 |
Gabon opposition leader
Andre Mba Obame
hailed by supporters
on arrival at Libreville's
airport 30 December 2010
Reuters/Wils Yanick Maniengu |
Source: rfi
Gabon abolished opposition parlimentarian Andre Mba Obame Wednesday following his declaration Tuesday that he was the country's president.
A government order issued after his annoucement dissolved his National Union party "with immediate effect" and relinquished him of his public duties.
Interior Minister Jean-Francois Ndongou's order accused Mba Obame of forming an "insurrectional government" in violation of the constitution.
 |
Ivory Coast's farmers
provide a third of
the world's supply of cocoa |
 |
| Mr. Charles Taylor |
Africa Society of the National Summit on Africa (Washington, DC)
Source: allAfrica.com
Document
Remarks by Nicolas Cook, Congressional Research Service, Library of Congress, at the Liberia forum sponsored by The Africa Society of the National Summit on Africa and Howard University's Ralph J. Bunche International Affairs Center.
 |
T. Q. Harris, Jr.
|
T. Q. Harris, Jr.
My journey from Los Angeles to Liberia with stopovers in Amsterdam and Accra ended at Roberts International Airport with a rousing welcome by friends and supporters. The impressive homecoming organized by the Friends of TQ brought thousands onto the streets. Though I have come to run for the Presidency, the reception – I must admit - was overwhelming.
Immediately upon exiting the terminal, Bellah – an adorable 5 years girl - presented the traditional kola nuts as the crowd burst into deafening applauds. Thousands lined the route from the Airport all the way to Sinkor where our campaign office is located. They seem to be sending a clear message: Liberians are ready for a change!
Source: allAfrica.com
Document
Remarks by Bruce Wharton, Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs, at the Liberia forum sponsored by The Africa Society of the National Summit on Africa and Howard University's Ralph J. Bunche International Affairs Center.
Source: allAfrica.com
The Carter Center, in collaboration with the Catholic Justice and Peace Commission (JPC), is expanding its Community Legal Advisor (CLA) program to provide legal support services in nine rural counties.
With support from USAID and Humanity United, a press release from the center indicated that the services will continued and will also be expanded for the next two years.
Source: allAfrica.com
The political clouds are gathering by the day and signs are that Elections 2011 would be a dog-eat-dog affair not merely because aspirants are called to genuine service of the people but principally because elected positions in Government, at executive and legislative levels, are unusually lucrative and money-spinning.
"We cannot afford to continuously deceive ourselves into behaving as if we are one people while simultaneously engaging in ethnic politics".
Written by Johannes Zogbay Zlahn
 |
| Mr. Taylor |
Source: charlestaylortrail.com
The Special Court for Sierra Leone judges in The Hague have ordered that a Status Conference be convened on Thursday, January 20, 2011 after a request was made by defense lawyers for former Liberian president Charles Taylor.
Source:
allAfrica.com
|
| Mr. Taylor |
When Special Court for Sierra Leone Judges (SCSL) in The Hague delivers their final judgment in the trial of former Liberian President Charles Taylor sometime this year, it could be the final chance to determine responsibility for the January 1999 rebel attack on Sierra Leone's capital Freetown. Taylor is on trial for allegedly supporting Revolutionary United Front (RUF) rebels in Sierra Leone, a rebel group which attacked the country in March 1991, a war that would last for eleven years.
Press release
Source: allAfrica.com
The Public Affairs Officer of the Lower House of the Liberian legislature on January 11, 2011 prevented Boima J. Boima, a parliamentary reporter of privately-owned New Democrat newspaper, from covering the legislature for writing a story they were not pleased with.
By EDITH M. LEDERER, Associated Press
Source: Yahoo News
 |
| Laurent Gbagbo |
UNITED NATIONS – The U.N. Security Council on Wednesday voted unanimously to deploy 2,000 additional peacekeepers to Ivory Coast, where the incumbent president has refused to relinquish his post to the man internationally recognized as the West African country's legitimate leader.
Source:
allAfrica.com
Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, chair of the Mano River Union (MRU) organization, has declared that the Union fully supports the decision of ECOWAS on the crisis in Ivory Coast, but has rejected military intervention as an option.
 |
Cote d'Ivoire's Laurent Gbagbo
shakes hands with
Kenya's PM Raila Odinga |
 |
Prime Minister Raila Odinga
is the African Union's
special envoy...
|
Source: allAfrica.com
Nairobi — As we went to press, the African Union chief mediator in Cote d'voire, Kenya's prime minister, Raila Odinga, was to travel to Abdjan on Sunday, to start what has been billed as the hard part of negotiations to resolve the political stalemate in what arguably was one time one of the strongest economies in West Africa.
 |
| Presidential aspirant TQ Harris |
Source: allAfrica.com
Presidential aspirant TQ Harris has cautioned the international community against imposing a fixed solution on the Liberia people based on what he called classic formulas.
