VOL. 16. NO. 59 MONDAY, JANUARY 20, 2014 PRICE: LD 40

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www.liberianobserver.comINSIDE THIS

EDITION

EDITORIAL

Find the Money and Secure

Liberia’s Interior

LOCAL NEWS

Liberia Removed from

US Defense Department

‘Imminent Danger Area’

COMMENTARY

The Drug Industry’s

Poison Pills

BUSINESS

GTBANK MD Lauds CBL Boss

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---Defeats Nimba County in Soccer Finals

Bassa Ends 24-year Trophy Drought

See story on Pg.14

See story on Pg.15

Man, 25, Electrocuted in

Power Theft DealSee story on Pg.14

EU Reaffirms Commitment to

Working with Liberia

‘Fake’ Academic

Credentials Chain

Busted-Some of Them

‘Professors’By C.Y. Kwanue

Hubs of s e v e r a l individu-als claim-ing to be h o l d e r s

of terminal degrees from foreign-based creditable in-stitutions have been discov-ered in Monrovia.

Most of those in the web have reportedly been transi-

Cont’d on pg. 14

Bassa striker (in white) prepares to shoot the

opening goal. (Photo by Sando J. Moore)

MONDAY, JAN. 20, 2014, vol. 16, No.59indd 2 1/20/14 1:16 AM

Daily Observer Monday, January 20, 2014 Page 4Tuesday, November 5, 2013

Foreign BriefsWorld NewsPage 2Monday, January 21, 2013

PAKISTANAt least 20 soldiers have

been killed in north-western Pakistan in a bomb blast that struck an army convoy, sourc-es in the security forces say. At least 24 others were injured in the explosion near the town of Bannu, with fears the death toll will rise. The source of the explosion is still being investi-gated. Pakistan’s Taliban said they had carried out the attack as part of a “fight against a secular system” and promised “many more such attacks”.

Mexican authorities have said top security officials will be replaced in the western state of Michoacan that has recently been rocked by violence. Hun-dreds of troops have recently been deployed to restore or-der after groups of vigilantes clashed with a drug gang. But many vigilantes are refusing to heed the government’s call to disarm. This is despite reas-surances by the federal gov-ernment that the “self-defence groups” are not the target of an ongoing security operation.

MEXICO

YEMENAn Iranian diplomat has been

killed in a gun attack in the Yemeni capital, Sanaa. He was shot as he was leaving the Ira-nian ambassador’s residence in the southern Hadda district by car.The diplomat, named as Ali Asghar Assadi, was taken to hospital but died from his wounds. Iranian state TV said he had been hit in the chest and stomach while driving. It said Mr Assadi, described as Iran’s economic attache, had been “martyred”.

Italy’s controversial ex-PM Silvio Berlusconi has returned to the centre of the political stage, striking a reform deal with a centre-left rival. Berlus-coni was thrown out of parlia-ment in 2013 after a tax fraud conviction. But he still heads the opposition Forza Italia par-ty and held lengthy talks with Democratic Party (PD) leader Matteo Renzi late on Saturday. Under their agreement, he will back electoral and constitu-tional proposals aimed at mak-ing Italy more governable. The current electoral system has left Italy with a series of shaky coalitions.

ITALY

BBC World TV’s Komla Dumor DiesBBC TV presenter Komla

Dumor has died suddenly at his home in London at the age of 41, it has been announced.

Ghana-born Dumor was a presenter for BBC World News and its Focus on Africa programme.

One of Ghana’s best-known journalists, he joined the BBC as a radio broadcaster in 2007 after a decade of journalism in Ghana.

Ghanaian President John Dramani Mahama said on Twitter that his country had lost one of its finest ambassa-dors.

BBC Global News Director Peter Horrocks called Dumor a leading light of African jour-nalism who would be deeply missed.

He was “committed to tell-ing the story of Africa as it re-ally is,” Mr Horrocks said in a statement.

“Africa’s energy and enthu-siasm seemed to shine through every story Komla told”.

“Komla’s many friends and colleagues across Africa and the world will be as devastat-ed as we are by this shocking news.”

The BBC understands he had suffered a heart attack.

Komla Dumor featured in New African magazine’s No-vember 2013 list of 100 most influential Africans. It said he had “established himself as one of the emerging African faces of global broadcasting”, who had “considerable influ-ence on how the continent is covered”.

James Harding, BBC Direc-tor of News and Current Af-fairs, spoke of Komla Dumor’s

“singular role in transforming the coverage of Africa”. “He brought a depth of understand-ing, a great deal of courage, a joyous charm and boundless charisma to his work,” Mr Harding said.

Komla Dumor was born on 3 October 1972 in Accra, Ghana.

He graduated with a BA in Sociology and Psychology from the University of Ghana, and a Masters in Public Ad-ministration from Harvard University.

He won the Ghana Journal-ist of the Year award in 2003

and joined the BBC four years later.

From then until 2009 he hosted Network Africa for BBC World Service radio, be-fore joining The World Today programme.

In 2009 Komla Dumor became the first host of Af-rica Business Report on BBC World News. He was a regu-lar presenter of Focus on Africa and had fronted the programme the day before he died.

He travelled across Africa, meeting the continent’s top

entrepreneurs and reporting on the latest business trends around the continent.

He interviewed a number of high-profile guests including Bill Gates and Kofi Annan.

Last month, he covered the funeral of former South Afri-can President, Nelson Man-dela, whom he described as “one of the greatest figures of modern history”.

He anchored live coverage of major events including the 2010 World Cup in South Af-rica, the funeral of Kim Jong-il, the release of Israeli sol-dier Gilad Shalit, the Norway shootings and the wedding of Prince William and Kate Mid-dleton.

In his review of 2013, pub-lished last month, Dumor said the passing of Mandela was “one of the moments that will stay with me”.

“Covering the funeral for me will always be a special moment. I will look back on it with a sense of sadness. But also with gratitude. I feel lucky to have been a witness to that part of the Mandela story.”

‘Never flinched’Meeting Komla Dumor for

the first time in Ghana in 2007, BBC chief international corre-spondent Lyse Doucet said she had noticed how young Gha-naian journalists looked up to him.

He never flinched from ask-ing tough questions, but also loved to share a laugh, she says.

She adds that Komla Du-mor had many loves including football, his faith, his family: “He always said ‘I just love talking with people’.”

 

Mike Wooldridge pays tribute to Komla Dumor’s ‘’infectious sense of humour’’

 Komla Dumor had a wide-ranging career as an interviewer and presenter

Bodies Burnt in Street in Central African RepublicA Christian mob in the Cen-

tral African Republic capital Bangui has killed and burned two Muslims in the street, in the latest sectarian clash.

The gangs told the BBC they would carry on killing Mus-lims in their area.

French and African Union soldiers are struggling to con-tain sectarian violence that erupted after largely Muslim rebels took over the country.

MPs are due to select a new interim president on Monday, a week after rebel leader Mi-chel Djotodia quit the post.

Mr Djotodia became CAR’s first Muslim ruler after his rebel group Seleka overthrew the government in March last year.

The coup helped plunge CAR into sectarian conflict between the majority Christians and the minority Muslims.

He quit on 11 January having failed to stop the violence.

Although the clashes seemed to die down immediately after he quit, reports emerged later in the week of more violence.

On Friday, aid agencies said at least 22 people were killed in an attack on a convoy evac-uating Muslims to neighbour-ing Cameroon.

In Sunday’s attack, a Chris-tian mob killed two Muslims and set their bodies alight at a

roundabout in the capital.They told the BBC’s Thomas

Fessy that they were avenging the murder of a Christian over-night. It is unclear whether the men had any part or were targeted simply for being Mus-lim.

The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) said it had taken 25 very seriously injured people to hospital in Bangui.

In a statement issued from its headquarters in Geneva, it added that fresh inter-com-munal violence had flared up in north and north-western ar-eas of the country. Red Cross workers had buried 50 bodies discovered over the past 48

hours in the north-west, it said.The ICRC expressed concern

that much of the population, fearing reprisals, was hiding in the bush with no-one to protect them.

The UN Security Council ap-proved a French troop deploy-ment to CAR late last year as part of a plan to restore order and hold an election by early 2015.

The temporary parliament finalised a list of eight candi-dates for interim president on Sunday.

Officials said the candidates met stringent criteria, includ-ing stipulations they had not been members of a militant group, and that they had never worked for Mr Djotodia or his Seleka rebel group.

The candidates include Ban-gui mayor Catherine Samba Panza, and two sons of former presidents, Sylvain Patasse and Desire Kolingba.

 Thomas Fessy reports from bangui: ‘’in the absence of

government, angry mobs now rule the streets’’

 aid workers in bangui rushed to remove the burnt

bodies of the Muslim men

Syria’s Bashar al-Assad:

Quitting not up for debateContinue reading the main

storySyria conflict• What is Geneva II?• War and peace• Syria’s foreign fighters• Barrel bombsSyrian President Bashar al-

Assad is quoted as saying he has no intention of quitting, and the issue is not up for dis-cussion at forthcoming peace talks.

“If we wanted to surrender we would have surrendered from the start,” Mr Assad told Russian MPs in Damascus, according to Interfax news agency.

The government, opposition groups and Western diplomats will attend peace talks in Swit-zerland from Wednesday.

More than 100,000 have been killed and millions dis-placed in Syria’s conflict.

The Syrian presidency later said the comments reported by Interfax were “inaccurate”, without giving further details.

But BBC Beirut correspon-dent Jim Muir said the state-ments were in line with what government officials had fre-quently said before.

According to Syrian news agency Sana, Mr Assad told the delegation that Syrian peo-ple were confronting “terror-ism and foreign intervention”.

Continue reading the main story

AnalysisSebastian UsherBBC Middle

East analystThe latest comments at-

tributed to President Assad do not change his position in any way. Even so, Syrian state media moved quickly to say the report of his remarks by a Russian news agency was in-accurate.

This may or may not be so. But in the game of bluff that the government and the oppo-sition have been playing ahead of the talks, neither side wants to be seen as the obstacle to negotiation.

That does not mean they are actually prepared to negotiate or compromise, but they do not want to be stigmatised as the main problem in the way of that process.

So the swift rebuttal of Mr Assad’s latest remarks can be seen as part of this game of diplomatic poker. The mes-sage - essentially a restatement of a long-held position - has been put out there. But it has been left open to deniability, so no blame can be put on the Assad regime for undermin-ing the talks before they have begun.

Opposition groups have pre-viously demanded the removal of Mr Assad as a condition of any discussions on a possible transitional government.

But the Syrian National Co-alition, the exiled opposition body, announced on Saturday that it would attend the talks.

Venezuelan President Nico-las Maduro has announced a shake-up of the team running the country’s economy during his annual state of the union address. The current public banking minister, Rodolfo Torres, will replace Nelson Merentes as finance minister. Mr Merentes will take over the post of head of the central bank. Speaking at the National Assembly in Caracas.

