Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf on Monday, January 26, 2015, addressed the fourth session of the 53rd National Legislature on the state of the nation, under the theme: "Consolidating for Continuity". Here's the full text of the President's speech (As Delivered)
Mr.
Vice President and President of the Senate;
Mr.
Speaker;
Honorable
Members of the Legislature;
Your
Honor the Chief Justice and Associate Justices of the Supreme Court and
Members
of the Judiciary;
The
Dean and Members of the Cabinet and other Government Officials;
Mr.
Doyen, Excellencies and Members of the Diplomatic Corps;
Her
Excellency, the Special Representative of the Secretary General of the United
Nations in Liberia;
The
Officers and Staff of the United Nations Mission in Liberia (UNMIL);
The
Chief of Staff, Men and Women of the Armed Forces of Liberia (AFL);
Former
Chairman of the Interim Government of National Unity, Dr. Amos Claudius Sawyer;
Chairman
of the Ruling Unity Party;
Former
Officials of Government;
Traditional
Leaders, Chief and Elders;
Political
and Business Leaders;
Bishops,
Pastors, Imams and Religious Leaders;
Officers
and Members of the National Bar Association;
Labor
and Trade Unions;
Civil
Society Organizations; Members of the Press;
Distinguished
Ladies and Gentlemen; Special Guests;
Fellow
Liberians:
Introduction
We assemble here today
in compliance with Article 58 of the Constitution which mandates the President on
the fourth working Monday in January of each year, to present the Administration’s
Legislative Program and report to the Legislature on the State of the Republic
covering the economic condition including expenditure and income.
Our agenda during
the course of this year was defined virtually by the Ebola virus which
threatened our very existence. Our
hospital and clinics, as well as our schools closed down; people ran away from
their families and homes. Our economy
was on the verge of collapse as our citizens and nation were stigmatized. I can say today that despite all of this, our
nation has remained strong; our people resilient; our commitment renewed and
our faith restored.
Thus
I ask that we stand in a moment of silence to honor the memory of the thousands
of our people who lost their lives to the Ebola and other related diseases that
ravaged our nation, as well as those in the sister nations of Guinea, Sierra
Leone, Mali and Nigeria. We deeply feel the pain of the families who lost their
love ones. [Silence] Thank you.
Mr. Vice President,
I wish to express heartfelt gratitude for your partnership, and commitment to
the service of our country and people.
Mr. Speaker and Honorable Members
of the National Legislature, I
thank you, and I thank the former
President Pro Tempore of the Senate including
the for the able manner in which you
managed the affairs of this August Body and for the spirit of cooperation and
collaboration which we enjoyed from you during the year. We welcome you back from your Annual Recess
and we congratulate the newly elected members as we hope and pray for a year of
constructive dialogue in the interest of our nation and people.
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| Members of the Liberian parliament |
Legislative Agenda
Prior to submitting this Administration’s Legislative
Agenda, I would like to record our appreciation for the cooperation received
from this honorable body that led to the passage of several pieces of
legislation relevant to the consolidation of the processes of our Nation’s Agenda for Transformation and the National Vision 2030 which began several
years ago to chart a course for Liberia’s growth and sustained development. An
examination of the various pieces of legislation reveal that they address
challenges of governance, the economy, the rule of law, and our obligations as
a responsible member of the international community.
Honorable Legislators, I would like to highlight those
instruments which will significantly impact governance, economic
transformation, the rule of law, and our international obligations. A sound, firm and attainable economic policy,
aimed at Liberia’s economic transformation, demands structural reform of our
form of governance.
In this light, in addition to the passage of the Budget
Act of 2014/2015, I am pleased for your ratification of the financing
agreements between the Government of the Republic of Liberia and Export-Import
Bank of India, the Kuwait Fund, the African Development Bank, the African
Development Fund, and the International Development Association of the World
Bank.
Economic transformation of our nation is not limited only to
the public sector, but includes the private sector as well. In a bid to
strengthen and expand the capacity of our private sector to contribute to
Liberia’s economic transformation, we submitted to your honorable body an
amendment to the Mineral Development Agreement among the Government of Liberia,
Sesa Goa Limited and Bloom Fountain Limited, and a bill to ratify a Concession
Agreement between Government and the Liberia Cocoa Corporation, a wholly
Liberian-owned enterprise. These instruments manifest Government’s commitment
to generate economic and employment opportunities within key corridors of our
country. I commend the impressive work of the gold mining concessionaire,
Aureus Mining, in Grand Cape Mount County and I urge all of you to visit the
concession site for a personal appreciation of the beneficial results of these
arrangements that you have approved.
Working with our sister Republic of Guinea, I will submit
legislation to effectuate an infrastructure development agreement between the Government
and West African Exploration (WAE) for the transshipment of iron ore from
Guinea through Liberia. For several decades the Governments of Liberia and of
Guinea have considered and explored modes of cooperation to facilitate the
evacuation of iron ore from parts of Guinea near the Liberian border using
infrastructure in Liberia. This is a
milestone in regional integration opening the way for stronger cooperation between
our two countries and broadening the opportunities for large scale
investment.
Thank you for enacting the Insurance Act of 2013, and the
Payment Systems Act. I will submit additional Bills to support the improvement
of the regulatory environment and for financial services in Liberia. This will include: A Bill
to Establish a Securities Market in Liberia; A Bill Creating Special Economic
Zones; A Bill to Establish an Energy Law to govern the Energy Sector; A Bill to
repeal appropriate sections of the Executive Law dissolving the Liberia Produce
Marketing Corporation and establishing the Liberia Agriculture Commodity
Regulatory Authority. We have already
placed before you the Small Business Act to spur the growth of Liberian
entrepreneurship and develop the Liberian middle class.