Mr. Harris who conducted a press conference last week to address 12 core issues, which he believed were at the bottom of Liberia’s backwardness, however called for the involvement of the international community in solving some critical problems facing the nation.
Source:
allAfrica.com
Citizens of Zoe-Geh Statutory District, Nimba County, have taken the National Elections commission (NEC) to task over the manner in which the body is handling the ongoing voters’ registration exercise in their district.
Source: allAfrica.com
A representative aspirant of District #11 Montserrado County Henry D. Johnson is calling on the National Elections Commission to extend the ongoing voters’ registration exercise two additional weeks in order to ensure free, fair, credible and democratic elections.
(MONROVIA, LIBERIA - : The Libyan Government has made good on its promise to provide humanitarian supplies to refugees fleeing the political crisis in neighboring Côte d'Ivoire.
By: Thomas D. Kruah
Source: Liberian Journal
Whenever we come across the word "Dictator", images of a ruthless leader who commits atrocities on people to get their own way come to our mind. If we look at some of the famous dictators in the past, such as Saddam Hussein in Iraq, they have reinforced this point of view of dictators being ruthless and doing anything to hold on to the power.
Liberian leaders who took over from colonizers had a choice between accountability and unfettered access to enormous state funds for personal use. Power brought Liberian leaders unlimited luxury which became an addiction as well as a trap amidst the poverty of the rest of the population. Leaders stayed on to enjoy the lavish lifestyles which they prescribed for themselves using unlimited presidential powers (like the one Johnson-Sirleaf used on her Ministers). There was no guarantee that their successors would fund the extravagant lifestyles they became accustomed to while in office, so they stayed on. The lacks of economic opportunities outside of government deter Liberian leaders from leaving office. There are no institutions to absorb them and guarantee a lifestyle close to that enjoyed in office.
Due to lack of accountability and stable democratic traditions, power in Liberia is a continuous joy ride. Being at the helm is not stressful. Major decisions involve how to enrich oneself and reward loyal ministers and other officials and to ensure that one hangs on to power.
If there were serious downsides in office, no Liberian leader would last more than four years or declare themselves for 'Reelection.' They would give up, suffer from exhaustion or choose to spend more time with their families or to enjoy their hobbies.
Note: The date of this artticle is: July 21, 2003. I hope Liberians consider reading it!
The source is: HNN.us
Article written By Michael Radu
Mr. Radu is Senior Fellow and Co-Chair, Center on Terrorism and Counterterrorism, at the Foreign Policy Research Institute in Philadelphia.
Source: allAfrica.com
Ivoirians are still crossing from the far west of Côte d'Ivoire into Liberia at a rate of 400 to 600 a day, according to an "initial refugee assessment" issued by the UN World Food Programme (WFP).
Source: allAfrica.com
A women Advocacy group under the banner” Women Against Human Trafficking”(WAHT), has revealed that ongoing voters’ registration in the country has been marred with massive corruption, dishonesty and other negative vices WAHT claimed have the proclivity to negatively impact the conduct of the 2011 General Elections.
Source:
CharlesTrial.org
 |
| Mr. Charles Taylor |
Defense lawyers for former Liberian president Charles Taylor have filed a motion before Special Court for Sierra Leone judges in The Hague seeking an investigation into leaked United States Government (USG) cables by the whistle blowing website WikiLeaks about Mr. Taylor's trial.
 |
| Paul Jackson |
By: Paul Jackson
HELD AT THE FRIENDS OF TQ HEADQUARTERS18TH STREET, SINKORMONROVIA, LIBERIA
JANUARY 12, 2011
GOOD AFTERNOON:
I WOULD LIKE TO THANK THE PRESS CORP FOR BEING HERE TODAY AND FOR YOUR CONTRIBUTION TOWARD INFORMING AND EDUCATING THE LIBERIAN PEOPLE ON THE MANY ISSUES THAT ARE CRUCIAL TO THEIR DAILY SURVIVAL. WE LOOK FORWARD TO A CONTINUING PARTNERSHIP WITH THE MEDIA IN THIS ENDEAVOR TO REBUILD THE LIVES OF THE LIBERIAN PEOPLE AND RESTORE LIBERIA FULLY TO THE COMITY OF NATIONS.
