or twice. These

careful tactics have signicantly

reduced gun crime.”

He added that the jury’s

ndings were signicant.

“We know the trust is not

shared by everyone.

“I will be offering to meet Mark

Duggan’s family to express our

sorrow. And we will continue

working with local leaders to

strengthen relationships. Weknow it will take time.”

Tottenham MP David Lammy

said the IPCC investigation

had questions to answer, in

 particular what happened days

 before the shooting.

He said: “The Duggan

family’s sorrow and anger was

 palpable in court this afternoon

and it is a feeling that will

inevitably be reected in the

wider community.

South Sudan’s Bentiu City ResidentsFlee Government Advance

 

 Mark Duggan’s auntCarole, speaking outsidecourt: “He was executed” 

(BBC) Thousands of people

are eeing the South Sudanese

city of Bentiu amid fears of

a government offensive to

recapture the oil-rich area from

rebels, a BBC reporter there

says.

Many people are taking refuge

in a UN base in Bentiu, says

Alastair Leithead.

Meanwhile, ceasere talks

 between the two sides appear

to be deadlocked over the

government’s imprisonment of

11 alleged coup plotters.

At least 1,000 people have

 been killed in the conict.

 Nearly 200,000 people have

 been forced from their homes

in the ghting, which has seen

ethnic violence between the

Dinka and Nuer communities.

Many foreign governments

have evacuated their nationals,

while many South Sudanese

are crossing by land into

neighbouring states.

The conict broke out in mid-December when President Salva

Kiir accused his ex-deputy, Riek

Machar, of plotting a coup.

Thousands of people are

eeing the South Sudanese

city of Bentiu amid fears of

a government offensive to

recapture the oil-rich area from

rebels, a BBC reporter there

says.

Many people are taking refuge

in a UN base in Bentiu, says

Alastair Leithead.

Meanwhile, ceasere talks

 between the two sides appear

to be deadlocked over the

government’s imprisonment of

11 alleged coup plotters.

At least 1,000 people have been killed in the conict.

 Nearly 200,000 people have

 been forced from their homes

in the ghting, which has seen

ethnic violence between the

Dinka and Nuer communities.

Many foreign governments

have evacuated their nationals,

while many South Sudanese

are crossing by land into

neighbouring states.

The conict broke out in mid-

December when President Salva

Kiir accused his ex-deputy, RiekMachar, of plotting a coup.

Mr Machar denied the

allegation, and called for the

unconditional release of 11 of

his allies who were detained

over the alleged plot.

On Wednesday, regional

mediators Seyoum Mesn and

Lazurus Sumbeiywo ew out

of South Sudan’s capital, Juba,

after talks with Mr Kiir.

‘Heavy artillery re’

However, they failed to break

the deadlock over the fate of

the detainees, a key obstacle

to the two sides negotiating a

ceasere, Juba-based journalist

Mading Ngor told the BBC’s

Focus on Africa.Mr Kiir offered to free the

detainees to take part in the

regionally-brokered talks, if the

discussions were moved from

Ethiopia to Juba.

However, he said they would

have to return to their places of

detention at night.

This offer was immediately

rejected by Mr Machar’s allies.

Government troops are

 believed to be about 25

kilometres (16 miles) from

Bentiu, capital of Unity state,our correspondent says.

Unity state is rich in oil, the

main foreign exchange earner of

South Sudan.

Oil production has dropped by

20% since the conict started.

Bentiu and Bor, the capital of

Jonglei state, are the two main

centres under rebel control.

Fighting was continuing

around Bor, as government

forces tried to recapture it, army

spokesman Philip Aguer said,

AFP news agency reports.

It says its reporter reached

the town of Minkammen, 25

kilometres south of Bor, and the

area was ooded with eeing

civilians.Heavy artillery re could also

 be heard in the distance, AFP

reports.

The International Committee

of the Red Cross (ICRC) said

the humanitarian situation in

South Sudan is dire.

“South Sudan is facing a

serious crisis that comes on top

of a situation that was already

difcult,” ICRC president Peter

Maurer said, at the end of a

three-day visit to the country.“It is unquestionable that the

needs are dire, but their full

scope is unknown,” Mr Maurer

added in a statement.

South Sudan is the world’s

newest state.

It became independent in 2011

after seceding from Sudan.

Mr Kiir comes from the largest

ethnic group, the Dinka, while

Mr Machar is a Nuer.

Both leaders have inuential

 backers in the other group, even

though the conict has taken an

ethnic dimension.

Mabior Garang, a Dinka,

is a key member of the rebel

delegation in talks in Ethiopia.He is the son of veteran southern

leader John Garang, who died in

2005.

 

 Many South Sudanese have fed to neighbouring countries

InternationalSpace Station

Life ‘to beExtended’

(BBC) Nasa has won White

House backing to extend the

life of the International Space

Station for a further four years,

until 2024.Construction of the ISS began

in 1998 and is a joint venture

 between the US, Russia, Canada,

Japan, and states in the European

Space Agency (Esa).

These partners will have to

support any extension for it to be

implemented.

Their current commitments

run to 2020, but many engineers

 believe the station could work

safely until at least 2028.

Bill Gerstenmaier, the

associate administrator at Nasa

with responsibility for the

station, told reporters that it was

feasible to continue operating the

ISS if some partners decided not

to stay on board, but added that

he expected them all to comethrough, even if the agreements

took a few years to put in

 place: “I think the idea is that

10 years from today is a pretty

far-reaching, pretty strategic

decision,” he said.

“We have talked to the partners

about this... They were involved

in all the hardware studies.

In general, they see this as a

 positive step moving forward.”

Certainly, Germany, Europe’s

 biggest contributor to the ISS

 project is keen to see the $100bn

orbiting platform operate for

many years into the future.

Jan Woerner, the chairman

of the German space agency

(DLR), said: “Germany is eagerto use the ISS until 2020 and

 beyond. Full stop. This is the

German position and we hope

the other [European] member

states will make the commitment

and give the money for that.”

Prof Woerner was speaking

in Washington DC where

his national agency and Esa

announced technical tie-ups with

the Sierra Nevada Corporation

(SNC), which is developing

a mini-space shuttle to carry

astronauts to and from the ISS.

At the moment, the station

is solely reliant on Russian

Soyuz capsules to rotate the

 platform’s six-person crew. Nasa

is therefore seeding American

companies, including Sierra

 Nevada, to help them design and

 build alternatives.

The mini-shuttle is known as

the Dream Chaser and would

launch atop an Atlas rocket from

Cape Canaveral in Florida.

It is envisaged that it will

make its maiden voyage into

orbit in 2016, in an un-manned,

autonomous conguration; and

then y its rst manned mission

in 2017.

With no crew transport

capability of their own, DLR and

Esa are keen to explore areas

where they could cooperate

with SNC on its Dream Chaser

 programme.

“The rst one is the dockingmechanism - the mechanism that

would connect the Dream Chaser

to the space station,” said Esa’s

Elena Grifoni Winters. “And the

other area we are looking at is

crew displays and crew aids.”

Germany also has heatshield

technology that it believes could

 protect the vehicle on re-entry

equally as well as SNC’s chosen

material but which would offer

signicant weight savings.

(BBC) - Republican rising

star Chris Christie, New

Jersey’s Governor, is facing

claims his ofce orchestrated

trafc mayhem to pursue a

 petty political vendetta.

Emails and texts appear

to link a Christie aide to the

closure of lanes to the George

Washington Bridge, one of theworld’s busiest, in September.

The gridlock was allegedly

engineered to punish a

Democratic mayor who did

not endorse the governor’s re-

election.

Mr Christie postponed a

morning event after the emails

were released.

The documents made public

on Wednesday do not suggest

that Mr Christie himself

had anything to do with the

lane closures, but they may

contradict his assertions that

none of his staff were involved.

The scandal is brewing as

the tough-talking governor,often touted as a 2016 White

House candidate, is due to tour

the nation in his other role as

chairman of the Republican

Governors Association.

US

(BBC) - Islamist rebels have

captured the headquarters of

the al-Qaeda-afliated Islamic

State in Iraq and the Levant

(ISIS) in the Syrian city of

Aleppo.

The Syrian Observatory for

Human Rights said it was not

clear what had happened to

the jihadists who had been at

the hospital in the Qadi Askar

district.

Inside, the rebels found dozens

of prisoners and the bodies of

several men who appeared to

have been executed.

Recent days have seen erce

ghting between ISIS and other

rebel groups.

More than 270 people,

including 46 civilians, have

 been killed in the worst rebel-

on-rebel violence since the

uprising in Syria began in

March 2011, according to the

Syrian Observatory, a UK-

 based activist group.

Syria

(BBC) - Gunmen have

attacked a mosque in the

northern Nigerian state of

Kano, killing three worshippers

and wounding 12 others, police

say.

The attackers sprayed bullets

into the mosque in the home

village of Kano governor Rabiu

Musa Kwankwaso.

His elderly father was in the

mosque, but escaped unhurt,

witnesses said.

 No group has said it carried

out the raid. Islamist group

Boko Haram has also staged

several attacks in Kano, andelsewhere in northern Nigeria.

The run-up to elections in oil-

rich Nigeria is often marred by

violence between rival political

groups.

Mr Kwankwaso was among

ve inuential governors

who defected from President

Goodluck Jonathan’s People’s

Democratic Party (PDP) to the

opposition All Progressives

Congress (APC) in November.

Nigeria

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 DAILY OBSERVER Wednesday, January 08, 2014 Thursday, January 9, 2014  Page 3

Benoni Urey De-listed from UN Ban By Gloria T. Tamba

The United Nations

Security Council has

deleted Mr. Benoni

Urey from its travel

and assets freeze ban. Urey

is one of the last remaining

 prominent gures of theCharles Taylor era.

Mr. Urey was one of the

most inuential government

ofcials in former president

Taylor’s regime who allegedly

helped galvanize support for

the convicted Liberian leader’s

warfare.

He most notably served

as the Commissioner of the

Bureau of Maritime Affairs

(BMA), which is now being

referred to as Liberia Maritime

Authority (LMA), where he

was accused of accruing much

of his present wealth.

The UN Security Council

announced the decision tohave Mr. Urey and others de-

listed on Monday December

23, 2013 in New York City.

De-listing of Mr. Urey

came less than two weeks

after the United Nations

Panel of Experts (UNPE)

recommended to the council

that he be removed from the

travel and assets freeze ban.

UNPE told the council that

it made the recommendation

 because Mr. Urey no longer

 posed a threat to Liberia’s

security due to the vested

interest he has in the country.

While delisting the former

Taylor ally, the council

declared:“The Security

Council Committeeestablished pursuant to

resolution 1521 (2003)

concerning Liberia decided on

23 December 2013 to delist

the following individual from

the lists of individuals subject

to the travel restrictions

imposed by paragraph 4 (a)

of resolution 1521 (2003) (the

travel ban list) and the list of

individuals and entities subject

to the measures imposed by

 paragraph 1 of resolution 1532

(2004) (the assets freeze list).

The measures no longer apply

to this individual.”

It furthered, “He is one of the

wealthiest citizens of Liberia.

On 1 October 2009, President

Sirleaf appointed Urey toserve as mayor of Careysburg,

 but removed him from this

 position when it became clear

that Urey would not back her

re-election bid in 2011.”

The panel went on to caution

that Urey clearly has the

resources and the leadership

capacity to command support

and undermine peace and

security in Liberia if he

 Mr. Urey can now freely travel outside Liberia

NEC Certicates CSOs in Nimba

 By Ishmael F. Menkor 

On January

4th, 2014, the

 National Elections

C o m m i s s i o n

(NEC) certicated at least

 ___ civil society organizations

(CSOs) in Nimba County for

 playing major roles in voter

education awareness.

According to the Upper

 Nimba Magistrate, Mr.

Princeton Monbiah, the

certicate of accreditation was

awarded to these organizations

 because of their past

 performance in NEC’s civic

education awareness exercise.

“They are qualied to carry

voter education prescribed

 by the National Elections

Commission,” he said.

The certication ceremony

took place at the ofciallaunch of the civic and voter’s

education campaign on the

2014 voter role update exercise

which was held across Liberia

on the 4th January.

The voters’ roll update was

launched in Ganta, Nimba

County, and brought together

Bong, Lofa and Nimba

counties including several

chiefs and elders from across

 Nimba.

Some of the CSOs included;

the Inter-Visionary Artists,

Daughters of Nimba, Rural

Women Promoter, Nimba

County Development

Association, Give Them Help,

Agricultural Relief Services,

Small Enterprise Development

Organization among others.

 NEC Deputy Commissioner

Samuel Z. Joe, Nimba

Superintendent ChristianaDagadu, Ganta City Mayor

Dorr Cooper and chiefs and

elders attended the launch in

Ganta.

Supt. Dagadu encouraged

the citizens to do their best by

going through the voter roll

 process. She also urged the

CSOs to reach everywhere in

the county with sharing their

awareness so the citizens

could be informed.

“Reach all parts of Nimba,

don’t focus on urban areas

alone, reach the rural parts so

everybody can be aware of thecoming exercise,” City Mayor

Dorr Cooper said reinforcing

the Superintendent’s earlier

statement.

One of the CSOs leaders receiving certicate of recognition from NEC 

Guard Conscience of IntegrityUNDP Country Director Urges Information Commission

The Country Director

of the United Nations

D e v e l o p m e n t

Program (UNDP)

in Liberia has commended

the Liberian Government

for efforts made to establish

the Liberia Independent

Information Commission.

Dr. Kamil Kamaluddeen said

Liberia is among very fewcountries in West Africa that

has taken this giant step. He

was speaking during a courtesy

call paid by a team from the

Independent Information

Commission, headed by its

Chairman Counselor Mark

Bedor-Wla Freeman.

The UNDP Country

Director described the

role of the Commission

as a unique and honorable

responsibility that guards

the conscience of integrity.

He urged the Commission to

use independent information

not only to expose the wrong

things in society but to ensure

that the right things are done to

strengthen integrity.

“Access to information is

 power and UNDP is interested

in all aspects of your work”

said Dr. Kamaluddeen. He

encouraged the Commission

to take its task as a challenge

and an opportunity to write

and make history through its

work.