VENEZUELA

Daily Observer Page b Monday, January 20, 2014

Liberia Removed from US Defense Department ‘Imminent Danger Area’Courtesy www.defense.

gov

Liberia has been de-listed from the United States Gov-ernment’s Defense

Department’s imminent dan-ger area. This means that Li-beria’s territorial limit no lon-

ger poses any threat or threat coming from Liberia toward any US military service per-sonnel “has been significantly reduced.”

In a release, the Defense De-partment said: “Today, the De-fense Department announced the recertification of some locations as imminent danger

pay areas while discontinuing that designation for others.

A periodic review and recer-tification was conducted for Imminent Danger Pay (IDP) purposes and was made in co-ordination with the joint staff, combatant commands and military services. The com-batant commands conducted

in-depth threat assessments for countries within their areas of responsibility.

Following the Defense De-partment’s review, it was de-termined that the imminent threat of physical harm to U.S. military personnel due to civil insurrection, civil war, terror-ism, or wartime conditions

has been significantly reduced in many countries. As a result, IDP will be discontinued in those areas.

IDP is authorized in areas designated by the Defense Department. Periodic recer-tification of IDP ensures that imminent danger designations match the actual conditions of designated countries so that the department can provide fair entitlements and benefits. The last recertification was completed in 2007.

The following locations will no longer be designated as imminent danger areas for IDP purposes, effective June 1, 2014:

• The nine land areas of East

Timor, Haiti, Liberia, Oman, Rwanda, Tajikistan, United Arab Emirates, Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan.

• The six land areas and air-space above Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Serbia, and Montenegro.

• The four water areas of the Arabian Sea, Gulf of Aden, Gulf of Oman, and the Red Sea.

•The water area and air space above the Persian Gulf.

IDP will remain in effect for Iraq, Afghanistan, Leba-non, Jordan, Pakistan, Syria, Yemen, and Egypt within the U.S. Central Command area of responsibility.”

by Keith Morris

Opposition politi-cian Simeon Free-man has signalled the danger in elect-

ing “old and greedy politicians with a history of exploiting the system to enrich themselves and their families.”

Mr. Freeman is a business-man and leader of the Move-ment for Progressive Change (MPC) political party that participated in the 2011 Leg-islative and Presidential Elec-tions.

Addressing scores of citi-zens in Salala District, Bong County, over the weekend, Mr.

Freeman urged the electorate to refuse to be carried away by empty talk from old politicians still hanging around.

Some of such individuals Mr. Freeman explained, have always lived in luxury at the expense of the masses.

“People that worked for gov-ernment have shown you their work over the years. They have shown that without a government job, they cannot survive. When they need your votes, they will go everywhere with you; they even allow you sometimes to enter their bed-rooms. They answer every call

Simeon Freeman Warns

MPC Political leader, simeon Freeman

LRRRC Executive Director Engages Staffers

when they want your votes. But, after winning the elec-

tion, they become too busy people to meet those that voted them in and those things they promised along the way, change automatically.

I say, Bong County, shine your eyes on those you vote for in these elections, Mr. Freeman intoned.

The MPC political leader warned that electing the same ‘old politicians’ is a clear indi-cation that the system will re-main the same while a major-ity of the people suffer at the hands of bad governance.

“Putting the same people back in power will be an op-

portunity for their children to prosper at the detriment of the masses. You shouldn’t be the ones giving their children these opportunities when your children should also benefit from the national cake,” he pointed out.

The businessman turn poli-tician made these assertions when he graced the adoption of SASAFU constitution and membership drive program.

SASAFU is an organization that brings together three dis-tricts in Lower Bong County for the purpose of fostering development in those regions.

Mr. Freeman then committed L$125,000 towards the sus-

tainability of the organization; he promised to provide statio-neries for the organization’s offices.

He called on the leadership of the organization to rotate SASAFU meetings in the three districts in order to show unity and the people’s partici-pation in activities of the orga-nization.

SASAFU should have sub-offices in all three districts, Freeman said.

The organization is being tipped as a force to be reck-oned with in selecting public officials for the county, in an upcoming Special Senatorial Election.

by Joaquin sendolo

The tradition of tak-ing strategic and key institutional matters to low-level staff-

ers to solicit their views is an uncommon practice in Liberia.

Usually, heads of institu-tions and their principal depu-ties are the ones who discuss such matter. They, in turn, sometimes consult a highly educated expert for his or her opinion, while the low-level workers are left out to receive instructions and implement re-sults from meetings.

But Abla Gadegbeku Wil-liams, Executive Director of the Liberia Refugees Repatria-tion and Resettlement Com-mission (LRRRC) believes that for an institution to run smoothly---during both good and bad times---the involve-ment of all is required.

Giving an overview of a two-day retreat held at Barnes Beach in the ELWA area on January 17, 2014 Counselor Barnes said, “When we joined LRRRC in November, 2013, we knew so little about what had been involved over the years: who did what, when, where, why and how.

At a meeting with the staff, we asked what they would like to see happen with the LRRRC in 2014, and beyond.

“Many said that an overall assessment of achievements and challenges over the past year could help create a road-map for the future.”

“We also noted that we have partners, one of the more im-portant of which is the UN-CHR, whose commitment to providing protection and as-sistance in safety and dignity

to refugees is unparalleled.” “From that discussion, Cllr.

Williams explained, a decision to hold a two-day retreat that would bring outstation and of-fice staffers together to discuss strategic plans and goals in line with UNHCR’s, for 2014.

Sharing her philosophical thought about the month of January, Cllr. Williams in-toned that Janus, the Roman god of beginnings and transi-tions with two faces: one looks up to the future, the other to past.

She elaborated that the month of January, named after this Roman god, is the begin-ning month of the year. Ac-cordingly, it is the best time to begin planning for the future with the consent of all.

He urged everyone to be participatory, generate ideas, and set goals with respect to individual areas of work for the year.

She noted that they were beginning the year, amid bud-getary constraints and support reduction from partners, every worker of LRRRC needs to contribute his or idea to the goal-setting process so that they can optimize the little re-sources on hand.

The fluent-speaking Execu-tive Director continued that instead of being a normal thing that people leave the real discussion to prioritizing mer-ry-making at the retreat, work-ers should use the occasion to revitalize themselves, and set achievable goals within the spirit of collaboration, unity and progress.

She urged LRRRC employ-ees to set aside distractions and focus on meaningful thoughts and ideas that will enhance the

work of the institution.Believing that no organiza-

tion or institution can achieve goals without togetherness, Cllr. Williams underscored to-getherness and a sense of com-munity, to resolve problems and conflicts.

She called on the staff to re-flect on activities of the orga-nization, set goals and objec-tives in the scope of operation of each, and share ideas for efficiency and effectiveness as key objectives of the organiza-tion.

She said by working with the little on hand to achieve the needed goals, they will be proving to donors and the Government of Liberia the relevance of LRRRC in ad-dressing crises of refugees and returnees as crises also create security concerns.

Also speaking at the retreat, Deputy Minister for Public Safety at the Ministry of Jus-tice and former Executive Director of LRRRC, Cllr, Wheatonia Y. Dixon-Barnes admitted that government is faced with a US$30 million budgetary deficit.

She said that as every staff was being invited to the retreat to discuss strategies together, it was important that they came up with ideas that will

be convincing to partners, to get them involved in assisting LRRRC.

She also urged the staffers to make use of the limited re-sources to get things done in the absence abundance.

UNHCR Program Officer, Rueul Nettey in a statement during the opening session of the retreat lauded LRRRC for its role over the years in ad-dressing the needs of refugees and returnees.

“Even though there is a bud-getary constraint,” Mr. Nettey said, we at UNHCR will seek support for LRRRC to ensure that it carries out its mandate.

He said the retreat initiated by LRRRC to develop plans for running the institution is

not a strange venture to UN-HCR, as it (UNHCR) has al-ready done its part for the year.

He expressed confidence that LRRRC can outdo itself to en-courage the search for support to help it function in address-ing the needs of refugees and returnees.

Another LRRRC’s partner, the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) representative, Lei-la Salehiravesh also indicated that US$1.5 million is being provided by Japan to address the needs of returnees and ref-ugees in Liberia.

She said UNIDO addresses refugees and returnees’ needs through LRRRC by providing skills training in baking, hair-

dressing and entrepreneurship. LRRRC was established by

government to manage refu-gees and returnees coming to Liberia.

The organization currently has a refugee-crisis on hand with thousands of Ivorian refugees crowded in the south-eastern part of Liberia, includ-ing Grand Gedeh and Mary-land Counties, and a portion of Nimba in the northeast.

Liberian returnees from Ghana and other West Afri-can countries are also pouring in and LRRRC is responsible to provide them resettlement packages to enable them rein-tegrate after many years out-side of Liberia.

lrrrC boss Cllr. Williams speaking at the opening of the retreat.

Media Group Awards Richard Tolbert Certificateby alvin Worzi

Cooperate Investi-gative Journalist Network (CIJN) Friday, January 17,

awarded a certificate to Dr. Richard Tolbert as their Hu-manitarian of the year 2013 at his Old Road Community home.

CIJN has described him as a ‘son of the soil.’

According to the CIJN head, Joseph Konneh, the award is based on the numerous ser-vices Dr. Tolbert has rendered to humanity. He noted Dr. Tol-bert’s contributions on both a national and international scale; making specific refer-ence to his work with Liberi-ans at Ghana’s Budumburum refugee camp.

Mr. Konneh said Dr. Tol-bert’s humanitarian gesture has changed the life of many

people in Liberia and the world at large.

“We have been assessing the contributions of some of our most prominent citizens and were impressed with your consistent record of provid-ing education, health care and many others humanitarian ser-vices to sons and daughters of Liberia,” Mr. Konneh pro-claimed.

He said, “It is good to give a man his flowers while he is alive; that is why the members of the CIJN are proud to have reached this decision after much deliberation.”

Receiving the award, Dr. Richard Tolbert expressed gratitude to the network for selecting him as their humani-tarian of the year. He advised the members of the CIJN and Liberia’s youth in general to be steadfast and hardworking so they can find themselves in

the position to make wise de-cisions for the nation.

Dr. Tolbert stressed the need for young people to focus on education and choose profes-sions that he said would help to build the strength of the country’s economy.

The CIJN’s Humanitarian of the year noted that there is a need for patriotic Liberian’s that are in the position to help others to do all they could, es-pecially in the areas of educa-tion and health care delivery services.

He detailed, “My humanitar-ian services started from 1999 during the civil crisis in Libe-ria. It was a time when Liberia had lots of refugees in Ghana and other parts of Africa. I de-cided to give them my support with aid from Madame Ellen Johnson Sirleaf before she be-came our nation’s President,” he concluded.