Source: Public Agenda Liberia
By Fidel Marshall
 |
Mr. Emmanuel Gonquoi
|
The Executive Director of the civil society group, Peace Interaction Network, has accused uniformed officers of the Liberia National Police of brutalizing him just a day after he exposed an un-talked about and yet unconfirmed US $53 million dollars deal executed by the government of Liberia and three white American security experts for the protection of President Ellen-Johnson-Sirleaf.
Source: Public Agenda Liberia
-For Ellen’s Protection
 |
National Security Advisor
to President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf,
Dr. H. Boima Fahnbulleh
|
-But Dr. HB Fahnbulleh Describes It “Utter Rubbish, Patently Nonsensical”
“….. others got the same response from me and were convinced. They did not publish the story because they saw the absurdity of the story. Why would U want to publish something that is patently nonsensical. “ Text Message from H.B. Fahnbulleh
Self-preservation, proverbially said, is first law of nature. But self-preservation or protection at the detriment and cost of national coffers could open debates over sincerity and honesty among people who complain of living in perpetual hardship. Of course, as a post-war situation, what Liberia needs most, first is security stability; but brows now have already begun to raise over reports that President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf and government did spend US $53 million dollars to contract three white American security experts for a period of six years that covers her first term only. Well, with civil society organizations demanding that government justifies reason for spending such huge amount on just three men when reports are that it cannot adequately cater to the AFL and other security apparatuses; and with government denying that it spent such amount on the three white SSS guys, the debate is left to the public to dichotomize the truth. Samuka V. Konneh Of Our Staff reports.
Source: allAfrica.com
 |
| Muammar Gaddafi of Libya |
Monrovia — President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf returned home over the weekend following a two-day visit to Libya where she held discussions with Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi and high-ranking officials of the Libyan Government.
The two leaders reviewed Libyan-funded projects in Liberia and overall bilateral cooperation between the two countries. They both expressed concern at the slow progress and bureaucratic hurdles in implementing the projects which include the Ducor Palace Hotel, a rubber processing plant, a rice project in Lofa County, and Libyan-donated tractors. The Liberian President also held detailed discussions with the Prime Minister and members of the Libyan Cabinet.
Source: allAfrica
"Everyone agrees that the population should not become hostages of Côte d'Ivoire's political problems," UN Humanitarian Coordinator Ndolam Ngokwey told IRIN after returning to Abidjan from a two-day mission to the west with the UN's Humanitarian Country Team (HCT).
The mission's main focus was on assessing the needs of thousands of Ivoirians who have abandoned their homes in the face of rising tensions in the west, particularly around the town of Duékoué, the scene of fierce inter-communal clashes earlier this month.
Source:
 |
A group of refugees
from Côte d'Ivoire
waiting to be registered
in eastern Liberia
|
UN News Centre 11 January 2011 – The United Nations refugee agency said today that there are now some 25,000 Ivorian refugees in neighbouring Liberia, with around 600 people arriving daily after fleeing the post-electoral crisis in their homeland.
The UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) has started work on a new camp for refugees in the eastern Liberian town of Bahn which will be able to initially house about 18,000 people.
Source: Yahoo News
 |
AFP – People look at the body
of man killed by gunfire
on January 11, 2011
in the Abobo neighborhood
of Ivory … |
ABIDJAN, Ivory Coast – An Associated Press photographer saw four dead bodies in a neighborhood of Abidjan where security forces loyal to the incumbent leader carried out an early morning raid.
They appeared to have been shot dead. There were also at least two unexploded grenades on the ground.
Youssoufou Bamba: A unity government can work
Source: BBC
Ivory Coast's ambassador to the UN says a unity government could be possible if incumbent Laurent Gbagbo drops his claim to the presidency.
Source:
Liberian Government
The Monrovia City Corporation and the Philanthropy Secretariat conducted a joint press conference at the Monrovia City Hall to announce the launch of a project called Improved Primary Solid Waste Collection in Poor Communities of Monrovia known as the MCC IMPAC Project. This initiative is funded through a commitment of 5 million USD from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF) to the Monrovia City Corporation (MCC) under its Global Program for Inclusive Governance (GPIMG). According to the project document, the MCC will work with community groups and local officials to create a sustainable municipal solid waste management and recycling system. The vision of success for the project states that "Within four and half years, a large proportion of urban poor households in the City of Monrovia would have regular and reliable access to door-to-door waste collection service on a sustainable basis and waste from the city would hauled away in a systematic manner, leaving the city clean".
