Monrovia – Liberian Foreign Minister H.E. Minutes after taking his vaccine, Minister Kemayah assured the general public that vaccine is very much safe and worthy to be taken, noting that he have feel relief, in a sense that he had gotten an assistance to fight COVID-19. The WHO boss said that what happen here today for the Liberian Foreign Minister to take his vaccine in the presence of the media is a huge step forward in ending this pandemic. The government of Liberia on March 5, 2021 received 96,000 doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine, through the COVAX facility and April 1, 2021, joined many countries to officially launch the vaccination campaign against COVID-19. Ambassadors, representatives of other development partners, dignitaries, the media were present during the vaccination-taking ceremony.

Monrovia – Harvest Intercontinental Ministries Unlimited (HIM-U), the new name of Bethel World Outreach Ministries International (BWOMI), wishes to correct the erroneous information being perpetrated by some, claiming that it broke away from BWOMI. Furthermore, HIM-U (BWOMI), continues to be governed globally by the same team of leaders, headed by its Presiding Bishop, The Most Rev. By the grace of God, HIM-U (BWOMI) continues to experience growth and unity in its leadership and membership around the world. The claim, therefore, that HIM-U broke away from BWOMI is completely false, as it is impossible for a founder and leader to break away from himself, or for an organization to break away from itself. We, therefore, humbly request that any and all persons or organizations promoting this false narrative desist and refrain from continuing to do so.

Under this approach, the young people themselves are taking matters of climate change into their own hands through communities’ engagements. According to her, the objective of the event was to interact and shape public discourse on climate justice and public accountability and raise public awareness to promote climate justice actions and public accountability. She said, it was also intended for young people and people living with disabilities and the general public to be aware of climate change, its effect and how to hold public official accountable. “Today’s dialogue will focus on Climate Change because climate change is a sensitive issue that needs to be taken seriously and adequately address by everyone. But climate change issues have not been discuss across the country sufficiently; significant portion of the population are not aware of the threat posed by climate change especially the sector with the highest portion of our demography (Youth).

We would had died and today, the legacy of gratefulness would have been ignored by the leaders in Liberty Party. We must reduce the tension in Liberty Party and prepare for a better future. The legacy of gratefulness must be enhanced and the tension in Liberty Party must reduce. This internal conflict has the propensity to make Liberty Party to lose the opportunity to govern the country. The Legacy of Gratefulness and the avoidance of conflict in Liberty Party will be good.

The NDCs are non-binding national plans highlighting climate actions, including climate related targets for greenhouse gas emission reductions, policies and measures governments aim to implement in response to climate change. Alluding to the analysis of national climate action plans submitted in 2020 and compiled by the UN Climate Change secretariat, the COP Presidents write:“The leadership from governments and non-state actors starts our pathway to net zero. The release also pointed out that UN Climate Change Executive Secretary Patricia Espinosa has endorsed the call by the COP Presidents, saying: “2021 will be the most important year for the international response to climate change since the inception of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change. COP26 is the next annual UN climate change conference. With 197 Parties, the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) has near universal membership and is the parent treaty of the 2015 Paris Climate Change Agreement.

The latest outburst against the APM Terminals is coming from the Liberian Senate, where Bomi County Senator, Edwin Melvin Snowe termed the agreement with the port manager as the worst deal ever. “The ill-treatment by APM Terminals toward our people is bad. He made the comments during a floor discussion about the existing conflict between the AMP Terminals’ management and some of its employees which was raised by Senator Abraham Darius Dillon of Montserrado County. “The law gives too many leverages to APM Terminals. Workers’ Go-Slow ActionIn September of 2020, some aggrieved workers of APM Terminals staged a go-slow action with the support of their mother union (Dock Workers Union of Liberia – DOWUL) which lasted for three days.

Business contend that it is BIVAC who determines goods are low quality and should not be the responsibility of the Ministry of Commerce. All these documents are to be submitted to the office of the Minister, Ministry of Commerce & Industry, Ministerial Complex, Congo Town, Liberia. Executive Order IgnoredThe goal of the President was exempt all commercial importers of goods into Liberia from seeking Import Permit Declaration (IPD). The Executive Order stated, “All Commercial Importers of goods into Liberia are exempted from seeking Import Permits and filling Import Permit Declarations. The saga is being complicated by the fact that the Ministry is reportedly still issuing IPDs to some businesses.

Capitol Hill, Monrovia – President George Weah has requested for the deadline for the submission of fiscal year 2021 Special Draft National budget to be extended by 15 working days beginning April 30, 2021. In a communication to the House of Representatives, President Weah said reason behind the delay is due to the ongoing negotiations with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) on issues relating to the resource envelop of the Special Budget as part of the broad monetary and fiscal policy review to achieve macroeconomic stability. The introduction of the special national budget, which will cover a period of six months beginning this July 1 to December 31, 2021, is part of the Government of Liberia’s transition to a full calendar year (January 1, to December 31). Under the current arrangement, the Public Financial Management Law (PFM) of 2009 called for the special national budget to be submitted by the end of April 2021; giving the Legislature three months to consider its passage before June 30, 2021. The decision is in line with the amended PFM law which called for a change of the country’s fiscal year from July 31 to June 30, to January 1 to December 31.