3

Daily Observer Monday, January 20, 2014 Page 4Tuesday, November 5, 2013

OBSERVER CARTOON WITH A. Leslie Lumeh E-mail: leslie@leslielumeh.com www.leslielumeh.com

Published by Liberian Observer CorporationP.O. Box 1858, Monrovia

Liberia’s First Independent Daily

0886812888, 0886472772www.liberianobserver.com

Monday, January 21, 2014

Then I will whip you for being smart!

But papa how I wey go to school, you ain’t pay my

school fees yet?

Same thing wif Legislature and Police director: No logistics for up-country

security, but dey want police go there.

The Drug Industry’s Poison Pillsby Muhammad H. Zaman

(Courtesy of project-syndicate.org)

BOSTON – One does not need to spend a lifetime in the global health-care sector to appreciate that substandard or counterfeit drugs are a major public-health hazard. These bogus products have infiltrated pharmaceutical supply chains from Azerbaijan to Zambia, wrecking the most prom-ising programs to control, man-age, and eradicate deadly diseas-es. Yet little is being done to stop this criminal activity.

Growing up in Pakistan, I re-alized how vital it was for my mother, like any educated parent, to know which drugs and pharma-cies could be trusted. Little has changed since then. Local phar-macists from Lahore to Lusaka continue to sell a variety of brands of the same drug at different pric-es; and shopkeepers are called upon to give a candid opinion of their benefits and shortcomings.

Unfortunately, the problem runs a lot deeper than a few bad drugs sold at the corner pharmacy. Around $75 billion of substandard drugs are sold annually, caus-ing an estimated 100,000 deaths worldwide, and making many more people seriously ill. The trade in inferior drugs also under-mines fragile public-health sys-tems in poor countries. As well as killing consumers, the effects of bad drugs can be passed from par-ent to child, and even create new drug-resistant strains of diseases that threaten us all.

Yet the fight against substandard drugs has never been taken as seri-ously as other global health crises such as malaria, HIV, or maternal and infant mortality. This may be because there is no obvious solu-tion.

But, in seeking answers, we must

first acknowledge that the issue is larger than just counterfeit medi-cines. Many legitimate manu-facturers worldwide, whether through complacency or incom-petence, lack adequate quality controls. In some cases, deficient storage and refrigeration systems turn safe medicines into danger-ous substances.

Unfortunately, those drug mak-ers then take advantage of devel-oping countries’ weak or poorly implemented legislation and cor-rupt officials to pass their products through local supply chains and into shops. Public ignorance or apathy means that those responsi-ble are able to avoid prosecution.

The technical expertise and equipment needed to detect infe-rior products is usually beyond the financial reach of many develop-ing countries. But there are low-cost alternatives. One approach, for example, would be to include on packaging a “scratch code” that includes a phone number for con-sumers to call in order to check that the batch number matches an authentic product. But, while this approach would certainly help to catch counterfeits, it would miss the substandard or degraded prod-ucts made by legitimate firms, which are tested only by the con-sumer – and often at great cost in terms of health risks.

It is therefore imperative to de-velop new detection technologies that will work in poorer countries, and that complement existing sys-tems such as bar codes. Detection technology must be capable of analyzing all forms of a drug – whether powder, pill, capsule, or syrup – and of detecting several different grades of quality, not just the junk. It must be simple, afford-able, adaptable, and scalable; and it must work at all stages of dis-tribution, whether at customs, in

hospitals, or in remote villages.But technology alone will not be

enough. Regulators, hospitals, and drug-safety authorities must take the lead, rather than placing the burden on often poor and unedu-cated citizens who are struggling to care for loved ones.

The search for new, sustain-able solutions, requires at least three initiatives. First, we must encourage innovation by offering research grants to support small initiatives or large-scale projects (like campaigns to fight HIV, ma-laria, and maternal mortality). Ide-ally, an international group would coordinate and develop all of the ideas and products, and take them from the laboratory to the field.

Second, we need to harness the creativity and commitment of young students, so that they un-derstand the devastating impact of bad pharmaceuticals and become motivated to make a difference in people’s lives.

Third, we must make use of the media. Just as the world cries foul when an illegal shipment of ivo-ry is uncovered, we must launch campaigns in the press, on tele-vision, and online to bring to ac-count any trader, state official, or company caught selling or pro-moting low-quality drugs.

In this way, we will remind those in the industry of a fundamental premise: their most precious com-modity is not a blockbuster drug, but the public’s trust. If drug mak-ers and pharmacists cannot protect their customers’ health, they can-not protect their business.

abOUT THe aUTHOrMuhammad H. Zaman is Di-

rector of the laboratory for Mo-lecular and Cellular Dynamics at boston University.

Find the Money and Secure Liberia’s Interior

The House of Representatives has summoned Police Commissioner Chris

Massaquoi to appear and explain the alleged absence of security personnel, especially the police, in Liberia’s in-terior.

Lofa County Representative Moses Y. Kollie raised the alarm in the House last week and expressed fear that the people of Salayea and Zorzor Districts were at risk of at-tacks from armed robbers and other mischief makers due to the absence of police in the interior, especially Salayea and Zorzor.

But we believe that the House has it wrong. It is not the Police Commissioner they should be summoning but the Finance and Justice Ministers—the Finance Minister because he controls the nation’s purse strings and can bet-ter explain why government is not sufficiently financing the Police and the Joint Security so that more officers and other security personnel may be deployed throughout Li-beria’s interior. The House should summon the Justice Minister to explain why the Ministry has not been pushing for more funding for security operations in the interior. If they have been pushing, we have not heard the noise.

Yet this is the same government that is calling on profes-sionals to opt for service in the interior instead of crowd-ing the cities, Monrovia in particular.

The government knows, and we have said it many times editorially, that it has the responsibility to make the inte-rior habitable by carrying development to the rural parts to make life more livable. We are talking about electricity, pipe-borne water, modern housing, low and medium-cost, Internet access, shopping and other facilities.

Thankfully, headway is being made to wire the whole in-terior with electricity, through La Côte d’Ivoire, beginning with Grand Gedeh, Nimba and Bong Counties. Hopefully within a year or earlier, power will reach Lofa and beyond.

But there is much more to be done to make the interior more livable.

When it comes to commerce, here is where LIBA, the Liberian Business Association, must take the initiative by encouraging its members in all 15 counties to seize the opportunities at hand. There is need for grocery shops, modern shops, boutiques, even supermarkets as well as modern motels and hotels. LIBA members should begin exploring tourist opportunities within each county. Take the waterfalls in Ganta, Nimba County, and in Patawee, Bong County, behind Cuttington University. But there are the forests and other sites in each county that can be ex-plored. We suggest that LIBA should engage local and foreign tourist experts who can explore the Liberian in-terior and advise the Association on how to encourage its members in this avenue of investment.

There is the whole business accommodation facilities for which the whole Liberian interior is crying. Here is an opportunity for farmers to make money by supplying such businesses with food. Here is a chance for our farmers to invest in chickens and eggs, other meats such as goat, sheep and beef (cattle); as well as non-traditional vegeta-bles such as lettuce, cucumber and tomato.

But lest we forget, this editorial is primarily about mak-ing Liberia’s interior secure so that people may live in peace. The Liberian government must invest in its Joint Security force and supply them with the motor vehicles, communication equipment and other logistics it needs to do a more effective job to help the people live in peace and security.

The Immigration aspect of security is not to be forgotten. Liberian borders, as porous as they are, we run the risk of being overrun as a nation by foreigners, unless we can control the influx of aliens across our borders.

Here we are reminded of the urgent need for national identification. But that is the subject of another editorial.

Daily Observer Page 6 Monday, January 20, 2014 5

Request for Proposals (RFP) Supply and Delivery of Motorcycles for FED County Offices

Food and Enterprise Development (FED

 

• RFP  No.     RFP  FED-­‐NPO-­‐015  • Date   14  JANUARY,  2014  • Title   Supply  and  Delivery  of  Motorcycles  • Issuing   Office   &  

Address   for  Submission   of  Proposals  

DAI    USAID  Food  and  Enterprise  Development  (FED)  6th  Street-­‐Sinkor,  Tubman  Boulevard,  Monrovia    

• Closing  Date  for  Questions  

7  FEBRUARY  2014  not  later  than  17:00  GMT  

• Closing  Date     14  FEBRUARY  2014  not  later  than  17:00  GMT  • Contact  Person  for  

Questions    Arthur   Delacruz/DCOP-­‐FAM   Email:   arthur_delacruz@dai.com   Telephone:  0886-­‐530-­‐598  

• Anticipated  Award  Type  

Fixed  Price  Purchase  Order  

• Basis  for  Award   An   award   will   be   made   based   on   best   price,   required   technical  specifications,   quality  &   availability   to   the   vendor  who   best  meets   all   the  requirements  as  specified  in  the  RFP.  

PURPOSE DAI, implementer of the USAID funded Food and Enterprise Development (FED) Program, invites qualified vendors to submit proposals/bids for supply and delivery of project Motorcycles (see Appendix A) in support of program imple-mentation.

SUBMISSION OF QUESTIONSQuestions may be submitted via email no later than 17:00 GMT on 7 February 2014. No technical inquiries will be an-swered over the phone or in person except for administrative clarification regarding the submission format or location of the office, etc. Responses to technical questions will be distributed to all bidders.

INSTRUCTIONS FOR SUBMISSION OF ProposalsProposals shall be submitted via Hard Copy, in English, marked on the envelope, Attention: Arthur dela Cruz, Deputy Chief of Party/ FAM, Food & Enterprise Development Program (FED), 6th Street-Sinkor, Tubman Boulevard, Monrovia no later than 17:00 GMT on 14 February 2014. Late proposals will be rejected and returned to Vendors unopened except under extraordinary circumstances at DAI’s discretion.

PROPOSAL SPECIFICATIONS (and EVALUATION): Proposals will be evaluated according to the following crite-ria. The relative importance of each individual criterion is indicated by the number of points assigned and a total of 100 marks are possible for each submission. Bidders should note that these criteria serve to: (a) identify the significant factors which bidders should address in their proposals (b) Set the standard against which all proposals will be evaluated. Points will also reflect the overall presentation of the proposal, which should be clear, complete, well organized, and well written. Most importantly, proposals should address all requirements listed in the RFP.(1)Technical Specifications Approach (Points Possible 40) Bidders will submit technical specifications of motorcycles they intend to supply. Note that models of motorcycles should be in the range 2009 to 2013. Also include all necessary qualities and warranty period.

(2)Past Experienced, Personnel Capability & References (Maximum 1 Page, Points 20) The proposal shall provide a detailed account of the bidder’s track record in providing similar goods in Liberia. Bidders should also list the names of entity (ies) they have supplied similar models of motorcycles for, along with references and contact information.

(3) Proposed Cost /Price (40 Points)Bidders shall submit a financial proposal which is separated in another envelope from the technical proposal. Note that financial proposals should be presented using Appendix A as a template for the format.

