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Agriculture

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www.frontpageafricaonline.com
VOL 8 NO.566 THURSDAY, APRIL 3, 2014

New Agriculture Diploma Expected to Increase the Supply of Valuable Skills for Liberias Developing Agricultural Sector to provide access to energy to two million people in Africa

AGRICULTURE BOOST

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CENTRAL BANK OF LIBERIA

MARKET BUYING AND SELLING RATES LIBERIAN DOLLARS PER US DOLLAR

BUYING WEDNESDAY, MARCH 26, 2014 TUESDAY, APRIL 1, 2014 WEDNESDAY, APRIL 2, 2014 L$85.00/US$1 L$85.00/US$1 L$85.00/US$1

SELLING L$86.00/US$1 L$86.00/US$1 L$86.00/US$1

These are indicative rates based on results of daily surveys of the foreign exchange market in Monrovia and its environs. The rates are collected from the Forex Bureaux and the commercials banks. The rates are not set by the Central Bank of Liberia.
Source: Research, Policy and Planning Department, Central Bank Liberia, Monrovia, Liberia

THE HANS WILLIAMS CASE FILES UNDER THE MICROSCOPE AS SUPREME COURT HOLDS HEARING

PRICE L$40

The conviction and sentencing of the plaintiffs to death by hanging by the Liberian government as a result of the reviewed autopsy report fabricated by the 5th defendants in connivance with the 1st defendant while the other three autopsy report conducted by pathologist in involved in the investigation exonerated the plaintiffs of culpability in the death of the deceased, Counsel for the Plaintiff stated in a petition to the ECOWAS Court copy of which is in the possession of Frontpageafrica.

HEADED FOR ECOWAS COURT?

LAW & ORDER pg. 5

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Thursday, April 3, 2014

Monrovia he visit to Liberia last week of a team of representatives from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has raised eyebrows and drawn attention to a large number of road construction projects that have been contracted outside of the Public Financial Management (PFM) law, Public Procurement and Concession Commission (PPCC) and violated the countrys budget laws. Some estimates place the value of the road projects between 80 to 100 million US dollars, FrontPageAfrica has reliably learnt. At issue is how such a large amount of public monies could be contracted to companies by the use of what is now perceived as illegal procedures and how the banks could use documentation from such illegal transaction to loan out potentially 100 million dollars. According to sources within the Ministry of Public Works, the IMF asked pointed questions about how the procurement process for public roads could have broken down completely with junior ministers using a document called Authority to Proceed. The total value of these letters is unknown but it is believed that the government has acknowledged at least 80 million dollars of the projected 100 million worth of projects underwritten by these letters. Among the primary concerns is how the government of Liberia is managing the resources, particularly several road constructions valued at more than US$80 million dollars. Were the projects duly budgeted for? What role did the Finance Ministry play? Before any contract is signed, the Ministry of finance must make sure that the payment schedule aligns with the cash plan and the Minister of Justice must attest to all contracts valued over 250,000 US dollars. Due to the quagmire, a lot of contractors are indebted to banks because they took loans guaranteed by the documentation from the Ministry of Public Works to undertake projects in hopes that they would be reimbursed when the government pays them but that has not been the case. This has now become a classic case of Catch 22: How the government decides to pay almost 100 million dollars without proper documentation in most cases and did the government get value for money? Many in the construction industry say an investigation into the procedures could unearth irregularities as many people without any background in road works formed companies and were granted these letters routinely. What concerns the IMF is how the Ministry of Public Works could have made road works priorities that were not in the Medium Term Financing Framework (MTEF). According to sources, most of the letters and contracts in question were signed by Deputy Ministers Victor Smith and Stephen Yekerson. What is unclear is the role played by the former Minister of Public Works, Attorney Samuel Kofi Woods. The Government of Liberia through the Ministries Economic Planning and Finance rolled out the MTEF or a multiyear budgeting framework, which took effect in 2012. The MTEF is a 3 year rolling expenditure plan that showed a detailed budget for the current year with projected figures for the following two years and provided opportunity for Ministries and Agencies like the Ministry of Public Works and other agencies to plan for costing of project over a medium term period. The Ministries of Economic Planning and Finance decided these financing and project plans consistent with the national budget. The Procurement Commission (the legitimate body responsible for procurement) approved the procurement plans based on budget and subsequently offered the relevant NO OBJECTION. The Ministry of Finance normally approves the various cash plans of ministries and agencies. In addition, all infrastructure and other plans were approved by the Ministries of Finance and planning. Both the Ministries of Finance and Justice attested to all such contracts stamping their seal of approval. In fact, there have been percentage payments made on each of these contracts. If these contracts were unilaterally committed, it would be inconceivable for both Ministries to attest to them and initial payments made. The wisdom of this exercise especially as it relates to infrastructures was to structure planning and financing in order to ensure that work on especially road infrastructures would be uninterrupted over a long period while allocating percentages to anticipated completion schedules. In some cases, where completion certificates were provided, the Ministry of Finance could not readily meet up with governments obligations. Both the Ministries of Finance and Justice noted attestations to all contracts. In spite of the MTEF, the Government of Liberia has been delinquent in meeting its financial obligations. There have been consistent budget deficits over the past years largely due to the governments inability to meet its fiscal forecast especially as it relates to borrowing and lack of capacity to produce stimulants for revenue collections and taxes. There have been leakages in the collection regime. The Ministry of Finance over the past two years has announced budget deficits and shortfalls. In 2012-2013, the deficit was around 100 million overall while in this budget year it was recently announced that there was another budget shortfall. At the end of the stick are contractors who in some cases, pre-financed some of the projects and are demanding that government meet their obligations. They also have to meet their obligations to the banks. Giving the impression that the people obligated the government and now the government is now going out to get money from the banks to pay. Some analysts are wondering what the procurement law dictates? Did all of the projects follow these procedures? Is there any contract that did not follow the PPCC Law? Did the PPCC approve those projects? Did the Ministry of Finance provide budgetary allocation under the MTEF (Medium Term Expenditure Framework? How these obligations are approved and through what medium are payments made? Could initial payments be made to any contractor without a valid contract? Public Works under Spotlight At the center of the bottlenecks and many delayed projects comes the Ministry of Public Works which has the statutory mandate to

Sources tell FrontPageAfrica, that the IMF could be reluctant to provide additional loan facilities and the World Bank could stall funding for ongoing road projects until Liberia can provide a credible explanation as to how almost 100 million United States dollars of unplanned road work was contract, which raises a lot of unanswered questions with the banks holding the empty bag.

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

Ministry, Abraham B. Samukai indicated that the Ministry was unable to spend the budgetary allocation for the midterm budgetary period with close to 50% remaining unspent. The communications read: With compliments, I am pleased to furnish you the midterm budget performance for fiscal year 2013/2014 for the Ministry of Public Works. The fiscal year 2013/2014 approved budget is US$5,392,850.00 (Five Million Three Hundred Ninety Two Thousand Eight Hundred United States Dollars) of this amount, a total of US$3,209,918.00 (Three Million Two Hundred Nine Thousand Eighteen United States Dollars) has been allotted but only US$1,624,629.94 spent, or 50.61%, US$83,394.05 with LPO in process or 2.60% an unspent balance of US$1,499,560.01 or 46.72% as balance in allotment, the Comptroller stated in the midterm budget performance report. Accordingly, the Ministry of Finance notified the Ministry that the timing for the US$1,499,560.01 had expired and therefore such funding could no longer be provided to the Ministry. The once peaceful Ministry of Public Works turned chaotic when Minister Antoinette Weeks assumed office as Minister. Minister Weeks brief time at the Ministry has been marred by acrimonious working relationship with other senior officials of the Ministry, where she is said to be making every decision and ignoring the input of others. Minister Weeks and Deputy Minister Smith were involved in a heated argument in early 2014 that drew onlookers. It was unclear what triggered the argument which eyewitnesses spurred a shouting match between the pair as both senior officials at the time traded nasty insults which included cursing each others parents. Again, Minister weeks effected a number of changes at the Ministry, transferring the Director of Human Resources and Training at the Ministry Mr. Vincent B. Smith for the post of Director of Warehouse. Deputy Minister for Administration Zack Sharpe stated in a letter to one of the managers who was transferred: Based on the above, you are officially notified that effective Friday, January 24, 2014, you will be transferred from your current position as Director of Human Resources and Training to a new position of Director of Warehouse for MPW. Please turn over all outstanding personnel matters and details of your new position. Besides issuing transfer letters to the Financial Comptroller (Abraham Samukai), transfers were also issued to Deputy Comptroller, Joseph Y. Forkpa, Procurement Director, B. WionKanteah, Assistant Director for Logistics, Joe V. Dixon and the Director of Human Resources & Training Vincent B. Smith. Like the Financial Comptroller and his deputy, the Procurement Director and his Assistant have been transferred to the Division of Human Resources for re-assignment. The Director of HRT, Vincent Smith was transferred to the Ministrys Warehouse as Manager. No valid reason was given by Minister Weeks for these changes except for the frivolous excuse that it is part of internal reforms. Letters were issued after official working hours with immediate action taken in changing the locks to various offices concerned. Minister Weeks actions clearly violated the Civil Service Agency Standing Orders by transferring managers and other senior level employees at the Ministry without consultation with the Civil Service Agency, something that has been acknowledged by the CSA. The CSA stated in a communication that Minister Weeks' action is in violation of the CSA Standing Order and that the agency was not consulted on the decisions. To increase the difficulties, several projects have commenced without the necessary approvals from the Public Procurement Commission. Deputy Minister Smith resigned in February and his letter was accepted by the President who ordered some investigations and directed that he remain in the country. To date, nothing has been heard but several other changes have been made at the Ministry to include the removal of Deputy Minister Christian Herbert, who earlier accused the Minister of dictatorial tendencies and Assistant Minister for Operations, William Slour who served the Ministry for over 19 years. The country is anxious to see progress and many are hoping that both the Ministries of Finance and Public Works can address these problems and get to work. Over the past years, President Sirleaf has hinged her legacy on progress on infrastructural developments around the country. But many political observers say, this could be ruined if urgent action is not taken to address these problems amid concerns. Sources tell FrontPageAfrica, that the IMF could be reluctant to provide additional loan facilities and the World Bank could stall funding for ongoing road projects until Liberia can provide a credible explanation as to how almost 100 million United States dollars of unplanned road work was contract, which raises a lot of unanswered questions with the banks holding the empty bag. How the Government deals with this debacle will determine if donors will feel confident to continue funding the countrys development agenda when 100 million dollars appears to be squandered without value for money. Ultimately, according to some observers, the IMF must see transparency and accountability mechanisms in digging into this quagmire, which means it is not unlikely that prosecutions could result from the investigations. FrontPageAfrica will update you on the unfolding story in subsequent editions.

supervise construction projects in the country. The Ministry was created by an Act of the National Legislature in 1928 and is mandated inter alia to plan, draft, design supervise construction and maintenance of all public infrastructures. In its 2013-2014 objectives as indicated in the National Budget, the Ministry of Public Works stated that it will complete 600km of ongoing primary roads, 400km ongoing secondary roads, 30km ongoing urban roads and 300km ongoing feeder roads. Maintain 229km of primary paved roads, 1,030km of primary laterite roads and343km feeder roads. Rehabilitate 232km of paved primary roads, 149km paved urban roads, 89km secondary laterite road and 520km feeder roads. Design and construct 12km of new secondary, urban roads. Monitor and evaluate projects nationwide. In the current 2013-2014 national budget, the Ministry was the second highest recipient of budgetary allotment, with US$107,018,018 as allotted the Ministry next to the ministry of Health and social welfare. Donor project accounts for US$100,524,231 about 93.3% out of the total budget of the Ministry an indication of the huge support by donors including the IMF, World Bank and others to the Ministry. Grants also account for US$1,094,771 of the Ministrys budget. The entitys US$ 107,018,018 budget is breakdown down intoroad and building construction (74,467,814); rural infrastructure and community services (19,992,381); highway maintenance services (3,291,711); planning and programming services (248,099); administration and management (1,768,354) and general claims (1,094,771). With an amount of US$74,467,814 for road and building construction, the question lingering is why are there so many unfinished road projects across the country which could lead to doubts on whether the Ministry of Public Works has been receiving its funding for these projects or the Ministry of Finance is unable to provide the funding. Also with donors accounting for 93.93% of the total budget of the Ministry, donors expression of frustration over delayed projects could indicate that donors have adhered to their side of the bargain and the problem is now with their Liberian counterpart in meeting their counterpart financial obligations on time and implementing these projects. Rain Insight Projects could stall further Liberia has two main seasons, the rainy and dry and construction works are mainly carried out during the dry season with all activities slowing down during the rain. The dry season during which all major construction works are implemented runs from October to March while the inactive rainy season runs from April to September. Upon taking over the current Minister of Public Works, Antoinette Weeks stated that the Ministry could not fastback projects that were delayed due to the rainy season but it is now April in Liberia as the rainy season is expected to begin around April 15 in two weeks. Based on the number of unfinished projects it means the ongoing projects will be stalled until the next dry season, which is October to March leaving major projects unfinished in more than one year, rolling over from some parts of 2013 to 2015. House in disarray The Ministry of Public Works has been embroiled in internal wrangling since former Minister Samuel K. Woods was replaced by Minister Weeks. The Ministry was notified that it did not spend its budgetary allotment for the midterm of this budget year, leaving over US$ 1 million. While Liberia is craving for infrastructural development with the blame on the slow pace of ongoing road rehabilitation and other work placed on lack of funding, communications made available to FPA late 2013 indicated that the Ministry of Public Works had unspent money in the sum of over US$ 1 million in the midterm of the 2013/2014 fiscal budget. In a January 8, 2014 communication addressed to Hon. Zack G.W. Sharpe, II, Acting Minister of Public Works, the Comptroller of the

