Liberia's president Ellen Johnson Sirleaf has been sworn in as the 24th president of the Republic of Liberia. The occasion was held Monday in the Liberia capital Monrovia in front of an array of distinguished personalities that included the leaders of the Liberia's three neighbours - Guinea, Sierra Leone, and Côte d'Ivoire. - The occasion was also witnessed by leaders of Liberia’s leading opposition party, the Congress for Democratic Change or CDC of Cllr. Winston Tubman and Ambassador George Weah. The CDC had contended the elections results but reached a peace settlement with president on Sunday. The American delegation to the occasion was led by United States Secret…

- The local governing body of football, LFA, is urging the Liberian Government to intervene in the rape case involving Liberian professional footballer Dulee Johnson. The LFA through its president Musa Bility, Monday November 8, 2010, wrote the acting Minister of Foreign Affairs to look into the matter involving the Swedish based Liberian star player currently languished in a Swedish jail on rape charges. The communication seeks the indulgence of the Foreign Ministry to inquire about the player’s status, with the LFA believing strongly that the Ministry’s diplomatic approach can acquire all information needed by it and by extension the Liberian football enthusiasts at home and…

The U-23 side of Liberia on Friday came from a goal down to force their Sierra Leone opponents to a 1-1 tie in Freetown in the campaign to the London Olympic Games. - The match was the first leg encounter of the 2012 London Olympic Games qualifying rounds, with the return bound for December 18, 2010 in Monrovia. The Sierra Leonean opened the score line with a goal by Hassan in the first half of the proceedings with the visitors replying in the second stanza through Sam Johnson. The Liberian side paraded just one overseas player-Tonia Tisdell, who plays in the Turkish second league. Reports say enterprising Liberian left back Emmanuel Wennah was disqualified from participating in the ga…

With the arrival of Greece-based Solomon Grimes, the Lone Star of Liberia is now in full readiness for Saturday's Africa cup of nations qualifying match away to the Eagles of Mali in Bamako. On Thursday the team had its combined warm-up assembly under the tutorship of Hungarian coach Bertalan Bicskei. - Giving a helping hand to the Hungarian is Deputy Gabriel Johns and trainer and former Lone Star captain Joe Nagba at the Elstat Mamade Konatey Stadium in Bamoko. The session marked a true sense of belonging and togetherness amongst the actors since their inaugural encounter of the tournament against the Warriors of Zimbabwe in Monrovia on 5 September 2010. The ambiance from the tea…

- Following a weeklong trial out in Monrovia, national team coach of Liberia Betarlan Bicskei has recalled sixteen overseas players for his first competitive match in September. According to a LFA release by Press Officer Henry Flomo, notable among the 16 are two rousing stars of topnotch European clubs CSK Moscow of Russia and Manchester City of England, Sekou Jabateh Oliseh and Alex Tchumine-Nimely. The two forwards would play their debut encounter if they honor the September 5th match against Zimbabwe, Liberia’s opener in the 2012 Africa Nations Cup Qualifiers in Monrovia. The Hungarian Coach feels the inclusion of the duo could give his side finesse and motivation. Though Nime…

With no doubts, the new Liberia Football Association (LFA) administration will begin its maiden national leagues by October 2010. Registration to that effect has begun, 16 August, and will end by 4 September, with fixtures to be released between 9-11 September. - All leagues: premier, first, second, women, third and fourth divisions, will all begin concurrently in October. Registration fees are omitted. The Chairman of the Competitions Committee of the LFA, Executive Committee Member Samuel Karn, to this moment, is at the receiving end of praises from scores of stakeholders and the likes for manufacturing the 2010 National Leagues Rules and Regulations. There are indeed several changes in…

South Africa based winger, Anthony Laffor has been awarded the captaincy of the senior national team of Liberia by Coach Batarlan Bicskei. Bicskei is keen on putting up a delightful outing come the 5 September when Liberia hosts Zimbabwe in the opener of a campaign to a long journey to the 2012 Africa Cup of nations finals. - “I am personally happy with him [Laffor] because he is a very good man and excellent football player”, coach Bicskei said following Laffor’s brilliant game against a select Asian based stars in which the lanky forward netted a brace to confirm a 3-2 defeat of the latter side. Laffor said he is elated and honoured to be handed the captain band; …

