President Sirleaf Responds to U.S. Human Rights Report on Liberia

Pres. Sirleaf

With the commissioning today, we have fully put in place those who will guide the process of ensuring equal justice in our country. Our Constitution provides for three coordinate branches of government and vests the judicial power of the Republic in the Supreme Court.

The Constitution states: “The Supreme Court is the final arbiter of Constitutional issues with power to exercise final appellate jurisdiction in all cases whether emanating from courts of records, courts not of record, administrative agencies, autonomous agencies or any other authority both as to law and to fact.”

Fast Facts on Charles Taytlor

(CNN) ___Here's an in-depth look at the life of Charles Taylor, former president of Liberia and convicted war criminal.

Personal:

Birth date: January 28, 1948

Birth place: Arthington, Liberia

Birth name: Charles Taylor

Father: Nelson Taylor

Mother: Zoe Taylor

Marriages: Victoria Addison-Taylor (unknown-present); Jewel (Howard) Taylor (1997-2006, divorce)

Children: with Victoria Addison-Taylor: three girls; with Jewel (Howard) Taylor: McArthur Taylor. It is reported that Taylor has several other children.

Education: Bentley College, Massachusetts, BA Economics,1977

Other Facts:
Taylor stole or diverted nearly $100 million of Liberia's funds while in power according to government records investigated by the U.N. Taylor used the money to buy houses, cars, and illegal weapons while fighting the civil war.

For more on Charles Taylor, please  click this link.

L'infidèle

A 56-year-old man sat Friday morning on the third layer of his bricks stairs, weeping. Everyone in the yard wept quietly, bitterly. Even the neighbors couldn’t hold back their tears. They were mourning the death of Nantini who had committed suicide only a week before in the Battery Factory area of Bushrod Island.

Though the husband claimed he had no idea what must have moved Nantini in doing what she did to herself, dwellers of that community hinted to me that James “likes the girls.”   So, his wife killed herself because she could no longer bear her husband’s infidelity.

The couple had been married for a little over 15 years now. And throughout their marriage, Nantini had had to bear James’ infidelity, neighbors said. She was frequently introduced to new babies fathered by her man by different women. She bore it all and not once did she allow her disdain for her husband’s outside affairs harm her relationship with his outside children who were increasing each year, neighbors explained.

Monrovia Central Prison Overcrowded

The 2012 U.S. Government’s Human Rights Report has revealed that during the period under review, prison officials threatened prisoners’ lives, and prisoners were raped by other prisoners. The Report quoted the Liberian Bureau of Corrections as saying that approximately half of the country’s 1,930 prisoners were at Monrovia Central Prison (MCP).

This prison operated at more than twice its capacity because of the continuing large number of pretrial detainees. The total prison capacity of MCP was an estimated 400, but it held 989 individuals at year’s end. The prison population included 15 women and 25 juveniles. Prisons remained understaffed, and prison staff were poorly paid.

In Liberia: Rape Law Still Not Effectively Enforced

The U.S. Government’s latest human right report on Liberia showed that the government did not always effectively enforce the 2006 rape law. The 2012 Human Rights Report recently released by the United States stated that rape is illegal but remained a serious and pervasive problem. It stated that judges had the discretion to impose less than the maximum sentence.

The 2006 rape law legally defines rape but does not specifically criminalize spousal rape. The maximum sentence is life imprisonment for first-degree rape and 10 years for second-degree rape, and accused first-degree rapists are not eligible for bail.

Said the report: “The Women’s and Children’s Protection Section of the LNP stated that approximately 369 rape cases were reported to the unit, of which 125 were forwarded to the court. Six rape cases were actually prosecuted; there were five convictions and one acquittal. However, the true incidence of rape was believed to be much higher.”

In Fight against Corruption; Gov’t Institutes Selective Justice; Latest U.S. Human Rights Report Shows

A recent report by the United States State Department on Liberia criticized the country for judicial inefficiency and corruption, lengthy pretrial detention, denial of due process and harsh prison conditions. During the period under review, the government dismissed officials for alleged corruption and recommended others for prosecution, the Report said.

Section 4 of the 2012 U.S. government’s Human Rights Report said the law does not provide criminal penalties for official corruption, although criminal penalties exist for economic sabotage, mismanagement of funds, and other corruption-related acts.

It stated that “Officials engaged in corrupt practices with impunity. Low pay levels for the civil service, minimal job training, and few court convictions exacerbated official corruption and a culture of impunity. The Liberian Anti-Corruption Commission (LACC) and the Ministry of Justice (MOJ) are responsible for exposing and combating official corruption. The LACC is empowered to prosecute any case that the ministry declines to prosecute; however, the LACC remained a weak option because of underfunding, understaffing, and judicial bottlenecks. During the year the LACC investigated 16 cases and recommended eight for prosecution, resulting in one conviction.”

