Blame Game Sends NEC PRO Out …Deputy Gets Six Months Suspension

Liberia's Elections Commission Chair James Fromoyan

Liberia’s National Elections Commission, NEC has dismissed its Director for Information and Outreach Bobby Livingstone for error in a communication to the Congress for Democratic Change, CDC of Cllr. Winston Tubman. The commission also suspended the Deputy Nathan Mulbah with a six month suspension with immediate effect.

NEC Chair James Fromoyan signed a communication dated October 25, 2011 to the two political parties (UP and CDC) notifying them about their qualification for the runoff but swapped the figures the two parties accumulated. The situation prompted the Congress for Democratic Change, CDC to claim foul play in the electoral process. CDC has been in persistent calls for President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf to replace Chariman Fromoyan. Madam Sirleaf, a Nobel Prize Laureate said she needs justifiable reasons for the CDC calls.

“To err is human” and the NEC is honestly wishes to acknowledge and error that was made in the notice to the CDC”. Chairman Fromoyan told journalists at a news conference today.

NEC boss said the Public Information Section of the commission drafted the letter. Following the realization of the error the Public Information Section which Mr. Livingstone heads, was instructed to make corrections which they neglected. “Instead, they by-passed the system and inserted the documents in question among several documents that were presented to the Chairman for signature” the Chairman intimated.

Though he said he cannot rule out sabotage from the situation, one may wonder why should the boss of an institution sign a letter without a slightest thought of its content.

The error according to Mr. Fromoyan, does not in any way change the total number of valid votes obtained by the ruling Unity Party, UP which is 530,020 or 43.9% and the Congress for Democratic Change which obtained 394,370 or 32.7% as has been previously announced by the commission and posted on NEC’s website.

Unity Party and Congress for Democratic Change qualifies for Liberia’s runoff elections slated for November 8, 2011. The both parties are among the 16 political parties Liberians went to the polls to elect on October 11, 2011 but none got the required 50% plus one vote to win the presidency according to the constitution of Liberia.

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Liberia: At Opposition Party Rally, Journalist Demanded to Delete Photograph

Opposition Congress for Democratic Change, CDC Vice Standard Bearer and former world soccer legend George Oppong Manneh Weah on Monday ordered New Democrat Newspaper Reporter Boima J.V. Boima to delete a photo of a man hit by one of the CDC pick-up trucks.

Congress for Democratic Change is one of Liberia’s leading opposition political parties seeking state power.

The CDC entered Ganta, Nimba County on September 12 for a political campaign ahead of the October 2011 presidential and legislative elections.

The victim believed to be a commercial motorcyclist was left unconscious with blood oozing from his body. He was later rushed to a nearby hospital.

Journalist Boima captured the scene of the incident but was later summoned to the podium by Ambassador George Weah at the Ganta Sport pitch and subsequently asked to delete the photo or have his camera seized by the security guards.

According to journalist Boima, he thought he would have been beaten if he didn’t delete the photo in the presence of Amb. Weah and Standard bearer Cllr. Winston Tubman.

The situation comes less than a week when Cllr. Tubman settled score with the management of FrontPage Africa for the manhandling of two of its reporters by supporters of the CDC.

Reporter Boima J.V. Boima was part of a team of journalists from four news outlets taken to Nimba County by the Canadian based Journalist for Human Rights.

Since the start of campaign on July 5, 2011, several Liberian journalists have been brutalized by either by political party supporters or aspirants themselves. The Press Union of Liberia and other media development organizations have condemned the act intimidating and harassing journalists as it has the ability to deny the general public of acquiring needed information.

In September 2010, Liberia became the first West African Country have a Freedom of Information law.

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Liberia: At Opposition Party Rally, Journalist Demanded to Delete Photograph

Opposition Congress for Democratic Change, CDC Vice Standard Bearer and former world soccer legend George Oppong Manneh Weah on Monday ordered New Democrat Newspaper Reporter Boima J.V. Boima to delete a photo of a man hit by one of the CDC pick-up trucks.