FrontPage COMMENTARY EDITORIAL AFRICA: EUROPE AND AFRICA v

Thursday, April 3, 2014

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Commentary

MADAM YVONNE WOLO, a program analyst at the United Nations Development Program struck a cautionary note to participants attending the UNDPs Strengthen Transparency Accountability Oversight and Participation(STAOP) project, last week when she warned that unless Liberians turn away from corrupt practices by embracing the procurement reform program, the country will remain undeveloped. THE WARNING from the UNDP executive comes at a time when numerous Liberian government ministries and agencies are adopting a policy of non-cooperation with the Public Procurement Concessions Commission when it comes to abiding and fulfilling the regulations of the PPCC. THIS IS WHY WE welcome the UNDP and other stakeholders effort to work with integrity institutions, including the PPCC in improving transparency and accountability in Liberia. WHAT MANY, including the current leadership are either refusing to accept or simply may be ignorant to is the fact that the PPCC is the first line of defense in the war against corruption. THIS IS WHERE concessions and contracts are screened, scrutinized and dissected for possible breach of the laws of the land. THIS IS ALL the more reason why the Sirleaf government must do all it can to increase funding for agencies like the PPCC if it is really serious about boosting its accountability and transparency record and convincing the international community that it has the political will the fight corruption. THE EXECUTIVE branch must turn a blind eye to officials who continue to run to the President whenever they do not get an easy pass in the PPCC process. WHAT THE government should be doing is empowering the PPCC with more funding to increase its staff with professionals who will work with the various government ministries and agencies in making sure that their papers are processed properly and within the confines of the PPCC. WITH MANY Liberians unhappy and unconvinced about the administrations political will in the war against corruption, support for integrity institutions could go a long way to improving the governments image and perceptions in the eyes of a skeptical nation yet to be convinced that the governments declared war on corruption is anything but a bunch of words intended to appease the concerns of the international community.

LIBERIAS UNDERDEVELOPMENT AND THE NAGGING PROCUREMENT DILEMMA

CROCODILES WITH ONE STOMACH

Dr Damien Helly, policy officer at the European Centre for Development Policy Management

wo heads, one stomach? This is how a former minister described Africa-Europe relations last month, using the West African metaphor of anAdinkra crocodile to say both continents are dependent on one another. As the European Union-African Union summit begins in Brussels on Wednesday, the two continents are at a crossroads, raising the question: will the summit breathe a new spirit into the beast and bring it new life? Or put another way: will the crocodile swim and run faster or perhaps even fly? To achieve a coherent partnership, heads of state and government have three opportunities to seize in Brussels. First, there is an opportunity for all states of each continent to appear united in front of another global partner. In other words, the summit is an opportunity for leaders of both sides to think strategically about their collective continental interests and values. On the African side, pan-Africanism is a strong force for unity. Of course there are many forms of pan-Africanism. Pan-Africanism, no matter whether through the lenses of Nkrumah, Senghor, Mandela, Mbeki, Nasser or Gaddafi, is now anchored in a variety of strategic decisions and unprecedentedly ambitious continental initiatives in the name of the AU. Although it is still a young organisation facing challenges, the AU has one single face thanks to the strong chairperson of the AU Commission, Dr. Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma. It has plans for itself with its 2063 agenda, its continental infrastructure programme (PIDA), its agriculture and food strategy (CAADP) and its regional integration schemes. However, one also has to recognise that a number of strong African leaders are keen to retain their leading role in handling international affairs and may therefore view increased African unity with suspicion. On the European side, unity is slowly consolidating four years after the Lisbon Treaty, the latest treaty ruling the EU, came into force. Yet, while Africa is quite clearly defined by its geography, the question of Europe's borders remains largely open, as demonstrated by the crisis over Ukraine. Hence the question arises: can Europe with its numerous faces - the heads of powerful states, the President of the European Commission (EC), the High Representative for Foreign Policy and the various commissioners for trade or development - be united in front of Africa? For Africa and Europe, the summit could help each continent reassert its unity as a power bloc in a world marked by a shift of power to the East. The second opportunity the summit offers is a chance to refresh and possibly upgrade each continent's international strategy. The African Union and the European Union are each now working to shape their own distinctive, consistent and sustainable continental positions internationally. They have no choice but to do it together on global

matters such as economic growth, trade and climate change. In the last decades, the strategies driving relations between the two continents have become much more sophisticated. In the field of peace and security, both sides have worked jointly to make the African peace and security architecture (APSA) a reality. Today, the African peace support operation in Somalia (AMISOM) and international efforts to consolidate peace in Somalia are clear examples of sharpened African and European strategies to address common threats. In the Sahel, the EU and the AU have designed tailored regional strategies in coordination with the United Nations, ECOWAS and other international organisations dealing with security and development. Recent stock tacking exercises have demonstrated that both sides are acting more strategically with one another in a number of other areas too, such as research, space and satellite and cultural cooperation. This does not mean that there are no disagreements, but at least each side is becoming clearer about what it wants and what it does not want. They also are both committed, at least on paper, to strengthen their own continental normative frameworks to pursue their fundamental values and principles through a number of treaties (Lisbon Treaty), charters (the African Charter on Human and People's Rights, the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights) and constitutive acts (the AU constitutive act). Both sides need to get back to what unites them internally and see if it matches the other continent's interests. All the contentious issues currently being discussed on the eve of the summit - homosexual rights, Economic Partnership Agreements, declarations on migration, agriculture, implementing structure and a document on the way forward - will undermine internal integration efforts on both continents if they are not addressed with the unity imperative in mind, and in a strategic and long-term perspective. The third opportunity the Brussels summit offers to heads of state and government is to seek agreement on principles that bring both sides closer: faith in trust-building, peace and security, alignment with existing African and European growth strategies, available funding, and, above all, commitment to deeper dialogue and concrete action with earmarked funding on sensitive issues. The implementation of technicalities and day-to-day relations won't be in the gift of heads of state and government, but they are the ones who can set the tone and the mood of the relations for the next decade. Also, as a high-level official recently said, summits are not an end in themselves, and it would be a mistake to try to address all irritants simultaneously. This is not the way diplomacy works, and it would surely make the crocodile sick. Dr Damien Helly is a policy officer at the European Centre for Development Policy Management.

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WHAT READERS ARE SAYING ABOUT OUR STORIES ON THE WORLDWIDE WEB

Send your letters and comments to: editor@frontpageafricaonline.com

The Reader's Page

Thursday, April 3, 2014

COMMENTS FROM FPA ONLINE

UNEXPLAINED DEPOSITS- A MISREPRESENTATION: LIBERIA ON US BANKS SHUTDOWN

The Editor:

THE FRAGILITY OF LIBERIAS DECADE PEACE

YOU WRITE; WE PUBLISH; THEY READ!

JAY WION TOP COMMENTER WORKS AT NPRC

MY TURN: To Masu Fahnbulleh, David Murray and all my critics (Ellennites and Ellennazis or Ellen loyalists), I guess you are now scratching your head but in agreement with me from my March 24, 2014 post: "Breaking News--Closure of all Liberia Foreign Accounts held in US Banks." Masu wrote in rebuttal to my post: "it would have been posted on the US Department of the Treasury website...so where is it,? he asked. Well, there it is Masu. Many of my posts read: "The Obama White House put a financial chokehold effective immediately on all Liberian diplomatic Missions...." Masu, that is why I am a journalist and you are NOT. Remember also I am the one that put out there the US Justice Department FARA Reports that revealed how Ellen siphoned off over $200 million of our Maritime Program money in PONZI Public Relations scams; s...ome of it she is now hiding in money laundering using the Embassy accounts to violate US banking regulations and IRS tax laws. You all need to wake up from your apathy and slumber. Ellen is running a mafia, criminal type syndicate regime masquerading as a democratic government. The US is done with her and is now exposing her with all these reports, even some that were "CLASSIFIED." Airing later today on my authoritative and informative Liberian African News Service, LANS-518-556-1343, the above FPA article, the rubbish from the Foreign Ministry and the letter from Sterling National Bank of New York. A shameless Foreign Ministry of Liberia failed to address the main reason for the accounts closing: huge unexplained deposits that borders on money laundering and a violation of US Treasury banking regulations and IRS tax laws. Now you know why Ellen took the lucrative and profitable Maritime Program from under the Ministry of Finance to become her family and cronies' money making tree. Jerry Wehtee Wion, Washington, DC, USA---my cell phone number is: 301-789-7786. The truth hurts but it needs not allies. DASH S. WILSON TOP COMMENTER WILMINGTON UNIVERSITY Jay Wion, You're a seasoned and well respected journalist. We first heard this news from you, and it's out in the public. It shows that you're very reliable when it comes to information dissemination . Keep the news coming, compatriot. MAURICE NYOLA (SIGNED IN USING HOTMAIL) With the fullest respect to your Excellency, our foreign minister, why did the Ambassador of Liberia to the US allowed the mission to get entangled with this bank issued before acting? the merger of the banks was not done overnight, as a matter of fact, it long considerable time. this is a total embarrassment to say the least. it leaves volume of questions to be answered. this is not strange, trained diplomats would know exactly what to do in order to save their country from shame and embarrassment. Liberia in the 21st century seems not to be bothered by such any longer, as long as officials can call on the press to justify their side of the story. Mr. Minister, forget about mentioning the other affected embassies. we cannot even be sure that there were others that were affected by the merger of the banks. do everything to remove the embassy in Washington from the US state dept and Revenue service's RADAR. Try and conduct ur private investigate and verify what is obtaining at that mission. it is not enough for minister to just have press conference to tell your side of the story. JOHN WILLIAMS TOP COMMENTER EASTERN UNIVERSITY, ST. DAVIDS, PA Did the Foreign Minister say really that "The DC Mission has been searching the Washington DC area and other states for the possibility of establishing another account but with minimum progress." Are you kidding me? Searching for bank to deposit money? In America banks practically beg people to open accounts with them, except of course you are a criminal. In that case, you have to really really search very hard!
The comments expressed here are those of our online readers and bloggers and do no represent the views of FrontPageAfrica

While reading through FrontPage Africas online news two days ago, my eyes came across an interesting headline Nigeria Army Deploys 700 Soldiers to Liberia. Does this seem attentiongrabbing? Of course, it does! After carefully reading this story, I took a deep pause to reflect on our past as a nation and people. Surprisingly, I began to wonder whether this glorious land of liberty is on a path to genuine peace, integration, and reconciliation. At that moment, nothing could really erase my doubt that the peace we are enjoying today still remains fragile. Since the last gun-fire was heard in August 2003, there has been numerous of efforts by Liberians and International Partners to maintain stability and sustain security in a country that has been torn apart by civil war. Just few months back, Liberians from all spheres of life took upon themselves to celebrate ten (10) years of unbroken peace. Most Citizens blew peace pipes to re-affirm their endless commitment to Peace in Liberia, while pointing out antidemocratic factors that continue to serve as fertilizer of violence and war. Due to this steadfast loyalty to peace, the business climate of Liberia has attracted several multi-million investment companies like Mittal Steel, Exxon Mobil, Chevron, China Union, BHP Billiton, APM terminal, Golden Varolem, etc. However, the outputs of these companies are far below public expectation as unemployment rate continues to increase. Basic social services such as safe drinking water, electricity, quality education, and better health care are yet too far from reaching ordinary citizens, even though we have auctioned almost all of our natural resources to foreign companies. Anyway, this too is Liberia where the 3Gs (get, grab, and go) mentality is visible.

threats to this peace we fought for in 2003. What does UNMIL drawdown suggest? Does it mean trooping more foreign soldiers or reducing the ones that are already on ground? The transfer of state security to a responsible national army is critical to perpetual peace. UNMIL will not guarantee our security forever. Hence, the need to support and increase the manpower of the AFL, LNP and BIN cannot be overemphasized. Lasting peace in Liberia will require an accountable, responsible, and transparent government whose ultimate interest is to promote a people-driven platform. Unfortunately, Liberians are still yearning to embrace a new moment of economic change and political transformation! We will always recognize the effort of International Partners, especially the United Nations for their relentless commitment to peace in Liberia and regional security. Notwithstanding, it is paramount to prevent those anti-peace factors that are currently posing serious harm to our harmonious survival. We cannot afford to rewrite a history of another civil unrest; therefore, it is our collective responsibility as patriotic Liberians to build an unshakable bridge of reconciliation, peace, unity, and brotherhood. As we strive to reclaim an equal and just society through healthy public debates, we must always cultivate a path of non-violence in all our engagements. We want to also encourage this government to begin a realistic fight against corruption, unemployment, nepotism, and cronyism, because these are antidemocratic elements that give birth to instability and insecurity. Liberia can only get better when those in control of State organs can uphold public trust by ensuring total transparency. Anything less than this, Liberia is on a verge of economic, political, and social collapse. Our ink will never run dry, as long our demand for economic change is ignored. Government stakeholders must understand that the outcome of hunger is anger. The people are hungry and thirsty for change.

