You’ve probably heard of B4 Youth Theatre, a group of young talented Liberian actors who have made a name for themselves acting alongside some of the world’s leading thespian talents. This Sunday, December 18 at 6pm, in collaboration with the world famous Colonial Williamsburg Theatre Department they will stage a theatrical performance, titled, “200 Years of Returns” on Providence Island, Monrovia, Liberia. “200 Years of Returns” is a collaboration between Burning Barriers Building Bridges (more commonly known as B4 Youth Theatre in Liberia) and the Museum Theatre Department of Colonial Williamsburg (CW) in Virginia, United States. Burning Barriers, Building Bridges (B4) Youth Theatre is a performance company founded in 2010 in Liberia, West Africa and dedicated to empowering youth to become educated citizens through the arts. This collaboration focuses on the Museum Theatre Department in the Education, Research, and Historical Interpretation (ERHI) Division at the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation.

The African Human Rights Leaders Summit is organized by Amnesty International, Humanity United, the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced Studies, and POMED – Project on Middle East Democracy. Gerald C. Koinyeneh – [email protected]It is one of the crucial side events of the U.S. Africa Leaders Summit that is being convened by the Biden-Harris Administration in Washington D.C. from December 13-15, 2022. The Human Summit, organizers say is aimed at providing an independent platform to raise and integrate the voices of African civic groups and the diaspora ahead of the Summit. The forum will also consider ways to prioritize human rights and democratic governance in U.S. Partnerships across the country aimed to feed into the implementation of the broader U.S. Africa strategy. And this is something Dempster is looking forward to doing when he takes the stage to speak as one of the panelists during the African Human Rights Leaders Summit on Monday.

MONROVIA – The opposition political parties in Liberia are divided over plans to stage a protest against the Coalition for Democratic Change-led government of President George Manneh Weah over bad governance, corruption, wasteful spending, and other vices ahead of the 2023 general and presidential elections in the country. He said the current attitude being exhibited by these opposition political parties and their leaders, amounts to aiding and abetting the government in imposing hardship and sufferings on the Liberian people. He, however, fell short of disclosing the name of a particular political party or opposition leader who is not supportive of the rally. The pronouncement clearly shows a high level of disunity among opposition political parties in the country. At the end of those meetings, photos and press releases take over social media, portraying the opposition community to be serious-minded.

Monrovia – Senate Pro-tempore Albert Chie has backed sanctioned officials to contest for elected position in the pending 2023 presidential and legislative elections, adding any attempt to deny them would be violating their constitutional rights. The Pro-temp’s comment was in response to a question on whether it was right to deny sanctioned officials of government the right to participate in election? At his news conference, the Senate head stressed the need for people who are accused of a crime to be given due process under the law. “Through their corruption these officials have undermined democracy in Liberia for their own personal benefit,” Brian Nelson, Treasury’s Undersecretary for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence, said in a statement. The designations “demonstrate that the United States remains committed to holding corrupt actors accountable and to the continued support of the Liberian people,” he said.

The Government of Liberia (GOL) through the Ministry of Agriculture (MoA) has strengthened the capacities of several farmers and agripreneurs with grants to enable them to increase productivity and commercialize. The matching grant program is under the Liberia Agriculture Commercialization Fund (LACF), a component of the projects at the Ministry of Agriculture. The Mayor River Women Initiative Cooperative, comprises mostly women farmers who are engaged in rice and vegetables production. We have used a portion of the money to buy a vehicle that will enable us to transport farmers' produce to the factory for processing. For his part, a vegetable farmer in Margibi County, Alphonso Quamele mentioned that vegetables farming in Liberia is not yet a profitable venture for his group and others, due to many constraints.

By: Rodney D. Sieh, [email protected]Mr. Christoph Klingen, IMF Mission Chief for Liberia, made his reservations known in a letter to Finance and Economic Planning Minister Samuel Tweah and Central Bank of Liberia Governor Aloysious Tarlue, dated December 9, 2022, and in the possession of FrontPageAfrica. Therefore Mr. Klingen believes that the recent resignation of Delaney hurt the gains that were being made. Reinstated Deo, IMF SaysSaid Mr. Klingen: “With the LBDI’s management team depleted, it would be important for the Central Bank of Liberia (CBL) to immediately reinstate a resident supervisor to safeguard LBDI’s balance sheet. – Christoph Klingen, IMF Mission Chief for Liberia, African DepartmentThe IMF mission chief said the monetary body stands ready to further discuss and elaborate the next steps with authorities in putting the reforms Delaney was making back on track. Last week, the LBDI board issued a statement announcing that Mr. Delaney had tendered his resignation which was been accepted by the board.

“If you are happy, your family has enough food to eat and your life is better off today, please do not stand by idly as your fellow Liberians suffer,” Cummings said in a statement. “Come and stand with those who have been let down by this administration and hear for yourself why they are tired and what they are tired of. Hopefully, then we can join together and fight for the Liberia we all deserve.”Cummings’ position comes a few days after the Minister of Justice, Cllr. Musah Dean, approved the CPP’s request to hold a protest on December 17, as planned, outside the SKD Sports Complex in Paynesville. The Minister's letter, dated December 8, ordered the Inspector General of the Police, Patrick Sudue, to provide all necessary protection to Liberians who might be attending the protest.