Source: UN News Centre
Liberia, a country once torn asunder by civil war, has made some progress in seeking to cut off the illegal supply of diamonds, timber and other natural resources that have been used to finance wars in West Africa, but more needs to be done, according to a United Nations panel.
By: Emmanuel O. Dweh
President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf on Thursday, January 6, 2010 left Liberia for a one-day visit to Libya. The actual purpose of the President's visit to Muammar Gaddafi of Libya is unknown to the public but according to insider information, reasons behind the visit may include brain storming on Ivory Coast political situation, Foya District Agricultural Project, and the Ducor Palace Hotel Development in Liberia.
Source:
allAfrica
The government of Côte d'Ivoire's incumbent president Laurent Gbagbo has ordered the expulsion of the British and Canadian ambassadors because they do not recognise ambassadors appointed by Gbagbo. Presidential claimant Alassane Ouattara meanwhile called for a west African sting operation against Gbagbo.
Source: Heritage
A pro- media organization, the Media United to Enhance Democracy (MUED), has called for an immediate investigation into claims made by the Political Leader of the National Union for Democratic Progress (NUDP) that he received one million as part of a five- million Liberia dollars deal from President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf to back off from the 2011 elections. In a press release issued in Monrovia, the Media United to Enhance Democracy observed that the claims made by Senator Prince Johnson recently in Nimba County while addressing his supporters should not be taken for granted, and wants anti- graft institutions in the country to urgently look into the reported bribery scandal allegedly involving the Liberian Leader.
Written by Jackson Zleh Towah
Email: jacksonzlehtowah@yahoo.co.uk
Washington Must Considered Reign Change in Burkina Faso and Liberia for Stability in West Africa.
It may not be the greatest explosive revelations or the best of scenario for the current political problem in West Africa; and may most likely even sounds so bizarre to say that until Washington can reconsider, review it foreign policy, and support a reign change in Burkina Faso and Liberia, the West African sub-region remains vulnerable to instability, illegal arms dealers, and a clear-eyed epic centre for a new breeds of rising Islamic terrorists.
Written by Alex Yallah
....Instead of Initiating a Blood Bath.
Some Western and African Leaders have raised the issues that Gbagbo's policies contain a push for disunity, which I think, is a very unfair dissection. If such assertion is true, Gbagbo wouldn't have convinced other Ivoirians who were resistant to be persuaded of his proposed political reformation of the constitutional backings on Ivorian nationality.
BBC News Africa
Ghana's president has said he does not think military force will solve the post-election deadlock in Ivory Coast.
Source:
RFI
The head of Cote d’Ivoire’s incumbent President Laurent Gbagbo’s party says that if foreign armies attack, they are ready to fight back. Speaking to RFI, Pascal Affi Nguessan, Gbagbo’s campaign manager and the president of the Ivorian Popular Front, has harsh words for west African countries who considering the use of force against Gbagbo.
 |
Pascal Affi Nguessan
AFP/Erick-Christian Ahounou |
“We are ready for all eventualities,” Nguessan said “We are ready to resist, like we did during the civil war in 2002.”
 |
Teslim Folarin,
a PDP member,
is the majority leader of
Nigeria's Senate
Source: BBC News |
A court in Nigeria has charged the leader of the Senate, Teslim Folarin, with involvement in the murder of trade union activist Lateef Salako.
Mr Salako, a transport workers' union leader, was shot dead during a dispute at a ruling party PDP meeting in the south-western city of Ibadan last week.
Three others have also been charged with his killing.
Senator Folarin, who was present at the PDP meeting, is to remain in custody until a bail hearing later this month.
 |
Callixte Mbarushimana
Reuters
Source: RFI
|
A French court on Tuesday ruled that an exiled Rwandan Hutu rebel leader arrested in France in October will be transferred to the International Criminal Court over alleged war crimes in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Source:
RFI
 |
Kenyan Prime Minister Raila Odinga
Reuters/Afolabi Sotunde |
Côte d'Ivoire's incumbent president, Laurent Gbagbo, said Wednesday he would lift a three-week siege on his presidential rival Alassane Ouattara if former rebels protecting Ouattara’s headquarters leave. Ouattara said earlier that military intervention does not mean the country will descend into civil war.
Gbagbo’s Security and Defence Forces have barred access to Ouattara’s headquarters at the Golf Hotel in Côte d’Ivoire’s economic capital Abidjan for the last three weeks.
United Nations troops and New Forces soldiers have been protecting the hotel.
 |
| Joe “Shakespeare” Gbaba, Sr., Ed. D. |
By Joe “Shakespeare” Gbaba, Sr., Ed. D.