In keeping with our commitment to protect and preserve the
environment, I will also submit a bill to establish the Gola National Park and the
National Wildlife Conservation and Protected Areas Management Law.
I also ask you to consider passage of Bills to establish
the Rubber Development Fund and the Axle Load Act. These bills will impact the level of
commercial activity and further empower our people.
I thank you for the several bills passed in support of
justice and the rule of law. We note the
passage of An Act on the Criminal Conveyance of Land; an Act to Amend the
Executive Law, to strengthen the Liberia Drug Enforcement Agency; a new
Controlled Drug and Substance Act of 2014; ratification of the Protocol on the
Statute of the African Court of Justice and Human Rights; and ratification of
the Arms Trade Treaty.
We urge the passage of the Firearms and Ammunition Control
Act; the Amendment to the Public Health Law to add a new Chapter on Mental
Health; and the Amendment to the Civil Procedure Law on Special Proceedings
Concerning Mentally Disabled and Legally Incompetent Persons to be titled the
“Mental Health Procedural Act’; and the Amendment to Title 33 of the Executive
Law on Reproductive Rights. We will submit a Bill Outlining Procedures for the
Exercise of the Constitutional Authority for Expropriation, and a Bill Creating
Criminal Court “F” as a specialized court for economic crimes of
corruption.
Again, we ask for passage of the amendment to the Act that
created the Liberia Anti-Corruption Commission to authorize direct
prosecutorial powers for the Commission without the delay caused by the current
law which requires the Commission to first refer matters to the Ministry of
Justice.
Under your leadership, Mr. Vice President and President of
the Senate, a significant number of international agreements and treaties were
ratified, all of which demonstrate Liberia’s commitment as a responsible member
of the comity of nations. I am especially pleased with the ratification of the
Protocol Establishing the Community Court of Justice for ECOWAS, which now
makes Liberia a full-fledged member of the ECOWAS Court, and which served as a
precursor to Liberia filling a vacancy at the highest ranks of the Court. During this session we intend to submit
additional international treaties, conventions, protocols, and agreements for
ratification with international organizations.
I will submit a number of legislations that will improve
governance - A Bill to Establish the Liberian National Tourism Authority and A
New Local Government Act; an Act to amend to the Charter of the University of
Liberia; A Bill to Amend the 1989 Act Creating the National Commission on
Higher Education; a Bill to Grant Autonomy to the Liberian Board for Nursing
and Midwifery, and the Amendment to Liberia Refugee Repatriation and Resettlement
Commission Act to expand provisions for refugees and make provisions for asylum
seekers and stateless persons. Both bills are already before this Honorable
Body.
Honorable Legislators, we will once again ask your
consideration of the Act to permit dual citizenship which enables our citizens
who are compelled to seek refuge in other countries to become more active
participants in the process of nation building.
After lengthy debates and reviews by stakeholders, we are
ready to submit, and will urge you to speedily pass into law, the
decriminalization of media-related offenses in keeping with the Table Mountain
Declaration to which we have acceded because it is the right thing to do. This
repeal law will advance our democratic aspirations and foster unhindered public
debates. We are hopeful that it will improve rather than retard the growing
media landscape of the country, and again testify to our continued commitment
to an opened society ably supported by a responsible and independent press.
Mr. Speaker, Honorable Members of the Legislature: I issued
fourteen Executive Orders extending or renewing previous Executive Orders that
dealt with, amongst other things, waiver of taxes and tariffs on anti-malaria
commodities and products, exemption of government entities from customs duties
on certain products, delimitation of Liberia’s Maritime Zones. The Executive Orders also extended the tenure
of the Land Commission continued the moratorium on public land sales, and the establishment
of a taskforce against the encroachment on beachfronts, waterways and wetlands.
Economic and Financial Performance
Honorable Speaker
and Distinguished Members of the National Legislature, since 2006, Liberia’s
growth rate increased, reaching a level of 8.9 percent in 2012 with the
potential for double digit thereafter.
In 2013, growth rate fell to 8.3 percent on account of the global
economic downturn and its effect on global prices of primary commodities.
In 2014, the Ebola
virus struck negatively impacting not only our health and social systems, but
our economy. Sharp declines in domestic
food production, mining activities, cross border trade, transport services and
hospitality led to a dramatic decline in our growth rate: from a projected 5.9
percent to an initial -0.4 percent.
Although later revised to 1 percent, the future of economic growth is
still severely challenged. If we are to
achieve development goals outlined in the Agenda for Transformation, and reach
the long term average growth rate of 8 percent, radical changes will be
required in the structure of our economy for increased investments in the
productive sector of the economy and in our governance structure and processes.
The decline in
economic activities resulted in reduction in domestic revenue collection and a
sharp increase in Government expenditure.
Original revenue was revised downwards by US$86 million (from US$559
million to US$473 million) while expenditure demand increased by US$152
million. We introduced tight fiscal measures with expenditure cuts in
discretionary activities thereby reducing the fiscal gap by US$33 million.
We also introduced
mitigating measures to lessen the impact of the downturn. These included foreign
exchange rate stabilization; payment of salaries and wages of civil servants on
time; ensuring commercial banks liquidity by settling payments to road contractors
and other service providers; and ensuring availability of essential commodities
such as rice and petroleum.
In spite of the
numerous challenges revenues of US$517.2 million was collected representing 4
percent increase in Tax Revenue and 14 percent increase in Non-Tax Revenue. This included US$12.8 million from
State-owned Enterprises.
