LIBERIA MYTURN

Second Annual Liberian Night Promotion video

admin — Mon, 13 Feb 2012 06:20:39 +0000

A passionate group of Liberian Students who are dedicated to encouraging educational success, creating awareness of cultural diversity, and unity among all cultures at St Cloud State University would like to welcome you to the second annual Liberian Night. Our goal for Liberian Night is to showcase the unique culture of Liberia through, history, music, arts, food and other cultural activities.

Tickets are on sale, please contact lsa@stcloudstate.edu for more informations.

Second Annual Liberian Night Promotion video is a post from: LIBERIA MYTURN

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Liberia: Polling Station In Nimba County.

admin — Wed, 09 Nov 2011 04:57:15 +0000

Liberia: Polling Station In Nimba County. is a post from: LIBERIA MYTURN

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Liberia: Pre-Election Protests Turn Violent

admin — Tue, 08 Nov 2011 15:42:07 +0000

Source: The New York Times

Liberians gathered around the body of a man killed by gunfire Monday in Monrovia. The police and protesters clashed at a rally the day before a disputed presidential runoff election. (image;Issouf Sanogo/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images)

MONROVIA, Liberia — Hundreds of protesters clashed with the police and United Nations peacekeepers here in the Liberian capital on Monday afternoon, leaving at least one person dead the day before a presidential runoff that the opposition has vowed to boycott.

Businesses shuttered and pedestrians fled the streets as United Nations armored vehicles roared down Tubman Boulevard, Monrovia’s main artery. A running battle developed outside the headquarters of the chief opposition party, pitting its supporters against peacekeepers and Liberian security forces, who fired tear gas and live rounds.

Claiming fraud in the first round of elections last month, the opposition candidate, Winston Tubman, has vowed not to take part in Tuesday’s runoff against President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, who won the Nobel Peace Prize in the midst of a heated re-election campaign.

“Mother Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, she’s responsible,” said George Weah, a former international soccer star who is the opposition’s vice-presidential candidate. “For shooting innocent Liberians, it’s wrong.”

The opposition headquarters were crammed with frenzied supporters after the clashes, and the body of a young man shot through the head was laid out in an upstairs room with other wounded.

Liberia’s justice minister, Christiana Tah, said the elections would go ahead on Tuesday as scheduled. She confirmed that one person was dead and three were injured. But at the city’s Catholic Hospital, there were at least seven people injured from the clashes, five with gunshot wounds.

“We were dancing in the road; they started beating us,” said Solomon Gardea, 30, an unemployed opposition supporter who said a bullet skinned the back of his head as he turned to run away. “We were just marching for peace.”

On Saturday, Mr. Tubman called upon his supporters to behave peacefully but also hinted that violence could break out if the runoff went ahead.

“If they are provoked, we don’t know how they will react,” Mr. Tubman said.

The same day, Mrs. Johnson Sirleaf urged Liberians in a nationwide address “not to succumb to fear and intimidation.”

The presidential election is a crucial bellwether of the country’s recovery from civil war, and the campaign season has been one of both triumphs and pitfalls for Mrs. Johnson Sirleaf.

International observers described the first round of the presidential election — the first since 2005 and only the second since Liberia emerged from its devastating 14-year conflict — as free and fair.

The State Department said that it was “deeply disappointed” by Mr. Tubman’s decision to boycott the runoff and that accusations of fraud were “unsubstantiated.”

Some analysts had wondered whether the Nobel committee’s decision to give Mrs. Johnson Sirleaf the prize only days before the voting began would backfire, especially if it came across as an attempt to influence the outcome.

Mrs. Johnson Sirleaf, elected in 2005 as Africa’s first female democratically chosen head of state, emerged the clear leader in last month’s voting. But with 44 percent of the vote, she fell short of the majority needed to secure a second term without a runoff, opening the door to some awkward negotiations with her erstwhile competitors.

The third-place finisher was Prince Johnson, a former warlord who was put at the top of the list of the 116 “most notorious perpetrators” in Liberia’s post-war Truth and Reconciliation Commission report. Mr. Johnson, who took 11.8 percent of the national total, appeared in a 1990 video drinking a Budweiser while members of the rebel faction he led at the time cut off President Samuel Doe’s ears.

Mr. Johnson relished his position after last month’s elections, crowing to reporters that his third-place tally made him the “kingmaker” for the runoff. He endorsed Mrs. Johnson Sirleaf but demanded 30 percent of the government in return, raising the specter of a president sanctified abroad entering a marriage of convenience with a notorious malefactor.

Liberia: Pre-Election Protests Turn Violent is a post from: LIBERIA MYTURN

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Liberia Election: Photos

admin — Tue, 08 Nov 2011 16:19:11 +0000

Liberia Election Images

Liberia Election: Photos is a post from: LIBERIA MYTURN

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Liberia: 11 Die in Cape Mount Accident

admin — Thu, 15 Sep 2011 15:12:25 +0000

Story by: Jette Collins

A tragic motor accident has left 11 persons dead and several others seriously injured in the town of Vonzula.

