Author: Gibson W. Jerue

Press Release President George Manneh Weah has constituted a Special Presidential Task Force to retrieve all government-owned vehicles still in the possession of former government officials. President Weah has mandated the former officials to submit within two weeks the vehicles to the Special Presidential Task Force. Those named to the Task Force include Benedict E.E. Reeves, Chair; Patrick Sudue, Inspector General of Police, Sam Worzie, Garmondeh Glaydor, Isaiah T. Harris, Fleet Specialist and Robena L. Brown, as members. According to an Executive Mansion release, the Liberian leader has also directed that all former officials who had purportedly purchased vehicles from…

Member Stabbed, Police Fails To Act By Hasbin Shaw in Freetown, Sierra Leone With less than 12 days to the hosting of Sierra Leone’s general elections, the National Grand Coalition (NGC) party is not mincing words accusing the Sierra Leone Police of bias and targeting of its supporters when investing matters relating to political violence. The Campaign Manager of NGC, Sulaiman Banja Tejan-Sie Esq., told a news conference in Freetown on Friday, February 23, 2018, that the Grand Coalition party has reported several incidents of election violence and intimidations against their supporters to the police, but they are not investigating…

Stories of Horrific Maltreatment, Rape and Sexual Exploitation Although Buchanan Renewables Energy (BRE) have folded, sold up its assets and left Grand Bassa County, stories of the company’s excesses continue to impact the locals. Bassa citizens told an advocacy group, Accountability Counsel that they experienced some of the worst treatment, desecration of their land and forest, and the raping and sexual exploitation of women, including underage girls. Between 2008 and 2011, OPIC approved three loans to biomass company Buchanan Renewables (BR) totaling US$216.7 million. OPIC stated that its support for BR would have a strong development impact in Liberia by…

Press Release The West African journalists Association (WAJA) has welcomed as groundbreaking, the guilty verdict brought down by the ECOWAS Court against the Gambian Government in a case involving four journalists. The Court ruled on February 14, 2018 that the Government of President Yahya Jammeh violated the rights of the journalists to freedom of expression, liberty and movement. They had been arrested, detained and tortured in line with their work. The four journalists who were being held on criminal libel charges, subsequently fled into exile for fear of their lives. In its judgment, the sub-regional Court of Justice, declared that…

Press Release President George Manneh Weah has constituted a Nine-member Special Review Committee to evaluate all concessions/management and other Agreements including contracts entered into by and between the Government of Liberia and Concessionaires and/or Contractors. According to an Executive Mansion release, the President formed the committee on Wednesday, February 14, 2018 and mandated it to review and ensure that all contracts entered into by the Government of Liberia and Concessionaires are executed according to agreed principles in accordance with the Laws of Liberia. President Weah further mandated the committee to ascertain and ensure that all contracts meet the legal requirements…

By Joseph S. Margai in Freetown, Sierra Leone The Decentralization Secretariat or Dec. Sec. last Friday, February 9, 2018 launch a World Bank managed project titled, “Strengthening Community Mobilization and Local Council Service Delivery in the Post-Ebola Context”, for four Local Councils in Sierra Leone. The project is funded by the Japanese government and will fold-up in three years’ time. The project was launched in the Mayor’s Parlor at the Freetown City Council (FCC) on Wallace Johnson Street in Freetown. FCC’s Chief Administrator, Festus Kallay, who played host to the mini launching, said the project is timely especially at a…

By Joseph S. Margai in Freetown, Sierra Leone Some 468 ex-workers of Freetown Waste Management Company (FWMC) on Thursday, February 8, 2018, protested against the Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development (MLGRD) for failing to pay them their redundancy package and ‘end of service benefi’t since they were redundant in 2013. The aggrieved workers were laid off when MASADA took over the cleaning of the city from the Freetown Waste Management Company, and have since not been given their November 2013 salaries and other fringe benefits. The 468 workers gathered at Youyi Building premises in Freetown where they demanded…

By Joseph S. Margai in Freetown, Sierra Leone Delegation from the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) led West African Power Pool (WAPP) are currently in Sierra Leone to supervise and get first-hand information about the US$21.8 million that was released by ECOWAS in 2013 for the improvement of the energy sector in the country. The delegation was led by the Commissioner of Energy and Mines, Dr. Morlaye Bangoura, and will visit the two power stations in Kington and Black Hall Road and other keys areas that the WAPP project is being implemented. Deputy Minister of Energy I, Alhaji…

Cllr. Charles Gibson’s Nomination Withdrawn  President George Manneh Weah has yielded to pressure mounted by the public urging him to replace his Justice Ministry nominee, Cllr. Charles Gibson, the man saddled with myriad allegations of wrongdoing and unethical and unprofessional conduct. READ MORE Weah has now replaced Gibson with Cllr. Musa Dean.  Dean served as lead lawyer for the National Elections Commission (NEC) during the October 2017 election case. He also served as lead lawyer in the murder case involving Hans Williams and Mardea Paykue. SEE APPOINTMENTS

By Joseph S. Margai in Freetown, Sierra Leone Volunteers at the cemetery where victims of the deadly Ebola and the Mudslide in Freetown in Pa Loko village, outskirts of Waterloo, in the Western Area Rural District, have expressed fear that illegal sand mining very close to the cemetery land has serious effect on the sacred ground. The cemetery was used to bury deceased of the Ebola disease between 2014 and 2015 and those who died during the August 14, 2017, mudslide and flood incident in Freetown. At the moment, there is an explosion of sand mining on the sea bed…