In September 2012, the surety of perpetual peace in Liberia was overwhelmingly guaranteed by the United Nations Security Council when it endorsed a three-phase military drawdown resolution leading to the end of UNMIL operations. As the operation of UNMIL comes to an end on 30 September 2014 Above all interest, Liberia is supreme! with possible extension to 2015, we still remain concern about our security and safety in a country Martin K. N. Kollie where violence is becoming a way of life. Executive Director Masses Against Poverty The recent deployment of 700 Nigerian soldiers martinkerkula1989@yahoo.com sends an alarm of insecurity. It rings a bell of potential

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Thursday, April 3, 2014

rontPageAfrica has reliably learned that the long awaited appeal hearing into the murder case involving Hans Williams and Madea Paykue is expected to take place at the Supreme Court at 9:a.m today but according to documents in the possession of Frontpageafrica the legal battle is expected to end up in the ECOWAS court. With Thursdays Supreme Court ruling yet to be delivered, lawyers representing Hans and Madea are said to be ready to file a petition with the Community Court of Justice of the Economic Community of West African State (ECOWAS) arguing the violation of the rights of the plaintiffs through last ruling of the Supreme Court calling for death by hanging. The plaintiffs lawyers are arguing that the recent ruling by the Supreme Court violates the rights of the plaintiffs and as such it is demanding justice at the regional court. The conviction and sentencing of the plaintiffs to death by hanging by the Liberian government as a result of the reviewed autopsy report fabricated by the 5th defendants in connivance with the 1st defendant while the other three autopsy report conducted by pathologist in involved in the investigation exonerated the plaintiffs of culpability in the death of the deceased, Counsel for the Plaintiff stated in a petition before the ECOWAS Court copy of which is in the possession of Frontpageafrica. Teaming up along with other regional lawyers including, O. M. Aliucha, Esq from Abuja, Nigeria and G.C. Ogbuinya Esq also from Nigeria the plaintiffs lawyers are arguing that the ruling is a violation of the plaintiffs rights to life as enshrined in article 4 of the African Charter on Human and Peoples Rights. The Plaintiff counsel also argued Violation of the plaintiffs rights to fair hearing before an unbiased court or tribunal as enshrined in article 7 of African Charter on Human and Peoples Rights. Supreme Court Rules today Thursdays hearing and subsequent opinion by the high court will now put to rest the case that the public has been yarning for its determination. The hearing by the high court comes barely four years after the pairs were tried and convicted by the lower court after a panel of jurors found them guilty of murder. Prior to the guilty verdict defendant Hans Williams who took the stand on behalf of he and his fiance Madea Williams during the trial denied the charges and claimed that the minor, Angel Togbah committed suicide by hanging. I tried to save the life of

LAW & ORDER Supreme Court To Hear Hans, Madea Murder Case
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HEADED FOR ECOWAS COURT?

Kennedy L. Yangian kennedylyangian@frontpageafricaonline.com

this little girl by taking her to hospital but died while on the way said defendant Hans Williams when he pleaded that not guilty. However, in a ruling of the court delivered by the then lower court Judge Blamo Dixon on March 9, 2010, the Judge ordered that the two defendants die by hanging. From the evidence adduced at the trial this court is convinced that the defendants did commit the crime of murder, therefore they are adjudged guilty and they should die by hanging said Judge Blamo Dixon. Following the ruling defense counsel of the defendants headed by Cllr. Frank Musa Dean took exception and announced an appeal to the high court to abort the ruling on grounds that the state failed miserable to prove its case of murder against the defendants who still maintained of not committing murder during the trial marred by public outcry. Convicted defendants Hans Capehart Williams and his fiance Madea Paykue were arrested in the aftermath of the death of a 13 year old girl AngelMeideh Togbah who was found hanging in one of the two bathrooms of their Old Road Sinkor residence on November 30, 2007. Prior to her death the deceased lived with the defendants and was an 8th grade student of the Catholic run school Christ the King on the Old Road. In the aftermath of her death on November 30, 2007 there were a series of protests staged by women as well as children groups who called on the government to perform an

autopsy to establish the actual cause of death as the death of the 13 -yr old girl by hanging raises suspicion of foul-play. As the result of the calls several autopsies were performed by a number of pathologists from both home and abroad to establish the cause of death. The first investigation by Dr. Anthony Quaye, Medical examiner, Liberia National Police (LNP) stipulated the cause of death as Asphyxia secondary to hanging. The second autopsy performed by a Cuban trained pathologist Dr. Josefa Jimmenez Hernandez concluded that the deceased was sexually violated and allegedly strangulated before the hanging and recorded the cause of death as also Asphyxia secondary to strangulation. While the third autopsy was performed by Dr. Thomas L. Bennett from the Nebraska Institute of Forensic Sciences in the United States who stated that there were three types of Asphyxiations, He stated in his report that Asphyxiation by hanging is where the noose or object around the neck is tightened by the force of gravity and Asphyxiation by ligature strangulation is also where an object is tightened around the neck by a force other than gravity while Asphyxiation by manual strangulation caused by hand or forearms putting pressure around the neck. According to Dr. Bennett while it is possible for a lifeless body to be hanged to fake a crime scene, it was not so in the case of the deceased because the angle of the ligature

(characteristics of indentation) that was on her neck, compounded by the pressure that was suffered by the arteries in her neck, it was clear that she hanged herself while alive. Case Heads for ECOWAS Court Lawyers representing Hans and Madea are calling for violation of the plaintiffs rights to fair hearing before an unbiased court or tribunal as enshrined in article 7 of African Charter on Human and Peoples Rights. Violation of the right to life of the plaintiffs as enshrined in article 10 Universal Declaration Of Human Rights. Human factor that lead to the violation of plaintiffs right; vis-a-vis reckless, negligent and baseless reviewed autopsy report as was declared by a High Court of Ghana The lawyers are contending that Liberia is a member State within the meaning of Article 1 of the Protocol (A/P1/7/91) relating to the

definition of Member state, and a signatory to the Revised Treaty Establishing the Economic Community of West African State (ECOWAS) dated 24th of July, 1993 and as such it should comply with such protocol on human rights. Also the lawyers are arguing that the Republic of Ghana is a Member State within the meaning of Article 1 of the Protocol (A/P1/7/91) relating to the definition of Member state, and signatory to the Revised Treaty Establishing the Economic Community of West African State (ECOWAS) dated 24th of July, 1993. The Attorney General of the Republic of Liberia is the Chief Law officer of Liberia and an official of a member state. Attorney General of the Republic of Ghana is the Chief Law officer of Ghana and an official of a member state, the petition to the ECOWAS Court states.

Request for Consultancy Services for the Assessment/Evaluation of a Feasibility Study on an Iron Ore Mining Project
The Ministry of Lands, Mines, & Energy of the Republic of Liberia, hereby urgently solicits the services of a local Consultancy firm to support the work of the Ministry in reviewing, assessing and evaluating the technical soundness and economic viability of an Iron Ore Mining project, leading to the approval of a Definitive Feasibility Report. The assessment will constitute a rigorous audit of all geological, engineering, environmental, legal and economic information/data relative to the Mine, Rail, Road, and Port infrastructure. The consultant will ensure that the Feasibility Study meets the requirements of the Mineral development Agreement, International Standards, and best practices. Duration of Service: 90 Working days 1.0 Competency and Qualification Required Experience in evaluating Feasibility Studies and Technical Reports Relevant experience of not less than five years (for Team leader) Quality Assurance System 2.0 Scope of Work The Consultants task will involve but not limited to assessing various components in the study, as listed below: 2.0.1 Geology Interpretation and modeling of geological data sets Estimation of Resource and Reserve 2.0.2 Techno-economic Development Mineral-metallurgy Processing Commodity Pricing Market Forecast 2.0.3 Mining Plan & Design Pit Design, Tailing/Dump Mine water Supply and Dewatering Power 2.0.4 Project Linkage 2.0.5 Health Safety & Environment Mine Safety Standards Resettlement Plan Environmental Social Impacts Assessment and Management Plan 2.0.6 Transportation and Shipping Road, Rail Port Services 2.0.7 Mine Remediation and Closure Closure of concentrator, waste dump, tailings and pond Mine Rehabilitation 2.0.8 Valuation Summary and Conclusions Overall evaluation conclusions Competence Person Qualification and Statement Interested Consultancies must submit their Expression of Interest (both hard and soft copies) containing the necessary documentations/proof of possession of the competency and qualification required to undertake the outlined scope of work. All applications, clearly marked IRON ORE MINING PROJECT REVIEW must be submitted on or before 4:00 pm of the 1st May, 2014. Applications must be addressed to: The Office of the Deputy Minister for Operations Ministry of Lands, Mines and Energy Capitol Hill Monrovia, Liberia

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ueckedou (Guinea) (AFP) - Life goes on for the people of the Ebola-hit Guinean city of Gueckedou, but their defiance masks widespread terror of the invisible menace stalking their dusty streets. The southern city's 200,000 residents are coming to terms with living in the ground zero of west Africa's first outbreak of the highly contagious virus, which has killed more than 80 of their countrymen. "Everyone is afraid of this disease, the people who aren't talking about it just as much as the people who are. Everyone is afraid. It's as if everyone is waiting for their turn to come," said Koin Barry, a petrol station employee. "People here are describing this epidemic as divine retribution." The medical aid charity Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) warned this week that poverty-hit Guinea is facing an Ebola epidemic "of a magnitude never before seen" as the nation's president appealed for calm amid a rising death toll. Ebola has killed almost 1,600 people since it was first observed in 1976 in what is now the Democratic Republic of Congo but this is the first fatal outbreak in west Africa. Liberia meanwhile has confirmed two cases and a suspected five more, while Sierra Leone is closely monitoring 15 people who attended a funeral in an area hit by the outbreak, according to the World Health Organization. Liberia and Sierre Leone neighbour Guinea. The tropical virus leads to haemorrhagic fever, causing muscle pain, weakness, vomiting, diarrhoea and, in severe cases, organ failure and unstoppable bleeding. Since January, Guinea health authorities have reported more than 127 suspected cases scattered across the country, but the vast majority are in the heavily-forested and remote south. Miriam Sandouno, a 14-year-old pupil at the Patrice Lumumba school, recalled how her mother had taken her out of lessons when people first began talking about the virus. During the month she was kept off, two of her friends died at their homes, she said. "I said to my mother, even though I'm not going to school, I'm still going to die here at home if that's what God wants. So she told me to go back to lessons," she told AFP. -- Severe bleeding -Gueckedou's city centre was teeming with people this week, with shops and offices open for business and horse-drawn carts taking up the little space left by motorbike taxis on the streets. Yet the constant to-ing and froing of vehicles adorned with the MSF logo has shattered the veneer of normality. Sitting in front of his business on a trunk road leading to the regional capital Nzerekore, a shopkeeper called Abdul watches the four-wheel drive trucks roar past. "It's lucky that they are here, otherwise the entire population would disappear in this epidemic," he says.

INVISIBLE MENACE
Ebola Fear stalks Ebola-hit southern Guinea
by close contact with infected people. It's [spread via] body fluids, like the blood and the urine and the saliva, the stools all body fluids are contagious. What is also important is to inform the population about the disease. This is the first time Ebola is detected in Guinea, so the population and the medical staff don't know the disease. They need to be [told] how the disease is spread and how you can protect yourself, and what you need to do when you or somebody else has the symptoms (meaning that you have to go an area where you can be isolated). ANY INDICATION OF HOW EBOLA TURNED UP IN GUINEA? We have no clue. Researchers will definitely look into that. HOW LIKELY IS IT THAT IT WITH BATS? STARTED Between [human] outbreaks, the virus hides in certain animals. And it's thought that certain types of bats [are] possible reservoirs. In the areas where Ebola has occurred, the people eat bush meat sometimes bats, monkeys ... that is a way the virus may be introduced into the population. So, the message in Guinea is: Don't eat bats; don't eat monkeys; don't touch sick or dead animals. People can infect themselves when they touch the fluids of an infected bat or a monkey [while] preparing the Health workers teach local citizens about the Ebola virus and how to prevent infection. Researchers from Doctors Without Borders say food, and also via [eating the] the virus may have been spreading for months in Guinea, where people are less familiar with signs and symptoms of the disease. meat. IS SEXUAL ACTIVITY ANOTHER WAY THAT THE VIRUS SPREADS? You can get infected by contact with all body fluids, so yes, also by sexual intercourse. But people get [infected] and straightaway, they get very sick. They start to [have] fever, and body pain; they start to vomit, they have diarrhea. So sexual intercourse is definitely not the main way of transmission. I'd say more people get sick [via contact] with diarrhea and vomiting; for example, a man gets sick and his wife starts to clean up his diarrhea and his vomit and she can get infected. So [it's] really caretakers of patients that get sick or medical staff, if they are not respecting the precautions [for] an Ebola case. Do you think there will be many "unprecedented" not because Without Borders. She's been on ARE YOU ABOUT THIS more cases? Ebola is not airborne, so not of the number of victims (so the ground during past Ebola OUTBREAK? far at least 78 have died) but outbreaks in Africa and, from We know from other outbreaks contagious like, for example, because the disease has traveled her base in Geneva, is helping that epidemics can be stopped. the flu. Now we know more or to various parts of the country. coordinate efforts to quash And the principle is always less which families are infected, The widespread infection(which this one. Sterk believes the the same: isolating suspected so we are following them. The includes the capital city of infection may have spread more patients to prevent [them from expectation is that if the people Conakry) is at least unusual, than usual because it's easy for giving] the disease to people in the community are better the World Health Organization people to travel from place to around them. Also you follow informed about the disease, we agrees, and presents more place in Guinea, including from the people who have been in can detect all possible cases of challenges than usual to the the southern part of the country close contact with patients with Ebola and [quarantine] them. medical team seeking to contain (where the first cases were Ebola. So in the incubation How long do you think it will the virus. reported) to the capital. The period (which is 21 days), we take to contain this Ebola To learn more, the U.S.-based conversation has been edited for follow them [tracking their outbreak? National Public Radio spoke length and clarity. contacts, and distributing We will manage to contain this with Esther Sterk, a tropical i information about prevention], outbreak in a short amount of medicine adviser for Doctors HOW CONCERNED because Ebola is [transmitted] time, but it's difficult to say at the moment.