Congress for Democratic Change is one of Liberia’s leading opposition political parties seeking state power.

The CDC entered Ganta, Nimba County on September 12 for a political campaign ahead of the October 2011 presidential and legislative elections.

The victim believed to be a commercial motorcyclist was left unconscious with blood oozing from his body. He was later rushed to a nearby hospital.

Journalist Boima captured the scene of the incident but was later summoned to the podium by Ambassador George Weah at the Ganta Sport pitch and subsequently asked to delete the photo or have his camera seized by the security guards.

According to journalist Boima, he thought he would have been beaten if he didn’t delete the photo in the presence of Amb. Weah and Standard bearer Cllr. Winston Tubman.

The situation comes less than a week when Cllr. Tubman settled score with the management of FrontPage Africa for the manhandling of two of its reporters by supporters of the CDC.

Reporter Boima J.V. Boima was part of a team of journalists from four news outlets taken to Nimba County by the Canadian based Journalist for Human Rights.

Since the start of campaign on July 5, 2011, several Liberian journalists have been brutalized by either political party supporters or aspirants themselves. The Press Union of Liberia and other media development organizations have condemned the act of intimidating and harassing journalists as it has the ability to deny the general public of acquiring needed information.

In September 2010, Liberia became the first West African Country have a Freedom of Information law.

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Thirst admit water abundance: The Case of Liberia’s Access to Information Law and assaults on journalists

On September 2, 2010, the Liberian Senate passed into law the Freedom of Information Act and subsequently signed by President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf. Liberia is the first West African State to have a legislated document on access to information.

The instrument is a major tool intended to afford the general public acquire knowledge and information about their governance.

The bill was first submitted to the National Legislature in 2008 but received several blows by members of both lower and upper houses of the legislature.

There were three bills submitted to for passage: The Freedom of Information Act, Independent Broadcast Regulatory Act and An Act to Transform the Liberia Broadcasting System, LBS to a Public Service Broadcaster.

The passage of the Freedom of Information law was accelerated when a member of the House of Senate who comes from the opposition was denied access to the LBS. As a matter of fact, the LBS, as a state radio, propagate policies of sitting government only; thus disadvantaging government officials from the opposition bloc.

Since the Freedom of Information Act became law as of the 2^nd of September 2010, there have been rapid increases of attacks against journalists by both government officials and the private sector.

To state a gist of attacks on media practitioners, on the 31^st of May, two journalists were assaulted and equipment seized upon order of the Speaker of Liberia’s House of Representative. Legislative Reporter Roland Perry of the Informer newspaper was photographing a regular sitting of the 52^nd legislature when Representative Matthew Dablo of Grand Cape Mount County complained him to House Speaker Alex Tyler. Speaker Tyler then ordered the house’s Sergeant at-arms to confiscate Perry’s camera.

Another Legislative Reporter Boima J.V. Boima of the New Democrat newspaper became a victim when Speaker Tyler himself requested the seizure of Boima’s camera when the journalist attempted photographing the seizure of his colleague’s (Roland Perry) camera.

On the same day, Sport Reporter and Secretary General of the Sports Writers Association of Liberia, SWAL Roland Mulbah was attacked and humiliated by three players of the Senior national team of the Liberia,  The Lone Star.

The players, Anthony Laffor of Super Sports United in South Africa, Francis “Grandpa” Doe of Egypt’s Al-Ahly, and goalkeeper Louise Crayton of the Minnesota Thunder in the U.S., attacked Mulbah with kicks and punches after the journalist photographed them during a practice match between Liberia’s national soccer team and First Division Club side Watanga FC, at the Antoinette Tubman Stadium (ATS) in Monrovia.

Mulbah, who also writes for the online publication liberiansoccer.com, had to be rushed to hospital by his colleagues after suffering severe pain from the punches and kicks.