REQUIREMENTS FOR PROPOSALS TO BE DETERMINE AS RESPONSIBLE1. The quote must conform to all the technical specifications listed on Appendix A: Price Schedule. Quotes

which do not comply will be determined non-responsive and rejected.2. The prices per unit and total price shall be entered on the attached price schedule (See Appendix A). The

vendor must certify a validity period of 30 days for the prices provided.3. Quotes shall specify the delivery period (In Stock or Delivery Time).4. Vendor must agree for delivery of Motorcycles to DAI office in Monrovia. Please provide proposal for Duty

Free and Duty Paid. 5. General Sales Tax (GST) shall be included on a separate line (if applicable).6. Shipping costs, if any, for items procured outside of country, shall be included in a separate line item (if

necessary).7. Vendor must agree to a warranty for factory defects up to one year or agreed mileage past delivery with re-

placement at no cost to DAI-FED.8. Vendor must provide a list of at least 3 current and/or former clients which your firm has provided similar

Motorcycles for along with client’s contact person, telephone number, quantities provided and dates.9. Vendor must provide exact specifications for the equipment, including type and model.10. Vendor shall state the country of origin and source for the Motorcycles.11. A preference will be given to those vendors that can provide optional accessories.

REQUIREMENTS FOR PROPOSALS TO BE DETERMINE AS RESPONSIVE 1. Firm must possess an active Business License.2. Vendor must not be included on the US Government EPLS/SDN blocked persons/organizations list.

DAI may award a purchase order without discussions. Therefore, initial [proposals should contain the Vendors best terms from a price and technical specifications standpoint. Issuance of this RFP in no way obligates DAI to award a purchase order and Bidders will not be reimbursed for any costs associated with the preparation of this Proposal.

            Appendix  A    

Item   Qty   Description/  Part  Numbers   Unit  Price  

Total  Price  

Remarks  

               

On/Off  Road  Motorcycles    

22  

Brand  new  2009-­‐2013  model  (please  indicate  Model  and  Year)    Tropicalize    Engine  –  125  to  200  cc    Air-­‐cooled    Started  -­‐  Kick  start  and/or  electric    Chain  drive    Head  light,  signal  lights  and  tail  light  Side  mirrors    Liberia  dealership  (if  any)  availability  of  spare  parts    Terms  and  condition  of  Payment          

Also  indicate  optional  accessories  with  prices  (helmet,  registration,  insurance,  etc.)  

 

4. Bidding will be conducted through the National Competitive Bidding (NCB) procedures specified in the Public Procurement & Concessions Act (PPCA) open to all bidders from Eligible Source Countries as de-fined in the Guidelines.

5. Qualifications requirements include: i) Working capital/liquidity to be able to execute the contract ii) At least three contracts of similar nature completed within the last five years. iii) Availability in Liberia of spare parts and after sales services. No margin of preference for goods manu-factured domestically shall be applied. Additional details are provided in the Bidding Documents.

6. Interested eligible bidders may obtain further information from the LCPS and inspect the Bidding Documents at the address given below between 9:00am to 5:00pm on business days from 6 January 2013.

7. A complete set of Bidding Documents in English may be purchased by interested bidders on the submission of a Written Application to the address below and upon payment of a non-refundable fee of One Hun-dred United States Dollars (USD 100.00). The method of payment will be bankers’ draft or wire transfer. Banking details will be provided upon request. The Bidding Documents will be provided in hard copy.

8. Bids must be delivered to the address at or before 6 February, 2013. Electronic bidding will not be permitted. Late bids will be rejected. Bids will be opened in the presence of the bidders’ representatives who choose to attend in person at the address below on 6 February, 2013 at 11:00 hours GMT. All bids must be accompanied by a Bid Security of 2% of bid price or an equivalent amount in a freely convertible currency.

9. The addresses referred to above are:

For obtaining information For Bid Opening:and bid submission:

The Finance Manager Liberia College of Physicians &Liberia College of Physicians & Surgeons (LCPS)Surgeons (LCPS) Conference RoomOld Health Ministry, Old Health Ministry, Capitol Bye-Pass Capitol Bye-PassMonrovia, Liberia Monrovia, Liberia

Invitation for Bids (IFB)Republic of Liberia

Expand Support to County decentralized Health & Social

Welfare ServicesIFB No: LCPS/NCB/001

1. This Invitation for Bids follows the General Procurement Notice for this Project that appeared online in Development Business of January 6, 2013.

2. The Liberia College of Physicians & Surgeons (LCPS) has received Financing from the Government of Liberia to expand support to strengthen the health care delivery system and it intends to apply part of the proceeds of this financing to payments under this Contract. Bidding will be governed by the Public Procurement & Concession Art (PCCA) of Liberia.

3. The Liberia college of Physicians and Surgeons now invites sealed bids from eligible and qualified bidders for the Supply of Vehicles under the following Lots:

Lot   Description   Qty   Unit   Bid  Security  Amount  

1   Double  Cabin  Pickup  Vehicles  (4x4)   1   Ea  2   Mini  Van/Bus   1   Ea  

2%  of  Bid  Price  

 Contracts will be awarded on Lot basis Delivery is expected within 12 weeks to the Liberia College of Physicians & Surgeons (LCPS).

Daily Observer Page 12 Monday, January 20, 2014 6

Daily Observer Page 9 Monday, January 20, 2014 7

Peace Corps

Under the direct supervision of the Director of Management & Operations (DMO) and General Services Trans-portation, incumbent is responsible for driving Peace Corps vehicles and providing general maintenance for all Peace Corps vehicles; performs office errands assigned by DMO, picks up and delivers mail. Extensive travel throughout Liberia is required.

Basic Duties:• The incumbent is required to provide safe, professional and courteous transport for staff, volunteers and other

personnel conducting official PC.• Serves as Duty Driver, both at the office and up-country during training activities, • Provides vehicle support during emergency situations• Assures that vehicles are operated in accordance with PC, Embassy and other USG guidelines, and manufacturer

specifications. • Maintains the daily vehicle logs and reports all vehicle malfunctions or problems to the A/GSO.• Records repair and maintenance operations of assigned PC vehicle as outlined in the Vehicle Maintenance Log. • Ensures that vehicles are cleaned, inside and outside, every day

Other Duties• The incumbent may be required to courier cash and/or purchase orders to various vendors who furnish supplies

and/or services to PST/IST training site, or other locations as directed by the DMO. He/she may also be required to courier cash to PC trainees or volunteers. He/she will not be functioning as a procurement or disbursing of-ficial but will only be acting as an intermediary between the DMO or Disbursing Officer and the recipient. In the case of dealing with vendors, the incumbent will not exercise any procurement discretion concerning the supplies or services to be purchased or the cost limits of these purchases; these will be determined by the DMO.

• Be knowledgeable and supportive of PC/Liberia safety and security policies and procedures, to include timely reporting of suspicious incidents, persons or articles.

• Performs all other duties as necessary or requested by the Admin Officer.

QUALIFICATIONS REQUIRED FOR EFFECTIVE PERFORMANCEEDUCATION: Completion of Secondary School is required.

PRIOR WORK EXPERIENCE: At least two years of previous work experience as a driver with US Government Missions, UN Missions, INGO or NGOs is required. LANGUAGE PROFICIENCY: Proficient in both written and spoken English.

KNOWLEDGE: Must have knowledge of road conditions throughout Liberia and ability to plan vehicle maintenance for such conditions; must be able to demonstrate accuracy in filling out paperwork; knowledge of general vehicle maintenance.

ABILITIES AND SKILLS: Must possess a valid Liberian driver’s license. Demonstrated ability to drive under difficult situations in rural Liberia and adhere to driving laws. Ability to maintain vehicles in good working condition.

To apply: Submit a Cover Letter addressing candidate’s qualifications for the position, a resume or curriculum vitae, copy of driver’s license, diplomas, certificates and the names and contact information for 3 references via email to: pcjobs@lr.peacecorps.gov

Please note: Only individuals selected for an interview will be contacted. No phone calls will be accepted. Contract is contingent on a security background and medical check

The deadline for applications is January 17, 2014. Applications received after this date may be considered at the discretion of the Contracting Officer. A detailed Statement of Work can be obtained via email request to the pcjobs@lr.peacecorps.gov

This offer document is simply an Information Memorandum and does not in any respect represent a prospectus. The offer document and the securities that it bears are directed at selected investors as well as the members of the general public. Every prospective investor to whom this document has been addressed is expected to conduct i n d e p e n d e n t evaluation of the Financial Position and operating results of the Liberia Cement Company.

Procedures:1. Application forms are free and available at LBDI Branches on 9th Street Sinkor and Randall & Ashmun Streets2. Payment can be made by Cash, Managers’ Check or Debit Authorization

Private Placement of

206,572Common Stocks of the Liberia Cement Corporation at US$12 per Stock Payable in Full On Application

OFFER CONDITIONS:Individual: Minimum of 5 stocks at US$12 eachInstitutions: Minimum of 1,000 Common stocks and additional common stock in multiple of 100.

NOV. 18, 2013: Close of Offer: Feb. 18,

2014

LBDI Central Monrovia Branch

Ashmun & Randall Streets

Monrovia, Liberia.

LBDI Sinkor Branch9th Street, Sinkor,

TubmanBoulevard,

Monrovia, Liberia

Liberian Bank for Development and Investment

Information Memorandum

INVEST

TODAY!Visit our branches

and be a proud owner of CEMENCO

Qualification requirements include: I. Articles of Incorporation II. Valid Tax Clearance III. Valid Business Registration Certificate IV. Past performance records including names and contacts.

5. All interested eligible bidders may obtain copy of the bidding document from the Procurement Unit of the National Housing Authority for a non-refundable fee of US$100.00 be-ginning 30/12/2013 from 9:00am to 5:00pm daily.

6. All Bids must be accompanied by a Bid Security of the amount stated in the matrix above, for each lot, from a repu-table bank in Liberia.

7. Sealed bids must be delivered to the Procurement Unit not later than 12:00 Mid-day 27/01/2014. Late bids will be re-jected and returned to bidders unopened. Bids will be opened in the presence of bidders who choose to attend or their repre-sentatives on 27/01/2014 at 1:00pm in the conference room of the NHA, Water Side, UN Drive, Monrovia, Liberia.

8. The address referred to is: Procurement Unit National Housing Authority Water Side, UN Drive Monrovia, Liberia.

Signed: ___________________________ MANAGEMENT

INVITATION FOR BIDS

FOR THE PROCUREMENT OF GOODS (Purchase of Vehicles)

IFB No: NHA/NCB/003/13/141. The National Housing Authority is receiving income from its operations for the Fiscal Year 2013-2014 and intends to apply portion of same towards the procurement of Vehicles.

2. The National Housing Authority now invites sealed bids from eligible registered bidders for the supply of vehicles for the Fiscal Year 2013-2014.

3. Bidding will be conducted through the National Com-petitive Bidding method as enshrined in the PPCA and is open to all eligible bidders within the Republic of Liberia.

