October 2020 Archives

In different tweets on Monday, former leader of the opposition Democratic Alliance Mmusi Maimane, Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) kingpin Mbuyiseni Ndlozi, Thuli Madosela and musicians AKA and Casper Nyovest, suggested that the South African government and other nations should intervene to stop the arrest and human rights violations.

EFF expresses solidarity with Nigerian protesters, condemns Buhari government

October 22, 2020October 22, 2020 admin2Buhari, Eff, Nigeria, Violence0 comment

By Jonisayi Maromo Pretoria – The Julius Malema-led Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) on Wednesday saluted the “young lions” of Nigeria for intensifying the fight against police brutality under the banner of #EndSARS. The protests now included “a more cogent revolutionary struggle” against corruption, maladministration and bad governance that has characterised Nigeria over decades, it said. EFF national spokesperson Delisile Ngwenya said in a statement that Nigeria had seen seven military takeovers of governance, including two of its former military rulers turned democratically elected heads of state – former president Olusegun…

The new President’s accepted the challenge with an amazingly activist response: the university had “duties to society.”[3] This singular statement became a powerful metaphor of self-determination. It motivated his indefatigable efforts to provide teaching and learning services to thousands of UL students caught in the bind of a fratricidal conflict that had destroyed all the infrastructure of the nation’s oldest institution of higher learning founded in 1862 as Liberia College.

Tributes

A Tribute to Dr. Patrick L.N. Seyon, University President

October 22, 2020 admin2Liberia, Patrick L.N. Sayon0 comment

By Al-Hassan Conteh, Ph.D The family of Dr. Patrick L.N. Seyon, the Ninth President of the University of Liberia (UL) (1991-1996), recently announced his passing. According to a fitting tribute by eminent historian Dr. Elwood Dunn, “Patrick passed away recently in the State of Massachusetts, USA in the loving care of his wife, Dr. Barbara Greene Seyon.”[1] As a mentee and collaborator of Dr. Seyon in the reopening of the University of Liberia during the Liberian civil war, I would like to add my voice to Dr. Dunn’s kind…

Public Policy

AU Chair Ramaphosa urged to intervene in Nigeria crisis

October 22, 2020 admin2African Union, Nigeria, Pres. Ramaphosa0 comment

The IFP has called on President Cyril Ramaphosa, in his capacity as African Union chair, to urgently intervene in the ongoing and escalating violence in Nigeria. The IFP wants Ramaphosa to raise the matter at the UN Security Council and to call for an extraordinary meeting with the Economic Community of West African States, regional block, in order to ensure the stability of the West African region is not threatened. This comes amid reports that citizens of Nigeria claim the government has been using military force against innocent civilians. A…

As I see it, there is no other explanation for this government’s continuous intimidations of critics, but to force those it considers oppositions to be loyal followers; thereby creating a monolithic political society in which CDC’s grand vision of a one-party state will prevail. But Liberians have come a long way in pursuit of multiparty democracy and the notion that Liberia will be a one-party state is a dangerous foreplay in our political dialectics and a choice we are unwilling to stomach.

Public Policy

With public confidence low in the Supreme Court Justice Korkpor Assures Liberians of independence

October 19, 2020 admin2Chief Justice, Elections, Liberia0 comment

Comfort M. Johnson MONROVIA, Oct. 13 (LINA) – The Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Liberia has assured Liberians of the independence of the Court in deciding all cases brought before it, including matters which may arise from the pending December 8 mid-term Senatorial elections. Justice Francis S. Korkpor said the court will continue to be fair in its actions and decisions in elections or other cases while assuring all Liberians, political parties and associations as well as organizations to continue to trust the nation’s justice system during the…

Interestingly, the 2017 elections have come and gone and many are clinging on to the CDC victory as if it’s the triumph of their lives. Some of these very ones, like myself have always considered George Oppong Weah, grossly incompetent and unfit for the office of the President of the Republic of Liberia. But some of these people are somersaulting suddenly and are singing praises to Weah. You will not believe who they’re scapegoats, THE PROGRESSIVES!

Public Policy

NDC writes Ecowas, advances Weah’s leaving power than see bloodbath in Liberia

October 19, 2020 admin2Elections, Liberia, Violence Weah0 comment

Your Excellency Badatunde Ajisomoi Olenrewaju Special Representative of the president ECOWAS Commission to Liberia Monrovia, Liberia Your Excellency, Rise of the One Party Dominant State On September 30, 2020, I wrote and called your attention to the threat of a constitutional crisis that hangs over Liberia because of the poor handling of the electoral process in Liberia and the inability of the George Weah government to maintain the peace. Since then, the brutal killing of key government workers in the financial accounting sector has sent fear…

Calloway was the first African-American musician to sell a million records from a single song. In 1993, Calloway received the National Medal of Arts from the United States Congress. He posthumously received the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 2008. His song "Minnie the Moocher" was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 1999 and added to the Library of Congress' National Recording Registry in 2019. He is also inducted into the Big Band and Jazz Hall of Fame and the International Jazz Hall of Fame.10.