Hungarian coach Bertalan Bicskei has signed a four-year deal to coach the national team of West African country Liberia. Bicskei is to earn US$15,000 monthly besides a US$250, 000 annual spending on accommodation, vehicle, security, maintenance, air tickets and medical. - The gaffer has been tasked to qualify the Lone Star to the next African Cup of Nations in Gabon and Equatorial Guinea. With vast experience in Europe, Africa and Asia, he is to present a full technical plan of action for review and approval as well as advise the Liberia FA on recruitment. Bicskei is to earn US$3,000 for all wins at home; US$4,500 for away wins; US$1,000 for home draws; US$2,000 for all away draws; US$50…

The Liberia Football Association has named Hungarian Bertalan Besckei as coach of the national team - the Lone Star. - Former assistant to immediate past national coach Antoine Hey, Gray Hazel, former national team captain Joe Nagbe and former national team goal keeper Pewee Bestman were selected deputy, trainer and goal keeper trainer respectively. However, the LFA president Musa Bility has placed an embargo on the three assistants to coach Besckei pending financial and other discussions with them. He said it would not be proper to employ staffers of the senior technical team without the involvement of the selected head coach. Meanwhile, the LFA president left the country on Monday to…

- The vetting committee of the Liberia Football Association is inviting three top notched international coaches for interview for the post of head coach of the country’s senior national football team. Roberto Landi of Italy, Jose Luciano Reis Silva of Brazil and Hungary’s Bertalan Bicskei will face a panel beginning May 26, 2010 up to the June 4th having been shortlisted in the last three category of the vetting process. According to the spokesman of the LFA Henry Flomo, Nigeria’s Sampson Siasia and Dr. Kianosh Khodakaram of Iran are listed for reserve, in the invent where there is a short fall in the process of interview. Siasia and others felt short of the last listing…

The Liberian FA has shortlisted five coaches for the job of head coach of the Liberia national football team, the Lone Star. They are Jose Luciano Reis Silva of Brazil, Roberto Landi of Italy, Bertalan Bicskei of Hungary, Angel Alonso of Spain and Samson Siasia of Nigeria. - Speaking to the local press in Monrovia, LFA spokesperson and press officer Henry Flomo said that the interviews would be held online with the shortlisted applicants. “Bishop Allan Klayee, who heads the committee, has assured Liberians at home and abroad that by next weekend a national head coach will be named from the five short-listed individuals,” Flomo said. This means that a long call by Liberia…

The new administration of the Liberia Football Association is closing in on an apparel sponsorship deal with Italian manufacturer Givova. The LFA vice president Musa Shannon has also secured a technical assistance from the Italian FA, youth technical support and coaching exchange with AC Milan. - Upon completion of the deal, the Under 17 and 20 would be wearing the Givova kit for the next three years. Shannon said his sudden break in Italy came on a rather smooth platter giving the glittering outing of football legend George Weah, during his spell in that country. “We should be grateful to Weah for paving the way for Liberian football”, he said. The recent volcano ash acros…

- Several top notched football coaches around the world have applied to lead the various national football teams of Liberia. The list of applicants includes names from Nigeria, Britain, Malta, Portugal, Brazil, Serbia and the USA. The Liberia Football Association has already closed the application process for vacancies in the various National teams. April 17, 2010 marked the closing date of the process, aimed at recruiting coaches for the Country’s Senior, U-20 and U-17 national football teams. For months, categories of the national levels have been without managers and programs. According to the spokesperson of the LFA, Henry Flomo, the technical arm of the LFA will soon begin…