The Liberia Revenue
Authority (LRA) commenced work on July 1, 2014.
Our hope is that with better governance, leadership and an incentive
structure our tax Administration will significantly improve revenue performance.
This will require cooperation and support from government officials and
political authorities accepting that just as we pursue ordinary people and
businesses to pay their taxes, the same treatment will be extended to officials
of Government in all three branches of government who should commit to bearing their
fair share of the tax burden. This is the only sustainable way to finance our
national development and improve service delivery to our people.
Expenditure for the
period totaled US$530.7 million, an increase of 10.6 percent over the previous
year. Recurrent expenditure totaled US$363.5 million of which wages and
salaries claimed US$206.8 million or 39 percent and goods and services US$156.7
million or 30 percent. These two items
continue to crowd out the fiscal space required for capital expenditure to
expand the economy.
Capital expenditure
in the Public Sector Investment Plan (PSIP) include US$230 million for the Mount
Coffee Hydroelectric plant and US$66 million for three HFO plants and an
additional US$200 million was directed to the West Africa Power Pool project
between Côte d’Ivoire, Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea (CLSG) as well as
settlement to various contractors for road works.
Loans
contracted from external sources totaled approximately US$138.26 million and
approximately US$19.95 million from domestic sources.
External
debt service was US$8.56 million with domestic debt service totaling
approximately US$41.17 million, including settlement of the Central Bank of
Liberia’s US$11.8 million overdraft facilities and US$29.37 million for other
domestic debts.
Honorable Speaker
and Distinguished Members of the National Legislature, mindful of the past, we
are careful to exercise caution in contracting debt. Working with our key
development partners, a Medium Term Debt Strategy (MTDS) was adopted as an
essential tool in accounting for and analyzing the costs and risks associated
with borrowing and ensuring a balance with funding needs. In this manner, debt sustainability is
assured.
The total debt
stock increased from US$628.45 million to US$759.46 million, of which US$290
Million is owed to the Central Bank of Liberia.
This represents 22 percent of GDP.
Honorable Legislature,
it is considered ironic by our partners who have granted us significant debt
relief that we are unable to convince our own public institutions and private
sector entities who have made significant profits over many years to act
similarly by relieving us of the debt incurred many years ago under other
administrations.
Our development partners have been good
friends not only in the fight against Ebola, but in our overall development progress
over the past ten years.
Prior to the Ebola outbreak, between
January and June 2014, our partners committed a total of US$197.6 million in
Official Development Assistance (ODA) to support our Agenda for Transformation.
About two-thirds of that amount was invested in the Economic Transformation
Pillar to support important infrastructure.
Disbursements were
significantly reduced during the second half of the year, due to the outbreak.
Although project activities continued sporadically, attention was shifted from
our national response to the epidemic. To date, a total of US$244.2 million has
been spent on the Ebola response, by Government and our international partners
- 49.4 percent is being expended by US Government entities, 24.4 percent by
United Nations (UN) entities, 13.3 percent by NGOs, and 12.9 percent
Government.
Honorable Speaker
and Distinguished Members of the National Legislature
We thank you for
the level of cooperation and support during the height of the Ebola
outbreak. Without much hesitation, you
moved swiftly to grant us special spending authority of US$20 million and the
flexibility to raise those resources to intensify our fight against the
outbreak. We came together like never
before to protect, defend and advance the collective interest of our country and
people. Nothing has made us more proud than the urgency and unity which was
applied to save our country.
Under the
authorized spending of US$20 million, Government contributed US$9 million to establish
Ebola Trust Fund, and US$6 million for the restoration of basic health services
for a total of US$15 million.
Honorable Speaker, Distinguished Members of the National Legislature,
Fellow Liberians, NGOs operating in Liberia continue to be very
strong partners in our development work.
The speed and effectiveness of response during the Ebola outbreak made
tremendous contribution to our national effort.
Last
year, I announced several policy measures on the operations of NGOs that are
intended, under a compliance and regulatory environment, to strengthen them for
proper transparency and accountability of the resources they receive and the
results they produce. The Ministry of Finance and Development Planning is to
ensure implementation of those measures by finalizing the NGO Policy Guidelines
and re-registration process to be announced by the end of the first half of this
year. This will transition the
registration from a manual computer based system to an online registration
process.
This
process will enable NGOs to properly account for their operations at the local
level where they work, allowing local government to have real time information
on what NGO is doing and where. This is consistent with our new drive to
de-concentrate and decentralize the delivery of services and to foster greater
accountability to local government and citizens structures by the NGOs
operating at the local level.
Mr. Vice President,
Mr. Speaker, I which to inform you that as we fought on the health front
ensuring that the Ebola outbreak was under control, we also had to take appropriate
measures on the economic front to ensure that we did not have an collapsed
economy.
Under my very clear
and emphatic instructions, the Economic Management Team (EMT) coordinated by
the Minister of Finance and Development Planning ensured that:
1. Foreign exchange rate remained stable;
2. Civil servants continue to receive their salaries and wages
on time;
3. Our commercial banks remained liquid during the crisis;
4. We applaud our Economic Management Team for working together
to maintain macroeconomic stability.
The Government,
through CBL expanded financial intermediation by promoting throughout the
country expansion in commercial banks, foreign exchange bureaux and Savings and
Loans Associations. The introduction of a
Collateral Registry and promotion of the recently passed Insurance Act are also
important milestones. Consistent with
policies, the CBL took decisions to improve access to finance for those in
rural areas and in the informal sector of the economy. Going beyond this, the CBL took decisions to
mitigate the financial burden of school closure in the private schools by
committing to settle the debts owed the commercial banks. While we welcome measures that have a positive
impact on the lives of our people, we urge caution and more cooperation by the
CBL, in the announcement of measures which have implications on our collective
targets for sustained national financial viability.