Introduction: “Our Silly Decision Past Mark”!
Ladies and gentlemen: greetings!
Welcome to another uplifting read about the age of lawlessness in Liberia through the Dehkontee Artists Theatre, Inc.’s post-war literature series entitled: “Terrorism Legalized in Liberia .” This series is intended to educate Liberians and members of the international community about the need to galvanize civic support and action in order to bring the age of lawlessness to an immediate halt in Liberia . Of course, this patriotic goal can only be achieved if those who committed atrocities against the Liberian people and humanity in Liberia are charged and prosecuted for their wicked deeds they performed before and not after elections are held in November of this year!
Jennifer Easterday and Eline Houwen
Document
A summary of the Taylor trial for the months of October and November 2010 written by Jennifer Easterday and Eline Houwen at the UC Berkeley War Crimes Studies Center. The views and opinions expressed here do not necessarily reflect the views and opinions of the Open Society Justice Initiative.
 |
| Ouattara |
African Union mediator and Kenya prime minister Raila Odinga has announced that political rivals, Allasane Outtara and Laurent Gbagbo, would be meeting face-to-face in an attempt to end the country’s political crisis.
This was denied by the Ouattara camp, calling the claim ‘completely false’. Source:
allAfrica
The United Nations, African Union, and many world leaders, have thrown their support behind presidential claimant Alassane Ouattara in Ivory Coast's political stalemate. But not everyone thinks that President Gbagbo should comply.
US academic Gary Busch has written an article condemning France's role in the Ivory Coast crisis.
BBC Focus on Africa's Hassan Arouni asked him if, given France's power and influence in West Africa, he thought it would get its way?
Listen to Gary Busch on why Gbagbo should ingnore his critics at: BBC News
 |
Odinga claims two rivals
have agreed to meet
Reuters/Luc Gnago |
Source:
Reuters/Luc Gnago By RFI
African Union mediator and Kenya prime minister Raila Odinga has announced that political rivals, Allasane Outtara and Laurent Gbagbo, would be meeting face-to-face in an attempt to end the country's political crisis.
This was denied by the Ouattara camp, calling the claim 'completely false'.
Head of ECOWAS, the Economic Community of West African States, and Nigerian president Goodluck Jonathan told reporters today that there is still a stalemate.
ECOWAS members met with both men separately yesterday.
Meanwhile, the United States said yesterday that Gbagbo, who has family members in Atlanta, Georgia, could seek refuge there, but that this was a limited time offer.
Western countries and African regional groups have called for Gbagbo to step down after Ouattara was deemed the winner of the presidential run-off by the countries' electoral commission.
A Nigerian military spokesman said last week that west African military chiefs met in Abuja to set in motion plans to oust Gbagbo if negotiations fail.
A follow-up meeting on this last resort plan is scheduled to take place in Mali on 17 and 18 January 17.
Source:
BBC News Africa
 |
| Mr Gbagbo |
Will West African leaders convince Laurent Gbagbo (left) to cede power?
Incumbent Ivory Coast President Laurent Gbagbo could be offered refuge in the US as a means to end the country's political crisis, US officials say.
Washington could help Mr Gbagbo make a "dignified exit", but this opportunity was "rapidly closing", they said.
The comments came as a delegation of African leaders met Mr Gbagbo in a new effort to persuade him to step down following disputed elections.
West African states have said they will remove him by force if he does not.
Source:
RFI
 |
A United Nations patrol
on the streets of Abidjan
AFP/Citizenside |
African Union mediator and Kenyan Prime Minister Raila Odinga arrived Monday in Côte d'Ivoire to repeat demands that definant leader Laurent Gbagbo cede power to rival Alassane Ouattara. After Gbagbo failed to heed a 1 January deadline to transfer power peacefully, military commanders continue to finalise plans for his forceful removal.
Odinga will be joined in Abidjan by three regional presidents, Benin's Boni Yayi, Sierra Leone's Ernest Koroma and Cape Verde's Pedro Pires. They represent the 15-nation Economic Community of West African States (Ecowas).
A member of the delegation has said that "there is no point of negotiation" and that the bloc's position has not changed.
 |
Operation We Care for Grand Gedeh
President - Mr. Bernard Gbayee Goah |
Liberia must play a significant role in restoring peace in Ivory Coast!
Liberians still live in Ivory Coast
The situation in Ivory Coast is extraordinarily precarious to the People of Grand Gedeh County in Eastern Liberia. Remnants of Liberian refugees from Grand Gedeh, Nimba, and Maryland Counties still live in cities and villages along the borders of that country and their lives are at risk. Also, the lives of Ivorian citizens themselves are at risk.