Liberia Bans Export of Unprocessed Rubber; What Will Be Firestone’s Response?

President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf Thursday issued Executive Order No. 50 placing a moratorium on the exportation of unprocessed natural rubber from Liberia until otherwise ordered.

The Executive Mansion said the Executive Order No. 50, signed by the Liberian leader on April 5, is intended to curb the decline in the Liberian rubber sector until policies and frameworks appropriate to the situation are instituted, and to ensure redevelopment, new development, increased production, increased job opportunities and increased revenue to Government. It supersedes Executive Order No. 16, which expired recently.

This news shocked key actors of the country’s rubber section yesterday. When contacted, the Firestone Rubber Plantation Company and the Liberia Agriculture Company (LAC) failed to address themselves to the matter on grounds that it was news to them.

The spokesman of the Firestone, Rufus Karmoh, declined to comment, saying “Management will speak on the matter today.”

Liberia: Restoring Public Trust in Judiciary; A Top Priority for New Chief Justice

Newly-named Chief Justice Francis Korkpor, Sr. has outlined home and overseas training opportunities for trial judges and increasing public trust and confidence in the judiciary as high among his list of first priorities. The devout Catholic, who has been an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court for nearly ten years, disclosed this to news-gatherers shortly after his preferment by President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf this week.

President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf named Justice Korkpor, 61, to the top judicial post after he had served as acting in the position since last September following the resignation of  Chief Justice Johnny  Lewis,  due to ill health.

Executive Orders 49 and 51 on Exemptions from Customs Duties Issued

President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf has issued Executive Order No. 49, exempting the Liberia Water and Sewer Corporation (LWSC) from Customs Duties on Certain Products; and Executive Order No. 51, exempting Selected Entities from Customs Duties on Fuel.

An Executive Mansion release said President Sirleaf, issuing Executive Order No. 49, stated that in the interest of national reconstruction and development, the Government has granted the LWSC exemption from the payment of customs duties on diesel fuel, rotable and consumable spares, and low-lift and high-lift pumps, all to be used at the Water Treatment Plant(s), imported or purchased by the LWSC for the exclusive use of the Corporation to facilitate the provision of water and sewer services.

Kokoyah: No Place for Partisanship at NEC

Though his nomination by President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf as the new chair of the National Elections Commission (NEC) sparked opposition protest, Jerome Kokoya, has promised to prioritize confidence-building at NEC during his reign.

Taking over as the new NEC chair, Kokoyah has sternly warned employees against partisanship at the institution, stressing that doing so would be a total violation of the electoral law of the country. Using himself as a test case for his staff, Kokoyah noted that he has never gained political favor from any individual or institution or being a politician during the entire period of professional life.

The Economics of Beauty & Women in Law Enforcement

No one could stop staring at a female police officer who showed up at a boutique in downtown Monrovia last Saturday to shop for a pair of shoes.

She was wearing a three-pack curly X-pression weave, two packs of eye lashes, (one pack for each eye) maroon-penciled eyebrows, a lousy red lipstick and smoky eyes. She had bleached her skin so much that one could identify the blood vessels running through her body.

Debunking the ‘Irrelevance’ of the Infamous Constitutional Advisory Committee, Cllr. Pearl Bull Sets the Record Straight

Cllr. Bull

Cllr. Pearl Brown Bull has taken issues with those who since 1986 have continued to ‘diss’ (dismiss, say bad things about) a so-called, ‘Constitutional Advisory Assembly’ set up by Samuel Doe’s People’s Redemption Council for undoing (changing, messing up) the splendid work that the Amos Sawyer-led Constitution Commission had done in crafting a much-improved version of the earlier, (1847) Liberian Constitution.

Cllr. Brown-Bull pointed out that though she did not reject the fact that some provisions in that 1986 Constitution were undone by the Advisory Assembly---of which she was a member---she wanted it understood that there was nothing fishy about the removal of those provisions, as many have suggested.

Cllr. Bull’s apparent defensive stance stemmed from a comment by a representative of the Political Parties Consultative Forum to an-all women’s consultative forum organized by the Constitution Review Committee (CRC) with the aim of ensuring full participation of women in the review exercise.