4. Specification & Quantity

LOT  #   Description   Quantity   Bid  Security  LOT  1.   Double  Cabin  Pick-­‐Up   One  (1)   US$800.00  LOT  2.   JEEP  (SUV)   One  (1)   US$800.00  LOT  3.   JEEP  (SUV)   One  (1)   US$1,000.00    A detailed specification is provided in the Technical Specifi-

cation section of the bidding document.

DAILY OBSERVER Page B Monday, January 20, 2014

Continued on Page 9

Six employees of the Liberia Petroleum Refining Company (LPRC) were on Friday, Janu-ary 17, 2014 honorably retired due to age or tenure as per the Labor Law of Liberia.

The six retired employees nickname “The Great Six” are: William Sharpe, John Dukuly, John Wilson, James Teah, Momo Fofana and Fallah Baryoh. Besides their regular retire-

ment package, each retiree received a well decorated plaque, gold ring and a cheque of US$1,500. Presenting the items to the retirees, Managing Director T. Nelson Williams, II and Board member Ophelia Freeman Johnson hailed the retirees for the exemplary work over the years and wished them all the best as they transition in their new life.

In a brief remark, the Managing Director T. Nelson Williams, II thanked the employees for the hard work over the year which led to the company recording huge success and further promised to promote the Liberianization Policy where more Liberian businesses will be empowered.

For other honors, TOTAL Liberia and Aminata & Sons Incorporated received honors from Deputy Managing Director for Operations, Aaron J. Wheagar, I for being the highest and second highest Importers of petroleum products, 2013 respectively.

Deputy Managing Director for Administration, Jackson Fiah Doe, Jr. presented cash and plaque to Josh Smith as Employee of the year. Also, Financial Comptroller Elizabeth Matu Tubman presented a plaque and cash to Paul Jappah as Assistant Manager of the year, while Managing Director T. Nel-son Williams, II presented similar prizes to the Finance and Marine Teams as winner and runner-up for Teams of the year respectively.

The Christ Ambassadors musical group entertained the crowd while Quincy T made them laugh their guts out and the party followed with dinner served and everyone getting on the dance floor.

LPRC RETIRES “THE GREAT SIX”

A partial view of the audience

MD T. Nelson Williams, II commending employees for their good work during the year

Asst. Manager of the year Paul Jappah receives honor from Finance Comptroller Elizabeth M. Tubman

DMDO Aaron J. Wheagar, I presents a plaque to Papa Kamara on behalf on TOTAL Liberia Gbanay Bai Roberts of Public Relations served as MC

DMDA Jackson Fiah Doe, Jr. Making a remark

Board Member Ophelia Freeman Johnson presents a plaque to retiree Fallah Baryoh

8

MONDAY, JAN. 20, 2014, vol. 16, No.59indd 8 1/19/14 8:36 PM

DAILY OBSERVER Page 9Monday, January 20, 2014

MD T. Nelson Williams, II presenting a plaque to the Finance team

Some members of the Executive Management Team

The Finance Team receives honor from MD T. Nelson Williams, II as Team of the year.

William Sharpe making a remark on behalf of fellow retirees

With Quincy T at the occassion there was always laughter

Some employees at the program

Cadets and other employees preparing to cater

Retiree John Wilson receives a gold ring from MD T. Nelson Williams, II.

Retirees pose for the camera

MONDAY, JAN. 20, 2014, vol. 16, No.59indd 9 1/19/14 8:39 PM

Daily Observer Page 11 Monday, January 20, 2014 10

January 15, 2014

SURVEY NOTICE

The public is hereby notified that upon the request of Mr. Donald J.I. Williams, repre-sented by Rose Mendscole-Sherman the undersigned Registered Land Surveyor will on Friday, the 24th January A.D. 2014 conduct the survey of one acre of land at 11:00AM.

The land is situated in Cooper Farm, Paynesville and adjoining to properties owned by one Sherman and James C. Crowther.

Accordingly, all those having claim as well as adjoining property owners and care takers of the Cooper’s property are requested to be present during the conduct of the field survey exercise to avoid future land dispute.

Please be present and on time.

This is where business meets customer.

Call NOw: 0777472772TO adVERTISE

Daily Observer Page 8 Monday, January 20, 2014 11

NATIONAL COMPETITIVE BIDDINGRequest for Expressions of InterestFOR ARCHITECTURAL SERVICES

(RE-ADVERTISED)IFB NO. NASSCORP/NCB/015/13/14

The National Social Security & Welfare Corporation invites Expression of Interest from interested Architectural Consult-ing Firms for the provision of Architectural Services required for the construction of its Regional Administrative Head-

quarters to be situated in Kakata, Margibi County. The successful firm will be responsible to develop schematic and detailed designs, Bill of Quantities, Tender Documents, implement the tendering process, and provide quality supervisory services during the construction process.

Interested architectural firms who meet the pre-qualification criteria may furnish their Expression of Interest with all necessary documents in a sealed cover along with the covering letter duly signed by an au-thorized signatory.

Pre-qualification requirements include the following:1. Detailed corporate profile including structure and management inventory;2. Past performance report indicating successful implementation of at least three similar projects with verifiable references;3. Membership with local and/or international accrediting agen-cies relative to the provision of architectural services;4. A list of key implementing staffs with the relevant educational/technical background5. Financial capability statement and tax clearances;6. Legal documents including articles of incorporation and busi-ness registration documents; and7. Payment of social security benefits where applicable.

Upon evaluation of the EOI, firms whose submissions meet the pre-qualification requirements will be shortlisted and issued bid solicitation documents including the Terms of Reference for the Architectural ser-vices. The documents will request the firms to submit their Technical and Financial proposals, which indicate the competing firm’s technical approach to providing the services and the associated remuneration. The winner will be selected based on the fulfillment of the evalua-tion criteria set forth in the bid documents. Shortlisted firms will be required to pay a non-refundable fee of US$50.00 for bid documents.

Interested eligible bidders may obtain further information from the Procurement Unit in the office of the Coordinator of General Services at the NASSCORP Complex on 15th Street, from Thursday, January 9, 2014 to Thursday, January 23, 2014 from 10:00am. to 3:00pm on workdays.

Deadline for the submission of EOIs is Thursday, January 30, 2014 at 2:00pm. Bids will be opened on the same day at 2:00 pm in the Board Room of NASSCORP located at the Complex Offices on 15th Street, Sinkor, Monrovia in the presence of bidders’ representatives who choose to attend the bid opening. All EIOs must be sealed and hand-delivered to the following address: The Coordinator, General Services Department, NASSCORP Complex, 15th Street, Sinkor, Monrovia, Liberia

Please note that Electronic bidding will not be permitted, and that late bids will be rejected and returned unopened. NASSCORP reserves the right to reject all bids at no cost to the Corporation.

__________________________ Signed: The Management NASSCORP

1 December 2013

Peace Corps/Liberia Education Programming and Training Specialist (ED PTS)

REPORTS TO: Programming and Training Manager (PTM) POSITION BRIEF: The ED PTS serves as a member of the Programming and Training (P&T) team and supports 80-100 Volunteers in training, program, administration, and other Volunteer support issues. The ED PTS has responsibility for supporting the planning, development, implementation and administration of Peace Corps Liberia’s programming and training activities. The ED PTS will support all P&T related activities for the Education Project with support and direction from the Education Program Manager (ED PM) and PTM. During the Pre-Service Training (PST) and In-Service Training (IST) cycles, the PTS will be the full-time technical trainer for the Education Project and will receive support and direction from the TM and ED PM. The ED PTS also represents Peace Corps Liberia with governmental officials and representatives of non-governmental and host country organizations. MAJOR DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES A. Project and Program Support Site Development Site Visits Administrative Program Support Volunteer Program Support B. Development and Implementation Of Training Activities C. Administrative and other Volunteer Support D. Grants Coordination and Management E. Information Resource Center Management F. Safety and Security QUALIFICATIONS REQUIRED FOR EFFECTIVE PERFORMANCE Education: Bachelor’s degree in education, project management, community development or relevant field. Experience: Three years progressively responsible experience in Education field and/or community development. Trainer of trainers and adult training experience. Knowledge, Skills, and Attitudes: Knowledge of and experience with adult education, education in Liberia, and participatory community analysis for development. Strong experience with group facilitation, session plan design, and cultural adaptation & sensitivity training. Computer skills with Microsoft Office required. Ability to work with minimal supervision Ability to manage and administer small grant programs. Position requires a valid Liberia driver’s license and ability to drive a manual vehicle (stick shift). ED PTS must be available and willing to travel throughout Liberia approximately 50-60% of time either accompanied by PM or alone. For a complete Statement of Work please send a request to pcjobs@lr.@peacecorps.gov. Submit a letter of interest, resume and three reference contacts as attachments via email to: pcjobs@lr.peacecorps.gov. No phone calls please. The deadline for applications is January 13, 2014. Applications received after this date may be considered at the discretion of the Contracting Officer. A detailed Statement of Work can be obtained at the guard stations of the Peace Corps Office in Congo Town.

Three Bedrooms Apartment with living room, Dinning Room, Kitchen and one Bath room for rent

This apartment is situated in Kebbah Barnesville Monrovia. If there is any interest you can please contact Mr. Jefferson K. Barclay on his cell number 0880754609 or 0777238212.

Thanks for you corporation.

APARTMENT FOR RENT

Daily Observer Page 7 Monday, January 20, 2014 12

REPUBLIC OF LIBERIA

MINISTRY OF JUSTICESTRENGTHENING GOVERNANCE- IMPROVING ACCESS

TO JUSTICE AND ACCOUNTABILITYGrant No: TF011340

NATIONAL CONSULTANT SERVICES: ACCESS TO JUSTICE (ADR) ADVISOR

Request for Expressions of Interest1. IntroductionThe Government of Liberia has received a grant from the International Development Association (IDA) toward the cost of strengthening Governance – Improving Access to Justice and Accountability and intends to apply part of the proceeds of this grant to pay-ments under the contract for the recruitment of a National Consultant.

2. BackgroundAlternative Dispute Resolution (ADR), including various forms of mediation, arbitration and other justice services, is regularly referenced as a solution to challenges faced by the Liberian justice system, including: increasing congestion of court dockets; high numbers of land disputes; significant costs of litigation; procedural delay; and the adversarial na-ture of proceedings. The Ministry of Justice’s three-year ADR project will explore ways by which the justice system can be more responsive to the needs of Liberians and exam-ine means of resolving disputes outside of the formal legal process. The overall objective of the ADR project is to determine how ADR is being used in the Liberian context and pi-lot models that increase the effectiveness, accountability and sustainability of local ADR initiatives through some form of institutionalization or support by the MOJ.

3. Objective of the AssignmentThe objective of the assignment is to provide management, administrative and technical advice and support to the Ministry of Justice on the establishment of Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) in Liberia through the piloting of ADR system in four counties.