By MARCO CHOWN OVED, Associated Press Source: Yahoo News
 |
AP – A UN soldier stands guard
inside the UN Headquarters
in Abidjan, Ivory Cost,
|
ABIDJAN, Ivory Coast – Ivory Coast's incumbent leader Laurent Gbagbo, who has refused to cede power, has accused world leaders of launching a coup to oust him.
Meanwhile, the U.N. has warned Gbagbo supporters not to attack the hotel where his political rival is being protected by hundreds of U.N. peacekeepers. A Gbagbo youth leader has called for internationally recognized leader Alassane Ouattara to leave the hotel by Saturday. By midday, however, no Gbagbo supporters had shown up at the hotel to contest Ouattara's presence.
The United Nations has said that the volatile West African nation once divided in two faces a real risk of return to civil war, but Prime Minister Guillaume Soro, a Ouattara ally, told reporters that the country is already at this point — "indeed in a civil war situation."
 |
UN peacekeepers
have been attacked
by Gbagbo loyalists |
Ivory Coast's incumbent President Laurent Gbagbo has said the country could face greater violence if he were to resign. Source: BBC
The UN says some 200 people have been killed or have disappeared in the past month - mostly supporters of his rival, Alassane Ouattara.
UN human rights chief Navi Pillay has told Mr Gbagbo he could be held criminally accountable for abuses.
Some of Ivory Coast's neighbours have threatened to oust Mr Gbagbo by force.
By MARCO CHOWN OVED, Associated Press
Source: Yahoo News
 |
AP – Alassane Ouattara,
centre, opposition leader
acknowledges supporters
in Abidjan,
Ivory Coast Thursday, … |
ABIDJAN, Ivory Coast – A top ally of Ivory Coast's internationally recognized leader said Friday that the country is already in a "civil war situation," and urged the incumbent leader who refuses to cede power to step down by a midnight deadline.
The United Nations has said that the volatile West African nation once divided in two faces a real risk of return to civil war, but Prime Minister Guillaume Soro told reporters that the country is already at this point — "indeed in a civil war situation."
"This is what's at stake: Either we assist in the installation of democracy in Ivory Coast or we stand by indifferent and allow democracy to be assassinated," Soro said at a news conference hours before incumbent leader Laurent Gbagbo was expected to make an address on state television.
Source: rfi english
West African military chiefs have set in motion plans to oust Côte d'Ivoire's Laurent Gbagbo if negotiations fail, a Nigerian defence official said Friday. And France has renewed its call for citizens to leave the country, especially if they have children.
Press release
Source: allAfrica
ROME – The United Nations World Food Programme has airlifted emergency food assistance into Liberia to feed refugees fleeing the political crisis in neighbouring Cote d’Ivoire as part of a rapid scale up of humanitarian operations in response to the evolving humanitarian crisis.
 |
| BMGBai M. Gbala |
BMGBai M. Gbala1335 N. 59th Street
Philadelphia
Pennsylvania 19151-4411
Tel.(1-215)471-3380,
Mobile: (1-215)609-5472
Email:bai_gbala@yahoo.
November 30, 2010
His Excellency Barak ObamaPresident, United States of America
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW
Washington, D. C. 20500
Ref: Appeal/Request
Dear Mr. President:
It is my honor and privilege, most respectfully, to present sincere greetings and compliments, with wishes of good health and long life throughout the coming years.
 |
Reuters – Incumbent Ivory Coast leader
Laurent Gbagbo stands after a meeting in |
By MARCO CHOWN OVED, Associated Press
ABIDJAN, Ivory Coast – West African leaders blinked in their showdown with Laurent Gbagbo on Wednesday, taking a military intervention off the table for now so that negotiations can continue with the incumbent leader who refuses to hand over power in Ivory Coast.
Even as the 15-nation regional bloc ECOWAS gave Gbagbo more time, though, defense officials from member states gathered in Nigeria.
ECOWAS had vowed to use force to wrest Gbagbo from the presidential palace if he did not agree on Tuesday to step aside for Alassane Ouattara, the internationally recognized winner of last month's election. The presidents of Sierra Leone, Benin and Cape Verde delivered the ultimatum on ECOWAS' behalf, hoping to escort Gbagbo into exile. He refused to budge.
 |
Presidential contenders
TQ Harris and Simeon Freeman. |
- Nat Nyuan Bayjay FPA
Monrovia - Simeon Freeman and Thomas Quilen Harris, Jr-the latter who is just known as TQ Harris-have been involved with what they termed as ‘comparing notes’.