Weah Informs the Legislature Misapplied US$6m of Norwegian Grant, Wants It Recorded as Debt to LiberiaMONROVIA – President George Weah has written the Legislature informing them about an alleged misapplication of two grants from the Government of Norway of over US$6 million between 2010-2015. The amount was part of an overall amount of US$42 which was to support of the Liberia Electricity Corporation extension of its distribution network in Monrovia. In a related Senate news, the Senate on Thursday, May 6, 2021, received request from President Weah for an extension in the date for the conduct of national census. The date of the conduct was earlier postponed from December 8, 2018 to March 8, 2021. The GP will delineate boundaries of newly created cities, Clans, Districts and /or boroughs amongst others.

Monrovia – Liberia is to shortly open an Embassy in the United Arab Emirates. The disclosure was made on Thursday, May 6, 2021 at the UAE’s Foreign Ministry in Abu Dhabi following a meeting between H.E. Liberian Foreign Minister Dee-Maxwell Kemayah is scheduled to pay an official visit to Abu Dhabi in July 2021, where he and his counterpart will consummate the arrangement. He said Liberia has great potential in tourism and the country could benefit from the UAE experience to harness this untapped “gold mine”. Earlier, the delegation held talks with the Director-General of the Abu Dhabi Fund for Development, Mohammed Al Suwaidi, the Management of Abu Dhabi Port, among others.

Elfgren was also keen to deflect any blame from the Sierra Leone government. “I want to thank both the Liberian and Sierra Leone government for not interfering in the process and allowing us to carry on an independent process. This may be one of the avenues prosecutors seek to explore during the Freetown hearings. In 2005, he was granted immunity from prosecution for crimes in Sierra Leone in return for his testimony in the war crimes trials in Sierra Leone. Elfgren said he was pleased to see Liberian reporters had traveled to Sierra Leone to cover the trial and hoped that they would stay for the duration.

Phebe Hospital Medical Director, Dr. Jefferson Sibley, Bong County Health Officer, Dr. Jonathan Flomo and Superintendent Esther Walker were among the first batch of people who took the vaccinePhebe, BONG COUNTY – On Wednesday, Bong County joined other counties in Liberia to flag-off Covid-19 vaccination; prioritizing local leaders and health workers in the first phase of the exercise with over 20,000 doses received from the Ministry of Health. Speaking at the venue of the flag-off ceremony, Bong County Health Officer, Dr. Jonathan Flomo who took the AstraZeneca vaccine, urged Liberians to disregard rumors and misinformation making the rounds about the vaccine. He said: “The Government of Liberia through the Ministry of Health has done due diligence to bring into the country the vaccine to ensure that citizens are protected against the Covid-19 virus,” he said. It can be recalled on March 5, Liberia received 96,000 doses of AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccines through the COVAX initiative, a partnership involving the Coalition for Economic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI) Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunization (GAVI), UNICEF and WHO. In addition, Liberia also received 97,000 syringes and 600 safety boxes for the administration and disposal of immunization waste, according to a statement released by the WHO office in Monrovia.

MONROVIA – A Liberian journalist and citizen of Nimba County, Mr. Jonathan Paye-Layleh, has launched an operation he has codenamed: “Give Them a Future”, intended to encourage parents to get more involved in the running of schools in especially rural towns in the county in the face of serious national challenges and inadequacies to fully support those schools. Most of the schools in the region were established through citizens’ initiatives during the civil war and they were later turned over to the government. As a result, almost every town has a public school and government has not been able to fully attend to those schools. “Operation Give Them a Future”, the journalist says, aims to get parents to appreciate the harsh reality of today and make keeping their children in school their top priority. Photo caption: Journalist Jonathan Paye-Layleh (in sky blue shirt) with students and staff of the BaineKpalalah Public School during his humanitarian visit to the school.

Monrovia – First Lady Clar Marie Weah has settled the arrears, amounting to two-hundred, two thousand Liberian Dollars (L$202,000), for at least thirty (30) students of agriculture at the Bomi County Community College in Tubmanburg. In response, the administration of the Bomi County Community College expressed profound gratitude to the First Lady for the overwhelming support to the institution. The College Vice President for Administration Mr. Samuel Dunbar also thanked President George Manneh Weah for his commitment to construct fifty classrooms for the community college. According to the students, the administration had threatened to deny them from sitting their final semester exam if they fail to pay their arrears. The students however assured Mrs. Weah and team of their commitment to work hard so as to make her proud.

According to the Liberia Football Association through a release, the team camp which started May 3, and run up to May 9, at the Antoinette Tubman Stadium. The WAFU U-15 tournament will marked the first time for Liberia to participate in an under-15 tournament since the Dana Cup in Denmark and Gothia Cup in Sweden in 1997 to 1999, which produced Zah Rahan Krangar, Dulee Johnson, Dioh Williams and Solomon Wesseh among others. However, Coach Keita has added two new players to his squad, Namely: Fallah Johnson, Jr. and David Menson, Jr. to feature for the team. Meanwhile, The team is expected to play two friendlies against Habiba at 6:00PM on 7 May and Shaita FC (male) at 6:00PM on 8 May. Head coach Ansu Keita has called 25 players to camp for the tournament.