Duties & Responsibilities:Under the supervision of the Program Manager, the National Consultant in collaboration with the International Consultant will be responsible for helping to facilitate, consensus building and design of the pilot ADR activities; and establishment of pilots in four coun-ties. The consultant will work in close collaboration with officials in the MOJ, in partner-ship with key strategic partners including the Judiciary, the Law Reform Commission, the Land Commission, the Liberia National Bar Association, Tribal Governors Association, representatives of civil society groups, community leaders / elders and chiefs and justice actors.

The Ministry of Justice now invites eligible individual Liberian nationals to indicate their interest in providing the services. Interested consultants must provide information indi-cating that they are qualified to perform the services (CVs, description of similar assign-ments, experience in similar conditions).

Qualifications The Access to Justice (ADR) National Consultant shall have the following educational and professional qualifications:a. Graduate degree in Law, Public Administration, Political Science, or related areas;b. A minimum of five years of relevant working experience; c. Experience working on Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) and working with traditional communities in Liberia strongly preferred;d. Excellent writing and communication skills;e. Demonstrated experience in conducting research on issues related to Dispute Resolution in similar contexts;f. Familiarity with Liberia’s social and legal systems

An Individual consultant will be selected in accordance with the procedures set out in the World Bank’s Guidelines: Selection and Employment of Consultants under IBRD Loans and IDA Credits and Grants by World Bank Borrowers” dated January 2011. Interested individual consultants may obtain further information at the address below from Monday to Friday between 0830 hrs and 1630 hrs during working days.

Expressions of Interest, clearly marked “Access to Justice (ADR) Advisor –National ”, must be delivered to the address below by hand, mail or email, by 1400 Hrs no later than January 14, 2014. Only short listed candidates will be contacted. The ADR Program Ministry of Justice, Third Floor Ashmun Street, Monrovia, Liberia

Or By e-mail: adr.liberia@gmail.com

Republic of LiberiaIntegrated Public Financial Management Reform Project (IPFMRP); Ministry of Finance Credit No.: IDA50260

Assignment Title: Business Process Review Consultant

REQUEST FOR EXPRESSIONS OF INTEREST(CONSULTING SERVICES – FIRMS SELECTION)

The Republic of Liberia has received a Financing from the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (SIDA), the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), the International Development Association (IDA) and the African

Development Bank (AfDB) toward the cost of an Integrated Public Financial Management Reform Project (IPFMRP), and it intends to apply part of the proceeds of this financing for consulting services.

The consulting services (“the Services”) include the following:i) Conduct functional study of the FreeBalance Application and other fi-nancial systems being used by ministries/agencies of the GoL.ii) Undertake a review of financial management processes including the receipting of internally generated funds and subsequent expenditures of all M&As including IFMIS rollout M&As.iii) Undertake a review of financial management processes in Donor Financed Projects (DFP) in Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Education and Ministry of Health and Social Welfare.iv) Identify potential risksand inefficient processes and recommend re-engineered new business processes.v) Design and reengineer a prototype of the new business processes (along with identification of structures and processes to be rationalized or strength-ened) along with expected service standards in line with business objectives vi) Document on/off IFMIS work flows of the proposed new bus process-es vii) Update Financial Management Manual of the GoL to capture re-engi-neered processes.viii) Review of the requirements of autonomous agencies that are self ac-counting

The Ministry of Finance now invites eligible consulting firms (“Consultants”) to indicate their interest in providing the Services. Interested Consultants should provide information demonstrating that they have the required qualifications and relevant experience to perform the Services. The shortlisting criteria are:

• The firm must have technical competence in Public Management and Management Consulting Concepts such as Business Process Reengi-neering, Restructuring, and total quality improvement.

• Firm must have a team of at least two public sector financial manage-ment specialists

The assignment is to be completed within 35 days.

The attention of interested Consultants is drawn to paragraph 1.9 of the World Bank’s Guidelines: selection and employment of Consultants [under ibrD loans and iDa Credits & Grants] by World bank borrowers, January 2011 (“Consultant Guidelines”), setting forth the World Bank’s Policy on conflict of Interest.

Consultants may associate with other firms in the form of a joint venture or a subconsultancy to enhance their qualifications.

The Consultant will be selected in accordance with the “Selection based on Consultants’ Qualification (CQS)” method set out in the Consultant Guidelines.

Further information can be obtained at the address below during office hours 0900 to 1600 hours.

Expressions of interest must be delivered in a written form to the address below (in person, or by mail, or by fax, or by e-mail) by 31st January, 2014.

Integrated Public Financial Management Reform Project (IPFMRP)Attn: Mr. Bernard Jappah, PFM Reforms CoordinatorMinistry of Finance, 4th FloorBroad and Mechlin StreetsMonrovia, LiberiaTell: +231886512462E-Mail: bjappah@liftliberia.gov.lr

Cc: ivanofei@hotmail.com

Daily Observer Monday, January 20, 2014 Page 4Tuesday, November 5, 2013Monday, January 21, 2013 Page 13

GT BANK MD Lauds CBL Boss--As CBL Staff Association take oath of Officeby David a. yates

The Managing Director of the Guaranty Trust Bank (GT-

BANK), Mr. Dan Orogun, said that there is no doubt about the capability and leadership ability of the Executive Governor of the Central Bank of Liberia (CBL), Joseph Mills Jones, whom he said, has con-tributed immensely to the economic growth of the country.

Mr. Orogun noted that Governor Mills Jones is doing all he can in an effort to make the Liberian finan-cial sector more vibrant, which he said is being es-pecially manifested in the

transformation, growth and stability of the banking sector.

The GT Bank MD made the comments on Saturday, January 18, while serving as the keynote speaker at the induction ceremony of the new corps of officers of the Central Bank Staff As-sociation (CEBSA).

Speaking at the occasion held at the cafeteria of the CBL in its headquarters in Monrovia, Mr. Orogun said “the CBL initiatives are aimed at improving the profitability of the bank-ing industry through credit reference systems and supporting regulation to address the issue of delin-quent borrowers and high level of non-performing

loans.”According to him, the

importance of the banking sector in any country can-not be overemphasized, because it is the foundation

for that nation’s economic growth.

Mr. Orogun added that

the introduction of a Trea-sury bills (reserves) and the CBL bills are intended to enhance the yield on our idle Liberian deposits, availability of medium to

long term funds for non-lending to strategic sectors of the economy and cur-rent effort is being put into place so as to ensure that inter-bank market is pro-moted in the country.

The GT Bank boss told the newly inducted execu-tives of the Central Bank Staff Association (CEBSA) that they need to realize that a disgruntled or unhap-py work force would not be able to deliver the kind of excellent results expected by the leadership of the or-ganization unless they be-have themselves.

He noted that such occa-sions are not just reasons for celebration, but also moments of reflection for the new executives; whose primary objective should be how to improve on the

 

(L-r) Mr. Dan Orogun and members of the newly inducted officer of CEBSA

achievement of the past executives and meet the aspiration of the CBL dedi-cated work force.

“Your role as a leader in this institution includes bridging the communica-tion gap between staff and executive management.

You should also be will-ing to render trustworthy, staff-centered, purposeful and courageous leadership in this institution,” Mr. Orogun to the CEBSA of-ficers.

“It is important to realize, for a very successful and dynamic institution like the CBL, which is run on three core processes of strategy, operation and people, that the people process is most important. That is why it’s often said that “people are the most important Assets of an organization,” Mr. Orogun concluded.

For his part, the newly inducted president of CEBSA, Mr. D. Bouleigh Cooper promised his col-leagues that his adminis-tration would expand and improve the good working

relationship with the ad-ministration of the CBL in seeking the common wel-fare of its staff.

Mr. Cooper also used the occasion to call on the management of the CBL to establish a cordial working relationship with them in

ensuring that their mandate is achieve.

Delivering his inaugural address at the program, Mr. Cooper emphasized that his administration would provide a stable work en-vironment for all staff of the institution.

The CEBSA president told employees of the CBL to renew their commitment to the job as they all fight to see a better day.

Those inducted into of-fice were: Mr. D. Bouleigh Cooper, president; Miss Bernice Paw, Vice presi-dent; Mr. J. Roland Sam, secretary general. Oth-ers include Mrs. Sylvia F. Tarkpah, Financial Secre-tary General; Mrs. Geral-dine Layweh, Treasurer; and Mr. Mathias Cooper, Chaplain.

Mobile Money: The Best Route to the African Consumer

by Naziha bagui (Courtesy:www.

howwemadeitinafrica)

With a grow-ing middle class and a popula-

tion that is moving into the cities, Africa is on a positive growth trajectory. According to the African Development Bank, Afri-can consumers will spend about US$2.2tr annually by 2030.

Africa is ushering in posi-tive indicators across the board. The challenge is how to reach this grow-ing demand in a continent where not everyone has ac-cess to financial services, rural areas are still highly populated and the costs of expanding ATMs and bank branches to remote rural areas are prohibitive.

The best solution for Af-rica seems then to be mo-bile commerce. Mobile phone penetration in the continent is much higher than bank account penetra-tion. According to a report by TA Telecom it reached 80% in December 2013 of which 63% was 2G, 26% was 2.5G (also called EDGE, adding low-speed

data), and only 11% was 3G connections. This sets Africa for diverse payment methods, however the ulti-mate channel to reach the largest portion of African demand is by SMS (2G) through which M-banking, M-retail, and M-payments are made possible. Busi-ness Monitor International estimates that the value of mobile transactions on the continent will move from $12bn in 2011 to $85bn in 2016.

Mobile commerce has proved to be a winning for-mula in a number of Afri-can countries. In Kenya it is a true success story. M-pesa, the largest and most developed mobile money platform in the world, has 19.5m subscribers (cell-phone users). The platform has also been adopted by 10 Kenyan banks. Central Bank of Kenya data shows that mobile payments in Kenya grew 21.8% to $13.9bn by the end of Au-gust 2013 compared to the same period last year. The government has also found the solution perfectly suit-ed to fulfil its goals of fi-nancial inclusion, welfare disbursement and inward international transfer pro-

motion.The Kenyan model is

proof that the unbanked segment of the popula-tion holds great promise of growth. It is also solid evidence that other coun-tries need to adopt the Kenyan model and tune it up to their specific needs. Should we expect the Ke-nyan model to move across borders and serve as a con-tinental platform allow-ing mobile money to flow freely between countries? With a mindset of possibil-ity and optimism, I’d leave it to time to answer the question.

Naziha Bagui is a man-ager at Infomineo.

Infomineo is a business research company, focus-ing on Africa and the Mid-dle East. The company pro-vides its clients, including the majority of the leading global management con-sulting firms and several Fortune Global 500 com-panies, with ad hoc data on countries, markets, compa-nies and people gathered through primary and sec-ondary research. For more information please contact info@infomineo.com or visit www.infomineo.com.

