MONROVIA – Mr. McCarthy Weh, Director of the Legislative Information Service (LIS), has urged the citizens of Bomi County not to re-elect Senator Morris Saytumah as their senator in the upcoming October 10 presidential and general elections. This has adversely affected the knowledge-based information center, as well as other departments, to the extent that budgetary funding for his departments and organs has not been forthcoming. Director Weh alleges that Chairman Saytumah has yet to account for $320,000 out of the $350,000 appropriated for the effective operation of the information center, the LIS Department. Such a leader should be self-employed because the public sector is meant for selfless public service that benefits the greater good for the greatest number,” Director Weh declared. “Should reform-oriented and transformational leaders be elected for the 55th Legislature in January 2024, one can be cautiously optimistic that it will perform better than the 52nd, 53rd, and now 54th Legislature,” Director Weh concluded.

The National Public Health Institute of Liberia (NPHIL) has announced that it is taking steps to enhance control and prevention measures for public health threats during the upcoming electoral period. As part of its efforts, the National Public Health Emergency Call Center will be implementing a Special Public Health Emergency Operation. The primary objective of this operation, a NPHIL statement released on Thursday, October 5, is to ensure an effective and coordinated response to any public health inquiries or emergencies that may arise during the election period. These measures will specifically target the general public, electoral authorities, and various stakeholders, all with the aim of efficiently addressing public health concerns. It will be staffed by a dedicated team of skilled operators and supervisors, with technical support personnel available at the call center, which is located at the National Public Health Institute of Liberia.

Torli H. KruaAs Liberians prepare to cast their ballots on October 10, the Free Liberia Movement (FLM) has raised concerns about Liberia's electoral system, calling for an overhaul of the country’s electoral system. Therefore, Liberia cannot automatically become a democracy based on elections conducted in a corrupt and deceptive electoral system that caters to wealthy individuals and excludes citizens’ input and participation.”Rev. “A corrupt tree cannot be rescued or fixed when it’s bearing corrupt fruits,” he said. Or make a tree corrupt, and its fruits will be corrupt. Krua has been advocating for the rebirth of Liberia since he launched the Free Liberia Movement a few years ago.

The trial, which has gripped the nation's attention since its inception, took an unexpected turn when the Jury Management Team of the Supreme Court accused the Solicitor General of allegedly tampering with the jury during a visit to the Court beyond work hours. According to the ruling of Criminal Court ‘A’, while the allegation against Tuan raised about potential misconduct, there was insufficient proof to convict him of any wrongdoing. “The court,” he said, “concluded that there was no evidence of jury tampering by Tuan” and that the jurors would remain intact and not disbanded. He cited a prior case — the US$100 million drug case heard in Criminal Court ‘C’, which the government lost due to last-minute information that favored the defendants. The Judge also expelled Amos Korkollie, Titus Massah, Webster J. Paye, and Lassana Liazolu, who were assigned to the Jury Quarter and had interacted with the Solicitor General.

Extent of damage is such that parts of a dam were swept away – draining a lake of two-thirds of its waterAt least 14 people were killed and 102 are missing in northeastern India after flash floods triggered by sudden heavy rainfall swamped several towns and washed away parts of a dam. Among the missing are 22 soldiers, and the Indian army is carrying out extensive search and rescue operations to trace them. The army has managed to rescue only one soldier out of the 23 troops who had earlier been reported missing. Eleven bridges were swept away by floodwaters as well. The floods struck pipelines and damaged or destroyed more than 270 houses in four districts as well.

Second, if Christianity dominates the Liberian population, then Liberian Christian should endeavor to ensure that our continued campaign activities exhibit the Christian values of love, respect, critique of national issues void of verbal mayhem. John Wesley played a very significant role in Britain’s national elections in 18th century England when he provided some guidelines to vulnerable electorates. This is a betrayal of the interest of Mama Liberia; an injustice to the core, and we decry it. By doing so, even during this campaign and election season, we shall all help to develop Mama Liberia, not to destroy its future. National campaigns and elections should not divide us but unite us to forge ahead as one people with a common destiny.

It's not just about the cards; it’s the entire biometric process that has cost Liberia more than 12 million United States dollars,” Lansanah asserted. With the previous versions of Liberian voter cards, which were laminated, the NEC perforated (hole-punched) the cards immediately after handing a voter a ballot paper, as proof that the voter’s cards had been used in that election. Now, with the use of biometric voter cards in a manual voting process, no hole-punching means no verification that a card has already been used. They argued that this seemingly minor change has significant implications for the transparency and credibility of the electoral process. This issue, the UP added, raised serious doubts about the validity of the 2023 Voter Registration cards and, by extension, the credibility of the impending elections.