Ebola
Mr. Vice President
and President of the Senate, Honorable Members of the Legislature: Liberia’s
first case of Ebola was recorded on March 30, 2014 in Foya, Lofa County. Due to the level of cross border movements,
the virus spread quickly in the County and then to Margibi with a cross over by
a woman marketer. In June, the virus escalated
as cases spread throughout Lofa and other counties as well. On June 17, cases were officially reported in
Montserrado, including the crowded communities in Monrovia where a third of the
country’s population reside. The disease
rapidly became an epidemic spreading to all counties in different intensity,
the most severe in Monrovia.
Immediate national
response and that of the international community as well, was weak given that
this was an unknown enemy. Thus Liberia
became the poster child of disaster as many lay dying on the streets without
access to treatment or to a dignified burial.
We ignored the
local and international criticism and went to work establishing the leadership
and incidence management structures, increasing social mobilization by engaging
and empowering community volunteers, including faith based leaders and
constituencies. We aggressively reached
out to traditional partners and the international community at large with the
message that this was not a Liberia or West African problem, but a potential
world problem and menace.
By the end of
November, response had shown significant results. Nevertheless, 3,608 of our citizens died,
including 178 health care professionals.
Our health care system virtually collapsed, airlines, investors,
contractors, and citizens as well fled the country. Liberian citizens and residents faced
stigmatization and were denied entry into countries worldwide. We faced a chilling projection that 1.3
million or some 20,000 a month would die in the three neighboring affected
countries.
We stood tall in
rejecting the projection and called for strong collective national action that
would lead to zero new cases by Christmas, a target date changed by health
officials to end year. In his report dated January 12, 2015 to the
President of the General Assembly, the Secretary General of the United Nations
reported: “On 31 December, for the first time in months, no new cases were
recorded in Liberia.” Honorable Legislators, Ebola was not eradicated on
December 31, 2014, but our Incidence Management Team headed by Assistant
Minister Tolbert Nyenswah who is here demonstrated the capacity and the
commitment to achieve the established target.
Today, we take
pride that 13 of our 15 counties have not report any confirmed cases for over
21 days. Lofa, the epicenter of the
virus, has had no new cases for over 70 days and the Ebola Treatment Unit in
Foya is closed. The 103 beds in 6 Community
Care Centers and 13 of the 19 constructed Ebola treatment centers which are
currently operational have only 47 patients.
We have an average of only 1 – 2 new cases a day in the only two
affected counties, Montserrado and Grand Cape Mount County. We have also significantly transitioned from
cremation to the more traditional burial practice by opening a new cemetery in
Margibi County. Our diligent doctors, supported by partners have brought joy to
us by the 1,401 who were cured of the virus, although many have left behind the
3,000 orphans who now require Government love and care.
Distinguished
Legislators, our success is due to the many people working hard to contain the
virus – the health professionals, the community volunteers, the civil society
organizations, the religious institutions, our Armed Forces, officials of
Government, national and local, the Legislators, the Judiciary all of whom were
participants in the Task Force that was initially established. We owe a lot to our foreign partners, who
sent human and material support, who constructed and managed treatment centers,
who provided financial resources, who advocated and encouraged us the – United
Nations Family through UNMEER, key traditional partners, and many others who
joined them; the full listing of which will be given in the Executive
Report.
We want to pay tribute to our African brothers and
sisters, to the countries that stood by us and came to our rescue when
everything seemed to be lost. We want to also express our gratitude to the
international community for standing by us in global solidarity as we faced
this deadly disease.
We want to pay tribute to our African brothers and
sisters, to the countries that stood by us and came to our rescue when
everything seemed to be lost. We want to also express our gratitude to the
international community for standing up with us in global solidarity as we
faced this deadly disease.
I wish to express particular gratitude to President
Goodluck Jonathan, the people and Government of the Republic of Nigeria, who,
came to our help, financially and professionally, notwithstanding the fact that
they lost loved ones because one of our citizens travelled there with the
disease and infected many of their people. Nigeria again proved its leadership
on the continent and continued solidarity with the people of Liberia, whenever
we faced life threatening difficulties.
At the height of
the Ebola outbreak, Liberia made a passionate global appeal for the much needed
international humanitarian assistance. The world rallied and responded
massively. The United States took the lead followed closely by the People’s
Republic of China, Germany, Sweden, Norway, Nigeria, Cuba among others and
joined by international development partners such as the European Union, World
Bank, African Development Bank, smaller organizations and individuals. Liberia
passionately recognizes the numerous human, technical and material assistance
of the global community.
We know that we are
not out of the woods and must continue relentlessly to continue with the
practices and protocols that have brought us this success. We know that we must continue to work with
and support our sisterly countries and that we must make an urgent successful
transition from treatment to prevention by improving our health care
system. But for now let’s take pride and
rejoice in our collective success, in the recognition of one of our own, Dr.
Jerry Brown who, because of exceptional services, was named Time Magazine
Person of the Year. [Dr. Brown is on mission in Geneva.]
Health
The Country’s
health care system, with support from partners, had an established
decentralized infrastructure system that made notable progress in polio
vaccination in reducing the high level of child and maternal mortality and addressing
diseases such as malaria, diarrhea, HIV AIDS and Tuberculosis. The Ebola disease exposed the vulnerability
of our national health care system which lacked the capacity, the systems and
the technical facilities and supplies to respond to infection, particularly an
outbreak of this nature and magnitude.