Speaking earlier, the

Chairman of the Liberia

Independent Information

Commission Counselor

Mark Bedor-Wla Freeman

narrated that the Commission

is soliciting support from

development partners in the

execution of its mandate.

Counselor Freeman informed

the UNDP Country Director

that the Commission has

already commenced the

hearing of cases with one on

asset declaration, now up for

appeal.

He spoke of plans by the

Commission to develop and

implement a ve-year strategic

 plan and expand i ts activities

to all parts of the Country. The

LIIC Chairman pointed out that

the Commission is galvanizing

technical, operational,

nancial and policy support

from Development Partners

interested in promoting goodgovernance.

He mentioned support

 being received from the

Carter Center, and OSIWA

 but appealed to the UNDP to

use its inuence in helping

the Commission mobilize

additional support.

Liberia’s Freedom of

Information Act (FOI) was

signed into law in 2010 and its

rst Independent Information

Commission was named by

President Sirleaf in May 2012.

The FOI provides all persons

the right to access public

information.

chooses, noting that the

animosity that exists between

him and the Government of

Liberia has led some ranking

ofcials in President Sirleaf’s

Government to speculate that

he might have the motivation

to do so.

“The Panel attempted to

investigate Urey’s extensive

assets to determine whether

they were being used to

support groups seeking to

destabilize Liberia and the

sub-region. Urey’s assets

have not been frozen or fully

disclosed.

The Panel relied oninformation provided by

condential sources, the

Government of Liberia and

Urey himself. The Panel

did not have information

suggesting that Urey was

involved in activities that

would destabilize Liberia and

the sub-region.

“It is difcult for the Panel

to assess Urey’s intent.

During the presidential and

legislative elections of 2011,

the Government of Liberia

alleged that Urey used his

radio station, Love FM, to

 broadcast inammatory anti-

Government statements.Ofcials saw this as evidence

of Urey’s seditious intent. The

Panel interviewed Urey on

15 March and 27 September

2013, a day after Taylor’s

conviction was upheld. During

the interviews, Urey stated

to the Panel that his radio

station was a commercial

outlet and that it granted both

government ofcials and

opposition gures paid airtime

to broadcast their views,

without censorship. The Panel

has conrmed that this is the

case and that Love FM is not

unique among Liberian radio

stations in airing inammatory

anti-Government statements.

Urey, in turn, has accused the

Government of involvement in

the subsequent burning of the

radio station’s ofces because

he was a nancial supporter of

an opposition political party,

the Congress for Democratic

Change,” the Panel said.

However, according to the

them, Urey stated told themthat his radio station was a

commercial outlet and that

it granted both government

ofcials and opposition gures

 paid airtime to broadcast their

views, without censorship.

The Panel of Experts said

evidence collected by the

Special Court for Sierra

Leone and reviewed by the

Panel showed that, while

serving as Commissioner

of Maritime Affairs, Urey

authorized payments for arms

 purchases from Serbia from

the accounts of the Maritime

Bureau in 2000 and that the

rst shipment of arms arrived

in Liberia in 2001 or 2002.

But in subsequent interviews

with the Panel, Urey insisted

that as a civilian who had been

appointed to the position of

Commissioner of Maritime

Affairs by Taylor, he did

not make any war-related

decisions. Mr. Urey currently

serves as the Chair of Lonestar

Communications Corporation,

which is one of the largest

taxpayers in Liberia.

“He owns 20 per cent of the

company’s shares through

PLC Investment Limited,

a Liberian company that is

in turn owned by IDS and

 Nexus -- two other Liberian

companies established in

1989 with anonymous bearer

shares,” the Panel added.

The Panel determined that

Mr. Urey’s business activities,

and the prots gained from

them, would appear to suggest

that further civil conict

in Liberia would have a

signicant negative nancialimpact on him.

He reportedly informed the

Panel that he had submitted

a de-listing request to the

relevant focal point in the

United Nations Secretariat

as well as provided the

Panel with a letter dated 6

September, 2013, and signed

 by President Ellen Johnson-

Sirleaf, supporting his petition

for delisting from the UN

Travel Ban, perhaps to enable

him to adequately prepare for

the Presidency in 2017.

Political observers say

the de-listing of Mr. Urey

 paves the way for what many

anticipate would mark the

shock launching of a 2017

 presidential bid.

Urey has also invested in

residential housing, hotels,

a car rental company, radio

and television stations, and

a newspaper. In addition,

he operates a farm which

 produces eggs, chickens, and

 juices.

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 DAILY OBSERVER Wednesday, January 08, 2014  Page 4Tuesday, November 5, 2013

OBSERVER CARTOON WITH A. Leslie Lumeh E-mail: [email protected] www.leslielumeh.com

Published by Liberian Observer Corporation

P.O. Box 1858, Monrovia

Liberia’s First Independent Daily

0886812888, 0886472772www.liberianobserver.com

Thursday, January 9, 2014

Lofa in Neglect?Aaron Kollie, proprietor of Power Radio and Television in

Monrovia, has not been the only prominent Lofa citizen to visit

the county over the Christmas holidays. Yes, he was in his na-

tive Kpademai, in the Wologisi area of Voinjama District.

There he made a major speech blasting the Liberian govern-

ment for doing little for Lofa, despite the overwhelming sup-

 port its people gave President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf during the

2011 elections.

Kollie criticized the county’s road system and called the

 bridges “death traps.” He also frowned upon what he called

the primitive agricultural practices of Lofa farmers, still using

their hoe and cutlass instead of mechanical devices to grow

more food. Yet Lofa is known to be the nation’s chief bread-

 basket.

Aaron Kollie has not announced it, but some say he may be

taking a shot at the House of Representatives. So he decidedthat his rst volley was to talk tough to let the people know he

is rmly on their side.

But further up the street from Voinjama, in the Kolahun and

Foya Districts, there were some pretty high-powered sons of

Lofa, too, visiting during the Season.

The home boys who crossed the Voinjama border to identify

with their people during this festive time apparently contented

themselves with just that—talking little but enjoying the Sea-

son with their people, while at the same time listening to what

they had to say.

And who were these? No less a person than Vice President

Joseph N. Boakai, a native of Foya, and members of his fam-

ily and general entourage, who spent over three weeks in the

greater Foya area and beyond.

There was also the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Augustine

 Ngafuan, who denitely showed his face in the greater Kola-

hun area, but most especially Fangoda, his birth place, wherehe spent quality time with relatives and old friends.

James Kollie, Deputy Minister for Revenues in the Finance

Ministry, was there in Kolahun, too. In Lofa, too, no doubt,

was Galakpai Kortima, former Superintendent, who is now

Mary Broh’s Deputy at the General Services Agency (GSA).

All of these top ofcials of government, sons of Lofa all,

must have been wondering what Aaron Kollie’s fuss was all

about. He surely could not say, they reckoned, that Ellen had

neglected Lofans in her government. One of the Deputies at

Foreign Affairs, Mrs. Una Kumba Thompson, is also a daugh-

ter of Lofa.

Kollie is absolutely right about the still primitive ways in

which Lofans and Liberians in general do farming. This news-

 paper has constantly and consistently complained that the gov-

ernment has failed to organize agriculture. That is why we still

import so much of what we eat and have so little agriculturally

to export. Admittedly, it used to be a little better during the

Tubman and Tolbert eras, when the Liberia Produce Market-

ing Corporation (LPMC) was in full swing. But that quickly

declined following the 1980 coup and has had great difculty

 picking itself up again. In LPMC’s heyday, coffee and cocoa

farmers ourished; so did those who dealt in palm kernels,

 palm oil, etc. The problem is that we have not made progress

agriculturally. Foya and Grand Cess are natural habitats for

cattle; yet we still depend on Guinea and Mali for meat.

Heaven knows what is our problem!

When it comes to roads, however, Aaron Kollie may have for-

gotten about the Vahun Road, for which former Public Works

Minister Ko Woods was so highly praised and appreciated.

We understand that farm-to-market roads in Lofa are near ful-

ly operational; and the airstrip in Foya has been rehabilitated,

thanks to Samaritan Purse, the humanitarian organization run

 by the world evangelist Dr. Billy Graham’s son Franklin. Now

 people can travel to Foya from Monrovia in only 35 minutes,

on Samaritan planes!Then we understand that the streets of Voinjama are about to

 be paved.

Our Water Correspondent Edwin Fayia reports that the water

system in Lofa is poised for improvement. All of the feasibil-

ity studies have been completed, and procurement of equip-

ment is in process.

Perhaps the Vice President and Foreign Minister knew some-

thing about all these developments and were able to resign

themselves to simply enjoying the Season with their people.

In the next Season, Aaron Kollie may nd something else

about which he may be able to bark—or boast.

But this is adisgrace! But it is growing,

Aaron. We have towatch and see.

The World Economy’s Shifting Challenges By George Soros (Courtesy: Project-

 Syndicate.org)

 NEW YORK – As 2013 comes to a close,

efforts to revive growth in the world’s most

inuential economies – with the exception of

the eurozone – are having a benecial effect

worldwide. All of the looming problems for

the global economy are political in character.

After 25 years of stagnation, Japan is at-

tempting to reinvigorate its economy by

engaging in quantitative easing on an un-

 precedented scale. It is a risky experiment:

faster growth could drive up interest rates,

making debt-servicing costs unsustainable.

But Prime Minister Shinzo Abe would rather

take that risk than condemn Japan to a slow

death. And, judging from the public’s enthu-siastic support, so would ordinary Japanese.

By contrast, the European Union is head-

ing toward the type of long-lasting stagna-

tion from which Japan is desperate to es-

cape. The stakes are high: Nation-states can

survive a lost decade or more; but the EU,

an incomplete association of nation-states,

could easily be destroyed by it.

The euro’s design – which was modeled on

the Deutsche Mark – has a fatal aw. Creat -

ing a common central bank without a com-

mon treasury means that government debts

are denominated in a currency that no single

member country controls, making them sub-

 ject to the risk of default. As a consequence

of the crash of 2008, several member coun-

tries became over indebted, and risk premia

made the eurozone’s division into creditor

and debtor countries permanent.

This defect could have been corrected by

replacing individual countries’ bonds with

Eurobonds. Unfortunately, German Chan-

cellor Angela Merkel, reecting the radical

change that Germans’ attitudes toward Eu-

ropean integration have undergone, ruled

that out. Prior to reunication, Germany was

the main motor of integration; now, weighed

down by reunication’s costs, German tax-

 payers are determined to avoid becoming

European debtors’ deep pocket.

After the crash of 2008, Merkel insisted

that each country should look after its own

nancial institutions and government debts

should be paid in full. Without realizing it,

Germany is repeating the tragic error of the

French after World War I. Prime Minister

Aristide Briand’s insistence on reparations

led to the rise of Hitler; Angela Merkel’s

 policies are giving rise to extremist move-ments in the rest of Europe.

The current arrangements governing the

euro are here to stay, because Germany will

always do the bare minimum to preserve the

common currency – and because the markets

and the European authorities would punish

any other country that challenged these ar-

rangements. Nonetheless, the acute phase of

the nancial crisis is now over. The Euro-

 pean nancial authorities have tacitly rec-

ognized that austerity is counterproductive

and have stopped imposing additional scal

constraints. This has given the debtor coun-

tries some breathing room, and, even in the

absence of any growth prospects, nancial

markets have stabilized.

Future crises will be political in origin.

Indeed, this is already apparent, because

the EU has become so inward-looking that

it cannot adequately respond to external

threats, be they in Syria or Ukraine. But the

outlook is far from hopeless; the revival of a

threat from Russia may reverse the prevail-

ing trend toward European disintegration.

As a result, the crisis has transformed the

EU from the “fantastic object” that inspired

enthusiasm into something radically differ-

ent. What was meant to be a voluntary as-

sociation of equal states that sacriced part

of their sovereignty for the common good

 – the embodiment of the principles of an

open society – has now been transformed

 by the euro crisis into a relationship between

creditor and debtor countries that is neither

voluntary nor equal. Indeed, the euro could

destroy the EU altogether.

In contrast to Europe, the United States is

emerging as the developed world’s strongest

economy. Shale energy has given the US an

important competitive advantage in manu-

facturing in general and in petrochemicals

in particular. The banking and household

sectors have made some progress in dele-

veraging. Quantitative easing has boosted

asset values. And the housing market has

improved, with construction lowering un-

employment. The scal drag exerted by se-

questration is also about to expire.

More surprising, the polarization of Amer-

ican politics shows signs of reversing. Thetwo-party system worked reasonably well

for two centuries, because both parties had

to compete for the middle ground in gen-

eral elections. Then the Republican Party

was captured by a coalition of religious and

market fundamentalists, later reinforced by

neo-conservatives, that moved it to a far-

right extreme. The Democrats tried to catch

up in order to capture the middle ground,

and both parties colluded in gerrymandering

Congressional districts. As a consequence,

activist-dominated party primaries took pre-

cedence over general elections.

That completed the polarization of Ameri-

can politics. Eventually, the Republican

Party’s Tea Party wing overplayed its hand.

After the recent debacle of the government

shutdown, what remains of the Republican

establishment has begun ghting back, andthis should lead to a revival of the two-party

system.

The major uncertainty facing the world to-

day is not the euro but the future direction of

China. The growth model responsible for its

rapid rise has run out of steam.

That model depended on nancial repres-

sion of the household sector, in order to

drive the growth of exports and investments.

As a result, the household sector has now

shrunk to 35% of GDP, and its forced sav-

ings are no longer sufcient to nance the

current growth model. This has led to an ex-

 ponential rise in the use of various forms of

debt nancing.

There are some eerie resemblances with

the nancial conditions that prevailed in the

US in the years preceding the crash of 2008.

But there is a signicant difference, too. In

the US, nancial markets tend to dominate

 politics; in China, the state owns the banks

and the bulk of the economy, and the Com-

munist Party controls the state-owned enter-

 prises.

Aware of the dangers, the People’s Bank

of China took steps starting in 2012 to curb

the growth of debt; but when the slowdown

started to cause real distress in the economy,

the Party asserted its supremacy. In July

2013, the leadership ordered the steel indus-

try to restart the furnaces and the PBOC to

ease credit. The economy turned around on

a dime. In November, the Third Plenum of

the 18th Central Committee announced far-

reaching reforms. These developments are

largely responsible for the recent improve-

ment in the global outlook.