- Impunity has always been a way of life; sort of a culture or tradition in Liberia, even before the Liberian civil madness could take center stage in 1989. Punitive actions reside for the weak, poor and, in some cases, the minority; your list is welcomed! The biggest and bigoted form of shunning punitive trend for justice could come at the close of the first half of the Liberian civil madness when the sub regional body ECOWAS recommended impunity measures-with the catchphrase, “let bye gone be bye gone”. Like many today, the sub region then felt the way to achieve genuine peace and tranquility in Liberia was by rewarding murderers, benefactors and perpetrators of heinous cr…

Guinea's Minister of Communication Justin Morel Junior has resigned from government and this brings the number to three civilian ministers to resign amidst growing international pressure. He said: he no longer had the "moral strength to deliver the word of the government." - From all indications, the lifespan of the military junta in Guinea is being leapfrogged amid the wave of international criticism and resignations of senior officials. The International Criminal Court (ICC) has commenced investigation into the September 28 brutal repression in the Guinean capital, leaving over 150 persons dead. This lands further trouble to the junta’s future. The European Union…

A young Cameroonian, Maxi Sopo, is currently languishing in a cell of Mexico City for allegedly defrauding USA banks of $200,000. Law enforcement agents grabbed him for inadvertently disclosing his hideouts on Facebook, a social network. - Cameroon-born Maxi, 26, is said to have, with the help of an associate, falsely obtained “more than $200,000 in credit from banks”. Maxi has been on the run, wanted for fraud by US authorities, according to the BBC. However, Maxi revealed his where about through “series of extravagant Facebook updates”. According to the report, his Facebook messages indicated he was living a lavish life in the Mexican resort of Cancun. Maxi…

The FIFA world cup trophy has been received by Africa's first female elected president, Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf and is currently on display in the Liberian capital, Monrovia. The coveted 18-carat gold-plated trophy spent the night in Liberia having arrived Monday evening from neighboring Sierra Leone on tour of Africa. - Frenzy had been created for the cup by the constant texting of messages to mobile users in the country by a local mobile company, keeping track of the trophy’s location and destination for like a month before the Monday arrival. Disappointingly, local officials announced later that there would be restriction on the turnout for viewing. Many had hoped the cup be d…

The government of Liberia wants an urgent meeting of ECOWAS countries and the ICG-G to discuss the growing wave of tension in neighboring Guinea. The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) and the International Contact Group for Guinea (ICG-G) is working to bring peace to Guinea and the entire sub region. - Liberia is a perfect example of the peace initiatives of ECOWAS and International Contact Group. In a dispatch from the Foreign Ministry, the Liberian government frowns on the recent killing of several unarmed civilians in the Guinean capitol of Conakry last week by the Guinea army. “The Liberian government has expressed grave concern over events unfolding in neighbor…

- The government of Liberia wants an urgent meeting of ECOWAS countries and the ICG-G to discuss the growing wave of tension in neighboring Guinea. The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) and the International Contact Group for Guinea (ICG-G) is working to bring peace to Guinea and the entire sub region. Liberia is a perfect of example of the peace initiatives of ECOWAS and International Contact Group. In a dispatch from the Foreign Ministry, the Liberian government frowns on the recent killing of several unarmed civilians in the Guinean capitol of Conakry last week by the Guinea army. “The Liberian government has expressed grave concern over events unfolding…

The Liberian leader president Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf has filed a lawsuit against the New Broom newspaper for libel, amounting to $5 million in damages. The paper recently accused president Sirleaf of receiving US$2 million as kickback to favor a company for control of the Cavalla Robber Plantation in the south eastern region of Liberia. - Journalist Robert Worwee who is the Managing Editor of the paper said he stands by his story in spite of the court action. Article 61 of the Liberian constitution immunes the presidency from “any suites, actions or proceedings, judicial or otherwise…..” The president’s stance has sparked a huge debate in the country, some feel…

Erstwhile Liberian rebel leader Sekou Demate Conneh has been released from prison in Guinea. The man who led the defunct Liberia United for Reconciliation and Democracy (LURD) had his freedom restored by the military junta of Captain Moussa Dedis Camara and ordered to leave Guinea in 72 hours. - Sekou was arrested and detained months ago on allegations of subversion but he denied it. His force oversaw the premature departure of ex-president Chares Taylor from power in 2003. Local media is quoting a publicist of Conneh - Mark Jabateh - that the former presidential candidate in the 2005 Liberian elections was released upon the intervention of the ECOWAS through Sierra Leonean president Earn…