Daily Observer Page b Monday, January 20, 2014 14

by Omari Jackson & David a. yates

Tw e n t y - f i v e -y e a r - o l d W i l l i a m S w e n ( a . k . a . Aquoi) was e lec t rocuted

on Saturday night when he at-tempted an illegal connection for a neighbor, identified only as A.B. in Nyuapanton, near New Kru Town, Monrovia.

Swen’s body hung from an electric pole, as hundreds of people from the community streamed past to cast a glimpse of the hanging corpse.

Neighbors told the Daily ObserverSunday, January 19,that it was around 10p.m. Saturday, January 18, when

A.B. along with three others, including two men identified only as‘Mulbah’ and ‘Billy,’ visited the victim and woke him from sleep.

“I told him not to follow be-hind A.B,” said Tina, the dis-traught pregnant girlfriend of the deceased as she explained the sad tale to the Daily Ob-server Sunday, lamenting, “He did not listen to me.”

A next door neighbor said, “I heard them negotiating the payment. Aquoi asked for US$20 and A.B. said he would give him US$10, which he re-fused.”

She said due to A.B’s persis-tence, they reached an agree-ment and Swen finally agreed to go along withthe unidenti-fied A.B., who is said to be a

Sierra Leonean. “Aquoi locked me inside

our room and took the keys and his mobile phone along with him,” Tina said tearfully.

In spite of the Daily Observ-er’s investigation, there still remains conflicting informa-tion about events leading up to the tragedy.

Another resident told this paper that police had arrested a man who had attempted to connect an illegal connection on the same pole that electro-cuted Swen.

“The people in the area begged the officer and he was given a bribe of L$500,” the witness said, though this could not be confirmed.

However, a man who gave his name as Augustine, a next door neighbor of the de-ceased’s, denied that Aquoi had been arrested by any

member of the Liberia Nation-al Police.

“I was here when the three men came and A.B. pleaded for Aquoi to go with him and do the connection,” Augustine said.

The Daily Observer also learned that sometime in No-vember , last year, a friend of Aquoi’s---identified as ‘Na-kata’--- suffered a similar fate.

At the family’s residence in New Kru Town, the deceased’s mother, Martha Swen, sat in mournful disbelief while she was surrounded by tearful family members.

The deceased left behind a one-year-old son from a previ-ous relationship, as well as his girlfriend Tina’s unborn child.

The Daily Observer also learned that the deceased was a member of a pool of work-ers who were trained by the

Liberia Electricity Corpora-tion (LEC) but could not be absorbed into the workforce.

Elder Dessaline SiehkaSeahjue told the Daily Ob-

server that “The absence of job opportunities is respon-sible for young people risking their lives. Swen died because someone called him to do them a favor.”

“How did Swen get the tools to climb up the pole? Those tools are not sold in any store in Liberia. Since he was trained by the LEC which could not employ him, he was used by others until he even-tually met his premature de-mise.”

Another elder in his 60s, Bill Anderson, said, “The LEC does not immediately respond to calls when the community needs an emergency job done. These long delays have creat-

ed room for people like Swen to stand in as ‘replacements;’ the result is his tragic death.”

At the LEC offices on Bushrod Island, a source who begged for anonymity because he was not authorized to speak for the LEC, said, “We have a procedure to respond to con-sumers’ calls. We deal with thousands of customers on a daily basis; hence the delay. That does not mean, however, that someone should engage in illegal activities and destroy their lives and the lives of those around them.”

Meanwhile, the charred re-mains of Swen were cut down by a team of LEC workers at 10:21a.m., on Sunday morn-ing, in the presence of officers of the LNP and the victim’s family.

Man, 25

by Joaquin sendolo, Observer Diplomatic

Correspondent

The head of the European Union, (EU) Klaus Rudis-chhauser, now visiting Libe-

ria, has given assurances that the EU remains committed to assisting the country in its de-velopment drive--- especially in the energy sector.

Mr. Rudischhauser, who serves as Deputy Director General in the European Com-mission Directorate for De-velopment and Cooperation, (EuropeAid) gave the pledge last weekend when he met with Lands, Mines and Energy Minister, Patrick Sendolo, at the Ministry on Capitol Hill.

According to Mr. Rudis-chhauser, European Union Development Commissioner, Andris Piebalgs, is attaching high priority to energy as a

key driver for development and has agreed with President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf that en-ergy should be a priority for EU cooperation with Liberia.

“The Republic of Liberia has been chosen as one of the first countries to receive support from the EU’s Technical As-sistance Facility (TAF), under the Sustainable Energy for All (SE4ALL) initiative,” Mr. Ru-dischhauser disclosed.

According to the EU Deputy Director, his organization’s in-tervention in the energy sector of Liberia is intended to in-crease access to affordable and sustainable energy services in order to foster economic and social development in Liberia.

“The EU strongly believes that an affordable supply of energy to households, institu-tions, and enterprises increases productivity in the economy. It also generates new private en-terprises, jobs, as well as im-proves education and servic-es,” Mr. Rudischhauser added.

EU Reaffirms

During his visit, Mr. Ru-dischhauser held talks with authorities of the Ministry of Lands, Mines & Energy, and relevant donors and stakehold-ers in Liberia’s energy sector.

Although results from the discussion were not disclosed, Mr. Rudischhauser reiterated that the European Union is one of the biggest donors for Liberia’s energy sector, with a present contribution of more than 65 million Euros (90 mil-lion USD).

He said discussions are still

ongoing with the Liberian au-thorities for additional support to be allocated over the next seven years.

Responding to concerns about why the EU remains committed to the development of Liberia, especially in the Forest and Energy sectors, Mr. Rudischhauser stressed that Liberia, having experienced war for many years, is strug-gling to build a responsible government and governance system. He explained that to set up such a government re-

quires preparing the people of the country for responsible governance.

He said the EU is committed in the long term to helping Li-beria achieve its development agenda. Mr. Rudischhauser noted that the EU does not only engage the country through government, but works with non-governmental organiza-tions to achieve its goals.

He pointed out the energy sector as a main area of con-centration for investors and business people in Liberia.

At the moment, the Liberia Electricity Corporation (LEC) supplies electricity from pow-er generators that consume thousands of gallons of fuel a month; a situation that is be-lieved to leave LEC in deficit almost every time.

Because it is cost-intensive to operate, the cost to sub-scribe is high and many people in Monrovia cannot afford it.

In order to address the power needs of Liberia, especially Monrovia where the seat of the Liberian Government is situated, government has al-

lotted US$45 million with an additional $65 million for a concession loan deal with the European Central Bank.

In addition, donor nations have committed US$107 mil-lion; with Germany and Nor-way having already pledged their support to commit US$75 million and US$32 million re-spectively.

With these commitments and assurances, electricity is ex-pected to be fully restored to Monrovia and its environs by 2015.

However, before the closed-door meeting between the Ministry of Lands, Mines and Energy and the EU six-person delegation, Minister Sendolo thanked the delegation for committing to Liberia’s en-ergy sector.

He disclosed that sometime this week, President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf will lead an array of government officials to Mount Coffee, where a ground-breaking ceremony will be take place for the re-construction of the hydro.

Mr. rudischhauser and Min. sendolo in handshake after their closed-door meeting

tioning from one institution of higher learning in the country to other entities of substance.

Those masquerading (cloak-ing, passing themselves off) with those fake academic cre-dentials were noticed recently to be mainly based in Monro-via--gainfully employed with various ministries and agen-cies including institutions of higher learning.

Among the reported intel-lectual fraudsters, are those that are destined for Gbarnga, Bong County where the Cut-tington University (CU) is said to be ripe for employment.

Following the recent discov-ery of a ring of the academic ‘fraudsters,’ it is being report-ed that among those involved are some highly placed of-ficials, who soon should face investigation. The pending investigation is expected to be led by authorities at the Na-tional Commission on Higher Education (NCHE) and other stakeholders to include per-sonnel from the Ministry of Justice (MOJ).

According to pieces of doc-uments in possession of the

Daily Observer, some of the suspected academic ‘fraud-sters’ have for many years, been misleading the public about their so-called academic achievements.

Copies of some of the fake credentials in possession of this paper contain information highly inconsistence, contest-able and or debatable.

For example, photo-copies of the ‘To Whom It May Con-cern,’ terminal degree of one of the academic fraudsters car-ries a different metric number against a purported transcript with a conflicting metric num-ber.

In another case, the date of graduation on one set of docu-ments, 2008, differs from the document’s transcript, dated 2005--most of the documents involved are from ‘universi-ties’ in Nigeria.

“These are some of the most sharp contrasts in the academic industry especially with intellectual property that must be well-arranged and structured,” one highly placed source in the country’s educa-tion sector observed.

Additionally, one of the fak-ers, now gainfully employed with a Liberian-based credible entity, made his getaway after he reportedly submitted ‘fake credentials’ with misspelt words and poor grammar on the purported degree.

Apparently, the board of in-terviewers missed a gross mis-spelling of ‘Columbia,’ printed on the submitted terminal de-gree; or did the Board decide to turn a blind eye?

Our investigation discov-ered that a fraudster claimed that the documents mentioned above, had been issued by Co-lumbia University that they said was based in the Wash-ington District of the United States of America.

The documents of another fraudster contained two dif-ferent spellings of the name of the same ‘graduate’ who claimed to be in possession of a terminal degree in education.

Our investigation has further discovered that most of those involved with such academic fraud are acquainted with each other.

Those universities that some of these individuals claimed to have graduated from are never found online; when found,

their names are never on the listing of any of the graduating classes.

With this latest development in the educational sector of the country, both the Ministry of Education (MOE) and NCHE have promised to conduct sep-arate investigations into the al-leged academic scams.

MOE’s director of commu-nications, J. Maxime Bleetahn, confirmed the information on the fraudulent activities in the sector.

He told this paper via mobile phone over the weekend, that the Ministry will not take the allegation lightly, because, ac-cording to him, those acts are some of the academic frauds that have besmeared the coun-try’s educational system.

The discovery of people with false intellectual creden-tials was made recently fol-lowing the discovery of one Ndien Peters with false cre-dentials while serving as vice president for academic affairs

at the St. Clements University. This situation compelled the NCHE to order the institution closed on grounds that it had employed an academic fraud-ster.

Another incident included the recent exposure of a ‘fake’ degree granting institution---CUSWORTH International Business School--- based somewhere in Fiama, Monro-via.

Fake Academic

a self-styled degree granting university recently discovered by NCHe

Daily Observer Monday, January 20, 2014 Page 4Tuesday, November 5, 2013For

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Read more sports articles on the Daily Observer website @ www.liberianobserver.com/sports

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Read more sports articles on the Daily Observer website @ www.liberianobserver.com/sports

Friday, January 17, 2014 Page 15

Bassa Ends 24-Year Trophy Drought-Defeats Nimba County in soccer Finals

by leroy M. sonpon, lll

Striker David Paye’s double in the 6th and 41st minutes were enough to defeat

Nimba 2-1 and to lift the foot-ball trophy of the 2013-2014 National County Sports Meet after 24 years, at the Samuel Kanyon Doe Sports Complex.