The Chinese leadership was right to give

 precedence to economic growth over struc-

tural reforms, because structural reforms,

when combined with scal austerity, push

economies into a deationary tailspin. But

there is an unresolved self-contradiction

in China’s current policies: restarting the

furnaces also reignites exponential debt

growth, which cannot be sustained for much

longer than a couple of years.

How and when this contradiction will be

resolved will have profound consequences

for China and the world. A successful transi-

tion in China will most likely entail political

as well as economic reforms, while failure

would undermine still-widespread trust in

the country’s political leadership, resulting

in repression at home and military confron-

tation abroad.

The other great unresolved problem is the

absence of proper global governance. The

lack of agreement among the United Nations

Security Council’s ve permanent members

is exacerbating humanitarian catastrophes

in countries like Syria – not to mention al-

lowing global warming to proceed largely

unhindered. But, in contrast to the Chinese

conundrum, which will come to a head in the

next few years, the absence of global gover-

nance may continue indenitely.

 About the Author:

George Soros is Chairman of Soros Fund

 Management and Chairman of the Open

 Society Foundations. A pioneer of the

hedge-fund industry, he is the author of

many books, including The Alchemy of Fi-

nance and The New Paradigm for Finan-

cial Markets: The Credit Crisis of 2008 and

What it Means.

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 DAILY OBSERVER Wednesday, January 08, 2014  Page 4Tuesday, November 5, 2013  Page 5Thursday, January 9, 2014 Letters

Know Your Lawmakers

In an effort to adequately cover the National Legislature and

inform our audience about individual lawmaker(s), the  Daily

Observer introduces a new column titled, ‘KNOW YOUR

LAWMAKERS.’

KNOW YOUR LAWMAKERS is published every Monday and

Wednesday weekly beginning January 13, 2014. This column

intends to prole all 103 legislators from family background to

their current professional careers.

In every edition, we will feature at least two lawmakers to enable

us cover the entire Legislature. Management further encourages

members of the First Branch of Government to kindly provide it

with the necessary pieces of information in order to achieve this

goal.

Rethink the NRC’s Strategies, MOEMr. Editor:

Quite honestly, there is not a single time that I walk and pass by the Ministry of Education with-

out reading the street banner installed on the fence of the Ministry which reads “National Reading

Campaign (NRC), and one question always lingers in my mind as I do so, it is: “Why is the planners

and organizers of the NRC failing to solicit the participation of the broad spectrum of the Liberian

society for this all important reading program?”

I stand to be corrected in asserting that many literate Liberians – not to mention illiterate Liberians

 – are totally uninformed about the NRC. This is sufcient reason to make critics of this campaign to

draw the conclusion that the NRC, like many other programs in Liberia, was organized particularly

to justify donor’s funding.Please, please for the sake of the millions of illiterate Liberians, let the planners and organizers

of the NRC of the Ministry Of Education begin to rethink their implementation strategies to ensure

that this reading program succeeds.

Worth mentioning is that leaets and brochures underscoring the importance of the NRC, and

detailing its implementation strategies must disseminated nationwide.

Remember, isolating the larger society from the NRC is doing more harm than good.

Jahbulleh C. Dempster

3rd street, Saye Town, Sinkor

Let Everyone Be Free to Sell TheirPersonal Properties to Anyone

The Editor,

Because of the widening trade decit, Liberia’s Central Bank Governor ( Dr. J. Mills Jones) wants

a “reverse in the country’s export policy towards non-traditional exports”.........Ok, great.

But why do we have an export policy for “non-traditional exports” in the rst place?? (Re “Libe-

ria’s Trade Decit Widens”)

Promoting the free trade of ALL goods and services (traditional and non-traditional exports) i s the

 best export policy for our prosperity!

In the “Wealth of Nation”, Adam Smith, the Father of Modern Economics said that “In every

country it always is and must be in the interest of the great body of people to buy whatever they

want of those sell it cheapest...”

He also argued that in a free exchange of goods and services, both sides became better off! Be-

cause trade benets both sides (importer and exporter), it increases our prosperity!

But our imperial President (Madam Sirleaf) have issued several executive orders (#44 and #50),

 banning private citizens from trading (exporting) their private property (timber, unprocessed rub-

 ber, and other natural resources)!

Don’t we the people have the right to use, transfer, and trade property that we deem ours? If so,

then why is the President using her executive orders to make life a living hell for private citizens

who want to trade their goods and services with others in the global economy??

Hey Madam President, the hard currency (U.S. dollars) we get from trading our exports is what

we use to pay for our imports---(Heinekens, Guinness Stout, bottled water, and Governor Jones’s

fabulous salary)! So why are you hostile to free trade??Um, is there any way can we pay the Governor and the President in Liberian Dollars, since they

are the ones wreaking havoc with our monetary policies? Since Jan. 1, 2013, the Liberian Dollar

have depreciated (rise in exchange rate) from L$72.5/US$1.00 to L$83/US1.00 in Dec 2013!..

And that depreciation of the Liberian dollar is the direct result of our monetary and trade policies.

Look, if the President continues to ban private citizens from exporting (trading) their private prop-

erty to willing buyers around the world, Liberians will soon start living like Zimbabweans! Hint

Z$10,000,000,000,000 = 1 US Dollar!

(Binyah Kesselly could be our rst Liberian Dollar Billionaire!)

But the best export policy is for lawmakers to pass legislation that nullies the ALL executive

orders that ban private citizens from trading (exporting) their private property (timber, unprocessed

rubber, etc) with whomever they choose to around the world! Free trade is the best trade policy for

our prosperity!

Martin Scott

Atlanta, Georgia

Of Faith, Hope and Love By Edward N. Boakai 

Do you’ve faith to remove mountain,

Or hope that life must go on;

And love that doesn’t discriminate?

Then, you’re on track my friend!

For, having faith to surmount your obstacles,

Hope that life must go on no matter what;

And love that transcends all barriers,

Makes you quite wonderful, too!

Faith is bold and stronger than might,

Hope is courageous than an athlete;

And love knows no condition,

Possessing these makes life worth living!

Let your faith not be weak,

And let your hope not be in man;

Or your love full of condition,

Your faith, hope and love should be

unwavering!

For, having faith even to the end,

And hope that your time will inevitably come;

Or love that doesn’t discriminate,

Will indelible impact your life-style my

friend!

2014 By Varney Gean

This New Year expectations so lofty like Mt.

Wologisi

Thoughts swiftly overowing akin to the St.

Paul River 

Frantic minds a calm break so needed to start

afresh

The prospects the dreams the time to make it

all right

Some say this year will be much different

from previous

Pushing beyond the horizon for paramount

once lost

Currently is this moment history be rewritten

with similes

 No limit as those who can must ght to make

it better 

Be it in the north or south or east or the west

of this land

As far as one can sense the presence of any

living being

This year the plants that must come out of the

old cubbyhole

These better lives with sweet things that will

make us laugh

The past we vision not thus it miseries won’t

 polish on us

Ahead we look to nd the diamond bury in all

that haystack 

This New Year the silent resolution to do so

much more

The year we all wish and dream and crave for

the greatest

DRY SEASON IS FINALLYHERE By Varney Gean

The grave dust the smelly sweats

The thick warmth the constant thirsts

Those dry skins and those grimy heels

The scorching sunshine all around us

With just no time for swanky dressing

 Nor those ne coats arriving in town

Thought if you really got a cool place

To survive the mocking warmth outside

Stay indoors and do enjoy the coolness

Out there a heat so merciless you fret

Laugh if you can walk through the day

 No fright and just enjoy the fussy sun

Swarming in sweat and those dry throats

Buy some cool drinks to quench that thirst

 YAWN By Varney Gean

They came with all that madness

They came with all those clamors

They came ready for senselessness

I just yawned and turned my back 

They came not in peace one bit

They came just to ruin the fun fare

They came bearing lies and slanders

I yawned and quietly walked away

They came feigning smile but not

They came not laughing but mocking

They came with all their foolishness

I just yawned and laughed back 

 YOU THOUGHT OF ME By Matenneh-Rose L. Dunbar 

Before I became a cuddly infant

Before the dawning of new day

Before the nurses held my tiny little form

Before I opened my pink purplish mouth to

cry

Before they put me in swaddling white wrap

You Thought Of Me

Before food you fed me manna

Before I stretched my tiny l igaments

Before they saw the glow in my brown eyes

Before my kinky golden hair scooped into a

high

Before the hands helped to make me this

daughter 

You Thought of Me

Before the trucks broke its breaks

Before the plan of bad faith to crush me

Before unhappiness lled my family heart

Before I even grew to sing loud for the LordBefore that Christmas carol night years ago

You Thoughts Of Me

Before the tides changed recently

Before the planes boarded and ew

Before sickness plagued to handicapped

Before the vile mouths of some cursed me

Before the wicked plan of the bad heart stood

You Thought Of Me

Before reason prevailed much

Before a place was in solid rock 

Before the twisting branches broke

Before the rening of earth’s best minerals

Before anger destroyed on woman’s labour 

You Thought Of Me

 ACHIEVE Matenneh-Rose L. Dunbar 

Little things that are free

Make lots of difference

When used with caution

Walk into achievements

Only with a bowed head

Achieve

Captured the impossibles

By having huge dreams

Live by the regular peace

Mend fences in your way

Clean dirt that dim sight

Achieve

Stand on few shoulders

Acknowledge their efforts

Respects common rivalry

Ignore snarls of the feeble

Speed on to be legend

AchieveSmile in the midst of fetters

Surely with joy to longevity

Speak life to dead embers

Sound rich and play honest

Sail smooth to great year 

Achieve

Keep Moving By: Lekpele Nyamalon

When you see them big men

Walking in groups and chatting with their

kind

Laughing at jokes only they can understand

With their heads high like a cliff 

And arms spread like the wind

You wonder, when would I look like a bull?

When you see them coming down cars

Built like an Ox

With horns that howl like an owl

Don’t stop and stare at them

Or else you’d keep still

Walk past them and keep moving on

Someday in ages time

You’d grow and be some big man

Running your world your way

You’d sail a ship or y a jet in outer space

 perhaps

But, like a train, you’d got to keep moving

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 DAILY OBSERVER Page 6 Thur sday January 9, 2014

REPUBLIC OF LIBERIA

MINISTRY OF JUSTICE

STRENGTHENING GOVERNANCE- IMPROVING ACCESS

TO JUSTICE AND ACCOUNTABILITY 

Grant No: TF011340

NATIONAL CONSULTANT SERVICES: ACCESS TO JUSTICE

(ADR) ADVISOR

Request for Expressions of Interest

1. IntroductionThe Government of Liberia has received a grant from the International Development

Association (IDA) toward the cost of strengthening Governance – Improving Access to

Justice and Accountability and intends to apply part of the proceeds of this grant to pay-ments under the contract for the recruitment of a National Consultant.

2. BackgroundAlternative Dispute Resolution (ADR), including various forms of mediation, arbitration

and other justice services, is regularly referenced as a solution to challenges faced by the

Liberian justice system, including: increasing congestion of court dockets; high numbers

of land disputes; signicant costs of litigation; procedural delay; and the adversarial na -

ture of proceedings. The Ministry of Justice’s three-year ADR project will explore ways

 by which the justice system can be more responsive to the needs of Liberians and exam-

ine means of resolving disputes outside of the formal legal process. The overall objective

of the ADR project is to determine how ADR is being used in the Liberian context and pi-

lot models that increase the effectiveness, accountability and sustainability of local ADR

initiatives through some form of institutionalization or support by the MOJ.

3. Objective of the AssignmentThe objective of the assignment is to provide management, administrative and technical

advice and support to the Ministry of Justice on the establishment of Alternative DisputeResolution (ADR) in Liberia through the piloting of ADR system in four counties.

Duties & Responsibilities:

Under the supervision of the Program Manager, the National Consultant in collaboration

with the International Consultant will be responsible for helping to facilitate, consensus

 building and design of the pilot ADR activities; and establishment of pilots in four coun-

ties. The consultant will work in close collaboration with ofcials in the MOJ, in partner -

ship with key strategic partners including the Judiciary, the Law Reform Commission, the

Land Commission, the Liberia National Bar Association, Tribal Governors Association,

representatives of civil society groups, community leaders / elders and chiefs and justice

actors.

The Ministry of Justice now invites eligible individual Liberian nationals to indicate their

interest in providing the services. Interested consultants must provide information indi-

cating that they are qualied to perform the services (CVs, description of similar assign -

ments, experience in similar conditions).

QualifcationsThe Access to Justice (ADR) National Consultant shall have the following educational

and professional qualications:

a. Graduate degree in Law, Public Administration, Political Science, or related

areas;

 b. A minimum of ve years of relevant working experience;

c. Experience working on Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) and working

with traditional communities in Liberia strongly preferred;

d. Excellent writing and communication skills;

e. Demonstrated experience in conducting research on issues related to Dispute

Resolution in similar contexts;

f. Familiarity with Liberia’s social and legal systems

An Individual consultant will be selected in accordance with the procedures set out in the

World Bank’s Guidelines: Selection and Employment of Consultants under IBRD Loans

and IDA Credits and Grants by World Bank Borrowers” dated January 2011. Interested

individual consultants may obtain further information at the address below from Mondayto Friday between 0830 hrs and 1630 hrs during working days.

Expressions of Interest, clearly marked “Access to Justice (ADR) Advisor –National ”,

must be delivered to the address below by hand, mail or email, by 1400 Hrs no later than

January 14, 2014. Only short listed candidates will be contacted.

  The ADR Program

  Ministry of Justice, Third Floor

Ashmun Street, Monrovia, Liberia

Or By e-mail: [email protected]

FINANCIAL INTELLIGENCE UNIT (FIU)Beauty Building, Mechlin Street

Monrovia, Liberia

JOB VACANCY  

T

he Republic of Liberia i s a member of the Inter-Governmental Action Group Against

Money Laundering in West Africa (GIABA). Consistent with the requirements for

membership, the Government of Liberia has established a Financial Intelligence

Unit (FIU), pursuant to an Act of the Legislature, approved on April 30, 2013 toserve as the central, national agency of the Republic of Liberia for receiving, requesting, con-

ducting preliminary investigation, analyzing and disseminating information concerning sus-

 pected proceeds of crime and terrorist property. The FIU is located in the City of Monrovia

and functions under the guidance and direction of a Board of directors.