Past Liberia Football Association (LFA) elections have been dominated by a catchphrase - "continuity". The cliché was even much overriding in the immediate past election of the football house. - The coined terminology means carrying forward incumbent LFA presidents (not the entire leadership) into renewed tenure of responsibility, at any length and span, disregarding precedence. Mirroring the current presidency of the LFA, one is obliged to effort much begging quarries as to the need for continuity or interruption in leadership come the pending LFA elections. I opt for the latter! Steadiness, permanence, stability, solidity, calmness and evenness, are but a few synonyms or s…

US Secretary of State Hilary Clinton has called on lawmakers in Liberia to enact laws to fight against corruption. She said the fight against corruption cannot be won in the absence of regulatory framework that would hold people accountable and bring them to book. - Clinton also urged the Lawmakers to put into place an electoral system that will ensure free, fair and democratic elections in 2011. She said due to America’s interest in the pending elections of 2011, the US will provide US$17.5m. Clinton is on a tour of Africa which commenced in east Africa. She is currently on the last leg of her tour to the island country of Cape verde having left Liberia Thursday night following a f…

- Statement by the Foundation for Human Rights and Democracy (FOHRD), Catholic Justice and Peace Commission (JPC), Liberia Democratic Institute (LDI) On the Conduct of Members of the House of Representatives in Undermining Democracy Delivered at a Live Press Conference on Wednesday, August 6, 2009 at 1030hrs in the Conference Room of the Liberia Democratic Institute, Randall Street, Monrovia, Liberia Foundation for Human Rights and Democracy represented by J. Aloysius Toe, Executive Director Cell: 06 66 88 19 Catholic Justice and Peace Commission represented by Cllr. J. Augustine Toe, National Director: Cell: 077 71 39 97 Liberia Democratic Institute represented by Dan Tarpea Sayee, E…

The Liberian leader, Johnson Sirleaf, has received justices of the Supreme Court of China at the temporary seat of government in Monrovia. - Madam Sirleaf recounted China’s quest to help rebuild war ravaged Liberia. She also reassured Liberia’s commitment to the one China policy. The president “lauded the government of China for its continuous support to Liberia’s reconstruction, stressing the need to further strengthen Sino-Liberia relations,” a release from the seat of government said. The release said the People’s Republic of China Supreme Court Justices were accompanied by the Chief Justice of the Liberia Supreme Court, Johnnie Lewis, along with his…

Liberia's national legislature has been hit by yet another death under the President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf administration. The death of Senator Hannah Brent of the Congress for Democratic Change (CDC) brings the death toll to seven since 2006. It has brought panic among members and general public. - Senator Brent was among five females of the male dominated Senate and once chairperson of the committee on gender and development. Brent is said to have lived with a swollen leg before succumbing to death Monday evening at the SD Copper Hospital in Sinkor in Monrovia. Hannah is the third senator, after Samuel Timottie and Isaac Johnson, to give up the ghost. While the lower House or the H…

The lead defense lawyer of Charles Taylor has fallen ill to food poison, causing a brief adjournment of the trial taking place in The Hague. - The former Liberian leader, Taylor, is being tried by the hybrid court for Sierra Leone sitting in The Hague for his alleged involvement in the country’s 11-year civil war. Mr. Taylor, who is currently taking the witness stance, has denied all 11 charges of crimes against humanity and war crimes levied against him, terming them as lies. Courtenay Griffiths’ ailment was announced Tuesday by a colleague of the defense counsel who pleaded with judges for adjournment. The request was granted by the court with the case expected to resume mid…