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EBOLA

Thursday, April 3, 2014

MSF has set up two corrugated iron buildings surrounded by a tented village to treat and isolate the sick and test samples in a mobile laboratory. Dozens of Guineans and foreigners are working in the 20-bed makeshift clinic, some dressed from head to toe in sealed biohazard suits with gloves, goggles, masks and boots. The charity is also running sessions at the main hospital, teaching medical staff how to detect and treat the illness but also how to protect themselves from infection. One class on Tuesday bombarded MSF staff with questions about how long the organisation is going to stay in Guinea. "We couldn't do anything without you... We would never have known it was Ebola causing the fever here," a worker said. They also complained that the conspicuous evacuation of patients to the MSF Ebola clinic was adding to residents' fears over the outbreak. "All that we ask of our colleagues from MSF is that they stop sounding the ambulance siren every time... they transfer the victim. It's making people uneasy," a lab technician said. On Wednesday the World Health Organization reported five new Ebola cases since the start of the week, saying that the death rate was 65 percent. Humanitarian organisation Plan International said awareness of public health measures had become central to containing the outbreak, adding that dangerous misinformation was hampering the response. "In affected areas, communities have witnessed horrific scenes of people dying with signs of bloody vomit and severe bleeding," it said in a statement. "The severity of infection and associated symptoms, have also fuelled rumours as people are coming up with their own explanations behind sudden deaths." Doctors Without Borders has called the current outbreak of the Ebola virus in Guinea

Thursday, April 3, 2014

The World Health Organization appears to be attempting to calm the panic in West Africa over Ebola virus, saying the outbreak is neither an "epidemic" nor "unprecedented". This directly contradicts the comments from doctors working with the medical charity MSF in the region. They've been calling the Ebola outbreak an "unprecedented epidemic" and today are standing by that characterization. So far 83 people have died from the virus in Guinea, which is spreading into neighboring Sierra Leone and Liberia, as Tanya Nolan reports. TANYA NOLAN: The Ebola virus is the stuff of horror movies: a highly contagious disease that can cause unstoppable bleeding, has no vaccine or cure, and kills up to 90 per cent of its victims. The world has seen outbreaks of it before, but doctors working with Mdecins Sans Frontires in Guinea say they've never seen one like this. MICHEL VAN HERP: We are facing an epidemic of an extent that has never been seen, especially with regard to the distribution of the cases in the area. TANYA NOLAN: Dr Michel Van Herp is backed up by his colleague Mariano Lugli, MSF's coordinator in the Guinean capital, who says, "We are facing an epidemic of a magnitude never before seen in terms of the distribution of cases in the country." The World Health Organization begs to differ. Its Geneva-based spokesman Gregory Hartl told reporters. GREGORY HARTL: There have been a couple of outbreaks, at least, that have been much

World Health Organization plays down extent of Ebola outbreak

ALLAYING FEARS

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EBOLA

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EBOLA REACHES CAPITAL OF GUINEA, STIRRING FEARS

larger than this one - say Kikwit and in Uganda, and another one in DRC - so this is quite, relatively small still, the biggest outbreaks have been over 400 cases, and it's also actually not the first time that we have seen cases in a capital city. TANYA NOLAN: Mr Hartl went on to dispute its characterization as an "epidemic" or "unprecedented", instead preferring to describe it as an "outbreak". When I put that to MSF's viral implementation officer in the Guinean capital, Dr Hilde de Clerck, she dismissed it as a simple case of semantics HILDE DE CLERCK: Maybe it's just a work or a language issue, but for me "outbreak" or "epidemic", for me it's very similar, and I think that up to now we always agreed that even one case of Ebola is considered an "outbreak", or even an "epidemic". TANYA NOLAN: Any reputable medical dictionary describes an "epidemic" as a "sudden outbreak of a disease affecting a large number of people". Guinea has reported more than 120 cases of Ebola since January, 83 of them resulting in death, and Dr de Clerck agrees with the WHO that the size and spread of the outbreak is not unusual. HILDE DE CLERCK: Well it's true that this outbreak is not the biggest outbreak in terms of amount of cases; there are outbreaks in the past that were bigger, the most famous one being the

ones in Gulu and the one in Kikwit, so indeed it's not bigger than any of those. The other thing is that, indeed in the past, there were some other outbreaks that were quite stretched geographically; for example in Kibaale in 2012, Doctors without Borders also intervened, and it's true that also their patients moved and you can move up to capital, so Kampala in that case. So in that sense you could say that it's no different than another outbreak, but I do believe that a combination of quite a lot of cases, and the geographical distribution, plus the fact that the outbreak happens in a country where it was not known that the disease actually existed, makes that we do face particular challenges. TANYA NOLAN: When asked about this apparent contradiction, MSF told The World Today it stands by its claim that it is an unprecedented epidemic in terms of its geographical spread. The WHO meanwhile may be choosing more cautious language in an attempt to calm the very real fears of those living in range of the outbreak, like this man speaking outside a hospital in the capital Conakry. For now, local authorities are doing all they can to contain the spread, some urging more drastic measures than others - as well as being asked to stop shaking hands and kissing, Liberians are now being warned not to have sex as well.

SAUDI ARABIA SUSPENDS VISAS OVER GUINEA EBOLA OUTBREAK

audi Arabia has announced the suspension of visas for Muslim pilgrims from Guinea and Liberia, two countries hit by an outbreak of the deadly Ebola epidemic. The Saudi health ministry recommended the measure "due to the danger of the disease and its highly contagious" nature, the state news agency SPA reported. The World Health Organisation has said it is not recommending travel or trade restrictions to Guinea, Liberia or Sierra Leone, which has reported suspected cases of Ebola, based on information currently available. Muslims perform the hajj pilgrimage to the Saudi city of Mecca once a year, but they can make the minor umrah pilgrimage to the kingdom all year round. Doctors Without Borders said on Monday that the Ebola outbreak in Guinea was an "unprecedented epidemic". Guinean health authorities have recorded 122 suspected cases and 78 deaths since January. The tropical virus leads to haemorrhagic fever, causing muscle pain, weakness, vomiting, diarrhoea and, in severe cases, organ failure and unstoppable bleeding.

Visas suspended for Muslim pilgrims from Guinea and Liberia due to contagious nature of deadly disease

DAKAR, Senegal n outbreak of the deadly Ebola virus in the West African nation of Guinea has reached the

crowded capital, Conakry, prompting new fears about its spread, health officials said Tuesday. Over the past month, the disease has traveled from Guineas remote forest regions

near the Liberia and Sierra Leone borders and has already killed 83 people, including four in Conakry. Now, with 13 cases in a densely populated capital of two million people, health

officials say the challenge of containing the outbreak has become more acute. Ebola has killed hundreds in rural Central Africa over the past four decades, but it is unusual for it to reach urban centers. Residents of Conakry said Tuesday that disquiet had set in, though markets were crowded and the capitals monstrous traffic jams continued unabated. Some were carrying around small bottles of bleach, people were avoiding shaking hands, and pharmacies were selling out of hand sanitizer. In Conakry everybody is worried, said Fod Abass Bangoura, a lawyer with an office downtown. People are really preoccupied about this. There is a sort of psychosis about this now. Im avoiding physical contact with people, and Im eating at home.

A
Monrovia--

CLOSE THE NEIGHBORING BORDERS WITH LIBERIA TO STRENGTHEN THE FIGHT AGAINST EBOLA
pro media advocacy group, the Liberia media for Peace, Reconciliation and Development, has called for the immediate closure of neighboring borders with Guinea, and other neighboring countries in order to strengthen the fight against the deadly

Ebola virus. In a press release singed by the groups Executive Director, James Kwabo, Jr LIMPARD believes, if nothing is done to address the situation, the prevention of Ebola in Liberia will be an empty, political, and mere statement by the government . The group added, the prolong silence of the government of Liberia regarding the closing of neighboring borders, is posing serious health threat to citizens and residence of the country. The group further argues that the prevention of Ebola cannot be just a mere say but rather practical preventive actions must be taken to fight the disease by both government and nongovernmental actors. LIMPARD strongly believe the situation is serious and should be taken as a national emergency issue that challenges the wellbeing of citizens. At the same time, LIMPARD is advising the government to make the preventive campaign as a collective and participatory engagement with all citizens by strengthening county and community base organizations, including NGOs to carry out more robust awareness on the deadly disease.

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REP. PAYE DESERVES SECOND TERM FORMER DISTRICT #4 CANDIDATE

Selma Lomax, selma.lomax@frontpageafricaonline.com

COUNTY NEWS

Thursday, April 3, 2014

Bong County 011 election, George Gbakolay, says Rep. Lester M. Paye deserves a second term and has a 99.9 percent chance to serve another term because his report card is already in the public domain. The former legislative candidate making a statement Sunday during the climax of a clan tournament organized by the lawmaker disclosed that the people can see the catalogue of over fifty projects going on in the district. He said: We have not seen this kind of development before. Your report card is an open book and we score your tenure very high. You have done well and you deserve a second term. Your score card is good. You have a 99.99 percent chance to serve another term because God is happy with you, we are happy with you, the chiefs are happy and the people are happy, he noted. According to Gbakolay Rep. Paye has done so well and he deserves to be promoted. Reacting, Rep. Paye said he is humbled by the assessment of his stewardship, adding, we still have far more to be done. The task is to build on the progress we have started. He also disclosed that as part of efforts to ensure that citizens have access to the nearest health center in Zota district, the lawmaker promised to donate another ambulance.

Ex- District #4 candidate George Gbakolay (left) described Rep. Paye (right) as an example of a true lawmaker

Rep. Lester Paye (orange shirt) presents a giant-size trophy Sunday to the winner of the clan tournament
While promising to sustain the trust and confidence reposed on him by the people of District #4, Rep. Paye said more projects which the people can see will be embarked upon. Every clan, town and village will have the red roof in the primary, Junior, and secondary schools across the district." "The least we can do to justify the support we've gotten from the people of the district to continue to bring development to the district, he added. Earlier, the lawmaker told the mammoth crowd at the Gbonota Sports pitch that he will continue to do more for the people of the district.

Monroviahe Liberia National Police and residents of 72nd Community in Paynesville have held discussion over the recent incident involving officers of the LNP, and some motorcyclists that resulted into three police officers sustainingserious wound. The residents openly asked the Liberia National Police for forgiveness on behalf of the motorcyclists, and promised to engage them to desist from attacking law enforcement officers and abide by laws governing the country. The vicious incident also led to the damaging of the official vehicle assigned to the Deputy Director of Police for Operations Col. Abraham Kromah, at which time forty protesting motorcyclists were arrested for their involvement in the violence. The Deputy Director for Operations has gone to supervise his officers who were engaged with the enforcement of a restriction on

POLICE 72ND RESIDENTS SMOKE PEACE PIPE

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CRIME WATCH

the movement of motorcyclists plying the Somalia Drive and other restricted routes when his vehicle and bodyguards came under attacked. At a well-attended town hall meeting held Sunday in the Jacob Town Community in

Paynesville, the residents described the action of the motorcyclists as unbecoming and unfortunate, and pledged their community commitment in working with the Liberia National Police to protect the peace of the country.

The residents praised the police for exercising maximum restrain in the wake of looming threat that could have resulted to a more violence situation. They promised to educate their children on the role of the Liberia National Police, and

also promised to caution them to desist from the acts that have the propensity to make the country revert to its ugly past. At the same time the 72th residents are appealing to the Liberia National Police for more logistic for police officers

assigned in their community, they said the lack of vehicles for the police was impeding normal police operations. Also speaking the Assistant Commissioner of Police for Administration Phil Gbor and the Deputy Police Director for Operations Abraham Kromah said the Liberia National Police will not encourage any form of lawlessness from any quarter of the Liberian society. The both Police top brass said while the Liberia National Police is willing to work with members of the community such willingness must not be consider as weakness on the part of the police. They pledged the police commitment in engendering a more genuine relationship with various communities around the country in an effort to jointly fight crime in Liberia. The program was attended by several community organizations including both Christian and Muslim leaders.