The number of
health workers, many inadequately trained, consumed a large share of the
budget, resulting in a reliance on partners under the so called “Incentive System.” Medical facilities and equipment, already
inadequate, became virtually nonfunctional due to lack of maintenance. The lack of infrastructure – roads, power, water
and sanitation – particularly in rural communities compounded the problem.
Liberia has 404
public health facilities, supplemented by 252 private facilities. We still lag significantly behind with 0.4
compared with the African average of 2.6 doctors per 10,000 inhabitants. The record shows that Liberia is one of the
leading 10 countries in Africa with over 19 percent of its national budget
allocated to health. However, the exposed
condition of our health delivery system speaks to the need for sound structure
and systems which go beyond professional medical capacity.
A ten year plan
developed by the Ministry of Health with support from the Clinton Global
Initiative is intended to address the inadequacies in the health system through
massive training of health workers and professionals at all levels and an
upgrading of the health system and facilities.
The Plan, which was formulated before the Ebola crisis is under revision
to provide the roadmap for transiting from the treatment of Ebola to a robust
health care system that will have facilities for infection control thus
preventing a recurrence of the virus and for ensuring better health care
delivery to our people.
Education
Education remains a
number one priority in the development of Liberia and the most difficult to
show positive results in the short term.
Statistics for the year 2013 show that there was 5,181 schools (3074
public and 2107 private), with enrollment 1,500,000 students (800,000 boys and
700,000 girls) throughout the country. We have thus succeeded in the
achievement of quantity goals by increased enrollment, but quality of education
has declined even further, evidenced by the failure in the entrance exam to the
University of Liberia and in the WAEC exams which have been set at a substandard
level for Liberia. The problem of
education goes deeper and beyond the lack of qualified teachers, the lack of
facilities and supplies, and the lack of incentive.
The vastness of the
challenge and the implication to our overall development effort, compel all of us
to come together to formulate bold strategic action to fix it. This is a must for the future of the country
and for the education of girls who do not go beyond middle school and are at
risk of exploitation.
To solve this
problem we hereby announce a program to be implemented in the next fiscal year
that will offer financial support to all girls willing to remain in school
until the completion of high school.
We call upon all
educators, educational institution leaders, eligible concern citizens and
partners to join us in a review and update of the Comprehensive Education
Reform Program which is underway by the Ministry of Education.
The Ebola Outbreak
prevented the opening of schools in September, making virtually idle young
people and school teachers. Effort was
made to introduce radio instruction and many parents tried to organize selected
private sessions while a large number of the more advantage sent their children
to schools abroad.
The cost of opening
schools, as proposed by public, private schools and higher education’s
institutions is simply prohibitive. Making
the schools conducive for learning by undertaking the massive renovation
required and ensuring that Ebola prevention measures, including provision of
clean water and sanitation need to be in place.
The Ministry of
Finance and Development Planning is working with the Ministry of Education to
determine the way forward in phasing the finances required in order that schools
are open on the target date, or not too much later. Widespread consultation is also underway with
selected authorities, education leaders, parent teacher associations and
community based organizations to inform them on the protocol for the Ebola
prevention and to obtain consensus on the need for the early opening of schools
to return our students to the business of learning.
Natural Resources
Liberia has a
historical primary enclave economy, highly dominated by iron ore, rubber and
timber; which subjects it to vagaries in global conditions and prices. Over time, the structure has been changing,
with the expansion of agriculture into more traditional tree crops such as
coffee, cocoa and oil palm. Essentially,
production of crops come from individual and small entity holders with limited
capacity to produce on the scale that leads to industrialization. Recent effort by the Government sought to
change this by promoting large scale oil palm, using the investment and the
experience of Malaysia and Indonesia which have become emerging economic
giants.
Agriculture lands
(suitable for crops and livestock) are about 27 percent of total land area, but
only 4.6 percent of the land mass is currently under annual cultivation. Land and the conflicts associated thereto
have to be tackled in order to promote large scale agriculture in tree and food
crops including the goal of self-sufficiency in rice.
Honorable Members
of the National Legislature, we have responded to the problem with a new Land
Policy. The Land Rights Bill, submitted
to you, represents a landmark piece of legislation. It establishes the legal basis for
recognition of customary land rights.
For the first time in the nation’s history rural communities will be
able to have their land rights legally recognized, and their lands identified,
delineated, mapped, deeded, recorded, and properly managed and governed. Implementation and enforcement will be helped
by the Criminal Conveyance of Land Bill which curtails fraudulent land sales
and enhances access to land tenure security.
These instruments are critical to our social political and economic
development and are consistent with our development programs.
Forestry has been a
major contributor to the economy in terms of revenue and job creation. Liberia which
has 43 percent of the biodiversity of the West African region has come under
intense pressure to conserve our forest, thereby contributing to the reduction
in carbon dioxide and its negative effect on rapid climate change. Our adoption of new policies that sought to
balance conservation, commercialization and community rights have proved less
than fully satisfactory. We have gone
one step further by concluding a landmark Letter of Intent with the Kingdom of
Norway which will provide funding as a contribution to revenue and building of
capacity in the Forest Development Authority.
The measures under this arrangement will ensure that 30 percent of the
country’s remaining forested land and better management and accountability
under the continuing program of commercialization.
Iron ore mining,
the historical largest export earner, is experiencing severe stress due to
decline in global prices. Suspension of
activities on account of the Ebola Disease exacerbated the situation leading to
a postponement of Phase II of the Arcelor Mittal operation that would have
increased production from 5 to 15 million tons per annum. The loss of royalty revenue and jobs from
this sector will require your full cooperation in measures that will be
proposed to you under our Economic Recovery Plan.