The both men have expressed their respective interests in bidding for the highest political seat in the country during next October’s presidential election.
Presidential contenders TQ Harris and Simeon Freeman.
Freeman, one of the country’s most successful entrepreneurs, is the Standard Bearer of the newly certified Movement for Progressive Change (MPC) while Harris’ presidential intention has been known during the past elections and has returned again to the country to further press in achieving his presidential dream.
 |
| Mr. Bernard Gbayee Goah |
Commenting on events in Liberia where a rising tide of the concern for impunity has engulfed the country following the killing of more than 200,000 Liberians during its 14 years Civil War, Bernard Gbayee Goah writes: "Crimes sponsored, masterminded, or carried out by a handful of individuals cannot be conferred upon an entire nationality, in this case Liberians.”
Operation We Care for Grand Gedeh (OWCGG) has become aware that the Sirleaf government is using calculated tactics designed to make the Liberian people believe that implementing the TRC recommendations would bring to book every child soldier, who were predominantly indigenous children, recruited to fight for warring factions during the course of the Liberian Civil War. Such tactics are not in the interest of peace, but rather a misinterpretation of the TRC final recommendations against the will and wishes of the Liberian people. It is unacceptable for President Sirleaf and her accomplices to capitalize on the country’s high rate of illiteracy to get away with crimes that should be handled through the legal process in a court of law.
An Open Letter to Madam Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf
By Jucontee Thomas Woewiyu
August 30, 2005
Dear Madam Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf:
Source:
Public Agenda
“Corruption Under Ellen Is A Divine Curse”
 |
| President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf |
 |
Tom Woewiyu
|
 |
| Dr. Amos Sawyer |
The former Defense Spokesman of the defunct rebel National Patriotic Front of Liberia (NPFL) of Charles Taylor has once again opened up, rapping on critical national issues and unleashing yet another barrage of scathing verbal attacks on President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, his longtime political pal. After a long telephone conversation with this paper, Jucontee Thomas Woewiyu, spoke from the United States recently in an exclusive interview with Public Agenda. What does he think about the Sirleaf Administration and the future of Liberia? Editor-In-Chief, J. Lyndon Ponnie captured the exiled politician and militarist’s views.
Source:
BBC News
 |
There has been a protest
in Abidjan against
a West African
intervention force |
Residents of Ivory Coast's main city of Abidjan have largely ignored calls for a general strike to force the incumbent President Laurent Gbagbo to cede power.
The BBC's John James says the plan for a "dead city" came a little late in the day and many went into work as normal.
The strike has been more effective in the north of the country where there is more support for Mr Gbagbo's rival Alassane Ouattara, he says.
Mr Gbagbo says November's disputed election was rigged in the north.
But the West African body Ecowas has warned him of possible military intervention if he does not hand over to Mr Ouattara, who has been recognised internationally as the victor.
 |
| Strongman Laurent Gbagbo |
Ivory Coast strongman Laurent Gbagbo declared on Wednesday that his battle to hang on to power was part of a broader struggle to liberate Africa from foreign domination. On Wednesday a gathering of…
Source: BBC News
 |
| President Laurent Gbagbo |
The West African regional bloc Ecowas has told incumbent Ivory Coast President Laurent Gbagbo to stand down or expect to face "legitimate force".
The statement came at the end of emergency talks on the crisis sparked by a disputed election last month.
The 15-member bloc and other international bodies have recognised his rival Alassane Ouattara as winner.
Written by A O Dualu
I can’t believe that the authority is just beginning to notice that the stench/garbage/piles of feces around Monrovia are “overpowering”, (Re: Daily Observer Article: Stench Overpowers Mary Broh, 11/25/2010).
 |
Mr Gbagbo says
the presidential
poll was rigged in
rebel areas that backed
Mr Ouattara |
Source: BBC News
The bank says only appointed members of Ivory Coast's "legitimate government" will have access to the deposits there.
The BCEAO had been urged to restrict access as it will make it difficult for Mr Gbagbo to pay the military, and increase pressure on him to step down.
Violence since last month's disputed election has left 173 people dead.
Source:
United Nation Radio
 |
Choi Young-Jin
|
Armed men have blocked United Nations experts from reaching the reported site of mass graves in Côte d'Ivoire.
That's what the top United Nations envoy in the country, Y.J. Choi, has said as the political stalemate, caused by the refusal of incumbent President Laurent Gbagbo to step down, continues.