According to eyewitnesses, the players’ action lasted for more than 15 minutes in full view of a number of officials from the Liberia Football Association, who were said to be laughing at the display.

Laffor, Crayton and Doe claimed that Mulbah was always writing negative stories about them, which prompted the attack. Investigated revealed that the players were particularly annoyed by an article by Mulbah posted on liberiansoccer.com, in which he questioned the motives behind the invitation to the Lone Star of Crayton, Doe and Laffor (among others), who were either without a club or were benchwarmers at their respective clubs abroad. Mulbah wrote that the national soccer team had turned into a “vengeance and a friendship club”, with ex-internationals coming back as technical staff.

On 12 May 2011, Franklin Doloque, a correspondent for Truth FM, a privately-owned Monrovia-based radio station, was detained for four hours in Nimba, a county in the north-central part of Liberia, for allegedly challenging the police. Before his detention at the Ganta Police Station, Doloque was also allegedly assaulted by the police officers.

Doloque met his ordeal at J. W. Pearson Public School, one of the centres of the ongoing West African Senior Secondary Certificate Examinations in the country.
He had gone to inquire about pregnant candidates at the school who had been denied the opportunity to write the exams against a directive by the country’s educational authorities for female pregnant students to write the exams.

A Community Radio Station Manager Shirkh Sonii of Radio Cape Mount spent a night in jail on and released on May 27.

His imprisonment was due to his failure to attend a conference requested by the 5^th Judicial Circuit Court Judge, Amy Musu K. Jones on his station failure to cover the opening of the May term of court.

With this gist of attacks on journalists and Liberia being the first West African Country to have a Freedom of Information Act, there exists a grave contradiction. Indeed, there is still thirst admit abundance of water.

 

 

The Dream That Never Was

The struggle for education in Africa remains a monumental challenge for young people particularly girls from time to time.  In spite of all the mounting constraints, some girls remain steadfast and focused in pursuing their education. Girls are no exception to the many Africans desires to obtain a spice of international education if not full.

A Tanzanian national Sarah Chodota, an exchange student, viewed her studies at Helsinki Metropolia University of Applied Sciences as a dream come through.  “I have never had a thought of leaving Tanzania to study in this part of the world”.  My presence in Europe, particularly in Finland, is based on my academic standing at Tumani University Iringa back home”.

However, Sarah admitted that studying Journalism had never been her ambition but considers life as unpredictable. The 23 year old further explained that her initial ambition has always been Politics and Public Administration. Following her application at Tumani University for admission, journalism became her option as the university has already registered the targeted number of students.

“Now selecting an alternative field of studies came as a new pretty new beginning because I then began to wonder how to proceed with the situation”. Now that journalism was the only option, she felt that all was not lost; the adage that if the capable is not available, then the available is made capable became a reality.

For Sarah, this was absolutely not the first unfortunate situation in her life. According to the young female journalism student coming to Europe wouldn’t have been possible if she had not studied journalism. “That is why I am so delighted to study here in Finland”.

Females are the least educated gender in Africa. Reasons for this range from traditional practices which commit them to learning about domestic work such as cooking, child-bearing, babysitting, farming etc.

Moreover, attending Sande Society (bush school for girls in Africa) was given excessive priority to that of formal education. There, women learn the basis of family sustenance as early as 5 years though adults are also recruited. Formal education is totally disregarded during the “Sande Society” commences something that contravenes the Convention on the Rights of the Child and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

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Can Formal and Customary Justice Systems be merged?

Liberia´s Justice Minister Cllr. Christiana Tah

Minister Tah stressed this will require greater community involvement through the empowerment of their local leaders including Chiefs, Elders and other prominent traditional folks.

The Attorney General of Liberia said already some traditional leaders have expressed willingness to synchronize some of the draconian aspects of their customary laws.
Liberia’s Justice Minister Counselor Christina Tah has been speaking about Access to Justice in Liberia.