The Government of Liberia is inviting applications from qualied Liberians for the position of

Director of the Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU).

DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES:

Under the general supervision of the Board of Directors, the Director of the FIU shall:

1. Plan, organize, implement, manage, direct and supervise the appropriate organizational,

institutional and operational framework of the FIU and formulate policies, rules and regulation

to carry out the statutory functions of the FIU, which includes among others to

• Receive and analyze intelligence and other public and non-public information in order

to disseminate useful information to law enforcement and other competent authorities

involved in investigation, prosecution, detection and prevention of money laundering

and terrorist nancing;

• Trace and monitor property and assets suspected to be related to money laundering or

its predicate offences of money laundering and terrorist nancing;• Build capacity of the FIU trough training on anti-money laundering and combating

terrorist nancing (AML/CFT) standards, inspection procedures, reporting, and other

obligations

• Participate in AML/CFT inspection of supervisory authorities to monitor compliance

with AML/CFT reporting and other obligation;

2. Coordinate closely with the Ministry of Justice and other domestic and foreign law

enforcement authorities, including in particular the Ofce of the Solicitor General (SG), the

Liberia National Police (LNP), the Bureau of Immigration (BIN), Drug Enforcement Agency

(DEA), as well as with banks and other nancial institutions in furtherance of the mandate,

functions and activities of the FIU.

3. Initiate appropriate protocols with local, regional and international intelligence organiza-

tions with the aim of ghting activities of criminal organizations and money laundering in

general.

4. Represent Liberia in international AML/CFT meetings, including GIABA;

5. Conduct annual AML/CFT monitoring and evaluation surveys to assess and improve

effectiveness of the national AML/CFT system; and

6. Inform the Board of Directors regularly on developments within the FIU, its activities, and

its cooperation with all key partners and stakeholders; including the submission of periodicreports as may be required by the Board.

7. Perform other tasks, as required by Statute and by the Board in furtherance of the mandate

and activities of the FIU.

CORE COMPETENCIES:

The candidate must demonstrate prociency in the following competences:

• Professionalism: The candidate must demonstrate a solid understanding of money

laundering, proceeds of crime and terrorist nancing; Knowledge of international

AML/CFT standards and requirements; an in-depth knowledge and experience in

information gathering, investigation, and reporting; experience in policy analysis

and interactions with counterparts from other countries; experience in Information

technology (IT) and in designing and delivering training and capacity building pro-

grams.

• Communication: The candidate must speak and write clearly and effectively; and

demonstrate capacity to listen to others and responds appropriately.

• Teamwork: The candidate must demonstrate capacity to work collaboratively with

colleagues to achieve organizational goals.

• Judgment/ Decision Making: The candidate must have the capacity to make judg-

ments and take tough decisions when necessary in complex situations.

• Vision: The candidate must be able to identify strategic issues, opportunities and

risks; generate and communicate broad and compelling organizational direction, and

inspire others to pursue that same direction.

QUALIFICATION:

Education

• Advanced University degree (Master’s degree or equivalent), in law, law enforce-

ment, business administration, accounting /nancial/business management or Social

Sciences.

• A rst level university degree with qualifying work experience may be accepted in

lieu of the advanced university degree.

Work Experience

• At least 7 years of progressively responsible technical and managerial experience in

 public or private sector in law, law enforcement, criminal and or nancial investiga-

tions, nancial supervision/regulation and anti-corruption.

• Qualifying years of experience are calculated following the receipt of the rst level

university degree.

APPLICATIONS

Interested applicants must submit their applications with supporting documents including

copies of degrees to:

  The Chairman, Board of Directors of FIU,

Central Bank of Liberia,

Carey and Warrant Street,

Monrovia, Liberia.

DEADLINE

The dead line for receipt of applications is January 21, 2014. No applications will be accepted

after this date

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 DAILY OBSERVER Wednesday, January 08, 2014  Page 4Tuesday, November 5, 2013Thursday, January 9, 2014 Page 6a

With Leroy M. Sonpon III 

Messengersof Peace

 Introducing: Messengers of Peace-Liberia

Peace is not only de-

ned as the absence

of war, violence, or

conict but the pres-

ence of growth and stability

where people can live in har -

mony. It is on this premise that

the Messengers of Peace-Libe-

ria was founded on 17 Septem-

 ber 2008.

One of the lessons learned

from the tragic events in Li-

 beria was that we needed to

 be better postured, through ap-

 propriate peace messages and

call for non violence, in order

to respond to past or develop-

ing crisis situations. Accord-

ing to Martin Luther King,

“Violence is the language of

the unheard.” The silent whis-

 per of peace is louder than the

sound of any gun.

Ever since the French sociol-

ogist Emile Durkheim, intro-

duced the concept of anomie

in 1893, social scientists and

their knockoffs, columnists,

have been writing about theatomized society.

The anomie concept is a

condition of deregulation that

was occurring in society. This

meant that rules on how peo-

 ple ought to behave with each

other were broken down and

thus people did not know what

to expect from one another.

This column intends to speak

about the benets of a unied

society and the unifying fac-

tors exhibited in our culture

and values as human beings.

In choosing interventions to

support peace education and

violence prevention and re-

duction programs in Liberia,Messengers of Peace (MOP)-

Liberia, a youth based organi-

zation with emphasis on peace

through volunteerism, has

 been selective in its approach

and methodology. Our inter -

vention programmes have em-

 phasized awareness and sen-

sitization programs for peace,

encouraged peace education in

schools and fostering partner -

ships between government and

civil societies, national and in-

ternational agencies in the ar -

eas of volunteerism, education

and development.

Over the past two years,

MOP-Liberia has undertaken

important initiatives such as

the 21 days of Peace Activism,

establishment of peace clubs

in various schools and com-

munities (at the moment we

have 18 to 20 functional peace

clubs in schools), coaching

and mentoring programs for

young adolescent girls and

we have taken advantage of

 potential synergies in the com-

memoration of International

Peace days in Liberia.

Messengers of Peace (MOP)

- Liberia has taken the lead in

organizing, coordinating and

implementing special days

for peace. We have competed

at international levels/pro-

grammes and have organized

seminars, symposium and

 panel discussions with vari-

ous stakeholders on peace in-

tervention strategies. The lead

offers MOP-Liberia a practical

vehicle for increased collabo-

ration with other stakeholders

in Liberia and wi thin the West

African Region.

MOP-Liberia Peace Edu-

cation, violence prevention,

volunteerism and reduction

 programmes, besides building

on the Carter Center Liberia

& Liberia Peace Building Of -

ce (PBO)’s unique compara-

tive advantages of funding

and legitimacy, works with

other sectors related to educa-

tion, youth and sports, com-

munication and tourism. We

have commenced activities

to explore collaboration with

corporate entities to advance

strong links between compa-

nies and their communities to

enhance peaceful dialogue and

collaboration to promote their

communities.

MOP-Liberia is well poised

to design peace education and

violence reduction projects

with interventions in multiple

sectors. MOP plays a key role

in supporting the integration

of peace and development in-

terventions on the ground. At

this point, it is important to

mention that major challenges

in terms of mobilization of re-

sources (Human, Material and

Financial) still lingers. MOP-

Liberia is unable to nance its

long-term prevention activities

that require un-front invest-

ments, which deliver longer

term payoffs.

The overall goal of our in-

tervention programmes is

to work closely with young

 people and develop tailor proj-

ects that respond to local pre-

vailing conditions; since the

types of violence and the fac-

tors responsible for violence

can vary signicantly among

counties and various interest

groups.

The intervention programs

carried out by MOP-Liberia

are novel and experimental

in design and implementa-

tion. Our current plan is to de-

velop an in-house capacity to

conduct research on violence

among young people in Libe-

ria.

Part of the intervention

 plan is to conduct a simple

research on peace education

and violence in 10 schools in

and around Monrovia-Liberia.

It is anticipated that the gath-

ered pieces of evidence would

guide discourse on policy, cur -

riculum development for all

schools and programme de-

sign on peace education and

violence reduction in Liberia.

In conclusion, MOP-Liberia

has iron grip in peacebuilding

and peace education for youth

specically and the com-

munities in general. We are

developing our institutional

capacity to respond to the in-

volvement and participation of

young people in Peace Educa-

tion, volunteerism and vio-

lence reduction programmes.

At the same time, we are cog-nizant of the need to strength-

en and expand this capacity to

other institutions by offering

on-going training to our vol-

unteers from the various peace

clubs in the design, oversight

and evaluation of violence

 prevention, volunteerism and

reduction projects in Liberia.

Peace, above all. May Peace

Prevail!

 

 Author Gwendolyn MyersGwendolyn S. Myers (Youth & Peace Advocate),

 Executive Director, Messengers of Peace-Liberia(MOP)

 

Off UN Drive Road, Mamba point 

 Monrovia, Liberia

Action On Armed Violence (Formerly Landmine Action) is an

International Non-Governmental Organization that is committed

to Good governance antd the development of civil society through

the promotion of international humanitarian law, the relief of

poverty and empowerment of communities marginalized by conict.

Our work in Liberia is concentrated on Human Security where war

affected youths are trained in general agriculture and provided

other skill trainings.

Action On Armed Violence intends to dispose off some vehicles in its

eet and invites interested individual(s) and/or company to present

sealed bids for the purchase of the vehicles listed below with the

following specications.

INVITATION TO BID FOR THE SALE OF USED

 VEHICLES

 

Name Chassis Number KM Covered Condition

1 Toyota Land Cruiser

Hardtop JTERB71J300038710 218578 Good

2 Toyota Land Cruiser

Hardtop JTERB71J200038164 122636 Good

4 Toyota Land CruiserHardtop JTERB71J900049792 100731

NeedsRepair

5 Toyota Land CruiserHardtop JTERB71J500050048 107604

NeedsRepair

CONDITIONS AND PROCEDURES:

1. Interested bidders are required to pick up the Bidding Form from

the ofce of AOAV and then return document in an enclosed envelope

with the specication of the vehicle being bided for and deliver to the

address below no later than 17th January 2014.

2. The individual or company offering the highest bid price per

vehicle will be the winner of the bid.

3. Contact numbers and/or email addresses should be included on

the bidding form for easy reference.

4. The bidding is done on the basis of “as it is and where is” 

5. Interested bidders are asked to inspect the vehicles on the

compound of AOAV from Thursday, January 9th, 2014 to Thursday,

January 16th, 2013. Inspection time is from 10:00 am to 4:00 pm daily.

All sealed bids will be opened on Monday, January 20, 2014 at 2:00 pm

in the conference room of AOAV.

6. All Sealed Bids should be delivered to the Security Guards at

AOAV compound.

7. Bidders are advised to address all bids to:

Finance & Administrative Manager

  Action On Armed Violence  Mamba Point

  Monrovia, Liberia

8. All bidders are kindly requested to quote his/her bid in United

States Dollars. Successful bidder will be contacted to take delivery of

vehicle upon making full payment within seventy two hours (72) to

AOAV and settlement Government of Liberia taxes. Please note that

management reserves the right to disqualify any or all bids. 

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 DAILY OBSERVER Wednesday, January 08, 2014 Thursday, January 9, 2014  Page 6b

The Loma Weekly Describes theNew Executive Mansion in 1964

Today we present

in the History

Column one of

the many rural

newspapers published in

Liberia between the 1950s

and 1960s. This one beingfeatured today is called the

Lorma Weekly and was

 published in Wozi, Zorzor

District, Lofa County on

January 24, 1964 by the

literacy program of the

Lutheran Church in Liberia

(LCL).

The literacy program

in Liberia was formally

started in 1948 by the

government of Liberia,

in collaboration with the

Lutheran, Methodist and

Episcopal Churches.

A renowned international

literacy expert named

Frank Laubach was sent out

to spearhead the program.

He trained many Liberians

in adult literacy through

the churches. Among

those who did the program

under him were Reverend

Byron Traub and his wife

Margaret, both of whom

were part of the nationwide

Lutheran school system.

They taught at Lutheran

schools in the Meuhlenberg

Mission near Millsburg

and Harrisburg on the St.

Paul River, at Totota andin Sanoyea, where one of

their daughters, Mae Gene

Traub Best, was born.

The literacy program

spread to Yandequelleh,

near Totota and was later

established in Totota

Town, where the Lutheran

Mission, elementary school

and church were built.

In Totota, the teachers

worked in the Kpelle

language, and in Wozi,

they worked in the Lorma

language.

The Lorma Weekly

was published in Wozi.The Wozi program was

started by three Lutheran

missionaries, Paul Slafford,

Gerry (Gerald) Currrens

and Margaret Jim Miller,

daughter of the lengendary

American Lutheran

missionary in Liberia, Ma

Miriam Miller, mother of

Margaret Jim. Margaret Jim

managed with the program

until the late 1980s when

she returned to the USA.

Mr. Yella Quaqua was the

last supervisor in charge

of the Wozi program

when, during the Liberiancivil war, the United the

Liberation Movement for

Democracy (ULIMO),

under the command of

warlord Alhaji Kromah,

attacked and burned down

the Wozi Literacy Center,

including the church. Yella

Quaqua was killed during

that attack. The Wozi

Literacy Station still lies

in ruins. The new Lutheran

Bishop, Rt. Rev. Dr. Daniel

Jensen Seyenkulo, said the

church does plan to rebuild

Wozi, but it will have to be

a long-range, ve to 10-

year plan.

In early 1964 Secretary E.

Reginald Townsend of the

Department of Information,

Cultural Affairs and Tourism

(DICA-now Ministry of

Information, Culture and

Tourism-MICAT), gave

the Press and Publications

Bureau a supervisory role

over all rural newspapers.

Several of these papers

were published on a weekly

or monthly basis in all

the then nine counties of

the republic. There wereseveral in some counties. In

 Nimba alone, for example,

there were the Sanniquellie

Sun, the Ganta News and

the Kample Post.