Monrovia – Frank Saah Foko, the Representative of Montserrado County District #9, is calling on residents of his district to re-elect him to fulfill the dreams of his former boss, the late Representative Munah Pelham Youngblood. Webster Clayeh (0886729972) – [email protected]The late Representative Youngblood was elected twice to the Liberian House of Representatives, making her the youngest person ever elected to the Liberian parliament. Following her passing, Foko was elected as the next Representative after serving as the Special Assistant to the late Representative Youngblood. Representative Foko has now served for over two years and is seeking re-election. During his campaign launch, Representative Foko addressed the gathering, stating that he is on a mission to fulfill the late Representative’s dreams.

The event, held under the theme: “Promoting Women Political Leadership,” the first of its kind in the country, provided the platform for female candidates to share their experiences and visions with the electorates, especially first-time voters. “We want to ensure that the electorates get to hear women candidates' voices, perspectives, and policy ideas. So how do we try to increase the voices of women in political leadership? Executives and staff of IYEED, organizers of the Movie date with female candidates Female candidates who were invited to the event include presidential candidate Sara Beysolow Nyanti, vice-presidential candidate Charlyne Brumskine, Montserrado County Senatorial candidate Victoria Koiquah, Montserrado representative candidates Angeline Togba (D-13), Cecelia Doe (D-2), and Pauline Nyanfor (14). Wutoh emphasized that women's leadership is good for every society, projecting women as good policymakers and implementers.

The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) has conducted a three-day stakeholder engagement workshop in Gbarnga City, Bong County, emphasizing the importance of collaboration and co-creation in the context of Human Security Interventions. The workshop targeted stakeholders from project counties aimed at enhancing their capacity to co-create projects aligned with the Human Security Protection floor while promoting the smart village concept which aligns with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). He urged participants to take the training seriously, disseminate the knowledge gained among their communities, and become agents of change and advocates for the SDGs. UNDP Human Security Country Program Manager, Robert Dorliae, explained the training’s purpose, emphasizing the importance of building the capacity of relevant stakeholders in designing project proposals for human security interventions at the community level through collaboration and co-creation. The training marked the fourth in a series of awareness workshops organized by UNDP under the Human Security Trust Fund Project to deepen participants’ knowledge of human security concepts and SDGs-related issues and goals.

However, while some presidential candidates not originally scheduled to participate in Tuesday’s debate did join, most of the expected contenders did not. Organizers of the debate did not officially disclose whether these candidates provided valid reasons for their absence. Here is an excerpt:“Vice President of Liberia and Standard Bearer of the Unity Party. God bless y’all.”Highlight of the DebateDespite the absence of the leading candidates, the debate was not without its share of drama. Bendu Kroma, one of the two female presidential candidates, called for the election of another female leader, emphasizing Liberia’s history of electing only one female president, who performed exceptionally.

MONROVIA – The National Elections Commission (NEC) has reported that it is making progress in the deployment of electoral materials in preparation for the October 10th polls, covering 11 out of the 15 counties, while the remaining four are currently being packaged. Materials for the remaining four counties, namely Montserrado, Bomi, Grand Bassa, and Margibi, are in the process of being packaged and will be deployed this week. It should be noted that while the Commission will grant him an audience, he cannot qualify as a candidate after the nomination process has ended. Regarding the attempted hacking during the Lofa Senatorial By-election, the Chairperson stated that the Justice Ministry and NEC had discussed increasing the security of the NEC website, which the NEC has complied with. She expressed gratitude to the Ministry of Justice and the security apparatus for providing security to the Commission since the beginning of the electoral process.

A court in Moscow has handed a former state TV journalist an eight-and-half-year prison term in absentia for protesting Russia’s war in Ukraine, the latest in a months-long crackdown against dissent that has intensified since Moscow’s invasion 20 months ago. Marina Ovsyannikova was charged with spreading false information about the Russian army, a criminal offence under a law adopted shortly after the Kremlin sent troops to Ukraine. She held a picket in the Russian capital in July 2022, and held a poster that said “(Russian President Vladimir) Putin is a killer. Russian authorities put her on a wanted list and prosecuted and tried her in absentia. Thousands of Russians have been fined and hundreds have faced criminal charges over publicly speaking out or protesting against the war in the last 20 months.

We caution members of the public not to test the resolve of the Joint Security. Any attempt by anyone to disrupt the peace will be met with the full force of the law,” Justice Minister Cllr. He added, “The Joint Security shall be robust and prepared to do anything and everything legally permissible to protect the peace. The Justice Minister says the Joint Security’s Special Investigation Team on Election Violence will leave no stone unturned. People must be made to understand that when they break the law, they will be held accountable,” Minister Dean said.

The government declares three days of national mourning following the attack by suspected armed groups. At least 29 soldiers have been killed in an attack in western Niger, according to the country’s defence ministry. It added that two soldiers were seriously wounded and “several dozen terrorists” were also killed. The attack took place near the country’s border with Mali during military operations aimed at “neutralising the threat posed” by the ISIL (ISIS) armed group in the area, according to the ministry. The “three borders” area between Niger, Mali and Burkina Faso is regularly the scene of attacks by fighters affiliated with ISIL and al-Qaeda.