Thursday, April 3, 2014

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AGRICULTURE

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POLITICS

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New Agriculture Diploma Expected to Increase the Supply of Valuable Skills for Liberias Developing Agricultural Sectorto provide access to energy to two million people in Africa

AGRICULTURE BOOST

n partnership with the Ministry of Education, the USAID Food and Enterprise Development (FED) Program has developed Liberias first market-based, regionally integrated vocational training program in agriculture. In September 2014, the National Diploma for Agriculture will go into effect at four USAID FED-supported Centers of Excellence in Agriculture located at the Nimba, Lofa and Grand Bassa County Community Colleges and at the Booker T. Washington Institute. The National Diploma for Agriculture (NDA) is an innovative, skillsfocused two-year Vocational Diploma that prepares high school graduates to move directly into agricultural employment in the formal sector or through entrepreneurship. Students will graduate with marketable, in-demand skills that will give them expanded employment options tied to the countrys growing agricultural market and industry needs. USAID FEDs Centers of Excellence in Agriculture will lead the practical training program through demonstration farms, extension services and showcasing of best practices and innovations in agri-business. The new diploma is the countrys first fully-approved ECOWAS (Economic Community of West African States) curriculum and represents an important step towards regional integration. The agriculture diploma is perhaps most important for Liberias workforce. The new diploma will be a valuable part of the process to equip Liberian farmers with practical skills in order to support the growing agricultural sector and improve long term sustainability of farming, says the MoEs Director of Technical Vocational Education and Training, SakuDukuly. USAID FED and the Ministry of Education (MoE) used Nigerias vocational agriculture curriculum as a foundation adapting it to the Liberian context, market demands and needs of Liberias youth. In addition to core courses like Crop Cultivation, Irrigation, Soil Science and Animal Husbandry, the Liberian diploma program includes essential knowledge and skills-building in key areas of Entrepreneurship, Leadership and Communications. These skills are critical to the needs of a post-conflict Liberia in the process of rebuilding its agricultural markets and connecting them

to the region. The National Diploma for Agriculture will improve overall capacity of future farmers; the added bonus is that Liberian youth will also acquire the skills, such as record keeping and financial management, needed to create a business, says USAID FED Chief of Party, Agnes Luz. These skills play a key role in addressing not only the immediate employment needs of graduates, but also the development and growth of the agricultural and food production sectors of the country. Over the last two years, the MoE and USAID FED have held a series of technical workshops to review and shape the agriculture diploma. Education and agriculture stakeholders, as well as Liberias largest agricultural employers, helped define the skills that are most needed by agribusinesses in Liberia. Curriculum piloting is underway at the Nimba County Community College where students are testing a total of eight courses including Agri-Business and Soil Fertility & Crop Nutrition. After the two-year program is rolled-out at the Centers of Excellence, lessons learned and best practices will be consolidated to guide the expansion of the curriculum to four more vocational training centers in Liberia under the MOE in 2016. The USAID FED Program for Liberia aims to reduce hunger and promote food security for Liberians by increasing agricultural productivity and profitability across food based value chains, stimulating enterprise development and building the agriculture workforce. The program is implemented in six counties: Bong, Nimba, Lofa, Grand Bassa, Margibi and Montserrado. USAID FED is Africas largest project under President Barack Obamas Feed the Future Initiative, which promotes a move away from subsistence and increasing food security by working with public and private bodies, including the Government of Liberia, the private sector, local NGOs and other key stakeholders. The United StatesLiberias largest donor and closest ally supports the nations priorities to build sustainable, local capacity, make a difference in peoples lives, and move towards a shared vision of self-sufficiency and prosperity. For more information please visit. www.usaid.gov.

Monrovia he Chairman of the Alternative National Congress of Liberia (ANC), Lafayette Gould, says his party is becoming a potent political force in Liberia. Mr. Gould was speaking shortly after his party held what he called a very successful two-day national convention in Gbarnga, Bong County over the week-end. More than 300 ANC delegates from all 15 counties plus the United States converged on Gbarnga for the two-day convention. The Convention saw the election of a corps of officers who will chart the party's course over the next several years. Gould, who had been acting as Chairman of the Party since its founding in late 2012, was formally elected national Chairman at the Convention. Others elected included Josiah Kennedy as Vice Chairman, and Meapeh, Gono-Glay, as Secretary General. Ruth Hallowanger was elected Treasurer and Musu Sannoh was chosen by the delegates as Vice Chairman to lead the party's mobilization efforts. Rodney Wilson was also elected to the position of Vice Chairman for Research and Planning, and Alexander Sonpon was chosen to serve as Vice Chairman for Projects. Delegates attending the conference also adopted a working draft of the ANC Policy Goals. The policy goals document sets forth the Party's broad plans for bringing development to Liberia. According to the ANC Policy Goals document, the party sees the people and the land as Liberia's two principal resources. Accordingly, the ANC calls for investment in the people in the form of education and health, and investment in the land to create an export oriented agricultural sector, as critical to bringing long-term development to Liberia. Specifically in the area of health, the ANC says the national focus should be on primary health care with the ultimate goal of improving the average life span and quality of life of every Liberian. In the area of education, the party calls for investment in early childhood education to ensure that children entering school are capable of succeeding. The policy goal document, which was presented to the convention delegates by ANC member, Kwame Clement, also calls for political and government reforms to promote efficiency and transparency across the various branches of the Liberian government. In addition to delegates from all fifteen counties, the convention delegates included a team from ANC-USA. Those on the ANC US delegation, included ANC USA Chairman, Wilfred Passawe, Welma Mashinini Redd, Chairman of the ANC Communications and Technology Committee, and Eugene Bull, Chairman of the ANC USA Ways and Means Committee. Chairman Gould said his party is gearing up for the up-coming elections to fill 15 seats in the Liberian Senate. Several people who intend to run in the elections were present at the convention. They include, Edgar Badio who seeks to run for the Senate seat for Grand Kru County on the Party's banner, Henrique Wilson, a potential candidate of the Party for a Senate seat from Maryland County, and George Boley, who is also looking forward to running on the Party's ticket for the Senate seat from Grand Gedeh County. Free, fair, and competitive primaries will be held in each of the counties over the next few months to formally select those who will seek seats in the Senate on the ANC ticket

ANC CHAIR LOOKING TO BUILD A POTENT POLITICAL FORCE IN LIBERIA

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Gbarnga, Bong County ong County Senator, Jewel Howard-Taylor, has had what she refers to as an unusual tenure over the last eight years. She has since her assumption as senator of the county touched almost all the sectors of the countys economy and in her assessment of her tenure, she declared that she has satisfied her conscience at developing the county. She will this year again contest the senatorial election of the county under the platform of the National Patriotic Party (NPP), having been reportedly endorsed as the candidate of the party in the county. The senator, who has always expressed her willingness to continue with the programs that will uplift the lives of the people of the county, assured that if given the opportunity as senator for a second term, she will do better than she has done in her first term. Howard-Taylor, who also bares her mind on sundry national issues in this interview with FrontPageAfrica, declared that her passion for the development of the county was borne out of her interest in the people. She responded to some criticisms trailing her style of leadership, among others.

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NO ONE CAN DEFEAT ME IN BONG SENATOR TAYLOR

Selma Lomax, selma.lomax@frontpageafricaonline.com
have also paid a 27.5 per cent increment to teachers. We are incentivizing them; we are training and re-training them. We have exposed some of them to external (offshore) training. And there is empirical evidence that our investment in education has started showing. An example is Bong Technical College which was brought into the county through my effort at the national legislature, and is now serving the interest, especially, of those who cannot afford private education. Private sector elites are even already falling over one another to have a place in the Mega Schools. This is an evidence that we can showcase to the people. In the Health sector, we have proved that it is possible to democratize access to free, qualitative healthcare, especially to the most vulnerable groups in the society pregnant women and infants. We have targeted these segments and the result has been such that has been recognized even beyond the shores of Bong as a template. FrontPageAfrica: With the coming senatorial election and with many candidates gunning for your seat, are you, as the incumbent, losing any sleep? Senator Taylor: I only lose sleep when Im working for the people. It is legitimate for people to eye my seat. Its expected and its part of the beauty of democracy. Some people love the sound of sirens, and whatever. But what I can tell you is that we are working for the people, and they know this. We have a very enlightened population that is politically conscious. Come October, our work will speak for us. So, I dont lose sleep over people wanting to contest election. But I lose sleep when I think about what we still have to do to battle poverty in this land. FrontPageAfrica: Your rivals have faulted your achievements saying that you have not done much for the people of Bong County. What do you make about such claim? Senator Taylor: Those aspirants downplaying my numerous developmental projects in the county are clueless. Any leader who does not do anything about the children and mothers health is not a good leader. Cases of children dying were rampant because of inadequate health care services. But in Bong County today, it has drastically reduced because of the midwifery centers I have built across the county. Thus, when we became senator in 2005, we started to construct midwifery homes across the county. And in 3 yrs, Bong County and Liberia has seen what we are doing. FrontPageAfrica: There is this claim that you are basking on the glory of your former husband Charles Taylor for re-election, are you? Senator Taylor: Absolutely not Selma. My achievements over the years will vindicate me in October. No aspirant or politician in Bong County has done more than what I have done for the people of Bong County. FrontPageAfrica: The Bong County senatorial race there is this issue of geo-politics and lower Bong to be specific Sanoyea, your native district. Why should geo-politics be an issue in a homogenous county like Bong? Senator Taylor: The issue of geo-politics is not peculiar to Bong County but is a national discourse. It also has international dimensions even in the developed countries that practice participatory democracy, where it has become part and parcel of their political psyche. FrontPageAfrica: Madam Senator thanks for the time. Senator Taylor: Thank you Selma.

INTERVIEW

Thursday, April 3, 2014

Excerpts: FrontPageAfrica: You are over eight years in office as senator of Bong County, how have you been faring with the challenges considering the level of opposition to your leadership at both home and abroad? Senator Taylor: We are being driven by the passion to develop and turn around the economy of Bong County. We believe strongly in the divine intervention for guidance and success. We cannot ascribe the success to ourselves but to the Almighty who will continue to support and make it possible for us to achieve our plans to execute mammoth projects that will attract investments from across the developed nations to the county. And that passion definitely inspired more than ordinary effort to get our development to drive our vision. However, God has established His laws; it is left to human beings to take maximum advantage of the laws of God for their benefits. So, with the abundance of Gods provisions, human beings only need to put their minds in what they want and help from sources that are never envisaged will just come. Yes, what we are doing in all spheres of life are definitely beyond the capacity of a county. So, effective, efficient and prudent management of our development fund and the manner in which I have personally attracted development to the county over the years have helped to push the frontier of development. Our success in that regard is beyond the capacity to prudently, effectively and efficiently manage the county. That is where the divine angle comes in. You just realize that even with the best management skill, which we have on ground is just beyond human comprehension. It is the gargantuan scope of our development strides that has confused the opposition to the point of hallucination. Now, they dont even know what to say or what to do, others promote lies. They cannot talk about lack of performance because that is beyond them to do even with their somewhat skilled sense of evaluation to whittle down our achievements and appreciation by the people. They still go about this totally uncoordinated hype on phantom which is unsustainable if you are going to be honest with it. FrontPageAfrica: You are one of the most criticized lawmakers in Bong County, what are you doing to limit the criticisms against your leadership with just few months to election? Senator Taylor: When a man is criticized the way we are criticized, it is due to success. Success brings criticism definitely. In fact, what I will say is that success largely brings controversy. Probably that is what is making people to criticize me. Success brings controversy, success brings hostility and success brings envy. We are indeed successful in our programs and projects. You see, we were not unconscious of the reactions some of our programs, projects and activities would attract. Dont forget, we heartily call our nine years tenure during my countywide trip last August an unusual tenure. We branded our leadership an unusual one. So, it would be difficult not to have the spate of antagonism that we have experienced over this period of time.It would be totally abnormal not to have such reactions. FrontPageAfrica: Election for your second term is just few months away, how prepared are you for the election? Senator Taylor: We have been working from the very first day with the firm belief that there will be a day of reckoning which elections usually mean to politicians. Elections are the days of reckoning. They are the judgment days for politicians. So, from the day I was elected in 2005 until now, we have been working assiduously for that auspicious day that the electorate will have the opportunity to renew our mandate for another period of time. For a thing that we have been working at for the past eight years, I will want to say we are doing well at it. FrontPageAfrica: How prepared are you to square up with other aspirants like Dr. Tokpa, Ranney Jackson, former Senator Siakor