Today, we present the

Lorma Weekly in its

original form, scripted in

the Lorma language, with

an English translation. The

newspaper, published on

January 24, 1964, features

the new Executive Mansion,

an ultramodern presidential

 palace completed in time

for President Tubman’s fth

inauguration. The story,which gives even the date

of dedication, January 3,

1964, is very descriptive,

giving information about

the building that even

today’s generation does not

know.

The Mansion is currently

undergoing renovations

following a 2006 electrical

re that caused extensive

damage. The woman

architect now supervising

the renovation of the

 building is Mrs. Karen

Richards Barnes, daughter

of Winston Richards,whose ofce, Milton and

Richards, Liberia’s oldest

architectural rm, played

a key role in the design

and supervision of the

Executive Mansion.

The supervision work is

expected to be completed

 by the end of this year,

2014.

Here is what the Lorma

Weekly wrote and published

about the Executive

Mansion in 1964:

  The New Mansion

The new ExecutiveMansion, dedicated on

Jan. 3, is truly a splendid

 building, unsurpassed in its

kind in Africa.

It has eight oors and

310 rooms. It has a

few stairways, but nine

elevators.

They say there is meaning

to the plan of the mansion.

The curve of the building

suggests the embrace of

welcome extended to all

who seek help from the

Chief Executive. The

 building has its back to

the ocean, suggesting the

strength of the decisions

that are made in the

executive branch.

There is a pool of water

all around the building. The

 building contains 55 ofces,

a laundry, a clinic, a library,

a theater, a dance room, a

church, several kitchens,

and a sewing room. The

 building is air-conditioned.

President Tubman says

the building should be as

a proverb for the citizens

of the country. As it is asplendid work, so we should

strive for excellence; as it

is a bold and giant venture

so we should attempt great

things; as it represents hard

work and sacrice, so we

should not fear suffering in

the performing of our noble

tasks.

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 DAILY OBSERVER Page 7 Thur sday January 9, 2014

INVITATION TO BID FOR ONE VEHICLE AND 120

KVA GENERATOR

Save the Children International, Liberia Programme invites your submission of a closed/sealed

 bid for the sale of the following assets:

Lot # Description Model Type Colour

Lot 1 Generator Perkins 120KVA White

Lot 2 Toyota Land Cruiser   Prado White

It is important to please read the information you will collect carefully so that you fully under-

stand the requirements.

The documents comprise of the following:

• Letter of Invitation

• Condentiality Agreement (APPENDIX 1)

• Process of Sealed bid & payment (APPENDIX 2)

• Disclosure information Lot number (APPENDIX 3)

• Application for bid (APPENDIX 4)

• Terms and Conditions of bid (APPENDIX 5)

• Detailed list of items for disposal (APPENDIX 6)

View Dates: From January 13th to 17th, 2014 at Save the Children Ofce, Coconut Planta-

tion, Mamba Point, Monrovia. You can view the item from 9 AM to 4 PM daily.

The Organization reserves the right to reject any and all Bids that may not meet the require-

ments.

Should you require further information, please contact the Logistics Manager on 0886400438

or 0777053448

Important-Registration Date

Please note that you must register your intent to view the item on a daily basis from January

13th to 17th, 2014. You will collect bid documents during this time from the security at the

gate.

Thank you for your interest.

 Interested Offerors may obtain a full copy of the RFP which contains detailed instructions

 for preparation of the proposal. The RFP may be collected from the address and/or contact

 person above.

RFP No. RFP-MDF-0020

Issue Date January 7, 2014

Title Reconstruction of Fabrar Inc. warehouse

Objective Please see body of this RFP

Issuing Office &

Email/Physical Address for

Submission of Proposals

FED office, 6th St. Sinkor, Monrovia (Opposite Greenland

Supermarket)[email protected]  

Date for bidders to submit

contact information of

individuals to travel with FED

to Kakata for site visit on

Monday January 13, 2014.

January 14, 2014 (please email [email protected] which

the names and contact details of individuals for site visit)

Date for mandatory site visit

to Kakataand bidders

conference (FED vehicle will

take bidders to project site) –

Day Trip

January 15, 2013 (Itinerary:

9:00am leave FED Monrovia Office

10:15 arrive Kakata

11:00 to 12:30pm site visit and bidder conference

1:30pm return to FED Monrovia Office 

Deadline for submission of

questions, in writing

January 14, 2014 at 5:00 PM (Submit to

[email protected])

Deadline for the submission

of proposalJanuary 22, 2014, at 5:00 PM  

Contact Person MDF Department 

Mobile: 0888-9072-88

[email protected]  

Anticipated Award Type Fixed Price Subcontract 

Basis for Award DAI/FED intends to award a subcontract resulting from this

solicitation to the responsible company (ies) whose

 proposal(s) represents the best value after evaluation in

accordance with the factors in this solicitation.

Solicitation Type Trade Off

Location of Activity Kakata, Margibi County

Proposed Period of

Performance

January 25, 2014 to February28, 2014

USAID Food & Enterprise Development Program (FED)

Request for Proposals(RFP-MDF-0020)—Reconstruction of

Fabrar Inc. warehouse

USAID Food & Enterprise Development Program (FED)

Expression of Interest

Dates LOE Activity Deliverable Location

Week 1 5 days Orientation, design and build

 prototype solar dryer

Monrovia/Montserrado

county

Week 2 4 days Training local carpenters in thesix counties

Interim update Nimba county

Week3 1 days Presentation of findings andrecommendations

Final report and presentation

Monrovia

Project Title: Sun Solar Dryer Constructor and Trainer 

Issue Date: Friday, January 3, 2013

Closing Date & Time: Friday, January 10, 2013, 5pm

Location:  FED ofce, 6 Street Sinkor, Opposite Greenland Super Market

I. BACKGROUND:

FED is a USAID-funded project that aims to increase productivity, protability, and access within the rice, cassava, vegetable, and

goat value chains; improve nutrition; and strengthen food security. FED is focused on four priority counties (Grand Bassa, Bong,

 Nimba and Lofa) and two secondary counties, (Magribi and Montserrado) The FED Program is being implemented to achieve the

following component objectives:

• Component 1: Increase agricultural productivity and protability and improve human nutrition;• Component 2: Stimulate private enterprise growth and investment; and

• Component 3: Build local technical and managerial human resources to sustain and expand accomplishments achieved

under objectives one and two.

II. PURPOSE:

FED requires the services of one qualiedlocal Sun Solar Dryer Constructor and Trainer 

TASKS:

• Design and construct one prototype sun solar dryer

• Provide training to 40 ( 2 carpenter per cluster and we have 20 cluster) local carpenters in the six counties on the ef -

fective used of the solar dryer 

• Design basic training Manuel/sheet that can be used to train FED’s extension agent

• Provide recommendation for training modules;

• Provide recommendations on next steps as appropriate.

DELIVERABLES:

1. Design and construct one prototype;

2. Produce one interim update and one nal report

3. Assist with the design of a training manual for FED extension agent

LOE: 10 days (including 2 travel days, 1 orientation day, 1 presentation day, 6 work days)

Closing date of this EOI is Friday January 10, 2013 at 5:00 P.M

Expression of Interest should be submitted on vendor’s letterhead via hard copy in a sealed envelope, as follows:

ATTENTION:  HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGER 

  USAID/FOOD AND ENTERPRISE DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM

  6TH STREET, SINKOR 

  MONROVIA, LIBERIA

The Forestry Training Institute seeks Reputable Companies/Suppliers to this bid invitation for

the below procurement items through the National Competitive Bidding (NCB) procedures

in the procedures in the public Procurement Act (PPCA):

Invitation for BiddersThe Republic of Liberia

Forestry Training InstituteNational Competitive Bidding NCB

1. The Forestry Training Institute invites sealed bid for eligible companies/suppliers to bid for the

above items.

2. Complete copy of bidding documents in English may be purchase by interested Bidders on

the submission of written application, written to the above address and upon a payment of a non

refundable fee of one Hundred United States Dollars ($ USD 100). Payable to LBDI/FTI account

#:002USD215100945102,  deadline for submission is Feb. 6, 2014 at 11:00 am in the FTI Library.

RFOs are an exception of this payment.

3. Tender must be accompanied by the following documents:

a. Current Business Registration

 b. Article of Incorporation

c. Resent Tax Clearance from the Ministry of Finance

d. Contact References

e. Past performance on similar business line

4. Bids are to be clearly marked with the names of the selected item expenditure are addressed to the

Procurement Committee of the Forestry Training Institute5. All bids must be delivered to our head ofce in Tubmanburg, Bomi County, Liberia. Individual

Bid will be opened according to time specied in your bid document. But not later than Feb. 6 at

11:00 am effectively. Bids coming after the deadline date will be rejected and returned unopened.

6. Bids will be opened by the Procurement Unit of FTI in the presence of Bidders Representation

who chooses to attend the process at FTI’s Headquarters in Tubmanburg. All Bidders are asked to

attend and be on time.

  The Procurement Committee

  Forestry Training Institute

  9050 Tubmanburg

  Bomi County

  Republic of Liberia

Code Contract package Quantity PeriodIFB/NO.FTI/NCB/001/

FY2013-14FUEL AND LUBRICANTS VEHICLE AND

GENERATOR4,580,8 GALLONS 6 MONTHS

IFB/NO.FTI/NCB/002/

FY2013-14

REPAIR AND MAINTENANCE

GENERATOR

3 6 MONTHS

IFB/NO.FTI/NCB/003/FY2013-14

STATIONARY ASSORTED 6 MONTHS

IFB/NO.FTI/NCB/004/FY2013-14

CONSULTANCY SERVICES TWO WOOD SCIENCE EXPERT ANDLEGAL CONSULTANCY

6 MONTHS

IFB/NO.FTI/NCB/005/FY2013-14

FOOD AND CATERING SERVICES ASSORTED 6 MONTHS

IFB/NO.FTI/NCB/006/

FY2013-14

REPAIRS AND MAINTENANCE

FURNITURE AND EQUIPMENT

ASSORTED 6 MONTHS

IFB/NO.FTI/NCB/007/FY2013-14

REPAIRS AND MAINTENANCE VEHICLE 3 6 MONTHS

IFB/NO.FTI/NCB/008/FY2013-14

GUARD SECURITY SERVICES 1 6 MONTHS

IFB/NO.FTI/NCB/009/FY2013-14

FURNITURE AND FIXTURE ASSORTED 6 MONTHS

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 DAILY OBSERVER Page 8Thur sday January 9, 2014

The public is hereby informed that the

following position for VICE PRESIDENT FOR

 ACADEMIC AFFAIRS, now exists and is openedtill January 20th 2014.

1. Background:The AME-ZION UNIVERSITY is an accredited Church owned University for

Higher learning. It is currently seeking an Academic Professional who possesses

the Academic Genre to effectively assume the custodianship of all academic

activities of the University as the VPAA.

Responsibility:• To supervise the development of an Academic Curriculum/Program di-

rected towards the manpower development needs of the society at large.

• Will be charged with the responsibility for supervising the activities of the

Deans, Chairpersons and will assist with the development of all Academic

Programs for the University and must submit quarterly reports to the

President, regarding the achievements and challenges of the University.• The Vice President for Academic Affairs will serve as Vice Chairman of

the Faculty Senate.

• He/he shall assist the president in executing the academic affairs of the

University in line with the vision, mission and core values of the Institu-

tion. As the chief custodian of academic activity, she/he shall be respon-

sible for the updating of the academic curriculum in order to make certain

that the material contents remain comprehensively comparable to that of

our peer Institutions.

• He/she will review periodically, the curriculum and other academic pro-

grams for the purpose of updating the quality of material-content and will

coordinate all Instructional programs.

• He/she will assist in recruiting and maintaining a competent academic

faculty while performing any other duties that may be assigned by the

President.

Minimum Qualication:This Position requires a PhD cognizant to the academic disciplines, relevant

to the Humanity or Natural Sciences or an EdD in Education with emphasis in

Curriculum Development and Supervision with a minimum of (5) ve years

experience in a College/University. A copy of the candidate’s Dissertation or

Thesis for the PhD must be submitted along with all qualifying documents, if the

degree of PhD/EdD was acquired less than 20 years ago. For the EdD, candidates

must present their EdD’s major (projects-paper) for evaluation. However, if the

candidate(s) graduated more than 20 twenty years ago, this requirement will be

waived, until after the interview, during which time the successful applicant will

also be duly required to present a certied copy that can be authenticated. No

online PhD or EdD will be accepted. Salary is attractive along with good

fringe benets and others like vehicle, gasoline, daily allowance, and allowance

for communications.

To Apply:Interested applicants must submit a detailed Cover-Letter indicating their achieve-

ments, and their Vision for this position and the University. Applicants must also

submit a Resume/ CV, to the Chairman of the Search Committee through the

Human Resource Ofce on the Benson Street Campus by January 20th 2014 by

3-PM.

Address: Chairman of the Search Committee

  (VPAA Position), C/O the Director of Human Resources

  AME-ZION UNIVERSITY, 166 Benson Street, Monrovia Liberia

JOB OPPORTUN ITY: Open to qualifed candidates only

 A.M.E. ZION UNIVERSITY

No online Degrees, please ! 

DivinityLiberal Arts

 Allied Health

Science & Tech

Criminal Justice

Business & Public Admin

College of General Studies

Save the Children saves children’s lives, ght for their rights and help them fulll their potentials. Save the Children

started work in Liberia in 1991 with an emergency program focusing on the immediate needs of children affected by the

conict. Save the Children currently operates in eight counties across Liberia and works in: education, health and child

 protection, child rights governance and response to humanitarian emergencies.

Commitment to Child Protection:

Save the Children is committed to keeping children safe from abuse and harm. Candidates applying for these positions

will be subject to the Child Safeguarding recruitment procedures and checks.

Accountability Commitment:

Save the Children is committed to be transparent to children, their carers and communities with whom it works by pro-

moting and abiding by existing organizational accountability system which includes - sharing relevant information on

its work with children, their carers and communities with whom Save the Children works; reporting concerns raised by

children, their carers and communities about the intervention and involving children at all stages of the intervention.

We are seeking for qualied professional with solid background and demonstrated experience in the below position:

JOB TITLE: Child Participation & Accountability Supervisor 

LOCATION:  Monrovia with 70 percent of time travelling to project sites to various counties.