Source: allAfrica.com
Who's Who in the Corruption Verdict?
The verdict is out, rendered by an internationally acclaimed organization that specializes in documenting corruption around the globe - the German-based Transparency International.
|
President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf
of Liberia |
Liberia is the most corrupt state on the face of the earth in the most corrupt region of the world-sub-Saharan Africa.
Who is to blame? Hard to say, but let's start with archaic and useless state socio-economic institutions spanning over decades.
Impunity, the absence of tolerance that resulted into people being shot or jailed for suggesting that their government and its officials were corrupt. Now that it is possible to say so and roam freely, and now that international organizations can come, roam and collect the their findings, the facts are hitting at the country in an ominous way.
Source:
allAfrica.com
The global corruption watchdog, Transparency International (TI), has released its 2010 world corruption barometer, ranking Liberia as the world's most corrupt country with a score of 89%, and listing its Judiciary, Legislature, Education, the Business Sector, public officials as the most corrupt institutions in the country.
Everyone is a genius
Everyone is a genius. But if you judge a fish on its ability to climb a tree, it will live its whole life believing that it is stupid. – A Einstein
Drawing the line in Liberia
Crimes sponsored, committed, or masterminded by handful of individuals cannot be blamed upon an entire nationality. In this case, Liberians! The need for post-war justice is a step toward lasting peace, stability and prosperity for Liberia. Liberia needs a war crimes tribunal or some credible legal forum that is capable of dealing with atrocities perpetrated against defenseless men, women and children during the country's brutal war. Without justice, peace shall remain elusive and investment in Liberia will not produce the intended results. - Bernard Gbayee Goah
Men with unhealthy characters should not champion any noble cause
They pretend to advocate the cause of the people when their deeds in the dark mirror nothing else but EVIL!!
When evil and corrupt men try to champion a cause that is so noble … such cause, how noble it may be, becomes meaningless in the eyes of the people - Bernard Gbayee Goah.
If Liberia must move forward ...
If Liberia must move forward in order to claim its place as a civilized nation amongst world community of nations, come 2017 elections, Liberians must critically review the events of the past with honesty and objectivity. They must make a new commitment to seek lasting solutions. The track records of those who are presenting themselves as candidates for the position of "President of the Republic of Liberia" must be well examined. Liberians must be fair to themselves because results from the 2011 elections will determine the future of Liberia’s unborn generations to come - Bernard Gbayee Goah
What do I think should be done?
The situation in Liberia is Compound Complex and cannot be fixed unless the entire system of government is reinvented.
Liberia needs a workable but uncompromising system that will make the country an asylum free from abuse, and other forms of corruption.
Any attempt to institute the system mentioned above in the absence of rule of law is meaningless, and more detrimental to Liberia as a whole - Bernard Gbayee Goah
Liberia's Natural Resources
Besides land water and few other resources, most of Liberia’s dependable natural resources are not infinite, they are finite and therefore can be depleted.
Liberia’s gold, diamond, and other natural resources will not always be an available source of revenue generation for its people and its government. The need to invent a system in government that focuses on an alternative income generation method cannot be over emphasized at this point - Bernard Gbayee Goah
Liberia needs a proper system
If Liberians refuse to erect a proper system in place that promotes the minimization of corruption and mismanagement of public funds by government institutions, and individuals, there will come a time when the value of the entire country will be seen as a large valueless land suited on the west coast of Africa with some polluted bodies of waters and nothing else. To have no system in place in any country is to have no respect for rule of law. To have no respect for rule of law is to believe in lawlessness. And where there is lawlessness, there is always corruption - Bernard Gbayee Goah
Solving problems in the absence of war talks
As political instability continues to increase in Africa, it has become abundantly clear that military intervention as a primary remedy to peace is not a durable solution. Such intervention only increases insecurity and massive economic hardship. An existing example which could be a valuable lesson for Liberia is Great Britain, and the US war on terror for the purpose of global security. The use of arms whether in peace keeping, occupation, or invasion as a primary means of solving problem has yield only little results. Military intervention by any country as the only solution to problem solving will result into massive military spending, economic hardship, more fear, and animosity as well as increase insecurity. The alternative is learning how to solve problems in the absence of war talks. The objective of such alternative must be to provide real sustainable human security which cannot be achieved through military arm intervention, or aggression. In order to achieve results that will make the peaceful coexistence of all mankind possible, there must be a common ground for the stories of all sides to be heard. I believe there are always three sides to every story: Their side of the story, Our side of the story, and The truth – Bernard Gbayee Goah
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