Nimba’s consolation goal came through striker Sawtee Nimely in the 57th minute.

Grand Bassa led Group 1 but with the absence of its potent striker Varney Sando owing to a controversial 83th-minute red card in the match against Bong, Bassa went into the game as the underdog.

Nimba was the favorite, after they humiliated Grand Gedeh

in the semi-finals with goal punchers Sam Jackson, Yan Dahn and Prince Choppy.

Confident Nimba, with an unbeaten record in the tour-nament, introduced their usual 4-4-3 pattern, but skip-per Kweku Mensah’s Bassa pulled up an upset their so-called frightening system, with a disciplined 4-man defense, headed by towering defender Emmanuel Gileh, while David Paye was upfront.

Grand Bassa’s personali-ties at the game were Deputy Speaker Hans M. Barchue, Senate Pro-Tempore Gbehzoh-gar Findley, Senator Nyonblee Karnga –Lawrence as well as Representatives Jeh Byron Browne and Gabriel Smith.

For her part, the big smile on President Ellen Johnson’s face could tell of her unspoken joy for Bassa’s triumph. But as a twin mother, the beam was short.

It can be recalled that Presi-dent Sirleaf, during the reign of Julia Duncan Cassell as president of Barrolle, attend-ed the official program of the dedication of Barrolle and her absence during the IE’s head-quarters dedication indicated that Barrolle was her team.

Earlier, Grand Gedeh Coun-ty convincing pinned Bong County 4-0 to win the 3rd place trophy.

VolleyballOn Saturday Nimba County

won the volleyball trophy, whipping defending cham-pions Bomi County 3-2. The mountainous grasped the first set 25-22 points, with star player Mohammed Varney

serving as the main smasher and blocker, but Coach-Player Gibson Otis Nyanneh’s Bomi rotated the score 25-19. The seesaw battle saw Nimba in-creased the score 25-18 in their 3rd and narrowly won the fourth set 24-26 points. In the fifth and final sets, Nimba cracked Bomi 15-12 points.

Earlier, Margibi won Grand Cape Mount County, in a four-set match to clinch the 3rd place trophy. Cape Mount put on a show in the first set 25-19 points; but lost in the remain-ing three sets: 25-22points, 25-21 points and 26 and 24 points. The games were played at gym of the Samuel K. Doe Sports Complex.

BasketballIn the Basketball edition,

on Saturday, Grand Bassa dumped Bong County con-vincingly to win the golden gi-gantic trophy. The Gbehzohn boys controlled the floor by four quarters. The Gibi boys, also won the 3rd place trophy, when she flushed Bomi, 83-41 points.

KickballYesterday, double kickball

champs Margibi bowed to Nimba 8-7 points in the grand final. Diamondlyn Wah was awarded the ‘Best Player of the Match.’

Earlier, Nimba County won third the place trophy, when she thumped Gbarpolu 2-1. Gbemee Nyumah was the ‘Best Player of the Match.’

AthleticsNimba County completed

the 22-events in athletics with 77 medals. The events are 100m (male and female); 200m (male and female); 400m (male and female); 800m (male and female); 1500m (male and female) and 5000m (male and female).

Other events include 4x100m (male and female); 4x400m (male and female); high jump, long jump and shot put.

Grand Cape Mount emerged 2nd with 37 medals, while Grand Bassa settled third with 32 points.

Lucy Massaquoi from Grand Cape Mount, 19, is the Most Valuable Player. She partici-pated in five events; won three gold medals and silver.

Over crowdednessAbout 9 persons, especially

females fainted on the field despite the spray of water by the Liberia Fire Service ow-ing to the denseness of the spectators. The over crowded-ness broke the wire fence, and spread to the perimeter, which was also crowded.

Most fans blamed the orga-nizer of the tournament for its inability to sell tickets per the number of seats taking into consideration the numbers of officials and staff’s access passes including players’ ac-cess.

They also pointed fingers at the various security apparatus, serving as security, including Police, Immigration, AFL, Fire Service, Scout as well as Taekwondo athletes.

LTA Rides to Finish Linesponsors County Meet Cyclists

The Liberia National Cyclists Associa-tion, (LINCA) got a surprise sponsor that

not only believed in them but showed up to urge them across the finish line on Sunday as over 30 cyclists competed for this year’s national title.

The Liberia Telecommunica-tions Authority partnered with the Ministry of Youth & Sports to give the LINCA a boost they really needed to prepare for the annual event and LTA Chairman Angelique Weeks showed up just before they got underway.

“It’s great to see the youth involved in an event like this,” she told the crowd “most of the time we focus on soccer and there is so much more we can do in other sporting areas to encourage development.”

LINCA President Jerry Free-man said, “The teams are so grateful to LTA, they followed through and showed up to en-courage us also.”

Acrobatic riders dazzled the crowd outside the SKD Sta-dium prior to the race. Each county was represented by two riders in a ten lap race that took them down the S.D.

Cooper Road all the way up to the Paynesville Junction and around again.

William Johnson, represent-ing Gbarpolu County, emerged as this year’s winner, riders from Cape Mount County and Nimba came in second and third.

The LTA Commissioners are getting ready for senate confirmation hearings later this month. Confirmation for Chairman Weeks will mean four more years at the helm of Liberia’s regulatory authority, the Weeks Commission took office in 2009. ---Contributed.

 lTa Chairman angelique Weeks in the background with County Meet cyclists after the race at the sKD Complex

bassa striker (in white) prepares to shoot the opening goal (Photo by sando J. Moore)

Trophies that all the teams in various categories fought for. The big one was won by the bassa football team

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VOL. 16. NO. 59 MONDAY, JANUARY 20, 2014 PRICE: LD 40

What Did Dr. Owl Say?

Published by the Liberian Observer Corporation (LOC), 23 McDonald Street, P.O. Box 1858, Monrovia, Liberia; Tel: 06 812-888; 06 578476; and 06 472772; Printed by the Observer Printing Press;

Bai S. Best, Marketing Manager; Lindiwé Khumalo Yasiah, Business Strategist; Publisher & Managing Director, Kenneth Y. Best.

The Race is not given to the swift, but to those who

endure to the end

Dr. Owl guest

By Edwin M. Fayia III

The ground-break-ing ceremony for a US$5 million water project took place in Rob-

ertsport, Grand Cape Mount County last Thursday, January 16.

The project is being imple-mented by the Liberian Mu-nicipal Water Project (LMWP) with support from the United States Agency for Internation-al Development (USAID).

The ceremony was graced by the United States Ambassador to Liberia, Madam Deborah Malac, USAID’s Global Water Coordinator, Chris Holmes, LWSC Managing Director, Mr. Charles Allen, top US Embassy officials, as well as many distinguished Liberians.

Speaking at the program Ambassador Malac reminded all that access to clean water in Liberia still remains low, de-spite the developmental prog-ress made since the end of the

civil crisis. in 2003.Amb. Malac placed empha-

sis on the fact that more than a quarter of Liberian citizens lack access to safe drinking water.

“That is why we are pleased to join you today to officially launch the construction of a water pipeline extension from the water treatment plant into your area,” she declared.

“Rebuilding Liberia’s – Rob-ertsport’s included – water infrastructure is no easy task. I know this pipeline extension has been a long time coming, and I’m looking forward to

US Envoy, LWSC, Others Break Ground for US$5M Water Project in Robertsport

As Stakeholders, GOL Officials Call for Enhanced Implementation seeing the full renovation of Robertsport’s former water treatment plant and installa-tion of pipe-borne water points throughout the city as much as you are,” the American Am-bassador said.

She congratulated the local steering committee, LWSC managers, staff, employees, chiefs, elders and others as-sociated with the water project for preparations and work so far initiated.

“I know you have worked tirelessly with support from the LMWP to finalize the designs, sign contracts, and secure land for the various points throughout the city. You have undertaken the kind of careful planning that sustain-able water demands,” praised the Ambassador.

She furthered that the U.S. Government has been support-ing the project since 2011 by undertaking feasibility studies and developing master designs with local leadership to estab-lish an institutional framework for Robertsport’s water sys-tem.

“We are committed to seeing this work through to comple-tion, in partnership with the LWSC, the Liberian Govern-

ment, and the Local Steering Committee,” Ambassador Malac assured.

She, however, reminded Li-berians that the project would not happen overnight and that USAID would work hard with the LWSC to get the next phase of construction moving later this year.

According to the Ambassa-dor, the water treatment plant and pipe-line extension would see the immediate benefit of clean water to 200 households and nearly 1,000 citizens and residents of Robertsport.

In brief remarks, the Manag-ing Director of the LWSC, Mr. Charles Allen, pointed out that as a major custodian of water initiatives in Liberia the dream for the provision of quality water to Liberians, businesses and foreign residents, was in-deed in sight.

Mr. Allen expressed delight over efforts of the LWSC and its support partners, especially USAID. He said their assis-tance would help the Libe-rian Government in its drive to restore pipe-borne water to all parts of the country, on a gradual and steady basis.

(L-R) US Amb. Deborah Malac (middle, with shovel) and others breaking ground in Rob-ertsport, for the pipe-borne project

By Abednego Davis

Mr. Johnson Paul, a Ni-gerian ac-cused of entering the

county with 795 kilo grams of heroin valued as US$23,250 last Thursday, January 16, ap-peared at the Monrovia City Court, at the Temple of Justice.

Defendant Paul was said to have swallowed the drug in Pakistan with the intention of smuggling it into this country, according to the Drug En-forcement Agency (DEA).

He was charged with ‘unlaw-ful possession and distribution of illegal substances and drug

trafficking.It is not clear whether the

defendant was released on Thursday or remanded to the Monrovia Central Prison, where he has been detained since his arrest on January 11 of this year. The crimes are bailable under our Law.

Though, the status of his case is unknown, he was seen sitting on the prisoners’ bench in the courtroom, along with other accused; he was appar-ently waiting for his lawyer to secure a bail bond for his release.

His arrest had been effected by the DEA on January 11, around 4:10P.M at the RIA.

Mr. Paul is charged in viola-

tion of Section 41.23, of the Public Health Law of Liberia.

During preliminary inves-tigation, it was established that defendant Paul was contacted by cell-number #+923065908794, belonging to one John Okarfor in Paki-stan. His assignment was to se-cure the substance and bring it to Liberia, this paper was told.

The DEA said that it was Okarfor who instructed defen-dant Paul to deliver the hero-ine to another Nigerian, identi-fied as “50-50” who resides in Liberia.

Upon Paul’s arrival in Li-beria, “50-50” was to imme-diately contact cell number #0880531354.

Nigerian Heroin Swallower in Court

MONDAY, JAN. 20, 2014, vol. 16, No.59indd 1 1/20/14 1:16 AM