According to the Commission of Venzula who was on the scene of the accident said, “it took place when an ambulance and a transport vehicle collided head on.”

Commissioner Momo Kiehdee said, “the accident occurred last evening in the town during the celebration to welcome Rev.Kennedy Sandee of the Liberia Transformation Party to Grand Cape Mount County.” Rev. Sandee has begun campaigning in the country for the Octobers’ election.

The news of the accident immediately halted the celebration. Most of the victims are said to be marketers who were on their way to the market.

Family members poured to the scene to identify their dead relatives while others were moving from one hospital to another to search for their relatives.

Meanwhile several of the survivors were taken to the hospitals. Polices are currently investigating the cause of the accident.

Liberia: 11 Die in Cape Mount Accident is a post from: LIBERIA MYTURN

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The Congress for Democratic Change (CDC) Visited Nimba County

admin — Tue, 13 Sep 2011 22:13:35 +0000

George Weah

Story by: Samuel Karbah

The Congress for Democratic Change (CDC) party visited Sanniquellie,
Nimba County.

The Standard bearer Mr. Winston Tunman
and Vice Standard bearer Ambassador George Weah, urged his
supporters to vote the CDC to victory in the upcoming election.

Mr. Winston Tubman promised the people that when elected, he will give
power back to the people.

He also asked his supporters to vote Leroy
Dorwazia as representative for District # 2 which is Sanniquellie-Mah.

The Congress for Democratic Change (CDC) Visited Nimba County is a post from: LIBERIA MYTURN

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Liberian Diplomat Raises Alarm

admin — Tue, 13 Sep 2011 21:32:15 +0000

A Liberian diplomat assigned at the Embassy of Liberia in the Republic of France has raised serious alarm over a criminal attempt by unknown individuals who have hacked into his email account to criminally solicited money from people under a false pretend.

The hackers who broke into Mr. Gray’s email account claimed that he (Gray) is stranded at the International Airport in Lagos, Federal Republic of Nigeria and needed One Thousand United States Dollars (US$1,000) assistance to enable him purchase his return flight tickets from Lagos to Monrovia.
The criminals in their fake emails requested that the amount be sent to one Sayi Abu Denyoumuyu who was to give the amount to Mr. Gray.

The criminal also alleged that the Liberian diplomat lost his travelling documents and belongings at the airport, therefore Abu Denyoumuyu was the suitable person to send the money throught.

Mr. Gray has expressed shock and dismay over the email and described the act as ‘criminal, barbaric and mischievous”. He said the act by the hackers was to criminally get money from people under a false pretend.

Mr. Gray further indicated that his mobile phones have been busy with calls from Monrovia and other parts of the world from friends, relative and family members who received emails from the hackers.

“Since I was born up to present, I have never and ever travel to Nigeria in my life”, the Liberia Diplomat propounded, and warned the public not to give credence to such barbaric and mischievous act.

According to Mr. Gray, he is seriously taken aback over the email believed to design by some evil-minded individuals who for some devilish and selfish financial interests have resorted to concocting falsehood and dupe people of their hard earned resources.

Meanwhile, Mr. Gray is admonishing all Liberians and people of integrity not to honor such a diabolical and sinister motive crafted by evil-minded characters who have hacked in email account.

Liberian Diplomat Raises Alarm is a post from: LIBERIA MYTURN

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Liberia: Liberty Party Former Chairman in Jail

admin — Tue, 13 Sep 2011 21:27:04 +0000

Liberty former Chairman, Israel Akinsanya was arrested again over the weekend, and he’s currently behind bars in the biggest prison compound in Liberia (Monrovia Central Prison.)

He was arrested due to his failure to file a bond and re-appear at the Monrovia City Court for allegedly issuing bad checks, totaling US$2, 528,072.00 to the Lone Star Communication Corporation in business transaction.

This is the second time of his imprisonment at the South Beach in a week after he resigned from the Chair of the opposition Liberty Party.

According to court records, Akinsanya had allegedly issued the checks in more than 10 months for scratch cards he took on behalf of his SIR Marketing Corporation from the LoneStar Communication Corporation as one of the major distributors of Lone Star Cell cards.

But it backfired when the LoneStar Management said it discovered that those checks could not be drawn at the Guaranty Trust (Liberia) Limited Bank, declaring them as bad checks.

Akinsanya served as the National Chairman for the Liberty Party for several years. He resigned from the party a day after he got in trouble with the Loner Star Cell Company.

But Monrovia City Court Judge Nelson Chineh told the defense that under the laws there is situations where a writ of arrest could rather be necessary other than a writ of summon, citing a risk situation for example. Judge Chineh further told the defense that the law provides that he, who commits a crime while acting on behalf of a corporation, is also held liable for the crime.

Judge Chineh ordered the defendant to utilize his constitutional right to bail, and file a bond within 72 hours.