and Augustus Flomo? Senator Taylor: I am an unrepentant optimist and I remain unshakable in the Almighty God. The Bong County people want me to be their senator again - that is why Im in the race. In the corporate world, we call that head-hunting. Let me say once again, I remain the aspirant to beat. No one, absolutely no one can defeat me in Bong County. I have not seen that person yet. FrontPageAfrica: The NPP has been engulfed in leadership crisis for some time now and there are signs that it could have an effect on your re-election most especially you being at odds with Representatives George Sylvester Mulbah and Bill Adam Corneh? Also, sinister groups in the caucus have emerged against you in a bid to stall your re-election as evidenced by Rep. Prince Moyes decision to support Cuttington Universitys president Dr. Henrique Flomo Tokpa, Rep. Lester Payes decision to support Augustus Flomo and Corpu Barclays preparedness to support Ranney Jackson. Do you have fear that it could take a toll on your re-election? Senator Taylor: There is no crisis between Representatives Mulbah, Corneh and myself. To us, whether the party is one, fragmented or weakened by internal crisis, it is everyones headache. We are engaged by the people and that is important to us. Our engagement with the people has been so firm, so serious, so symbiotic and so wholesome. The people are the sole decider of victory or defeat in an election. In Bong County like we all know, political parties cannot mobilize support from the people and even lawmakers cannot force the people. FrontPageAfrica: But the lawmakers can stimulate the interest of their constituents, are you not worried about the spat between you and the NPP lawmakers, and Corpu Barclay? Senator Taylor: Lawmakers cannot compel the people to adopt or accept their decisions. So, since we have realized this from the very beginning, our works, our programs, our activities are directed at meeting the needs of the people, satisfying the people, mobilizing the people to accept our programs and policies, believe in us as their friends and people who are committed to their progress, welfare, peace and prosperity. Our people-oriented programs are also designed to adopt us as their own representatives. So, once those critical or those fundamentals of engagement with the people are met, the rest is little. With what we have done with the people, with the response we have from the people, it does not matter the crisis or no crisis in NPP. The crisis in NPP doesnt matter anymore. Whether they are together or divided, weakened or strong, as long as we are one with the people and represent the aspirations of the people to give our people the hope of realizing their desires and wants, some of the lawmakers who want to campaign for other people do whatever they wish to do. God be with us, success is our own. FrontPageAfrica: What major achievements would you want to showcase to Bong County people as you seek re-election? Senator Taylor: Lets take education for example. We have intervened to address the issue of fallen standard of education, accessibility and democratization of quality education, especially for the downtrodden. These are everyday concerns which we have addressed through the Land Grant Scholarship and the Jewel Howard-Taylor scholarship of Excellence that has benefited over 2000 students and continue to benefit more. We have put together an incentivization package for the teaching staff, talking about those that are not on governments payroll. Apart from the relativity allowance which we have paid, we

Thursday, April 3, 2014

'MAMA KANGA': NIGERIA'S 'WELL WOMAN'

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LIFESTYLE

HICKS 2014 SCHOLARSHIP RECIPIENTS ANNOUNCED

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EDUCATION

Frontpage

Page 11

Five University of Liberia Students in Mass Communication are Awarded the J.P. Hicks Family Scholarship*

Igbogbo (Nigeria) (AFP) ortified by a faith in God and a Guinness stout -- or a tot of something stronger -- Ololade Rabiu reckons she must have dug hundreds of wells in her time. But the 46-year-old mother of six is a rarity in Nigeria, where forging deep into the red earth to find precious drinking water has historically been a male preserve. "I am extremely happy that I am the only woman so far in this profession of well-drilling. I love and enjoy it," she told AFP at her home in Igbogbo, about 40 kilometres (25 miles) east of Lagos. "There is no well I cannot drill or enter," she said proudly. Megacity Lagos and its surrounding state are crippled by overburdened and neglected infrastructure, with safe, clean drinking water in particularly short supply. A study by the Lagos State Water Corporation found that the city's 18 million people needed 540 million gallons (2.5 billion litres) against actual production of just 210 million gallons in 2010. It has vowed to dramatically increase production to 745 million gallons per day by 2020, by which time the city is expected to be home to 29 million people. But in the meantime, households are forced to rely on tanker deliveries for their water or private wells. Purification to eliminate disease is not guaranteed and street vendors selling "sachet" water in cellophane bags are a common sight -- as are the discarded empty packets on the streets. - 'The well woman' The shortfalls in public supply mean there is plenty of business for well diggers like Rabiu, who first began drilling for water in 1997. She learnt her craft from her Ghanaian second husband, Daniel Ajiraku, and has since carved out a niche for herself along with a nickname in the Yoruba language: "Mama Kanga" -- "the well woman". "The beginning was difficult but now I thank God that I have overcome my initial fright and I have made a success of my chosen career," she explained. "Daniel taught me all the rudiments of well-drilling: how to locate the water bed, determine depth, how much to charge, the implements to be used and how to overcome challenges." Neighbours and clients are full of praise for her ability, which once saw her drill to a depth of 130 feet (40 metres) in the Akute area of Ogun state. "She drilled my well more than seven years ago and she did it so well that I have so far had no problem with it," said Ben Kunle Omodein, from Igbogbo. "She is gifted in the art of well-drilling. I am sure she does it better than many men," said her former landlord, Yisa Abdul. Rabiu's third husband, Saliu, died at the age of 64 last month but she said that the setback would not stop her working. "Life must continue. I cannot allow the death of my husband to kill my career," she said. - 'Our hero, our mother' Rabiu's children, one of whom lives in Spain, have followed their mother into the well-digging business. Fourteen-year-old Kobina proves the point by jumping into a nearby water-filled well, only to re-emerge a few minutes later. As for the job's male bias, Rabiu, who is from Ile-Ife in southwest Nigeria and originally trained as a designer, said she had never let her gender stop her from doing what she wants in life. Rabiu's living room is strewn with the tools of her trade: a wheelbarrow, water-pumping machine, a hose, spade, iron bars, shovels, buckets and two generators. The job is dangerous and back-breaking, she admitted, but said that her faith in God -- and a Guinness, gin or whisky -- had helped her overcome the challenges. Nothing, she said, gives her as much pleasure as digging wells. "I feel elated when we have a meeting of well-drillers in Lagos and I am the only woman in the midst of hundreds of men. "I am well respected because they all see me as their mother. They are my children," she added. Yusuf Mainasara, a well-driller from Niger, agreed. "'Mama Kanga' is our queen, our hero and our mother. We are really proud of her," he said.

F
Monrovia -

ive aspiring journalists at the University of Liberia have been awarded scholarships from the J.P. Hicks Family Journalism Mass Communications Scholarship, representing the fourth group of students to receive the scholarship. The scholarships were presented at a ceremony at the University of Liberia that included Weade Kobbah-Wureh, the Chair of the University's Mass Communication department, and Jonathan P. Hicks, the founder of the scholarship, who traveled from New York City to Monrovia for the event. The scholarship is awarded to students in mass communication who have shown a combination of academic excellence as well as a strong commitment to the field of journalism. The scholarship includes payment of tuition and fees and mentoring from professional journalists in Liberia and in the United States. The students were also presented laptops. Also, the students' writing will be published on various websites. The 2014 recipients are Patience S. Baker, Mazoe N.Cortee, Mohammed A.A. Foboi, Gbatemah S. Senah and Joaquin M. Sendolo. Each recipient has been deeply involved in writing for various newspapers in Liberia as well as their work in broadcasting The scholarship was created by the family of Jonathan P. Hicks, a longtime journalist and writer in the United States. Mr. Hicks is a senior national correspondent with BET.com as well as a columnist with the New York Amsterdam News. He is a former financial and political reporter with The New York Times. "On behalf of the university, we are very pleased by the work that the J.P. Hicks Family Mass Communications Scholarship is undertaking here," said Julius S. Nelson, vice president and dean of student affairs at the University of Liberia. "We thank you for being so supportive of our students. They won't forget the role you played in shaping their lives." In 2010, Mr. Hicks conducted a symposium in Liberia for professional reporters and mass communications students. The two-week conference called "Preparing for Election 2011: A Symposium on Political and Election Reporting in Liberia "It has been a great thrill to recognize five more extraordinary young people who have a passion for the field of journalism," Mr. Hicks said.

"I'm extremely impressed with the students I have had the opportunity to meet. I'm also happy that our scholarship can be used to help these wonderful students to further their aspirations." The J.P. Hicks Family Mass Communication Scholarship was established in 2010 to provide support for students at the who are interested in mass communication, either in print, broadcast or online publications. Scholarship awards are based on a combination of academic achievement, exceptional talent within the discipline and a commitment to enhance the quality of journalism in Liberia. The scholarship award covers the cost of tuition, fees and books for a period of up to four semesters at the University of Liberia. It also provides for online, one-on-one mentorship with professional journalists as well an allowance for Internet usage. The scholarship also will include a laptop computer for each recipient. Students entering their junior and senior years at the university are eligible to apply for the award. Mr. Hicks' family lived in Monrovia while his father, John Henry Hicks, a former journalist and former United States diplomat, served at the American embassy in Liberia. John Hicks, who was the first African-American reporter at the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, supervised the operation of the United States Information Service's library in downtown Monrovia and hosted a weekly public affairs program on ELBC Radio in Monrovia. It was during that time that Jonathan Hicks formed a connection with Liberia and its people that would last throughout his life. In the fall of 2009, Jonathan Hicks traveled to Liberia on a grant from the Ford Foundation to write articles and produce broadcasts about the redevelopment of the country following the 14-year civil war that ended in 2003. He was also charged with laying the groundwork for a training program for professional and aspiring journalists there. While in Liberia, he was a guest lecturer in the Mass Communications Department at the University of Liberia. After meeting so many talented and committed students who had few resources, he determined that there was a need to support those students, who would become the country's next generation of journalists, through scholarships and mentoring opportunities. The scholarship is administered by the Kappa Alpha Psi New York Foundation.

four-man delegation from the Union of Liberian Associations in Norway (ULAN) and the University in Tromso arrives in Liberia shortly to sign a Memorandum of Understanding between the University of Liberia and the University in Tromso in Norway. Members of the delegation include ULAN National Chairman Emmanuel Suah, ULAN National Vice Chairman Michael Forsther and ULAN National Secretary General Linford Aagon Gweh. The University of Tromso will be represented by Dr. Percy Oware. The Memorandum of Understanding will among other things create opportunities for students from the University of Liberia to pursue post-graduate programs at the University in Tromso in different academic disciplines. Both the University of Liberia and the University in Tromso will work out details of the programs following the signing of the MoU, while the Union of Liberian Associations in Norway continues to

LIBERIANS IN NORWAY SEEK PARTNERSHIP FOR UL

support the process. It is expected that the programs will begin in the near future once details are finalized. At present, the Union of Liberian Associations in Norway is sponsoring nearly fifty students at the University of Liberia under its Students Education Funds Program which was initiated more than three years ago. Meanwhile, the delegation is expected to meet with the Ministers of Education and Foreign Affairs while in the country, to discuss possible students assistance programs in the future. The Union of Liberia Associations in Norway was conceived in 2005 from a gathering of Liberians from across the country in the city of Kongsberg. Over the years, the union has grown, and has a large membership throughout Norway. Municipalities that form the Union of Liberian Associations in Norway, meet annually to host the largest gathering of Liberians in Norway to celebrate Liberias Independence Day.

Page 12 | Frontpage

Thursday, April 3, 2014

LIBERIA CIVIL AVIATION AUTHORITY (LCAA)

VACANCY ANNOUNCEMENT
Liberia Civil Aviation Authority is accepting applications from qualified and experienced professional with background in Library Science to serve as Librarian within the employ of the Liberia Civil Aviation Authority. Job Title: Librarian Place of Work: Liberia Civil Aviation Authority / Robertsfield, Liberia Reports to: Director General - Liberia Civil Aviation Authority Position Summary: The Librarian shall under the supervision of administration and be responsible to scrupulously implement the development of a comprehensive, fully-functional and effectively run aviation-related library. Job Duties and Responsibilities Organize, plan and develop a strategic plan for the smooth running of an aviation-centered library; Ensure that access to the library is done in an orderly and sequential manner. Make the CAA library facility user-friendly and easily accessible. Develop and keep all pertinent records in a codified form. Required Education & Qualification A BSc Degree or its equivalent in Library Science Must have at least 3 years experience in related field. Skills The Librarian must demonstrate the following skills: - Team building; - Professional competence and independent judgment; - Use of analytical discretion problem-solving; - Firm in decision-making; - Articulate and proficient oral communications skills; - Computer literacy in Microsoft-word-processing; - Possess stress and time management skills. Personal Attributes - The Librarian must maintain strict confidentiality in performing duties assigned. - Be honest, respectful and trustworthy. - Be culturally aware and sensitivity. - Must be flexible and demonstrate sound work ethics. How to Apply Liberia Civil Aviation Authority is an equal opportunity employer and considers all applicants on the basis of merit. Please send your applications, along with your Resume and references attached to: Human Resource Section Liberia Civil Aviation Authority Robertsfield, Liberia. Deadline for submission of application is April 20, 2014. ONLY SHORLISTED APPLICANTS WILL BE CONTACTED
P.O. Box 68, Harbel Margibi County, Republic of Liberia Tel: 231-76998848/49 eFax: +1(404) 506-9617 E-mail: liberiacaa@liberiacaa.com / www.liberiacaa.com

LIBERIA CIVIL AVIATION AUTHORITY (LCAA)