- Acts of isolated violence and sadism continue unabated in Monrovia and its environs, with armed and cutlass brandishing gangs ransacking homes of peaceful residents. The latest of such banditry was to come over the weekend in two separate communities in Monrovia beginning with Chicken Soup Factory, Garnersville where, asual, several valuables and thousands of Liberian dollars were snatched away. During the raid, a local daily quotes one of the afflicted as saying a seven- month-old baby was briefly seized for a ransom-a mobile phone-by one of the bandits. The robber is said to have demanded the mobile phone from the mother of the child or he would take away the baby. The aggrieved said…

- Thirteen Fistula survivors recently graduated from the Fistula Rehabilitation and Reintegration Program run by the Liberia Prevention of Maternal Mortality in Monrovia after completing several life skill vocations. The female graduates, mostly teenagers, had suffered stigma in various locales as a result of shameful fistula they have suffered from for years. The fistula survivors, beautifully dressed in uniform African attire, dramatized their past lives- how they came down with the illness and how stigma kept them in doors. The smiling graduates ventured in vocations as Tie/Dye, Soap-making, cosmetology, Pastry and Tailoring. In its drive to bring smiles to the victims of fistula, the…

The government of Liberia has conferred its highest honor on the president of Namibia, Hifikepunye Pohamba. The distinction, the Grand Cordon in the Most Venerable Order of Knighthood of the Pioneers of Liberia, was conferred on the Namibian leader by President Ellen Sirleaf last Wednesday in Monrovia. - The Liberian leader recounted the outstanding and sacrificial services of president Pohamba in the liberation struggle for independence of his country. In her citation conferring the distinction, the Liberian leader further recalled, among others, the Namibian leader’s role dating back to 1974 and 1978 when he travelled to Tanzania and Zambia for military training and his leadership ro…

US Secretary of State, Hilary Rodham Clinton, next month embarks on a seven-nation tour of Africa to include the continent's oldest independent nation, Liberia. Clinton's trip begins 5 August in Nairobi, Kenya at the 8th Sub-Saharan Africa Trade and Economic Cooperation Forum, known as the AGOA Forum. - The Secretary of State also visits South Africa, Angola, DR Congo, Nigeria and Cape Verde. The trip of Africa highlights President Barack Obama administration’s commitment to making Africa a priority in US foreign policy. Clinton’s trip comes a few weeks following president Obama’s visit to Ghana. A government source in Monrovia said the US iconic Secretary will…

A Nigerian youth has been sentenced for life in prison in Liberia for murdering one Joshua Teajay Dennis, a young Liberian. Chukwudi IFejika, was found guilty by a 12-member empanelled jury at the Temple of Justice in Monrovia Tuesday. - He now spends the rest of life at the Monrovia Central Prison Compound or a place of convenience by the Liberian government as evoked by the court’s Presiding Judge, Emmanuel k. Ware, in his final judgment. In March this year, Ifejika killed Dennis after stabbing him in the chest and left shoulder several times with a long kitchen knife during a fight that erupted between them at the Big Apple night Club in the Monrovia suburb of Paynesville over a…

- Liberians on Monday July 27 celebrated the country’s 162nd national day in central Liberia-Gharnga, Bong County. Liberia gained independence on July 26, 1847. This year's occasion was deferred from Sunday to Monday. Below is the president’s message. Special Message by Her Excellency Mrs. Ellen Johnson Sirleaf President of the Republic of Liberia On the Occasion of the 162nd Independence Anniversary of the Republic of Liberia. Gbarnga, Bong County, 27th July 2009. Mr. Vice President & Mrs. Boakai; Mr. Speaker and Honorable Members of the House of Representatives; Mr. President Pro-Tempore and Members of the Senate, Mr. Chief Justice, Associate Justices and Me…

The United Nations Peace Mission in Liberia (UNMIL) has vowed to quell any attempts to hinder the existing peace in the country. The robust military mission said it is keen and alerted on growing developments in and out of the country, informing would-be trouble makers to retreat. - UNMIL’s caveat comes pointing at two unfolding issues - the allegations that the Junta government in neighboring Guinea is alleging military operations on its borders and the threats of violence by former warlords following the release of the country’s Truth Commission final report, recommending prosecution, among others. Speaking at the UNMIL regular press briefing in Monrovia on Thursday, UNMIL f…