ROLE PURPOSE: 

Save the Children is committed to realising children’s rights and international human rights principles, and it derive legiti-

macy from upholding the values enshrined in these principles. They are translated into practice through our child rights

 programming approach which promotes greater recognition of the rights of children and young people to be listened to,

and to have their views taken seriously in decisions that affect all areas of their lives.

SOME KEY AREAS OF ACCOUNTABILITY:

• To develop and maintain effective participation services for children and young people by promoting par-

ticipation and ensuring that it is enshrined with the cultural ethos, leadership and management values of the

organisation.

• To support children & young people to be fully involved in the design, delivery, evaluation and quality assur-

ance of the projects implemented by save t he children and its partners.

• To act as the key ofcer for the delivery and monitoring of the Save the Children’s Child participation and

Accountability guidelines.

• Account for Save the Children’s assets and interests and safeguard from loss arising from fraud, waste, weak

administration and poor value for money.

QUALIFICATIONS AND EXPERIENCE

• Relevant education and experience gained with a social development organization minimum of three years

work experience in a similar/equivalent capacity.

• Must have a degree in Social Work, Education or Youth and Community Work• Have substantial and demonstrable experience of working directly with children and young people

• Proven skills in computer (Windows, Word, Excel & Outlook)

• Self-motivated with the ability to meet deadlines

How to Apply:

Applications along with a copy of your CV, a contact telephone number and the names of 3 referees whom you

have previously worked for, quoting their email addresses properly and send to this email address liberia.vacancy@

savethechildren.org or to the HR/Support Services Department. Clearly label/quote the job title on your envelope and

hand deliver to the Security Guard at Save the Children’s nearest ofces in (Monrovia, Margibi, Gbarnga, Zwedru &

 Nimba). Deadline for the submission of application is 22nd January 2014, at 4:00 PM. If you fail to indicate the job tit le

on the envelope, your application will not be accepted. Phone calls are not allowed and only short listed candidates

will be contacted.

Note: you could also download full job prole on the Executive Mansion’s Website: [email protected]

Save the Children is an equal opportunities employer - Women are encouraged to apply

 VACANCY ANNOUNCEMENT

The World Bank Liberia intends to sell one used motor vehicle listed below to any

interested bidder. The item is to be sold on the basis of “as is, where is” and the

World Bank will have no further liability after sale. The vehicle was tax exempt at

 purchase; therefore, the purchaser will be liable to pay taxes. The World Bank now

invites sealed bids for the purchase of:

1. Make: Toyota Land Cruiser GX Colour: White

  Year of Manufacture: 2006 Mileage: 111012

  Condition : Running Fuel Type: Diesel 

Interested bidders may inspect the vehicle on week-days at the World Bank former ofce

at Bright Building, Mamba Point, Monrovia from January 9-16, 2014 from 10am– 2 pm.

Bids should include the bid price in United Sates dollars and payment terms.

The evaluation of bids shall be based on price, subject to acceptance of payment terms. The

method of payment will be by certied check and payment instructions will be given to the

successful bidders. The best evaluated bid shall be the highest priced bid and shall be rec-

ommended for award of contract, subject to any reservations regarding failure to meet theofcial valuation or reserve price.

Bids clearly marked “Sale of Motor Vehicle” must be delivered by hand to the address be-

low on or before Friday, January 17, 2014 at 3:00pm. Bids will be opened in the presence

of the bidders’ representatives who choose to attend in the World Bank Conference Room,

German Embassy Compound, Congo Town at 3.01pm on the closing day Late bids shall

 be rejected.

The World Bank reserves the right to reject any bid or to cancel the bidding process and

reject all bids at any time prior to contract award.

Att: Resource Management Analyst

The World Bank Ofce Liberia

  German Embassy Compound

  Congo Town, Tubman Boulevard

  Telephone no: +2316606967

THE WORLD BANK LIBERIA 

INVITATION FOR BIDS FOR THE SALE OF ONE USED MOTOR

 VEHICLE

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 DAILY OBSERVER Wednesday, January 08, 2014 Thursday, January 9, 2014  Page 9

Exchange Rate Soars: L$86 to US$1 As Prices Soar throughout Country By Edwin M. Fayia III 

As the exchange rate

of the US dollar

skyrockets against

the weak Liberian

dollar, prices of imported and

locally produced commodities

have gone through the roof in

the country.

From all indications in

governmental circles, there

seems to be no practical

solution to the escalating

exchange rate, which is

climbing daily.

Foreign exchange bureau

operators in MonroviaWednesday, January 8, told the

Daily Observer the buying rate

of the US dollar now stands at

LD$88 to 89 to US$1.

A visit to some markets in

Monrovia, local produce such

as eddoes, pawpaw (papaya),

cassava, bitter balls, oranges,

cucumbers, plantains, greens,

and potatoes prices have

sharply increased beyond

the reach of most ordinary

Liberians.

Consequently, early

morning shoppers of the

above commodities at the

Red-light market Wednesday

were shocked and in disbelief

when they were told the

sharp increases on all locally

 produced commodities

 brought by rural farmers from

upcountry.

Rural farmers in response

told the shoppers that the prot

margins on their produce have been left in the hands of the

commercial drivers and other

transport providers.

Imported goods such as used

clothes, plastic dishes, roong

sheets (zinc), nails, ceiling

tiles, paints, cement, etc. have

 been sharply increased in most

 business centers in Monrovia

as well.

Another result of the soaring

foreign exchange rate is that

transportation fares have been

hiked by commercial drivers

and other public service

transport providers.

From the commercial

district of Paynesville Red-

light Market as of January 5,

commercial drivers and others

are now charging commuters

LD$90 (US$1.5) to Broad

Street in Monrovia. At least

three weeks ago, it was L$60

from Redlight to Broad Street.

Other reports obtained bythe Daily Observer also said

that commuters from Duala,

the second largest commercial

district in Monrovia,

are encountering similar

challenges at the hands of

transport providers.

The approved Ministry of

Commerce and Industry and

transport fare is LD$60.00

from Red-light Market to

Broad Street in Monrovia.

Due to the sharp increase

in transportation fares,

there were scenes of angry

confrontation Wednesday

amongst commuters, drivers,

and business people at Red-

light in Paynesville City.

“We are tired with this

transport fare menace that

continues to dehumanize ourdignity as Liberians in our

own country by unscrupulous

commercial drivers,” one

commuter, Peter B. Mulbah

stated.

On the other hand commercial

drivers contend that the price

of petroleum products have

 been dramatically increased on

the Liberian market, so they,

too, have to increase transport

fares in order to make prot as

well.

When contacted some

importers of petroleum

 products told the DailyObserver that owing to the

difculties in obtaining foreign

exchange on the Liberian

market, they are left with no

other option but to increase the

 price of petroleum products in

order to make prots.

 Minister of Commerce& Industry, Axel Addy,

Chief Regulator of priceson the Liberian market 

Central Bank of Liberia(CBL) Governor J.

 Mills Jones, custodian

of foreign exchangeregulator 

Commerce Minister Urges Proper Use of Grant-As Chevron-Liberia Signs US$180,000 Grant with Tailor Union-

 By Joaquin Sendolo

Commerce &

Industry Minister

Axel Addy has

sternly cautioned

 beneciaries of Chevron-

Liberia’s US$180,000 grant to

make better use of the money

in order to impress the donors.

Minister Addy in remarks

at the signing ceremony

 between Chevron and Liberia

 National Tailors, Textiles,

Garments & Allied Workers

Union (LNTTGAWU) on

January 8, 2014, at the

Liberian Business Association

(LIBA) Incubation Center in

Paynesville, said impressions

Chevron and the Liberian

Government will gain from

the use of the grant would pavethe way for others to receive

the same aid to enhance their

 businesses.

He asserted that making

use of the fund to yield the

needed result is cardinal to

opportunities for others too,

noting, “The road you are

using to travel should not be

 burnt to prevent others from

traveling along it too.”

The US$180,000 grant is one

of 56 projects Chevron Liberia

has funded since it established

its ofce in Liberia in 2011.

The grant is given underChevron’s project named

Chevron Liberia Economic

Development (CLED).

The Minister noted that as

the LNTTGAWU receives

the money, MOC will ensure

to send Small Medium

Enterprises (SMEs) agents to

monitor them.

He however used the

occasion to urge Liberians

to prioritize products made

 by Liberians so they could

help nancially empower the

 producers to do more.

Minister Addy stressed

that Chevron Liberia and

other multilateral businessesare not the only ones to

empower Liberians; Liberians

themselves have to identify

their value by giving

 preference to products bearing

the country’s name and not

always look out for what they

must wear.

He told the union that MOC

would declare a trade fair

day for producers of country

cloth to come and display

their products. He declared

that he has personally begun

 purchasing country clothes

and share among his workers.In addition to Minister

Addy’s statement, Chevron

Liberia Country Manager, Karl

Cotrell, said he would be glad

to see Liberians competing

at an international level. He

expressed the hope that the

nation’s products would bear a

“Made in Liberia” label as is

the case with other countries

like Japan and China amongst

others.

Mr. Cotrell said empowering

small Liberian businesses,

 promotion of health and

sanitation, and education are

key priorities that Chevron is

focusing on in Liberia.Seventy-ve tailors from

Grand Bassa and Montserrado

Counties are to benet from

this grant through capacity

 building and training.

Senator Joyce Musu Freeman

Sumo, of Nimba County and

former trade unionist stressed

that the grant is the rst for

the LNTTGAWU to have, and

that she was glad Chevron

came to their rescue.

She also cautioned the

leadership of the union to

show transparency in handling

activities surrounding the

money so that everyone wouldfeel content.

LIBA President Dee

Maxwell Kamiah, indicated

that ordinary people are yet to

feel the impact of the 60 billion

the government boasts of being

invested in Liberia.

Mr. Kamiah lauded Chevron

for the grant and called on

other international companies,

including Arcelor Mittal and

China Union, to emulate

Chevron and empower tailors

in Nimba and Bong Counties

with other Liberian business

entrepreneurs.

Dr. Togba Nah-Tipoteh,

who also attended the signing

ceremony, stressed the need for

Liberians to give preference

to products---especially

clothes--- made in Liberia.

The Liberian politician,

economist, and connoisseur

(expert in the area of the ne

or domestic arts) of Liberian

clothes, said it was sad that

Liberians do not prioritize

their own custom but deny it

for customs of other countries.

He urged Liberians to

show their national identity

 by wearing their own attire

instead of always appearing

western.  President of the Liberia

 National Tailor, Textile,

Garment & Allied Workers

Union (LNTTGAWU),

Lasanna K. Dawon, lauded

Chevron for the gesture and

 pledged the organization’s

support to ensuring towards

insuring the money be used

to meet the expectation of the

donor.

 Minister Addy (left) and Chevron Country Manager Cottrell and LNTTGAWU President Dawon (right) signing the grant.

CommercialPhotographer’s Appealfor Gov’t Loan Scheme

 By David A. Yates

Co m m e r c i a l

 p h o t o g r a p h e r s

in the country

are appealing to

the government through the

Central Bank of Liberia to

 provide a small loan scheme

them, especially for those that

are engaged in buttressing the

Liberian economy.

Speaking to our Business

desk yesterday, Eddie K.

Weah, a photographer, said

that commercial photography

is a good business to engage in

for Liberia.

According to him, photographers need help from

the national government to be

empowered nancially.

  “Photography is a good

 business that helps to build

the country’s economy,” he

indicated.

He said that commercial

 photograph plays an important

role in this new age, and

commercial photos are nding

their way into all sorts ofunconventional spaces.

Mr. Weah, who is also a

student of the University

of Liberia, explained that

commercial photographing

is everywhere, and smart

companies know how to make

use of the growing market for

these photos.

Photographer Weah further

asserted that in order to be

successful as an individual

or country, commercial

 photography helps convey

real feeling and evokes an

emotional response to the

international community as

well as investors.He also used the occasion

to extend his gratitude to

the CBL governor for his

many contributions towards

empowering Liberian owned

 businesses.

“I want to use this medium

to appeal to the Government,

especially the CBL governor,

Dr. Jones to look into our

 plights.”

 Mr. Eddie K. Weah, Commercial photographer 

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 DAILY OBSERVER Page 10Thursday, January 9, 2014

emerged into a corridor spaced

 between three houses.

“Watch those people to your

right and those ahead of you,”

my guide told me, “these are the

 people who are heavily involved

in the sale and use of drugs.” I

followed the direction of my

guide. The eyes of several young

men looked in our direction; I

averted my eyes.

  “They are mean and can be

violent,” he said. A few seconds

later, after we meandered our

way into another area, he added,

“they jerk bags and cellphones

and sometimes they threaten

others with knives.”

The young men were mean

looking and strongly built.

There were loud uncontrolled

discussions among them, as un-

related questions about our pres-

ence ew back and forth.

“You see that fellow with the

white shirt?” my guide asked

me, as we passed another group

of men, “his name is Dalema

George. There are seven drug

gangs in this community.”

We made it towards the beachand arrived at an open area with

women huddled, seemingly in

their own world. There were fe-

ces in several places, which was

of little concern to them.

Young women from sixteen

to eighteen years had babies on

their backs, and the early morn-

ing sun made the area attractive,

as cold breeze from the Atlantic

Ocean fanned the area.

 Down on the beach, my guide

told me, “You’ve already seen

three of the areas. Those men

could have harmed you, particu-

larly with a bag hanging on your

side like that.” My response was

mild and I could feel my heart

 beat suddenly increase.

  We came across several ca-

noes obviously owned by sh-

ermen. My guide said, “These

 people have nothing to do with

the drugs in the community,”

and then seconds later, he point-

ed out, “You see that tall boy

there.” I nodded and he said,

“That’s Galawala, his brother’s

name is Ghankay, one of the

leading drug dealers in our com-

munity.”

 Not far from us were two white

tents, the high pitched voices of

men emanated from inside them.

A young man who had observed

us emerged from one of theopenings and waited, pretend-

ing he was just looking around.

Satised that we were harmless,

he went back into the shadows.

  “That was the drug leader

Drug Dealingcalled Fico,” my guide said,

“this is a dangerous place to

come to at night.” There was a

motel nearby with loudspeakers

 blaring songs lled the area.