VACANCY ANNOUNCEMENT
Liberia Civil Aviation Authority is accepting applications from qualified and experienced professionals with background in Mathematics and Physics to serve as Air Traffic Controller within the Air Traffic Management Department of the CAA. Job Title: Air Traffic Controller Place of Work: Liberia Civil Aviation Authority / Robertsfield, Liberia Reports to: Manager (ATMD), Liberia Civil Aviation Authority Position Summary: The Air Traffic Controller shall under the supervision of Senior Air Traffic Controller be responsible to ensure the safe, orderly and expeditious movement of Air Traffic in the lower airspace of the skies of Liberia by providing Air Traffic Services (ATS) and Aeronautical Information to ensure the safe, orderly and expeditious movement of Air Traffic in the lower airspace of the skies of Liberia by providing Air Traffic Services (ATS) and Aeronautical Information The Air Traffic Controller shall report to the Manager Air Traffic Management Department. Job Duties and Responsibilities Prevent collision between aircraft arriving at or departing from Roberts/Spriggs and aircraft transiting the Roberts Terminal Control Area/Control Zone (TMA/CTR) below 10,000 feet/Flight Level 100; Prevent collision between aircraft on the maneuvering area and obstructions on that area; and Expedite and maintain safe and orderly flow of air traffic. Prepare on-shift duty report prior to turnover. Required Education & Qualification A BSc Degree in Mathematics or Physics Must have at least 2 years experience in either of the above fields Knowledge The Air Traffic Controller must have proficient knowledge in the following areas: - English grammar, composition and fluency; - Communicate fluently and distinctly to airmen within Liberias territorial airspace; and - Must have knowledge in Microsoft word-processing, Excel and Power-point. Skills The Air Traffic Controller must demonstrate the following skills: - Team building; - Professional competence and independent judgment; - Use of analytical discretion problem-solving; - Firm in decision-making; - Articulate and proficient oral communications skills; - Computer literacy in Microsoft - word-processing; - Possess stress and time management skills. Personal Attributes - The Air Traffic Controller must maintain strict confidentiality in performing duties assigned. - Maintain honesty, respect and trust. - Must be culturally aware and sensitivity. - Be flexible and demonstrate sound work ethics. How to Apply Liberia Civil Aviation Authority is an equal opportunity employer and considers all applicants on the basis of merit. Please send your applications, along with your Resume and references attached to: Human Resource Section Liberia Civil Aviation Authority Robertsfield, Liberia. Deadline for submission of application is February 20, 2014. ONLY SHORLISTED APPLICANTS WILL BE CONTACTED P.O. Box 68, Harbel Margibi County, Republic of Liberia Tel: 231-76998848/49 eFax: +1(404) 506-9617 E-mail: liberiacaa@liberiacaa.com / www.liberiacaa.com

Thursday, April 3, 2014

Frontpage

Page 13

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

March 31, 2014

REGULATOR STILL IN LACC DRAGNET

MINISTRY OF EDUCATION

INVITATION FOR BIDS

Commission on Higher Education Director General long Corruption tale

We wish to inform the public that Motherwell Bridge Limited (MBL) the United Kingdom based company contracted by the Liberia Petroleum Refining Company (LPRC) to rehabilitate the Product Storage Terminal (PST) on Bushrod Island has suspended work due to the suspected fear of the Ebola Virus in the in the Mano River Region. In a letter received by LPRC from MBL on March 28, 2014, the company informed the LPRC that due to the Ebola Virus in the Border Regions it was suspending work at the PST with its foreign staff leaving the Liberian staff on the project site. The letter from MBL indicated that the foreign staff will return to Liberia in a few weeks once it is confirmed that there is no health risk to their personnel. Let it be known that up to this latest decision by MBL, the rehabilitation project was ongoing. Published by Authority: Public Relations Section

GOLBAL PARTNERSHIP FOR EDUCATION BASIC EDUCATION PROJECT IDA GRANT ID: TF097456 NATIONAL COMPETITIVE BIDDING (NCB) FOR SUPPLY OF OFFICE EQUIPMENT AND CONSUMABLES 1. The Government of the Republic of Liberia has received a grant in an amount of US$40 million equivalent from the Global Partnership for Education (GPE) through the World Bank to finance the Global Partnership for Education Basic Education Project of the Ministry of Education and intends to apply part of the proceeds of this grant to payments for the Supply of Office Equipment and Consumables. 2. The Ministry of Education now invites sealed bids from eligible bidders for supply of Supply of Office Equipment and Consumables as set out below in the List of Goods and Delivery Schedule: Schedule of Requirements

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

We regret to inform the general public that SIR, the national refinery in Ivory Coast, where LPRC gets over 90% of its petroleum supply is currently down until further notice. Due to this unforeseen situation, we have to source petroleum supply from offshore Cameron and Europe. The expected shipment that should have arrived on the 10th of February is delayed until the 15th of February; as such, the present stock is running low. Based on this unexpected incident LPRC will have to manage the contingency stock until the next vessel arrives on Saturday. As it relates to diesel/fuel, please be informed that key institutions and filling stations will be supplied at 80% while other facilities at 55%. Also be informed that LPRC has more than enough gasoline (PMS) supply in its tanks and is supplying customers at 100%. Meanwhile, two vessels are expected this week with a total of 16,000 MT of Diesel, which is approximately 4,000,000 gallons for distribution on the Liberian market. Despite this unfortunate situation LPRC wishes to assure the public that there is no need to panic. Therefore no one should increase the price of petroleum products during this period. We call on all Liberians to report any case of price increase to the Ministry of Commerce . We are therefore asking the public to exercise restraint as LPRC is doing everything to ensure the availability of diesel fuel on the Liberian market. Published by Authority: Public Relations

Lot No.

Line Item N

Description of Goods

Quantity

Physical unit

Delivery Date (as per Incoterms)

1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1 1.5

Laptop Computer Laptop Computer Computer Applications LaserJet Printer (Black & white) LaserJet A-3 Printer/scanner/copy/Fax (Color) Multifunction Color Printer Flatbed Scanner Wacom Intuos3 A4 Wide (USB) Shredder (Heavy Duty) Shredder (Medium) Guillotine Paper Cutter A4 Copier Paper Cartridge for HP Laser jet printer (05A)

9 6 15 15 3

Piece Piece Piece Set Set

30-40 days following the date of Contract Signature

1.6 1.7 1.8 2.1 2 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5

3 3 3 3 4 2 100 30

Set Piece Piece Piece Piece Piece Ream Piece

3. Bidding will be conducted through the International Competitive Bidding procedures as specified in the World Banks Guidelines: Procurement of Goods, Works and Non-Consulting Services under IBRD Loans and IDA Credits &Grants by World Bank Borrowers (Procurement Guidelines), and is open to all eligible bidders as defined in the Procurement Guidelines. In addition, please refer to paragraphs 1.6 and 1.7 setting forth the World Banks policy on conflict of interest. 4. Interested eligible bidders may obtain further information from the Global Partnership for Education Project, Ministry of Education; Attention:Mr. David Baysah, Project Coordinator, baysah.fti.cf.moe@ gmail.com or fabu.fti.moe@gmail.comand inspect the Bidding Documents at the address given below Global Partnership for Education Project(GPEP), Ministry of Education, 3rdStreet, Sinkor, Monrovia, Liberia from 9.00GMT to 17.00GMT on business days from Thursday, April 3, 2014.. 5. Qualification requirements include technical and financial capability.A margin of preference for eligible national suppliersshall not be applied. Additional details are provided in the Bidding Documents. 6. A complete set of Bidding Documents in English may be purchased by interested bidders on the submission of a written Application to the address below and upon payment of a non-refundable feeof fifty United States Dollars (US$50.00) or its equivalent in a freely convertible currency. The method of payment should be cash, bankers draft or wire transfer. Banking details will be provided upon request.The Bidding Documents will be provided in hard copy or electronically, by email attachment. If any foreign Bidder wishes to have a hard copy of the bid document mailed to them, such Bidders will have to pay for courier services to get the bid document sent to them. 7. Bids must be delivered to the address below at or before 10:00 Local Time on Wednesday, April 30, 2014. Electronic bidding will not be permitted. Late bids will be rejected. Bids will be opened in the presence of the bidders representatives who choose to attend in person at the address below at 10:00 Local Time on Wednesday, April 30, 2014. All bids must be accompanied by a Bid Security as follows: Lot 1 - USD2,400.00 Lot 2 - USD400.00 8. The address(es) referred to above are: For obtaining information and bid submission: For Bid Opening: Global Partnership for Education Project Ministry of Education Conference Room, Ground Floor, Room #020, 2ndFloor, Room #055 Ministry of Education, Ministry of Education, 3rd Street, Sinkor, 3rd Street, Sinkor, Monrovia, Monrovia, Liberia Liberia Tel: +231-(0) 88-655-0234 Tel: +231-(0) 88-655-0234 Email: baysah.fti.cf.moe@gmail.com

he former Minister of Foreign Affairs, Olubanke KingAkerele has launched her third book. The book titled The Growing of Africas Emergent Leadership was launched in Zambia on February 25, 2014. The Former Minister will on today, Thursday, April 3, 2014 engage in a signing of her most recent Book at the Monrovia City Hall. On February 25, 2014 the Book was lunched in Zambia. Dr. Kenneth Kaunda, first President of Zambia was unable to perform the launch himself as scheduled because he had just been released from the hospital. As such, his daughter deputized for him and graced the event. His speech is available for distribution. This book, based on extensive research on the contribution of Africas next generation of leaders cover the author, ongoing activities and efforts over more than 20 years for the development of the youths and young professionals of from all regions of the African Continent, as well as young Africas

FORMER FOREIGN MINISTER LAUNCHES ANOTHER BOOK

Emergent leaders in the diaspora, Africas 6th region as designated by the African Union. The release of the book for the first time in Liberia took place on 25 March at Tubmans University in Harper, Maryland. We want to thank the President of Tubman University, Dr. Elizabeth Davis Russell and the Vice President Rev. Rita Townsend, the faculty and academic staff as well as the student body there for the excellent programme organized at the Release. Proceeds from the sale of the book are applied to the Yahne

Sangare fund that serves as seed capital at the Angie Brooks International Centre to support the internship and mentorship programmes for young professionals (i. e. Africas Emergent Leadership) in Liberia and the MRU sub-region. The ceremony is taking place under the auspices of the Angie Brooks International Centre for Womens Empowerment, Leadership Development, International Peace and Security and the Liberian Institute for Growing Patriotism.

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UKRAINE AGREES TO HOST NATO WAR GAMES

IN BRIEF

KREMLIN CONFIRMS PUTIN'S DIVORCE FINAL

Kiev (AFP) kraine's parliament on Tuesday approved a series of joint military exercises with NATO countries that would put US troops in direct proximity to Russian forces in the annexed Crimea peninsula. "This is a good opportunity to develop our armed forces," acting defence minister Mykhailo Koval told Verkhovna Rada lawmakers ahead of the 235-0 vote. The decision came as NATO foreign ministers gathered in Brussels for a two-day meeting dominated by concern over the recent buildup of Russian forces near Crimea that US officials estimate had at one point reached about 40,000 troops. NATO has sought to reinforce its eastern frontier after Russia's takeover of Ukraine's Black Sea peninsula and amid concerns

S. AFRICAN PUPIL DIES AFTER ALLEGED TEACHER BELT BEATING

Malaysia Airlines Mystery May Never Be Solved, Officials Say

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WORLD NEWS

Thursday, April 3, 2014

Moscow (AFP) he Kremlin confirmed Wednesday that Russian President Vladimir Putin has finalised the divorce from his wife of 30 years Lyudmila following the couple's sudden split last summer. Putin's official biography, which described him as recently as March 27 as "Married. Wife Lyudmila Aleksandrovna Putina," now states simply that he has two daughters with no mention of a first lady. The president's spokesman Dmitry Peskov confirmed to state-owned Itar-TASS news agency that "the divorce has completed." The Putins in June of last year delivered a shock announcement that they were splitting up after three decades of marriage, in a choreographed statement to a state television reporter after attending a ballet performance in Moscow.

dditional technology is being employed to search for missing Malaysia Airlines Flight 370, but officials admitted today that the mystery into the jetliners disappearance may never be solved. Investigations may go on and on and on. We have to clear every little thing," Malaysia Inspector General Khalid Abu Bakar told reporters in Kuala Lumpur. "At the end of the investigations, we may not even know the real cause. We may not even know the reason for this incident. Malaysian officials spent hours meeting with the Chinese relatives of passengers on the doomed plane in Kuala Lumpur today, a meeting that one Malaysian official described as cordial. Prime Minister Najib Razak also planned to travel to Pearce Air Force Base to meet with the team running search operations off of Australias coast. Flight 370 and its 239 passengers vanished on March 8 25 days ago but the search continues to yield few answers. Search efforts for the Boeing 777 started over the Gulf of Thailand and South China Sea, then shifted west, north and south before settling on the southern Indian Ocean.