Gold and diamond
mining are largely underdeveloped and limited to informal artisanal and small
scale operations that are filled with illegal aliens. A project, “Formalization of Artisanal and
Small Scale Miners” which seeks to establish a well-structured sector that will
be well managed for sustainability and income generation has funding from the
German GIZ and is scheduled for implementation early this year.
The 2000 Petroleum
law established the National Oil Company (NOCAL) with 30 oil blocks off the Liberian
coast. Reform of the Sector started in
2011 with the development and subsequent endorsement of a petroleum policy. Nationwide
consultations resulted in a New Petroleum Law 2013. The next step is to formulate draft Acts on Local
Content and Petroleum Revenue Management.
The reform measures are intended to ensure full transparency and
accountability in the petroleum sector. Your
full cooperation in this regard is expected.
Liberianization:
Honorable
Legislators: We continue to push hard for diversifying our economy beyond two
primary commodities. In 2014, we launched the National Trade Policy and our
Export Strategy, which provides a roadmap for export diversification
particularly in agriculture by broadening our export basket through new
investments in fisheries, cocoa, rubber, oil palm, and cassava. Opportunities in tourism are bountiful and deserve
further exploration. We will ensure that
furniture in schools use our local wood and support the investment proposal to
make wood products from dead rubber wood.
I thank you again for passing the Small Business Empowerment
Act (SBEA), which calls for 25 percent of all government purchases to be set
aside for Liberian owned businesses. The law also provides that 5 percent of the
25 percent, must be set-aside for women-owned businesses. To effectuate this, changes are required in
our PPCC law and in our attitudes as we should be prepared to promote and to
buy Liberian products made in Liberia, and distributed by Liberians. We take this preferment of our people
seriously and call upon everyone, public and private entities to comply fully
with this new law of 25 percent or be prepared to face sanctions or legal
action.
In further empowerment of our people, I ask everyone to join
in promoting the “Wear Your Pride campaign”
that would require all government employees to wear, at least once a week
preferably Friday, clothing made in Liberia from Liberian products. It is critical to build the demand for local
rice through practical strategies that empower the local economy and give us
ownership of our economy. Under the “Eat
Your Pride Campaign” we will
require that only locally grown rice is purchased by government entities that
provide rice to their staff.
The local content bill now being drafted will ensure a
minimum Liberian participation through joint venture ship or sub-contracting in
several areas of national development activity.
Infrastructure
Honorable Legislators, the record is clear that the
Government, out of its own resources, domestic or contracted, has constructed throughout
the country over 10,000 km of primary, secondary and feeder roads, 650 of which
has been paved. The records show that
this is more than that done by all previous Governments combined. Our effort to open growth corridors by the pavement
of primary roads is a continuing undertaking. Pavement of the Harper to Fishtown road will
begin next month; the contractors are now mobilizing, while pavement from
Red-light to the Ganta-Guinea border has resumed.
We have resolved that the 26th celebration this
year shall be in Greenville and Barclayville.
And we will travel there by road.
Development and operational activities at the three major
seaports – Monrovia, Buchanan, and Sinoe, made impressive progress in terms of
ships serviced and revenue generated when Ebola struck. We will conclude action for the development
of the Buchanan Port under the proposal from the French Company Bollare and the
Sinoe Port under proposal from the Dutch Company APM, which manages the
Freeport Port of Monrovia.
RIA will be modernized.
We have concluded arrangements for the construction of the runway and we
have invited proposals for a public private partnership that would transfer the
development and management of Roberts International Airport to a foreign
investor which has similar operations in an ECOWAS Country. This will address the lack of the high
capital cost required to develop the airport, particularly in light of the sharply
declined financial viability following the loss of traffic due to the Ebola
crisis.
We are proud that we brought electricity to the country
through the public grid for the first time in two decades, but admit to being
far behind in expanding access to a greater number of the population. The cost of electricity at 54 cents per
kilowatt hour is probably the highest in the world, since we currently rely on
22.6 MW of high speed diesel generators.
The capital cost of power, US$230 million for the Mount Coffee hydro and
aggregate US$66 million for the three Heavy Fuel Oil units is high. Once installed
these will cause a progressive decline from a current cost of 54 cents, to
roughly 15 to 20 cents. This will also
remove a major constraint in our plans for value added to some of our primary
products and to overall diversification of the economy. This will also lead to significant expansion
in the number of customers, both in the Monrovia Consolidation Program as well
as the 18 communities in the Southeast. Just today
we received approval for an additional 10MW HFO that will also add expansion to
our electricity program.
Lack of energy is the major constraint to our development
and have based our program for support from the US Millennium Challenge
Corporation on the removal of this constraint.
Our continued eligibility for Compact has been officially advised. After three years of meeting the rigorous
indicators in Economic Freedom, Investing in People and Ruling Justly, we
expect to conclude the first phase of the Compact and the financial support
which comes from that before the end of this year.
Honorable Legislators, today we have been able to provide to
67 percent of our population with clean water.
We have also increased the supply of water from 4 to 6 million gallons a
day. However, it is still unacceptable,
that a large percentage of our population does not have access to clean pipe
borne water. This needs to be addressed
and we intend to allocate resources under the County Development Funds to
correct this.
Operations for reconstruction of water systems in six
county capitals that have been stalled due to the Ebola crisis will soon resume. That will considerably improve access to this
life saving resource.