The “caveat” from the Chief of Staff of the Army Force of Liberia, which warned political actors in the country to behave, is “in no way a threat and misapplication of authority,” the Ministry of National Defense has said. It is also noted that the army can help in restoring order domestically when civil law enforcement agencies are overwhelmed, but said request must come from the President. “The AFL shall intervene only as a last resort when the threat exceeds the capacity of the law enforcement agencies to respond,” the Defense Act says. It is important to note that sustaining democracy, peace, and tranquility is supreme to our mission,” the Ministry said. Yet, many have called for the army to stay out of civil matters in order to avoid the unexpected.

Monrovia – The ruling Coalition for Democratic Change (CDC) has announced that the party has postponed the much-talk nomination of President George Weah’s candidacy to allow Liberians celebration festive season. The CDC earlier set December 20, 2022, as the day for the national nomination of President Weah to contest the Presidency on the party’s ticket for the second term comes 2023 elections. Because of my regard for my people, because of my desire to the people go through the Christmas season, let us postpone the nomination,” Morlu quoting President Weah said. The CDC is a party of defense and will ensure the historic re-election of President Weah in 2023.”“At the program, the CDC will break its own record. We do not reject the opposition criticism, but nothing can stop the first-round victory of President Weah.

Today marks international anti-corruption day. On this day we ask all Liberians to take a moment to reflect on what corruption has done to the people of Liberia. Corruption was the primary reason for the civil conflict that caused the death of over three hundred thousand Liberians. Transparency International’s 2021 Corruption Perception Index (CPI) has ranked Liberia among the poor-performing countries in the fight against corruption. As a result of this high level of corruption, Liberia has a poor health system, poor educational system, bad roads, and more hungry people than most countries in Africa.

MONROVIA – The President Pro-Tempore of The Liberian Senate, Senator Albert Chie, has expressed strong opposition to interfering with Liberia’s democratic space and has called for the protection of the Constitution against all enemies – foreign and domestic. Report by Lennart Dodoo, [email protected]The Pro-Tempore made the statement at the close of the Fifth Session of the 54th Legislature. More Budgetary Support to LECMeanwhile, the Senate Pro-Tempore has disclosed that the Senate will provide more allocation to the energy sector through the National Budget to support the government’s quest to provide stable electricity. He said, the Senate will be willing to commit to such an endeavor. Infrastructure DevelopmentThe Senate Pro-Tempore lamented that the Lofa Road and the two principal road corridors to the Southeast remain impassable during the rainy season.

— Rare instance reveals that most drug cases in rural courts never reach convictionThe Karnplay Magisterial Court has sentenced two narcotic drug users to 12 months in jail after they were arrested with huge quantities of marijuana. “We are grateful to the Karnplay Magisterial Court for being the first lower court to convict narcotic drug users in the fight against drugs,” said LDEA Nimba Commander SAG-3, Thomas T. Saye. “We sent five cases to the Ganta Magisterial Court and these cases are still pending. The conviction of these men for drug abuse, especially marijuana, brought shock to many because, since the LDEA was established, no one has been convicted in the lower court like what took place at the Magisterial court last month in Karnplay. Camus was arrested and is awaiting court trial at the Sanniquellie Magisterial Court, while the officer is undergoing medical treatment at the nearby hospital.

Abuja, Nigeria – GIZ, ECOWAS in collaboration with the African Union (AU) recently organized a wee-klong training session for selected media practitioners from across the West African region. According to ECOWAS, the main objective of this regional training of journalists was to introduce and facilitate their reporting on Trade Facilitation Agreement (TFA) and the African Continental Free Trade Agreement (AfCFTA) within ECOWAS Member States. The role of the media and specifically of journalists is critical to make progress in the areas of trade and integration developments. The aim is to contribute to building a network of trade journalists across the ECOWAS region. They promised to build a media network on trade and to keep writing and informing their people about the importance of trade.

But the real question is why did Gen Johnson make such statement? As the war of words ensues, Gen. Johnson took to social media to make this provocative statement, much to the bewilderment of citizens. The AFL shall intervene only as a last resort when the threat exceeds the capacity of the law enforcement agencies to respond”. So, what really triggered Gen. Johnson to make this statement? I’m calling on our lawmakers to invite Gen. Johnson to clear the air.

His statement, according to him, comes as a result of touring several integrity institutions of Liberia such as GAC, LACC, IAA, EITI, FIA and the PPCC, among others. McCarthy outlined that chief among these safeguards were Liberia’s integrity institutions, which were built, funded, and staffed with some of Liberia’s best and brightest minds. “I believe these trends are related, and that there is a direct correlation between the health of Liberia’s integrity institutions and the health of the Liberian economy,” he said. “I found that for the most part, the integrity institutions are staffed by hard-working, dedicated people motivated to make Liberia a better country. He, therefore, calls on Liberia’s legislative and executive branches to work together to ensure that Liberia’s budgets, which have the force of law, are honored, and that Liberia’s integrity institutions receive their full budget appropriations.