Speaking at the United Nations Mission in Liberia (UNMIL) press briefing recently, Cllr. Tah said the harmonization of both customary and formal judicial systems is key to promoting access to justice in the country.

According to her, these are in total violation of basic human rights, and contravene Liberia’s commitment to the protection of international treaties.

Cllr Tah, the second female Justice Minister under President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, intimated that findings from a survey conducted by the United States Institute for Peace (USIP) and the Center For the Study of African Economy at Oxford University show that an overwhelming number of Liberians believe in the customary or informal justice system.

“Report from the Legal working Group over a year ago is similar to that of the USIP,” Cllr. Tah mentioned.

She expressed concern that reports of such with similar outcome cannot be resisted, especially when reaction from the citizenry are tremendously related. The soft spoken Justice Minister believe that if both the formal and informal justice systems are harmonized, Liberians will receive the greatest amount of service.

Some of the impediments responsible for citizens’ lack of trust in the justice system, according to the two organizations’ findings, range from expenses associated with the justice system, judicial complication or literally lack of access to judicial facilities (police station or court). Though lack of access to justice involves more than just the physical presence of a structure, Cllr. Tah praised the UNMIL for recently constructing judicial facilities in some parts of Southeastern Liberia.

Minister Tah says recent outcome from a just ended judicial conference placed premium on “Trial by ordeal or Sassaywood”. The sassywood process is the use of traditional concoction or charms to determine innocence or guilt of one accused of committing a particular act. Through this means individuals indicted either drink substances one cannot drink under normal circumstances or the placing of hot metals on the skin of those indicted. The guilt of the perpetrator is then determined if one is harmed by the administration of said practice.

But contrary to Cllr. Tah’s proposition, several citizens over a month ago were arrested in Maryland County, southeastern Liberia for their alleged role in ritualistic killings. Prominent among those arrested was the Government of Liberia Chief Persecutor assigned in Maryland County, Fulton Yancy and a Special Presidential Envoy, Dan Morias. The accused were apprehended based on a witch doctor’s discovery of substances alleged to be human parts. She said the specimens have been sent to Ghana to determine the actual identity. The two high profile government officials have since been released on bail, while the others are still in jail.

Meanwhile, former CID chief Lemuel Reeves said the harmonization of both justice systems can be achieved when the advantages and disadvantages of both systems are identified. Cllr. Reeves said this will include the introduction of Psychic Detectives. He said this system is practiced in other parts of the world and have great potential of generating results. According to him, Psychic Detectives are different from witch doctors.
Cllr. Reeves works with the Carter Center’s Access to Justice Program in Liberia.

Honoring The Tyrannical Heroes

Few weeks ago, Liberia President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf honored several ex – rebel generals who spearheaded mayhem and atrocities during the country’s over decade long hostilities.

 

The honoring ceremony saw each rebel honoree pocketing over four thousand United States Dollars. Several Liberians continue to express dissatisfaction over Madam President’s decision to reward ex – rebel generals for their unremarkable service to the people of Liberia. Almost all of the honorees are potential indictees who have been accused of war crimes by victims who testified at Liberia’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission, TRC. They allegedly perpetrated these acts while serving their loyalists during Liberia’s civil war.

 

The Disarmament Demobilization Rehabilitation Reintegration (DDRR) process concluded with over 100,000 ex – soldiers disarmed. Absolutely, none of the honored ex – rebel generals went through that DDRR process. This is unacceptable and spells complete contravention to the peace that is currently sprouting in Liberia. The laurels and honors backed by the over four thousand United States dollars, no doubt, could motivate and give birth to lots of future rebel generals. In fact, who will not want be a rebel general in the future considering the lucrative retirement benefits that follow; one will definitely chose to kill for the dollars.