Liberia: Liberty Party Former Chairman in Jail is a post from: LIBERIA MYTURN

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Liberia: AFL Brutality Increases

admin — Tue, 13 Sep 2011 21:08:34 +0000

The newly trained Armed Forces of Liberia (AFL) seems to be gradually reverting to behavior and practices of the past. There are repeated reports of soldiers’ brutality against civilians and sometimes-paramilitary personnel in the country.

Just about a month ago some AFL soldiers reportedly stabbed an officer of the Liberia National Police in Paynesville during a quarrel. Seminar situation also occurred in Margibi County when an AFL Private stabbed a man in a nightclub accusing the man of being behind his wife.

Defense Ministry authorities reported subsequently that the soldiers allegedly involved were apprehended and currently facing interrogation. A latest victim of AFL brutality is a man identified as Stanley Foday, a resident of Gbarnga, Bong County.

Foday was allegedly stabbed in the back recently with a bayonet by a soldier of Armed Forces of Liberia (AFL) assigned at the Camp Tubman Military Barracks in Bong County.

Foday said at the C.B. Dunbar Hospital in Gbarnga that he was stabbed with a bayonet by an AFL solider while intervening in the flogging of his friend by other AFL soldiers.

Earlier, the high command of the AFL at the Camp Tubman Military Barracks could neither confirm nor deny the allegation. But following the intervention of UNMIL, the soldiers involved were indentified and are said to be undergoing investigation in Gbarnga.

Meanwhile, the Chairman of the Bong County Legislative Caucus Representative George Sylvester Mulbah, has frowned at the soldiers’ behavior, terming it as a “betrayal of trust.”

Representative Mulbah told a news conference in Gbarnga that the systematic brutal behavior of the AFL against armless civilians is uncivilized, and lacks any semblance or character of a reformed army that the country could boast of.

“It’s even regrettable and disgraceful to have a reformed army behaving like the same old rebels after millions of taxpayers’ money have been and continue to be spent on training and support by the Government of Liberia and its international partners just to meet international standards,” Mulbah lamented.

He indicated that the continuous act of brutality being perpetuated against Bong County citizens has the propensity of invoking military-civilian conflict, if necessary measures were not instituted by the Defense Ministry to ensure corrective actions.

The Bong Caucus Chair said AFL soldiers were in constant contradiction of the oath they took to protect and defend the nation and its people, in keeping with their statutory responsibility.

He has called on the high command of the of Armed Forces of Liberia to launch an immediate probe into the numerous complaints being brought against soldiers by victims of their actions to make sure that those responsible are brought to book in keeping with the Uniform Code of Military Justice (UCMJ).

He warned that residents of Gbarnga were running out of patience over the repeated acts of brutality by the AFL, emphasizing an urgent need for the government to act strongly before the situation becomes very explosive.

Liberia: AFL Brutality Increases is a post from: LIBERIA MYTURN

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Liberia: Vice President Joseph Boakai

admin — Tue, 13 Sep 2011 20:56:11 +0000

Vice President Joseph Boakai has called on citizens to show gratitude to the ruling Unity Party for the strides it has made over the past six years.

The Liberian Vice President is campaigning for the UP re-election bid as vice standard bearer to President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf. He reminded that before the Unity Party ascended to state power, the president and legislators were selected, not elected.

Speaking at a consultative meeting with chiefs and elders, youth, women as well as the Muslim and Christian communities of Foya District on Saturday, September 10, Vice President Boakai said: and “Now the people decide who becomes president, senator or members of the House of Representatives.”

The Liberian Vice President pledged the government’s commitment to bring development to the country and transform the lives of Liberians.

He emphasized that if re-elected, the Ellen Johnson Sirleaf-led administration will continue development initiatives that would impact the lives of Liberians, and cited the construction of schools, hospitals and roads as development initiatives that the government can boast.

He also called attention to the waiver of the $4.7 billion debt that the Liberian government owed the international community as well as freedom of expression as other major achievement of the Ellen Johnson Sirleaf-led Government, adding: “There is nobody in jail for criticizing the government.”

He also called attention to the rehabilitation of the road linking Bong and Lofa Counties, saying, “the road between Foya and Voinjama which I spent five hours on in 2005 can now be covered in less than two hours.”

He called on residents of Foya District to come out in masse and grace the launch of the Unity Party campaign in the district. “Elect us and give us the chance to continue the development we have started. In our next term, we intend to pave the Gbarnga-Mendicorma highway to ensure easy movement of people, goods and services.

Vice President Boakai informed residents of the district that he has purchased three vehicles: two buses and one pick-up- through the ECOWAS Drivers’ Union to transport residents to and from their villages, to reduced cost and to make movement from one part of the district to the other easier.

He also informed the residents that negotiations are underway with the management of Sime Darby to extend its operations to Foya District, which is also noted for the cultivation of oil palm.

Liberia: Vice President Joseph Boakai is a post from: LIBERIA MYTURN

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