Access to sanitation as defined by international standards
is particularly unsatisfactory with 17 percent of the population having
adequate facilities. We have to and must
change the situation.
Progress, in improving the WASH Sector is impeded by the
destruction of underground pipes and illegal property construction over pipes
and drainages.
Governance
Honorable Legislators, I am mindful that with the
significant progress that will continue to be made in our infrastructure
development, we must pay equal attention to what is called the “software
projects” – Governance, Peace and Reconciliation, Human Resource Development.
Under governance, we will focus on completion of the
Constitution Reform process which would require your legislative endorsement by
June 15, thereby enabling us to hold a national referendum by mid-2016. Similar action will be required to conclude
our well-conceived and advanced reform in Public Sector and Public Service
Reform and in Decentralization.
The restart of the Palava Hut is a must for
reconciliation, with support given to the Independent National Commission on
Human Rights, which has prime responsibility to guide this important and long
delayed process of peace building. The
institutional arrangement for the establishment of the Palava Hut is to be
concluded within the next three months with my full personal participation in
all aspects, as required. We must also
accelerate implementation of the Roadmap for National Healing, Peace-building
and Reconciliation which has been validated by civil society and is supported
by the UN Peace Building Fund through the Ministry of Internal Affairs.
In two weeks, we will celebrate another Armed Forces Day
when our gallant men and women in arms will demonstrate their professionalism
and will reconfirm proudly the readiness of the engineering battalion to
support our construction with public works for national development; just as
they did in collaboration with the U.S. Armed Forces during the Ebola
crises.
Other security services will also be there to remind us of
the shortcomings in our preparations for the UNMIL transition that is targeted
for mid-2016. This means we must
accelerate our effort and provide significantly more support to meet the
training and logistical targets for all security units, particularly the
Liberia National Police and the Bureau of Immigration and Naturalization.
Mr. Vice President, Mr. Speaker, Honorable Legislators,
some 68 percent of the Liberian population of 4 million are youth between the
ages of 15 and 25. Many of our youth have
not had the opportunity for formal education beyond the primary level and lack
skills for sustained formal employment.
They thus represent a large portion of the vulnerable unemployed who are
forced to drift from one temporary job to another.
Our Liberian Youth Employment Program (LYEP) launched in
March 2013 provided one year employment for over 3000 youths. They worked to improve water and sanitation
in 26 cities in the fifteen counties.
The program was temporarily suspended due to lack of funding but
negotiations with the World Bank are well advanced to provide funding for 25,000
youths to support the remaining component of the program which includes work in
ICT, road maintenance, agriculture, health and education.
Similarly, the Beach and Waterways Program initiated by
the Maritime Authority which provides employment to 2000 youth will continue with
the added benefit of clean beaches for our use.
These efforts can be considered only temporary as we must
invest in skills training. We will support technical and vocational education in
the facilities and capacity of the Booker Washington Institute. The Concessions
will be asked to support the establishment of technical training facilities
within their operations. The opening of
the Monrovia Vocational and Technical Facility with partnership funding will
prepare more of our youths for gainful employment.
Under the project Economic Empowerment of Adolescent Girls
and Young women, some 3,500 young women and 1,000 adolescent girls have been
trained. Most of them have been employed
and over 2,300 have opened their own small businesses. All of this is not enough as we have yet to
solve the serious problems of rape, prostitution and the low level of retention
in schools. We are forging partnerships
with religious institutions to expand their boarding facilities. The
government’s pilot Boarding Facility at Gbartala which accommodates 125 girls
is under renovation for opening in March.
Three more pilot boarding schools will be established in three regions
in the next fiscal year.
Trafficking of girls is a crime against humanity. Trafficking in human beings is also a crime
against humanity. We will revisit existing policies and work with the Judiciary
to impose harsh punishment for convicts, including those who abuse the
privilege of living in our country.
Mr. Vice President,
Mr. Speaker, Honorable Members of the National Legislature: We have something
to celebrate as a nation after successfully conducting the Special Senatorial
Elections. We once again register appreciation to the National Elections
Commission, all political parties, independent candidates, voters, and the pool
of local and international observers whose participation added value to the
process.
Honorable
Legislators, the media is a very critical ally along the path to good
governance. The government’s partnership
with the media has been open, frank, and sometimes rocky, but mutually
independent. Never before has our country seen an aggressive, thriving and
outspokenly critical media landscape amid the abuse in the name of freedom. This
government intends to lead a legacy of tolerance and remains fully committed to
such process along our journey to democratic maturity. We urge the media which today comprise an
unprecedented 35 newspapers and 80 radio stations, to play its part to improve
professionalism and responsibility as we will hold them responsible for
adherence to our policies and laws. We
applaud, in this public manner, the level of cooperation in the media reportage
of the Ebola crisis which kept citizens fully informed on the prevailing
situation.
Mr. Vice President,
Mr. Speaker, Honorable Legislators, the fight against corruption was
established as a major goal since the inception of this Administration. We recognized the root causes of this menace
– lack of systems, lack of institutions, lack of policies and strategies, poor
compensation survival due to deep rooted poverty which characterized all three
branches of Government and the nation as a whole.
We made good
progress in addressing these deficiencies by establishing integrity
institutions – General Auditing Commission, Liberia Anti-Corruption Commission,
Public Procurement and Concessions Commissions, Internal Audit Agency, and
Liberia Extractive Industry Transparency Initiative. We made even greater progress in developing
the systems and improving the level of compensation for all public servants at
all levels.