Artists & Reviews

Cab Calloway and Marcus Garvey, Part One

October 17, 2020 admin2Band, Cab Calloway, Garvey, Liberia0 comment

Dag Walker In the 1920 and 30s, Harlem, Manhattan, was hopping, but for some, Liberia was hoping. The music scene was on fire, as was the imagination of one man who hoped to change the future of Black America, to lead the people back to Africa. Cab Calloway led the band; Marcus Garvey led the charge to Liberia. Folks were jitterbugging: across the Cotton Club dance floor; folks were steaming shipboard across the Atlantic Ocean. Two leaders, one destined for musical fame, the other destined for disgrace and imprisonment.…

The One People Revolutionary Movement [OPRM] says it has uncovered a diabolical plan by the George Weah administration to arrest its leader Comrade Moncio Kpadeh. The leaked according to the OPRM is political and subversion, that has nothing to do with the breaking story The Parrot News website has published regarding circumstances surrounding the mysterious and tragic killing of Audit Chief Emmanuel Nyensua of the Internal Audit Agency or IAA which went viral recently. Rather than unleashing security agents to pursue Comrade Leader Moncio Kpadeh and Editor Julius Jaesen of the Parrot News website, a responsible and intelligent government would rather choose the path of litigation if it feels or believes the Parrot outlet has done anything transgressive to its image or those of its officials named in the story.

Op-ed

The OPRM decries the attempted arrest of its leader Moncio Kpadeh by state security

October 17, 2020October 17, 2020 admin2Liberia, OPRM, Political Violence0 comment

The One People Revolutionary Movement [OPRM] says it has uncovered a diabolical plan by the George Weah administration to arrest its leader Comrade Moncio Kpadeh. The leaked according to the OPRM is political and subversive that has nothing to do with the breaking story The Parrot News website has published regarding circumstances surrounding the mysterious and tragic killing of Audit Chief Emmanuel Nyensua of the Internal Audit Agency or IAA which went viral recently. Rather than unleashing security agents to pursue Comrade Leader Moncio Kpadeh and Editor Julius Jaesen of…

Artists & Reviews

Two Young Liberian Poets in the Literary Spotlight

October 16, 2020October 16, 2020 admin2Liberia, Literature0 comment

A week or two ago I came across a headline that reads as followed: Young Liberian Poet Wins International Award in Literature. That young Liberian poet is Eduardo De Bosco. A young Liberian determined to burst out of the literary obscurity of Liberia. There is another young Liberian, Karn Jeremy Karn whose poetry chapbook has been accepted for publication by the editors of the New Generation of African Poets. This is certainly good news out of Liberia, a nation whose literary tradition goes as far back as the founding of…

In August, the government finally responded with its stance. The Director General of the National Fisheries and Aquaculture Authority (NaFAA) Emma Metieh Glassco said permitting the vessels would be a “breach of international protocols. The six gigantic vessels that came to Liberia have larger fishing capacities," Glassco said. "Such vessels have never come to Liberia to fish and, worse, their authorization from the flag-state, which is the Peoples Republic of China, has expired."

Public Policy

Liberia refuses licenses for Chinese-flagged trawlers

October 16, 2020October 16, 2020 admin2China, fishing, Liberia News0 comment

The Liberian government has officially refused licenses to six Chinese-flagged trawlers, the latest development in a string of similar incidents in Africa. The trawlers arrived earlier this year, and local fishermen’s associations, including the Liberia Artisanal Fishermen’s Association, called on the government to reject the requests for licenses. The six trawlers would be capable of taking 12,000 metric tons (MT) of fish a year – more than the sustainable yearly catch of the species. In August, the government finally responded with its stance. The Director General of the National Fisheries…

The result is that the less privileged cannot afford these social services, while income inequality keeps rising. Foreign investors keep exploiting and damaging the continent, often with impunity. These foreign investors are ill-treating African people, paying them low wages and salaries that are insufficient for a decent existence. Pan-Africanism has lost its allure as African leaders seek pleasing these neocolonial masters. As Kwame warned, a country imprisoned under neocolonialism is not a master of its destiny.

Op-ed

“Unite Now or Perish” – Why Pan-Africanism Matters Now More Than Ever

October 12, 2020October 12, 2020 admin2Continent, Nkrumah, Pan Africa0 comment

Africans can collectively succeed if there is cross-continent unity. By Takudzwa Hillary Chiwanza The grip of neocolonialism on Africa’s economic sovereignty is getting tighter every year. African leaders are under the shackles of neocolonialism to the extent that they seek to please neocolonial masters more than their people. This is what Kwame Nkrumah always warned about – that Africa needed to unshackle itself from the forces of Western capitalism. As we celebrate his birthday, it is noteworthy to reiterate his most important rallying for all black people across the world, which…