  Young girls, about ten in

number, yelled at each other in

what seemed to be a serious ar-

gument. As the argument contin-

ued and an older man walked by

us; and suddenly stopped.

  “Those girls don’t live here,”

he told us without any probing,

as we smiled. “They come from

other communities and are able

to ‘rent’ and smoke, so they keep

coming back.”

  At the satellite ofce of the

Drug Enforcement Agency, Col.

Mentor Yormie, the ofcer in

charge of West Point and Bush-

rod Island, sat in an unlighted

and depressing room, he de-

scribed as his ofce. The ofce

was established nearly three

months ago, and is located in

a secluded building at the edge

of the Waterside Market’s en-

trance. There was no light and

the two desks looked in need of

replacing. The oor did not re-

ect what a person would expect

of the ofce of a government

agency. I was welcomed by an

ofcer who informed his chief

of my presence.

  Col. Yormie welcomed me

into the dark ofce. He talked

about the challenge of working

with a limited number of staff.

“I have six ofcers in the eld

investigating drugs related is-

sues,” he said.

  Answering the question as to

what types of drugs were in the

community, Col. Yormie said,

“Majorly it is marijuana,” but a

local resident explained that he

has observed young men and

women snifng a white-colored

 power that is placed on a spoon,

describing it as ‘cocaine.’

  “Like how they do it in the

movies,” the resident said with

a smile.

  Col. Yormie meanwhile said,

“We have collaborated with

the police and other agencies

to track down drug agents and

those caught are sent to court.

We have also destroyed seven

ghetto shacks that dealt in the

sale and use of drugs,” he added,

 pointing to the wall, as pictures

of the burning and the arrests

were pasted.

  “The problem is that after

destroying those ghetto shacks,

they are quickly rebuilt. There-

fore, we are now concentrating

on identifying those who bring

drugs into the West Point com-

munity,” Col. Yormie said.

“Who are involved, as far as

your agency is concerned, in the

 peddling of drugs in this com-

munity?” The answer seemed

obvious following the recent ar-

rest of a police patrolman with

drugs, Col, Yormie said there

were Nigerian businessmen in-

volved but denied the involve-

ment of anyone at the West Point

Commissioner’s Ofce.

  Individuals interviewed

across West Point, including

Lawrence Nah, 23, said, “It is

foolish for anyone to blame the

Commissioner (Miatta Flow-

ers), for peddling in drugs. That

allegation is false.”

James Baidoo, a sherman,

said, “I go to sea and come in

town occasionally, but there is

no evidence whatsoever that

Commissioner Flowers is in-

volved in the dealing of drugs.”

20-year-old Rebecca Tamba

commented, “It is not true that

Commissioner Flowers is in-

volved in drugs there are people

who are disgruntled who blame

others for their own problems.”

  James S. Sarlee, 44, backed

the commissioner saying,

“There is no proof that Commis-

sioner Flowers is involved with

drugs. I think people say that be-

cause those who are arrested are

sometimes set free, there could

 be someone powerful getting

these criminals released.”

  “The Drug Enforcement

Agency (DEA) does not work

under Commissioner Miatta

Flowers, and she does not dic-

tate or control any government

agency,” a DEA ofcer told the

Daily Observer.

  “How could someone accuse

her of involvement in peddling

drugs in West Point? Her role is

to lead the people and develop

the community,” someone in her

ofce said.

  When we interviewed Com-

missioner Flowers, she said she

regretted the resentment that

certain individuals show to-

wards her ofce.

  “If someone is at the age of

40 and still at the university,”

she said, “I cannot be blamed for

that. As a community we must

work to solve our problems to-

gether.”

  “It’s disrespectful to my of-

ce for anyone, whatever his or

her motive, to slander my repu-

tation on the radio when I am

called to challenge my accuser,”

she explained.

  Commissioner Flowers said

slander against government of-

cials--- as often practiced in

the media--- is not how people

should work to solve any prob-

lem in any community.

  “No one should slander my

reputation because of errone-

ous assumptions and the media

should not make room for such

 people,” Commissioner Flowers

said. “If anybody has a case the

 person should contact the police

and let the law take its course.”

 By C.Y. Kwanue

I

n the aftermath of the

 publication of a damn-

ing report on alleged

corrupt practices in Li-

 beria, the author of the

 book: “CORRUPTION

101-LIBERIA STYLE,” said

he will not run away from thecountry, even though there are

reports of threats to his life.

  The author claimed the re-

 ported threats are being made

 by unknown persons following

the publication of the book. He

 promised not to be frightened

 by that, but rather to remain and

ght his case (Liberty vs. the

Ministry of Lands, Mines, and

Energy) through the court in

Liberia.

  According to Mr. Len Lind-

strom, since the news of the

 publication of the book broke

out, he has allegedly received

numerous phone calls on re-stricted numbers, and has also

come in contact with persons,

who reportedly threatened to get

even with him.

“I am not running away from

Liberia, because I love this

country and its earnest (sincere)

 people and their hospitality. I

will not run away, because, to

do so would mean abuse of trust

and condence from the Liberty

International Mineral Corpora-

tion and Liberty Group of Com-

 panies as well as its employees,”

Mr. Lindstrom assured.

  According to him, in the

midst of all the past shenanigans

(mischievous acts) and failed

 promises to regain the compa-

ny’s seized licenses and proper-ties, the company remains con-

dent that justice in Liberia will

do the right thing. He said the

only decent option was return-

ing the properties and allowing

the over 300 employees to return

to work, because the company

operates as a legitimate invest-

ment in the resource sector.

He also expressed the hope

that Liberty eventually receives

all that is legal and equitable

in damages. Mr. Lindstrom be-

lieved the public release of the

 book would serve as a powerful

instrument to make all the citi-

zens of Liberia and the interna-

tional investment community

aware of the corruption taking

 place in their midst.

 The book’s author also said itsrelease would hasten a just solu-

tion to the long overdue matter

which has already destroyed and

crippled far too many lives just

so a handful of corrupt ofcials

could escape being exposed.

On Sunday, January 5,

2014, Mr. Lindstrom, a Cana-

dian investor in Liberia since

2004, released a powerful new

 book, entitled: CORRUPTION

101-LIBERIA STYLE in Mon-

rovia at a press conference host-

ed at a resort.

  The book exposes what the

writer catalogued as the white

collar crime, corporate bribery,

and government corruption in

the natural resource sector.

In the 618-page book, Mr.

Lindstrom documented issuesregarding key events, facts, and

laws pertaining to the case of

Liberty Vs. Ministry of Lands,

Mines and Energy and the gov-

ernment in the company’s ght

for justice in the midst of alleged

corruption, extortion, economic

sabotage, impunity, violation

of court injunctions, bought-off

lawyers, tampering with ofcial

court records, and repeated a-

grant assaults against the sanc-

tity of the court

Since the book was launched

on Sunday the Ministry of

Lands, Mines and Energy has

not reacted. According to a

source at the Ministry, it is only

the Ministry’s public ofcer,

Joseph Matady and Minister

Patrick Sendolo, who would be

allowed to make a statement

concerning the book. Both men

have reportedly been out of the

ofce since Monday reportedly

handling ofcial duties in the

eld.

I Won’t Run

disclosed that despite nancial

and logistical problems, the

Justice and Peace Commission

is not dormant, as feared by the

 public and members of the Cath-

olic Church.

Archbishop Zeigler recalled

that during the time of his pre-

decessor, the late Archbishop

Michael Kpakala Francis, the

JPC was very vocal and active

 because of the situation in the

country then. Though there are

logistical and nancial difcul-

ties, Archbishop Zeigler main-

tained that the JPC is not dor-

mant, but working inwardly.

Most Rev. Zeigler lamented

the difcult challenges facing

the Catholic Church and its vari-

ous institutions such as schools

and health centers. He said the

JPC, which presently does not

have a vehicle, was feeling re-

strained by a lack of nancial

support.

It may be recalled that in re-

cent times, Archbishop Zeiglerseems to be gradually--- but

surely--- tting his feet into the

 big shoes of his predecessor, the

highly outspoken late Archbish-

op Francis, who was hailed by

President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf

in her 2006 inaugural address as

the “Conscience of the Nation.”

On New Year’s Eve, Rev. Zei-

gler reminded Liberians that the

ght against corruption must

start from somewhere, mainly

the family, and all other sectors

of society where traces of cor-

ruption can be found.

He said Liberians need to ad-

mit that corruption has perme-

ated (spread through) the entire

country. “We are all corrupt and

we need to admit that and try to

work on ourselves individually,

and then we will be able to look

at the another person say he/she

is corrupt.”

Sometime last year, Archbish-

op Zeigler said, underscoring the

important role the media needs

to play at “this critical junc-

tion of our peace sustainability

and reconciliation, ”challenged

Liberian radio station own-

ers to control their talk shows,

saying many of the conversa-

tions would not promote peace

and reconciliation. “I beg you;

 please control your talk shows.”

He warned that sustaining the

10-year-old peace and forging

ahead toward total reconcilia-

tion for all Liberians would--- toa large extent--- depend on the

type and quality of news and

 programs the media houses try

to disseminate.

The JPC was established by

the Catholic Church in Liberia

in 1991 under the sheperdship

of late Archbishop Francis as

a non-governmental organi-

zation (NGO). It was formed

in response to a century-long

history of widespread human

rights abuses and injustices ac-

centuated by the Liberian civil

war, which began in December

24,1989.

 The work of the JPC includes

monitoring and reporting on hu-

man rights violations in Liberia;

 provision of legal aid and coor-

dinates the Human Rights Fact-

Finding Documentation and

Reporting Program. It works

concretely for reconciliation in

Liberia through its Conict Res-

olution and Peace-building pro-

gram, which include training,

workshops, and the promotion

of dialogue and tolerance at the

local level, by utilizing existing

traditional mechanisms where

 possible.

The Former Minister of Pub-

lic Works, Samuel Ko Woods,

and the former Chairperson of

the Liberia Anti-Corruption

Commission (LACC), Madam

Frances Johnson-Morris, were

among the many prominent per-

sonalities that headed the JPC

during the civil war and post-

war periods.

JPC Faces

For nearly a week and a half,

residents from 3rd Street up to

13th Street in Sinkor, Monrovia,

have been complaining about

sewage coming from the plumb-

ing systems of various buildings

 being dumped into the ocean.

Environmentalists and resi-

dents of the affected communi-

ties have pointed accusing n-

gers at occupants of the African

Plaza Housing Complex and the

Headquarters of the United Na-

tions Mission in Liberia (UN-

MIL).

Many of the residents have be-

come disenchanted because their

complaints against major busi-

ness entities including hotels,

airline ofces, and restaurantsare seemingly falling upon deaf

ears.

As a result of the excess of

sewage and other forms of

wastes being constantly dumped

into the ocean, the tide often re-

turns most of the pollutants back

onto the beaches of the densely

 populated communities along

the ocean. This contaminates

the air, sand, and safe drinking

systems.

According to environmental-

ists and hydrological experts, the

ocean cannot withstand wastes

from manmade sources. The del-

icate balance of maintaining the

ocean’s ecosystem while serving

humanity’s needs make battling

 pollution very difcult without

help.

The Daily Observer met Lu-

theran Church of Liberia, Bishop

Dr. Daniel Jensen Senyenkulo,

who is a major stakeholder of the

13th Street seaside community.

Bishop Senyenkulo expressed

grave concern over the air and

water pollution of the various

 beaches in Sinkor.

Bishop Senyenkulo stated

that waste contamination of the beaches by business entities

must claim the immediate atten-

tion of all concerned stakehold-

ers so steps can be taken to have

the beaches clean and constantly

kept clean.

Dr. Senyenkulo explained that

exposure to drinking water and

sand being contaminated by

waste threatened the lives of all

those living on, near, and merely

visiting the beach because of

the mix of unidentied lth and

chemicals in the area.

  “I would be very grateful if

the Liberian Government’s line

ministries and agencies such as

the Environmental Protection

Agency (EPA) and its support

 partners in the environmental

sector could urgently institute

 practical action in order to save

the lives of residents of Sinkor,”

Bishop Senyenkulo pleaded.

A 10th Street resident, Philip

B. Stewart, expressed serious

concern over the unsanitary con-

ditions of the beaches and joined

the chorus of voices calling for

swift action by the EPA.

“Move now to save us from

the ecological hazards stem-

ming from the pollution caused

 by sewer pipelines of these ‘big business’ buildings,” Stewart

cried out.

“We are dying slowly from the

odor of the wastes,” he added.

A 3rd Street resident, Grace M.

Coleman, called on the EPA and

all supporting partners, includ-

ing the United Nations, to assist

the Liberian government, halt

the degradation of the beaches in

the Sinkor area in Monrovia and

other parts of country.

“Our wells and other vital wa-

ter sources are being gradually

contaminated by the wastes from

the sewer pipelines. This is wa-

ter we use to bathe our children,

clean our homes, and cook our

food,” Madam Coleman said.

Meanwhile, a well-placed

source within the UN System,

who spoke to the Daily Ob-

server under the condition of

anonymity because he was not

authorized to speak to the media,

maintained that the allegations

against UNMIL are untrue.

The source explained that UN-

MIL and all UN agencies have

strict eco-friendly policies con-

cerning the disposal of wastes.

He said UNMIL headquarters,

which is just along the ocean, isequipped with machinery that

recycles non-biodegradables

(wastes that can’t be broken

down) and grinds and incinerates

 biodegradables (wastes from

organic sources like humans,

 plants, and animals that are eas-

ily broken down). This falls in

line with several of the UN’s

green (environmentally friendly)

initiatives.