The Liberian government has distanced its president of allegation that she was a founding member and fundraiser of the Charles Taylor rebel movement. Liberia's Deputy Information Minister Clutus Sieh said claims by Taylor that president Sirleaf played a major role in the NPFL bloodbath is far fetched. - He said his boss president Sirleaf maintains she only contributed $10, 000 for “humanitarian services” in the early days of the war. Thus, Taylor’s assertion is a categorical “falsehood and a diabolical lie meant to implicate the sitting president of Liberia”. He said this is a plot to besmear the president’s character so as to put her and others &…

Former warlord and Liberia president Charles Taylor indicted the sitting president of Liberia Sirleaf Johnson for fully supporting the uprising to unseat slain president Samuel Doe. Speaking at his trial in The Hague, he said Sirleaf was not only a financier but a founding member of his movement. - In his testimony as a self-witness, Taylor said: “Ah…Ellen raised most of the money that we needed for all of this movement in the early stage and even, doing combat.” He was responding to questions from his lead defense counsel Courtenay Griffith. Taylor is facing 11 counts of war crimes and crimes against humanity in neighboring Sierra Leone during that country’s noxio…

- Media Release (Wednesday 15 July 2009)……The Press Union of Liberia is being urged to focus on national issues in this era of political and ideological transition of Liberia’s history. A former official of the Union says at this critical juncture, one would expect that the umbrella outfit of the Liberian media proffers a disposition on the TRC report rather than dwelling on triviality. The PUL former Assistant Secretary General Henry Flomo says the TRC report, among other issues, is cardinal. He says the Union remains a bastion and citadel of hope for the citizenry, thus a disposition like those of Carter Center and the International Contact Group on Liberia (ICGL) cou…

The Liberia Truth Commission has recommended for prosecution and debarment of ex-warlords and their associates during the Liberian crisis. It recommends Liberian leader, Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf, and others, to be barred from public office for thirty years for her role in the dreadful Liberian war. - During her recent closed-door appearance at the TRC, the President admitted giving moral and financial support to Charles Taylor and his rebel movement, NPFL. The president, whose testimony somewhat buttressed growing allegations of her involvement in the crisis, said she visited NPFL controlled territory in Nimba County in 1990 where she met and gave Mr. Taylor cash for “humanitarian pur…

Former Liberian leader Charles Gyude Bryant has been set free by a Criminal Court on charges of economic sabotage and theft of property. The chairman of the National Transitional Government of Liberia (NTGL) was acquitted late Thursday following months of legal battle against the State. - Chairman Bryant declared minutes following the verdict: "I feel good, I feel good but I feel sorry for our country, that’s all." The former Liberian leader was handed freedom along with four other officials of his regime at the Temple Justice in Monrovia. Former Liberia Petroleum Refinery Corporation (LPRC) Managing Director Edwin Swone and his deputy Richard Devine, Comptroller Siaka She…

The US Embassy in Liberia has threatened Liberia lawmakers for delaying the passage of a threshold bill aimed at re-demarcation of constituencies pending national elections by 2011. The legislators sharply reacted to the communication, requesting the US to stay away from Liberian politics. - The US Charge d’Affaires, Brooks Robinson, this week wrote the heads of the bi-camera Legislature expressing US dismay over the delay in the passage of the draft Bill. The correspondence noted that unspecified consequences would be metered out to lawmakers who renege on the passage of the Bill. The Threshold Bill was several months ago sent to the lawmakers by the National Elections Commission o…

For the first time in the history of fiscal probity in Africa's oldest republic, the supreme audit outfit in Liberia, the General Auditing Commission-GAC, has presented its first special Forensic Audit report of the Auditor General to parliament. It is mandated by law to report to the Legislature. - In 2005, an Act of Legislature amended section 53 of the Executive Law of 1972 creating the GAC; making the entity independent of the executive branch of government. This led to the recruitment of the current head of the institution, John S. Morlu II, 2006 by the European Union in alliance with the Liberian government. This was done through a conventional vetting process that saw the partic…