- FPA STAFF REPORT
Source:
FrontPage Africa
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| TRC Commissioner Massa Washington |
SYMPOSIUM PLAY: TRC Commissioner Massa Washington, was one of three former members of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission who participated in a two-day symposium on drawing attention and interest in the final report of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission.
New York -
POLITICAL FOOTBALL: It is fair to say, however, that most of the speakers were critical of the current government’s foot dragging on the TRC recommendations. Unfortunately some of the Liberian speakers (not the commissioners mentioned above) stated that the U.S. State Dept. should pull its support for next year’s election and instead work to install an ‘interim’ government and/or a national commission to de-legitimate the current government. Personally I find these recommendations to be of dubious value. The history of interim governments in Liberia is a sad one and there is no guarantee that the TRC recommendations would fare any better under an interim government than they are faring under the current situation. Nor would the citizens of Liberia.
Michael Keating is a Lecturer at the New School University and Associate Director of the Center for Democracy and Development at the University of Massachusetts Boston.
- Michael Keating, Contributing Writer,
Since the release of the report of the Negbalee Warner Special Presidential Committee on the Carbon Credit Deal more than a fortnight ago, those accused of abusing public trust have been anything but taking the accusation lying down. The situation however turned melodramatic yesterday when just as the committee took to defend its findings and recommendations, the Justice Ministry issued a statement exonerating two of the nine accused, upholding the accusation against one, and promising to recuse itself from further investigation to avoid conflict of interest. Observers say that is tantamount to putting the ministry on collision course with the committee. The Analyst has been looking at the rising contentions.
Source:
allAfrica.com
By Johnny Dwyer
Source:
TIMES.COM
For Liberia's president and celebrated reformer, Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, Operation Relentless was a rare piece of good news. American DEA agents working closely with Liberian officials arrested five suspects conspiring to turn her tiny, fragile West African nation into a narco-trafficking hub between South America and Europe. A federal indictment alleges that a group of traffickers sought to bribe the director of Liberia's National Security Agency to allow more than $100 million of cocaine to pass through the country. The Liberian official was cooperating with the Americans; he also happens to be the president's stepson, Fombah T. Sirleaf.
Steve Jarvis, FPA STAFF WRITER
Source:FrontPage Africa
Monrovia - Referring to her Vice President Joseph Boakai as a “trusted friend and confidante, Liberian President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf declared moments ago at the Unity Party’s convention held at the Samuel Kanyon Doe Sports Complex in Paynesville that she will be taking her quiet but loyal veep into 2011 Presidential elections next year.
“He has been my friend and will always be my friend and I am proud to present to you the vice standard bearer of the Unity Party,” the President told partisans of the ruling party Saturday.
- FPA STAFF REPORT
Source:
Frontpage Africa
 |
| Jerome J. Verdier Sr |
TRUTH SYMPOSIUM: Jerome Verdier, head of the TRC will deliver the keynote address on Day one of the symposium which will be moderated by Michael Keating, Mr. Michael Keating (Moderator), a Lecturer in the Graduate Program in International Affairs at the New School and the Associate Director of the Center for Democracy and Development at the University of Massachusetts Boston.
New York -
By: Thomas T. Weah Source: The Liberian Journal
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Pres. Sirleaf, Amb. Weah, Cllr. Brumskine
|
Pres. Sirleaf, Amb. Weah, Cllr. Brumskine
The recent plan to forge a political merger between Charles Brumskine’s Liberty Party and George Weah’s CDC has breathed new life into a well-calculated strategy by the Americo-Liberians to dominate power in Liberia.
By Emmanuel Abalo and Liberian Media Reports
Source: Running Africa
There are reports of the discovery of more mass graves in several counties in Liberia. According to a local non-governmental organization the Liberia Massacre Survival Association (LMSA) operating in the country, the graves were recently identified in the counties of Margibi, Grand Gedeh Nimba, Bong and Montserrado.
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| George Weah |
Written by The Analyst Staff Writer
Written by Sayounue Bilah
Written by Gabriel Paul Source: Star Radio Liberia
Symposium on the Liberian TRC Process Reform, Redress, and Recovery
Presented by
African Refuge, Inc. International Trauma Studies Program, The New School University, The Institute for the Study of Human Rights, Columbia University and several other civil society organizations
Several Liberian led civil society organizations
Date: October 29-30
Wollman Auditorium, New School University, Manhattan, New York
Staten Island
Source:
allAfrica.com
 |
| Johnny Paul Koroma |
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| Johnny Paul Koroma |
Charles Taylor's lawyers contend that former Sierra Leone junta leader who teamed up with RUF rebels to topple the government, and is widely believed to have been executed some where in Lofa County near the Sierra Leone border, could be alive. They want document from prosecutors in the case to prove their case.
From the court: "In their motion, defense lawyers argued that based on the information provided to prosecutors by DCT-032, Mr. Koroma may well be still alive. They argued further that based on information provided to them by DCT-032, the payments that were made to him and the indemnity letter that was written to him by prosecutors were meant to induce him to provide false testimony against Mr. Taylor.
Source:
allAfrica.com
Grassroots partisans of the opposition Congress for Democratic Change (CDC) have rejected a merger deal signed recently between the party and Liberty Party (LP) of Charles Brumskine, accusing the CDC standard-bearer emeritus George M. Weah of betrayal.
Written by Matthias Daffah
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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