Monrovia

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 DAILY OBSERVER Wednesday, January 08, 2014  Page 4Tuesday, November 5, 2013

   F  o  r   q 

  u   i  c   k

    b  u  s   i  n

  e  s  s   r

  e  s  u   l   t  s

 ,  

  a  d  v  e

  r   t   i  s  e    i  n

    t   h   i  s 

  s  p  a  c

  e

   F  o  r   q 

  u   i  c   k

    b  u  s   i  n

  e  s  s   r

  e  s  u   l   t  s

 ,  

  a  d  v  e

  r   t   i  s

  e    i  n

    t   h   i  s 

  s  p  a  c

  e

 Read more sports articles on the Daily Observer website @ www.liberianobserver.com/sports

   F  o  r   q 

  u   i  c   k

    b  u  s   i  n

  e  s  s   r

  e  s  u   l   t  s

 ,  

  a  d  v  e

  r   t   i  s  e

    i  n    t   h   i  s 

  s  p  a  c

  e

   F  o  r   q 

  u   i  c   k

    b  u  s   i  n

  e  s  s   r

  e  s  u   l   t  s

 ,  

  a  d  v  e

  r   t   i  s  e

    i  n    t   h   i  s 

  s  p  a  c

  e

 Read more sports articles on the Daily Observer website @ www.liberianobserver.com/sports

Thursday, January 9, 2014 Page 11

The Shame of Belonging to SWAL By Omari Jackson

There are some jour-

nalists whose duty

is to write and talk

about sports and the

Sports Writers Association of

Liberia is their organization.

In their discussions, they talk

about sports and they followathletes as they grow in their

careers.

They also follow athletes and

make them know how impor-

tant they are, and how much

they stand to gain, if all goes

well.

They criticize to ensure im-

 provement and not to destroy a

 player’s passion for his game.

Much attention is on the player

and not on a foreign player,

who lives thousands of miles

away.

For many of us, that was how

we were taught to do, and how

we did it. Before the civil cri-

sis, sports and sportsmen had

the best of time.

Particularly in football, ath-

letics and basketball, sports

writers followed players as

they moved on to major pro-

fessional leagues in Europe

and America.

Sadly, Liberian footballers

who moved to America did

not make any impression in ei-

ther soccer or basketball. Their

absence created a vacuum athome that could not be lled.

We created our stars and

gave them nicknames: ‘Arm-

strong’ (Joe Nagbe), the ‘Most

Celebrated Player’ (James Sa-

linsa Debah) and the eventual

king of the turf ‘Wizard Drib-

 bler” (George Weah), just to

name a few.

It was the best of times to

talk and write about sports. On

the radio, were names like the

late Herbert Grigsby, Cyrus

Badio and Patrick Manjoe.

Badio and Manjoe later came

up with the breakfast show

CyrusPat Show that took the

nation by storm.

Those broadcasters made

listening to radio an exciting

adventure. They were devoted

to our players and the players

loved them for it.

On the writing side, I and

others like Gabriel da Costa,

Akosa Ike, Emmanuel Wil-

liams, Hassan Kiawu, Simon

Reeves, Momolu V. O. Sirleaf,

the late Klon Hinneh, Mattor

Harris, James B. Carter, BanaSackie, made sports writing a

wonderful experience.

The war, that animal of prog-

ress, brought all our things to

a halt, and like Chinua Achebe

said, “Things fell apart and the

center could no longer hold.”

Today, we live in a new era,

a period of instant communi-

cation in which the internet

has made the work of a sport

writer less challenging. Andthe best sports writers can

now do is ‘copy what others

have written and for another

audience and publish them

in their newspapers’ and they

are known as ‘sports writers.’

What a shame!

What has the Sports Writ-

ers Association of Liberia,

SWAL, brought into the devel-

opment of the sports writer? I

am aware of a couple of semi-

nars but the results have been

the same, stealing articles

from the internet.

Since my return, I have ob-

served SWAL in serious con-frontation with the Liberia

Football Association when it

is not able to address its mem-

 bers’ passion to promote Euro-

 pean football over local sports.

I have also heard radio pre-

senters who read step-by-step

career growth of foreign play-

ers at the expense of local

 players.

When the Amputee Lone

Star won the Cup of Nations’

trophy the 3rd time, the SWAL

was silent about that achieve-

ment.

When the national team,

Lone Star suffered its worst

humiliation defeat against Ni-geria, SWAL remained mum.

When former national team

 players Mark Fino and Pete

Roberts and administrator

David L. Bropleh passed in

2013, the SWAL was nowhere

to identify with the families.

As I write, Experience Sayon

Davis and Joker Wreacher

 both suffered from stroke and

the SWAL has not made any

attempt to go tell them ‘don’t

mind.’ Sayon was a member of

the Lone Star that in 1979 won

the 6-Nation Tournament.

The SWAL or its members

are not interested in the local

 boy who after several attempts

managed to beat 32 and to set

his local team are with de-

light.

One of the initiatives that

made SWAL relevant: the

Herbert Grigsby Forum is

gone, and what does SWAL

have left?

SWAL election is coming

up and there are issues about

money credited and repaid.

That is pure nonsense!

Sometimes I feel ashamed to

 be a sports writer, but I have

 been writing for the last sev-

eral years and I nd it difcult

to quit. I have also been writ-

ing shorts stories and I think

I must continue, for at least,

Criminal lawyer Jason Doe,

the hero of my mystery stories,

will ensure that justice is done.

Omari Jackson-the author 

Nations’ Cup in South Africa Jan. 15

The third edition ofthe African Na-

tions Championship

(Chan) tournament

gets underway on Saturday

when Bafana Bafana take on

Mozambique in the opening

match at the Cape Town Sta-

dium.

Devised by the Confedera-

tion of African Football (CAF)

in September 2007, Chan is a

tournament reserved exclu-sively for players who are ac-

tive in the local leagues of the

country of their birth.

Players who play abroad or

elsewhere on the African con-

tinent therefore are not quali-

ed to take part in the compe-

tition.

The inaugural Chan tourna-

ment, held in 2009, was hosted

 by the Ivory Coast, with the

Democratic Republic of Con-

go winning the competition.

After expanding the tourna-

ment from eight to 16 teams

for the second edition, held in

Sudan in 2011, Tunisia walked

away the winners, in the wake

of the Tunisian Revolution,

which led to the ousting of

long-time president Zine El

Abidine Ben Ali in January of

that year.

Three years on, and South

Africa will be hosting the

event, which was originally

supposed to be held in Libya.

The tournament was moved as

a result of political unrest in

the northern African nation.

Bafana will be competing in

their second Chan tournament,

having reached the quarternal

stage in 2011, losing out to Al-

geria in Khartoum.

Cape Town, Bloemfontein

and Polokwane were an-nounced as the host cities

for the event, with the 65,

000-seater Cape Town Sta-

dium set to welcome the two

nalists on February 1.

Group B consists of Zimba-

 bwe, Uganda, Burkina Faso

and Morocco and will also be

 based in Cape Town with most

of their matches being played

at the Athlone Stadium.

Fikile Mbalula with Gordon Igesund 

Hearts Not Interestedin Boycott

Club football giants

Hearts of Oak say

they have no inten-

tion of boycotting

the Ghana Premier League de-

spite increasing nancial bur -

dens countrywide.

League clubs will meet on

Wednesday to jaw-jaw over

ways to improve conditions

of operations in Ghana’s top

ight, with sponsorship a key

issue.

Below is the text of the re-

lease by Accra Hearts of Oak:

The attention of Manage-

ment of Accra Hearts of Oak

Sporting Club Limited has

 been drawn to a story in the

Ghanaian Times (January 7,

2014) which indicates that the

Ghana League Clubs Associa-

tion [GHALCA] is meeting on

Wednesday over a Premier

League boycott threat by the

sixteen Premier League clubs

who “claim they lack the -

nancial wherewithal to com-

 pete in the top ight.”

We, at Accra Hearts of Oak,

wish to state emphatically that

we have never made such a

claim.

We do acknowledge the

heavy nancial burden that

clubs playing in the Premier

League bear and it is largely

on account of the goodwill and

immense nancial support that

we have enjoyed from our Ma-

 jor Sponsor, Strategic African

Securities [SAS] that we are

able to run our club success-

fully.

We have been invited to the

meeting by GHALCA to dis-

cuss ways in which the PremierLeague clubs can improve

their nancial position and we

 believe that such a platform

would stimulate innovative

ideas leading to progress for

all Premier League clubs.

We will be attending the said

meeting with a focus on mak-

ing our modest intellectual

contribution to the discourse

on how to improve revenue

generation for the league and

not to advocate a boycott as

the story predicts.

We believe that a boycott

would be counter-productive

 because, without generating

any income, the Clubs would

still be paying idle players and

 paying other bills. We would

only succeed in sending nega-

tive signals to a world that has

come to admire Ghana Foot-

 ball internationally.

Based in Bloemfontein,

Group C comprises Ghana,

Libya, Ethiopia and Congo,

while Group D, in Polokwane,

will be contested by the Demo-

cratic Republic of Congo, Ga-

 bon, Burundi and Mauritania.

The knockout stages begin

in Cape Town on January 25,

with the top two teams of each

group progressing to the quar-

ternals.

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 Dr. Owl’s Guest 

CDC’s McGill Joins Weah for Senate By Keith Morris

The secretary

general of

the Congress

for Demo-

cratic Change

(CDC), Na-

thaniel McGill, has joined the

competition in ghting for a

 place at the 53rd National Leg-

islature.McGill announced his bid re-

cently to contest as a candidate

on the CDC ticket for Gbarpo-

lu County in the ensuing Spe-

cial Senatorial Election.

From all indications, having

a primary to elect CDC’s can-

didate for that post is a mere

 bluff because as it has been

done in the past, Amb. George

Weah’s friends and chosen

ones in the party never lost to

anyone in the primaries.

Evidenced by the fact that

the CDC convention in Bomi

County that brought to power

the likes of George Solo, Rep-

resentatives Solomon George,

Munah Pelham-Youngblood,

and Acarous M. Gray among

others was “stage-managed,”

sources closed to the partyhinted.

If we are to reason with our

sources, this means that Mc-

Gill would challenge incum-

 bent Theodore Momo, Daniel

 Naathan who was beaten in

2011 elections, and Represen-

tative Gertrude Lamin, who is

 being reported as the choice of

Senator Armah Z. Jallah of the

same county.

According to McGill, he

wants to join forces with the

CDC contingent including

Amb. George Weah at the

Capitol Building to propagate

the CDC’s agenda, a move he

(McGill) considers critical to

the survivability of the party.

“To have a strong and inu-

ential Secretary General of the

 biggest opposition party in the

Legislature means a whole lot

to the CDC and the people of

Liberia. The county is under-

represented at the Senate and

we have made that move now

in order to redeem our peo-

 ple,” McGill said.

Amb. Weah is also opting for

a seat in Montserrado County,

a quest many encouraged but

is, however, challenged by few

 politicians.

On the other side, he (Weah)

has been seen as a politician

who provided elected jobs

for many people who never

dreamt of occupying promi-

nent positions in government.

The CDC political leader

in one of his public speeches

named Rep. Solomon George

as one of those persons who he

(Weah) personally encouraged

to join him so that he (George)

could have an elected job.

Others considered 2014 as

the year where Weah can get

an elected job in an effort to

learn government and prepare

for the presidency, a job he

once contested and failed.

Many politicians who still

have eyes on the presidency

like Cllr. Charles Brumskine

and others strongly oppose

Weah’s bid for the Senate, po-

litical commentators intoned.

According to these political

commentators, Weah having

an opportunity to work in the

Senate might give him (Weah)

the courage and zealousness

to stand for the presidency in

2017, a move many feel con-

sider to be an “uphill battle,”

as very few feel he has a

chance of winning.

Politicians have started

throwing their weight behind

new-comer Benjamin Sanvee

to battle Weah in Montserrado,

a county that is the stronghold

of the CDC; statistics from

 previous elections have prov-

en.

How strong both McGill

and Weah’s support base is

for the respective seats would

determine the popularity of

the CDC in the Legislature, a

 party that lost its majority to

the ruling Unity Party in the

2011 Elections.

CDC Secretary General Nathaniel McGill 

2 Lebanese ‘Rapists’ Get New Trial By Abednego Davis

Following the

Criminal Court‘E’s’ jurors’

u n a n i m o u s

guilty verdict

against two

Lebanese nationals, Mr. Dib

Kassabli and his son Anthony

Kassabli for gang rape, Judge

Ceaineh Clinton Johnson,

on Tuesday, January 7 over

turned that decision.

Judge Johnson also accepted

the men’s request for a “New

Trial” led on their behalf by

their lawyers.

Chapter 22, of the Criminal

Procedure Law provides that

“when a verdict has been ren-

dered against the defendant,

the court, on motion of thedefendant, may grant a New

Trial on any of the grounds

specic in paragraph 2 of the

section.”

The jury convicted the two

men on December 31, 2013

of all the charges, including;

illicit trafcking of human be-

ings, migrant smuggling, felo-

nious restraint, gang rape, and

illegal possession of a rearm.

They were charged for alleg-

edly transporting ve Moroc-

can women into Liberia for the

 purpose of exploitation.

These allegations the defen-

dants denied when they rst

appeared before Judge John-

son.

But, the lawyers in their

11-count request, among otherthings, argued that the jurors

failed to take into account that

no evidence was produced;

 particularly against the con-

victed men proving that they

gang raped any of the alleged

victims.

They further argued that the

 jurors failed and neglected to

take into account that no medi-

cal report was introduced into

evidence to establish that any

of the alleged victims was sex-

ually exploited.

According to them, the pros-

ecution during the trial failed

to identify any place where the

alleged gang rape happened

and if the defendants partici-

 pated, since the victims them-

selves did not say the defen-dants had sexual intercourse

with them.

They even contended that

the jurors failed to take into

account the inconsistencies

 between and among the pros-

ecution’s witness, which they

claimed created doubt as to the

“truthfulness” of the witness-

es’ testimonies, “for example,

the two police detectives who

conducted the criminal inves-

tigation statements did not

corroborate the witnesses’

story,” the lawyers pointed out

in the motion.

The case grew when the

Kassabli’s were arrested in

July 2013 and later indicted

on four counts of gang rape,

illicit human trafcking, and

 possession and sale of a physi-

cal object for lethal use by the

government.

In the indictment, the gov-

ernment alleged that the defen-

dants along with one Madam

Habba Kou Kawar recruited

and transported ve Moroc-

can women into Liberia to use

them as sex workers.

It further stated that the de-

fendants operated a Bar and

Restaurant on Center Street,

where they used the Moroc-

cans as sex workers in viola-

tion of the law.

In conclusion, the indictment

says, the defendants took away

the girls’ passports and other

travel documents and failed to

 pay them as promised.

 Dib Kassabli and his son Anthony Kassabli at theTemple of Justice