 

Beneficiaries of the DDRR program were predominantly teenagers forcefully conscripted into various fighting groups at the orders of these ‘self styled generals’. It required just two weeks to be transformed at cantonment sites with a little over USD 250.00 both cash and material benefits given to each ex – rebel fighter. Considering the over four thousand USD benefit to ex – rebel generals for the level of unparallel mayhem meted out by them against innocent young Liberians, and the USD 250.00 cash and material benefits to their conscripted recruits, one will definitely agree that the award ceremony was a very inopportune event.

 

Many believe that the ex – rebel generals contributed largely to the DDRR process by convincing their soldiers to disarm, which I seriously disagree. But granted that this was the situation, why didn’t they (former rebel generals) go through DDRR process by serving their own two weeks at cantonments sites, as superiors, so that their subordinates could follow? “Were they too big for the process?” These are the million dollars questions.

 

1. In conclusion, can a hero rage havoc on innocent citizens? Can someone be considered a hero for conscripting minors into belligerent groupings, training them into killing machines? Were these the kind of legacies left behind by world heroes like Martin Luther King, Jr, Nelson Mandela and other advocates of global human rights for which they continue to receive rewards even though some are dead and gone? A resounding NO would be the obvious answer. To the SO CALLED HEROES, honestly tell me do you really deserve the honor and the over four thousand United States dollars for plunging your own country into backwardness, deprivation, chaos, destitution, destruction, summary execution of innocent Liberians and other nationals, while initiating the destruction of millions of dollars worth of properties? Should your children and children’s children be honored for such remarkable job? Frankly and honestly speaking, you are not true heroes but Tyrannical Heroes.    

US Universities Donate to University of Liberia Mass Communication Department

Items donated to the University of LiberiaScene from the presentation

A team from the Universities of Massachusetts and Syracuse have donated an assortment of communication devices to the Mass Communication Department of the University of Liberia (UL). The items include four digital cameras, seven lenses, two dell laptop computers and accessories.

Presenting the items on behalf of the team, Michael Keating of the University of Massachusetts said the donation was the beginning of a good relationship between the UL and the Universities of Syracuse and Massachusetts. He pledged his university’s (University of Massachusetts) continuous support to the Administration of Dr. Emmett Dennis and termed the gesture as “quite a remarkable one” and promised to do more.

For his part, Assistant Professor, Ken Harper of the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications at Syracuse University, stressed that communication is key to understanding each other in conflict mitigation; therefore, visual communication is one of the tools.

Receiving the items, UL’s President, Dr. Dennis expressed profound appreciation to the team for the gesture and outlined the many difficulties the university is faced with following years of civil crisis. He then used the occasion to call for a sumptuous and holistic support for the university’s faculty staff and student body.

Earlier, the Acting Chairperson of the Mass communication Department, Associate Professor, Weade Kobah Wureh recounted the successful end of a two-week workshop conducted by the team which, she said, was timely for photo journalism and television production students at the Mass Communication Department. Associate Professor Wureh said the outbreak of the prolonged hostility in Liberia greatly ruined the country’s educational sector; thus affecting students majoring in print journalism without being exposed to how a camera operates in practical term.    

Prior to the donation, the team comprising of Assistant Professor Ken Harper of the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications, Kathleen Flynn, Staff Photographer of St. Petersburg Times and David Sasaki of Global Voices, conducted a two – week training for Liberian journalists and UL Mass communication students in web blogging, television production and photography.

The training took place at the United States Information Service (USIS) Library at the U.S. Embassy in Monrovia.

Women Conclude Colloquium In Liberia Adopts Declaration

Women Conclude Colloquium In Liberia

The media and Liberia’s Poverty Reduction Strategy

Monitoring the PRS

As the watchdog of every society, the media play a pivotal role in the in the dissemination of information. With governments ongoing efforts to meets the life expectancy of its citizenry, the media should serve as the fulcrum in tracking government’s progress and lapses in its Poverty Reduction Strategy program.