No trace of the plane has been recovered. The current search area is an 85,000-square-mile patch of ocean about 1,000 miles off of Australias coast. Angus Houston, the head of a joint agency coordinating the multinational search effort out of Australia, said no time frame had been set for the search to end, but that a new approach would be needed if nothing showed up. "Over time, if we don't find anything on the surface, we're going to have to think about what we do next, because clearly it's vitally important for the families, it's vitally important for the governments

involved that we find this airplane," he told Australian Broadcasting Corp. radio. Families Demand Apology as Search Crews Find New Objects The search now includes a submarine, the British vessel HMS Tireless. Batteries on the planes black box pingers will start to fade in a handful of days, and the sub will have to be within a mile or so to hear them a daunting possibility in a search area thats roughly the size of Ireland. The luck with using submarines is that youve got to be in the right place, said ABC News aviation analyst John

Nance. The water is only going to conduct it for a certain distance. Were going to have to have a lot of luck to be in the right place. When the Malaysia Airlines planes black box batteries stop pinging, the search will focus more heavily on sonar scans of the ocean bottom. That tactic was used to find Air France Flight 447, which crashed into the Atlantic Ocean in 2009. It took two years to find the Air France jet. Todays search included 10 planes, including a Gulfstream G650 jet reportedly owned by movie director Peter Jackson.

MEXICO TAKES OUT DRUG LORDS BUT VIOLENCE PERSISTS

With the killing of Knights Templar gang leader Enrique "Kike" Plancarte on Monday, authorities have now captured or gunned down all but one of the chiefs of a gang that has tormented the western state of Michoacan. But success against the Knights Templar may have come with a price, with security experts saying that Mexico City's suburbs could be affected by the "cucaracha" effect. The theory goes that the dismantling of a criminal group causes gangsters to flee like cockroaches to neighboring regions, in this case the State of Mexico that wraps around most of the capital. Plancarte, for instance, was killed by marines who tracked him down in the neighboring central state of Queretaro, which is not known for drug violence. - 'Great success' The government has deployed 10,000 troops and federal police to Michoacan, where civilians formed vigilante forces a year ago to combat the Knights Templar. Plancarte's death came three weeks after Knights Templar founder Nazario Moreno, alias "El Chayo," was killed by troops in Michoacan on March 9. With the capture of Plancarte's uncle in January, Servando "La Tuta" Gomez has been left as the sole remaining top leader of the cartel. "It is a great success for the government because it is taking out the head of the criminal structure," Raul Benitez Manaut, a security expert at Mexico's National Autonomous University, told AFP. Jaime Rivera, crime analyst at Michoacana University, said the government "could be close to a virtual dismantling of the Knights Templar organization." The cartel may not completely disappear but "change its size and its capacity to impose its will on local and state authorities," Rivera said. Like other cartels whose leaders have been killed or captured in the past, the Knights Templar may break up into small criminal gangs while others may spark a turf war for control of Michoacan's drug trade, he said. President Enrique Pena Nieto's administration has delivered important blows to other major cartels. Mexican marines captured the country's most wanted drug kingpin, Sinaloa cartel leader Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman, in his northwestern home state on February 22. The authorities have also arrested or killed several top leaders of the Gulf and Zetas drug cartels, which have battled for control of drug routes in the northeast.

WASHINGTON (AP) he Supreme Court struck down limits Wednesday in federal law on the overall campaign contributions the biggest individual donors may make to candidates, political parties and political action committees. The justices said in a 5-4 vote that Americans have a right to give the legal maximum to candidates for Congress and president, as well as to parties and PACs, without worrying that they will violate the law when they bump up against a limit on all contributions, set at $123,200 for 2013 and 2014. That includes a separate $48,600 cap on contributions to candidates. But their decision does not undermine limits on individual contributions to candidates for president or Congress, now $2,600 an election.

JUSTICES STRIKE DOWN POLITICAL DONOR LIMITS

Mexico City (AFP) exico's government has taken down almost the

entire leadership of one of the country's most vicious drug cartels, but it can barely savor victory amid rising violence around the capital.

Thursday, April 3, 2014

LIBERIAN EXPORTS
With continental Europe drawing to a close, how are Liberian footballers faring across the globe?
Danesius Marteh, danesius.marteh@frontpageafricaonline.com
With continental Europe drawing the curtains on its domestic leagues ahead of the World Cup in Brazil, FrontPageAfrica is today placing a spotlight on Liberian footballers, who are set to watch the events from the television. Lets begin in South Africa where captain Anthony Snothi Laffor has apparently discovered his scoring boots. Mamelodi Sundowns are now leveled on points with Absa premiership leaders Kaizer Chiefs following Sundays 2-1 win over Pretoria University with Laffor having given Sundowns a firsthalf injury time lead. Pretoria drew level midway through the second half through an Atusaye Nyondo header in the 63rd minute but the Brazilians held their nerve and took the lead once more through Lebohang Mokoena. It was Sundowns fifth successive league victory and sixth in all competitions but are second to Chiefs due to an inferior goaldifference but the latter have two games in hand. And Laffor has been the tormentor-in-chief, if not the savior, for Sundowns inform display. The lanky midfielder-cum-striker has scored five league goals, four in succession, in 12 appearances (795 minutes) from 24 league matches since his return to first team action, which may have eased news of a transfer. Laffor produced an assist and a goal when Sundowns booked a quarter-final place in the Nedbank Cup with a 4-1 win over Golden Arrows on March 22. His man of the match performance against Arrows earned him 5,000 Rands or US$468.38. Acclaimed South Africa football magazine KickOff.com had reported last December that Laffor

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RONALDO JEERS HAVE BEEN FORGOTTEN, INSISTS ANCELOTTI

SPORT BRIEF

R
was on the list of unsettled players following a conspicuous absence from the clubs festive get-together. The 29-year-old played four games (176 minutes) in the run-up to that report and a January transfer was not cast in stone. Head coach Pitso Mosimane dropped Laffor down the pecking orders with South Africa internationals Katlego Mashego (17 caps, seven goals) and Bongani Zungu (18 caps, a goal) and Zimbabwe internationals Khama Billiat (14 caps, four goals) and Cuthbert Malajila (17 caps, five goals) have been paired and preferred respectively. And with Laffor firing on all cylinders, Mosimane insists his players are thriving under the pressure of challenging for the league title. Sundowns and Chiefs will square-off in a match that could decide the title race on Saturday. In Greece, wonderboy Sekou Jabateh-Oliseh was substituted in the 46th minute as POAK FC beat Kalloni 2-1 on March 30. It was Olisehs 11th league appearance (568 minutes) from 32 matches and it leaves POAK second on the table with 66 points, 17 points adrift of leaders Olympiakos Piraeus after 32 games. Oliseh, who has scored two league goals this season, has reached the 11-game cap achieved last season with a goal. In Portugal, midfielder Theo Lewis Weeks, who joined from Turkish club Goztepe on August 31, 2013, has put 15 matches (789 minutes) and three goals in the league under his belt. Lewis was substituted in the 57th minute when Maritimo drew 1-1 with Gil Vicente on March 30. It was his 12th start for Maritimo, who are 10th on the table, with 31 points from 25 matches. In Montenegro, Omega Alamadine Roberts has made four appearances (343 minutes) for Mlodast, having moved from Serbias Crvena Zvezda on February 20 where he made two appearances (180 minutes). Roberts last game (a 90th minute cap) was when Mlodast lost 2-4 at home to Lovcen on March 26, which leaves the club third from bottom with 23 points from 24 matches. In Australia, defender-cum-midfielder Patrick Nyema Gerhardt has been almost regular for Melbourne Hearts with 17 caps (1084 minutes). He played the last 10 minutes when Hearts lost 1-2 away to Brisbane Roar on March 28. In Indonesia, Erick Weeks Lewis has made seven appearances (630 minutes) for Mitra Kukar in the ISL first phase with four goals. Lewis last game and goal was when Kukar beat Persiba Bantul 2-1 on March 16. James Koko Lomell of Barito Putera has scored three league goals in six games (461 minutes). Lomells last game and goal came when Putera beat Pelita Bandung Raya on March 15. Eddie Boakai Foday is yet to be featured by Persipura Jayapura. Kukar lead the Indonesian league with 13 points and is followed by Persiram with 12 points but a game in hand. And in Malaysia, Patrick Ronaldinho Wleh of PKNS and Francis Grandpa Doe of Keletan have made 10 appearances after 10 games respectively. Kelanta are sixth-placed on 14 points while PKNS are ninth-placed with 12 points.

eal Madrid coach Carlo Ancelotti stressed that Cristiano Ronaldo has already forgotten about the whistles aimed at him during the Liga win over Rayo Vallecano at the weekend. The Portugal international was jeered by the Madrid fans after he refused to set up a teammate during Saturday's 5-0 win, despite having earlier opened the scoring before setting up Dani Carvajal with an unselfish pass. Ancelotti has made it clear that nothing more should be made of the incident and says Ronaldo is fired up for the Champions League quarterfinal clash with Borussia Dortmund.

SEVERAL SCHOOLS TO PARTICIPATE IN INTER HIGH SCHOOL ATHLETIC CHAMPIONSHIP

A. Macaulay Sombai, Staff writer
Complex before we informed them about the Saturday training and that will be done by all of our coaches. The acting Secretary General mentioned that the first, second and third winners in the Track and Field competition always receive medals and trophies but as for the coming competition only the competitive athletes will be invited to join the ongoing training camp where 15 competitive athletes are already undergoing training in preparation for international competitions. He disclosed that not all of the winners will be sent to camp to join with the 15 athletes to continue training for international engagements but only those that will be selected by the coaches will be qualified. According to him, the selection process will be done on the basis of merit. Those competitive athletes that are already on training camp and those that will be qualified to join them will all have to also undergo several competitive training before the coaches will select the best among them to be sent to other neighboring countries for more training bore qualifying to represent the country

MOURINHO: IT'S A PITY FOR IBRAHIMOVIC IF HE DOESN'T MOVE TO ENGLAND

two day Track and Field competition organized by the Liberia Athletic Federation (LAF) gets underway April 18 at the Samuel Kanyan Doe Sports Complex in Paynesville. The LAF Acting Secretary General Fredrick B. Krah told FrontPageAfrica that the competition will focus in the areas of running, throw and jump events and said only schools in Monrovia were invited to

take part in the championship. The federation, he said has sent out approximately 75 invitations with more than 20 of the 75 invitees participation confirmed so far. By the 10th of April which is the new deadline for registration form to be dropped to our offices, we will be able to give you realistic information about the total number of participants for this year competition, said Krah. In preparation for the competition, Krah said his federation has opened

a rehearsal section at the SKD Sports Complex for schools wishing to participate in the coming competition to have access to experienced coaches to enable them undergo proper rehearsal before the start of the competition. We are very pleased about the manner in which the expected athletes have been responding to the training in the week under the federation Head Coach Fedrick Massaquoi at the SKD Sports

on the international scene. The two day competition will involve 10 different events but Krah confirmed that all of the 10 winners will not be taken for major competitions as they want athletes who have moved closer to the qualification zone and he thinks such athletes will be very easy to deal with during intensive training. Due to the lack of finance, Krah said only schools in Montserrado County were invited to participate in the championship, noting that they have to work within the little resources available for the competition at the level they have to complete the championship. He named schools that have already confirmed their participation in the competition like the College of West Africa (CWA), Bassa High, A. B. Fofana, Upper Caldwell High and Len Miller High school among others but he added that before April 10 more of the invitees will confirm their participation in the tournament. Krah urged all of the young girls and boys in high school to take the coming high school championship serious in order to showcase their talents in athletic and sports that widely contested around the world.

helsea manager Jose Mourinho insists it would be a "pity" if Zlatan Ibrahimovic decides against playing in the Premier League before he retires. Earlier on Tuesday the Swede, who enters the final year of his contract with Paris Saint-Germain this summer,insisted it would be "impossible" to get him to England now. But while he concedes Ibrahimovic does not need to move to the Premier League to enhance an already illustrious career, Mourinho is adamant the 32-year-old will have missed out. "It is a pity for Ibrahimovic if he finishes his career and hasn't played in the best league the world," he told reporters. "But his career is so full of success that he's one of the greatest players even if he didn't play in the Premier League."

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LIBERIAN EXPORTS
With continental Europe drawing to a close, how are Liberian footballers faring across the globe?

VOL 8 NO.566

THURSDAY, APRIL 3, 2014

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POLICE OFFICERS STILL USING BARE HANDS IN TRAFFIC INTERACTION DESPITE GoL NO HANDSHAKE WARNING

EBOLA SCARE AND POLICE SAFETY

Spot News

Monroviahe deadly Ebola virus is causing anxiety in Liberia and all facets of the society seem to be sitting on the edge of their seats, even Supermarkets are dishing out gloves to their attendants including security guards. But one important group of the society, officers of the Liberia National Police are still interacting with people in the traffic using bare hands. Now the police is saying it understands the danger of the Ebola virus and it is ready to do all it can to keep police officers safe. The country right now is at a point of a national emergency and the police is the first line of contact when it comes to security, police spokesperson Sam Collins told FrontPageAfrica Wednesday. Continued Collins: Just this morning, the commissioner for operations Gregory Coleman was given instruction to have gloves and the instrument

that is used over the mouth and nose, to be given to police officers especially those at the borders and also those who are out in the traffic. He has instructed county commanders to spread the message and efforts are being made by the LNP to get in contact with the ministry of health to see how best we can get the equipment to distribute on our officers who are at the critical areas especially in Lofa, where this virus is spreading fast. Collins said the Police leadership has already started awareness at its headquarters, telling its officers about the danger of the virus. We have started awareness in the building, telling our workers to conduct themselves in a manner and form that they would not be able to contract the virus because it destroys human lives, he said. We want everybody to live until God gets ready, we dont want any of our officers to lose any of our officers to this deadly virus.