April 12 Protest Still Stands; But Masterminds Split

Planners of the infamous April 12 protest march have parted ways with diverging positions on the future of the demonstration. The main Coalition for the Transformation of Liberia Monday called off the protest slated for Friday. But a splinter group of civil society organizations calling itself, Grassroots Leadership Network (GLN), says the protest will take place, come what may.

‘Stop the Bickering’; Cllr. Scott Cautions Women

Participants at the forum

The women of Liberia have been urged to take a break from back-biting that a crab mentality fosters:  ‘if it is not me, it can’t be anyone else’---forging, instead, a united front by getting involved in the constitution review process currently ongoing.

Cllr. Gloria Musu Scott expects that women leaders of Liberia will shelf their differences and consolidate their strengths to help their peers and other vulnerable persons have a say in the ongoing constitutional debate to guarantee the realignment of the nation’s peoples.

Addressing a gathering of more than 100 women drawn from all of Liberia’s 15 counties, Cllr. Scott observed that disunity and bickering among the women will result in distractions and the opportunity to guarantee women’s rights will come and go without any benefit to the women of this country.

Referendum Moved to August 2015

The Constitution Review Committee (CRC) has announced that the holding a national referendum, previously slated for 2014, has now been moved to August 2015.

Disclosing this at an-all women consultative forum organized by the CRC in Monrovia on Tuesday, Cllr. Gloria Scott, chair of the CRC, stated that her committee recently received a letter dated March 8, 2013, from the Office of the President in which the committee was informed that its request to extend the date of the referendum from 2014 to 2015 had been approved by President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf.

Convinced That Soccer Is One Thing And Politics Another, Weah Admits, Crying 'I Can’t Do this Peace Thing all by Myself'; How Soon He Is Going To Start, Is What The Public Wants To Know

Weah says he cannot bring peace to Liberia all by himself

Football-legend-turned-politician George Weah has said that genuine peace in Liberia will remain an illusion if people expect him to single-handedly lead the charge in the country’s search for authentic peace and reconciliation.

“I cannot bring peace to Liberia all by myself. I cannot do it all by myself,” the leader of the opposition Congress for Democratic Change (CDC) re-emphasized, cautioning “actors of what happened to this country in the past” against sitting supinely, expecting that he would, by himself, bring peace and reconciliation to Liberia.

Ambassador Weah was addressing news-gatherers yesterday at the Roberts International Airport (RIA) where he had gone to receive the remains of his deceased mother. The former soccer star’s mother, Anna Moneh Quiwah died recently in Accra, Ghana. She was pronounced dead at the 37 Military Hospitals in Accra following a prolong battle with cancer. She was 64 and had been living in Ghana for the past 16 years

Nothing to Do With April 12 Demo Plot; Varney Sherman Denies Link with Protesters

Cllr. H. Varney G. Sherman, the national chairman of the ruling Unity Party (UP), has categorically dismissed swelling speculations that he is a mastermind behind a planned protest march slated for this Friday, April 12, through the principal streets of Monrovia. The protest’s planners have taken the UP government to task over bad governance including massive corruption and nepotism, they have claimed.

He Spared My Life; Mrs. Eupheme Weeks Turns 86; Gives Praises to God

Mrs. Weeks is thankful because God has spared her life

The widow of the first Liberian-born president of the University of Liberia, Dr. Rocheforte Lafayette Weeks, has given thanks and praises to God for sparing her life to witness and mark another birthday.

Mrs. Angelique Eupheme Geraldine Weeks turned 86 on February 6, 2013. But it couldn’t have been celebrated on that day because two of her daughters would not have been around for the event.

She told me in an exclusive interview Thursday that she is smiling, not because everything is perfect, but because God has shown His goodness and faithfulness to her in the midst of it all. She strongly believes that whatever might have happened to her was God's design for her life. She appreciates God for the gift of life, thanks her children, especially her two daughters: Angelique (Pheme) and Ophelia (Fifi), for their non-stop love and support and for praying for her.

Secret Recording Hits the Bedroom

Well folks, this secret taping of conversation thing has taken wing and gone beyond the “you eat some, I eat some, the Minister eats some” recorded dialogue between former Montserrado County superintendent Grace Kpaan and Edward Forh of the Montserrado County Legislative Caucus. Even couples are now doing it. They are secretly recording private conversations.

‘Do What Is Right’; President Sirleaf Charges NEC Commissioners

President Sirleaf commissioning the five NEC members

President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf Monday commissioned commissioners of the National Elections Commission (NEC); charging them to do what is right and in the best interest of the country’s emerging democracy.

She assured the commissioners that her administration will do well not to meddle with the activities of the Commission, stressing that the independence of the Commission will continue to be respected by government as it always has.