Our performance
indicators improved aggressively. Transparency International recognized this. As a competitor in the U.S. program,
Millennium Challenge Corporation, we passed consistently for the past three
years the index on corruption, which is a single determinant of continuation in
the program.
Honorable
Legislators, we must continue this fight against corruption through prosecution
of persons accused of these malpractices.
Our development programs – Roads, Power, Water, Housing, better pay for
civil servants – are at risk if we do not do this. Corruption is a vampire of development and
the obstruction of progress. I ask that
we all commit to fighting this devil that destroys our principles and our pride;
that makes us slaves to vested interests.
I ask this of you, as respected lawmakers, and I ask for speedier trials
from our judiciary.
The report given
earlier on efforts to reform our health and education systems are in line with
the need for promoting another soft target -- improving our human
resource. As suggested in my remarks
regarding education, more bold and decisive policies and measures are required
--such as the establishment of National Centers of Excellence, the promotion of
specialized secondary schools. We are
developing these concepts into programs of implementation that will be
submitted to you for information and for action where required.
The effects of Ebola provide compelling reasons to
conclude a national monument project which memorializes all who died from
violent conflicts as well as the victims of Ebola. Although there may be other sites equally
appropriate, Providence Island, with an uncompleted construction is considered
for this purpose. We will also support
the Inter-Religious Council which is willing to take the lead in a memorial
service to honor those who fell victims to Ebola.
|
| President Sirleaf |
High Level
Visitors
Mr.
Vice President, Mr. Speaker, Mr. President Pro-Tempore, Honorable Members of
the National Legislature: Our country paid host to several high-profiled
dignitaries, including:
H.E. Ban Ki-Moon, Secretary –General
of the United Nations
Brother Presidents:
Ghana, Benin, Niger, Mali
Mr. Mohamed Ould
Abdel Aziz, Chairperson, African Union
Dr. Nkosanzana
Dlamini Zuma, Chairperson of the African
Union
Dr. Kadre
Ouedraogo, President of ECOWAS Commission
Hon. Tony Blair, Former Prime Minister, United
Kingdom
H.E. Borge Brende, Minister of Foreign Affairs,
Norway
Dr. Jim Yong Kim,
President of the World Bank
Dr. Margaret Chan,
Director General, WHO
Dr. Rajiv Shah,
Administrator, USAID
Dr. Thomas Frieden,
Head for Centers for Disease Control
US Senator Chris
Coons, Chairman of the Subcommittee on Africa
Mr. Anthony
Banbury, Special Representative of the Secretary General, UNMEER
Ms. Samantha
Powell, Permanent Representative of the United States to the United Nations
Ms. Linda
Thomas-Greenfield, US Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs; among
others which will be carried in the Executive Summary.
NECROLOGY
We note with
sadness several officials of Government and prominent citizens passed on to the
Great Beyond. These include:
H.E. Charles Gyude Bryant - Former
Chairman, Transitional Government of the Republic of Liberia
Mr. Bismarck Kuyon, Former Transitional
Chair
Most Reverend Boniface Nyem Dalieh -
Bishop Emeritus, Catholic Diocese
Archbishop Dr. Williams Nah Dixon,
Former President, Liberia Council of Churches
Honorable John F. Whitfield, Former
Senator of Grand Bassa County
Hon. Willis D. Knuckles - Former
Minister, Ministry of Public Works &State/Pres. Affairs
Honorable Scott Toweh, Former Minister
of Agriculture
Ambassador Thomas N. Brima Sr. -
Liberia’s Ambassador Extraordinary to Sierra Leone
His Honor Cllr. J.D. Baryogar Junius - Former Associate Justice,
Supreme Court of Liberia
Hon. Alhaji Ansumana F. Kromah - Former
Commissioner, National Elections Commission
Honorable Dr. S. Jabaru Carlon -
Commissioner, Governance Commission
Mrs. Marie Leigh Parker – Former Vice
President, NOCAL
Mother Kou Suah Korkpor – Former
Renowned Traditional Midwife, Nimba County
and many others who will be
listed in the Executive Summary
Conclusion
Honorable members
of the Legislature, a nation bound together in 2006 vowed to walk away from the
destruction and the hurt of the past; vowed to be committed and determined to
ensure a future of peace and prosperity for all Liberians. There was not very much then to share or to
divert, as we were building from ground zero.
In five years we stood together, lifting our nation form the burdens of
debt and decay. We worked together to
increase revenues, to restore basic services, to remove the heavy debt burden,
to mobilize foreign investment, to rebuild the infrastructure, to restore hope.
The world marveled
at our tenacity, resilience and determination and reached out massively to help
us. Partners committed resources far
beyond our domestic effort and our absorptive capacity.
The pain inflicted
on our national pride by the Ebola crisis provides an opportunity to search our
souls, to ask ourselves if we have been truthful and honest to the commitments
made in 2006 when we embarked on this journey together, to ask ourselves if we
have served our country and our people well.
If never in the past this is the time for us to unite as one government
to deliver the promises to our people.
There is absolutely no room for blame shifting.
The support in
security protection and finance which we enjoy from our partners today, will
not last as attention moves away from us to other international
priorities. The building of Liberia will
rest solely and surely on our shoulders, the shoulders of all Liberians. We will carry this load only if we are
prepared to make Liberia our home rather than our intermittent earning place,
only if we give back to our country’s development, the resources taken away
from it.
I firmly believe
that God will give us the strength and the courage to walk boldly into the next
few years with a renewed spirit of peace, reconciliation, and commitment to
country.
We are defeating
Ebola and the same spirit of unity and patriotism will enable us together to
blow the winds that keep Liberia Rising.
May God bless
Liberia and save the State.
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