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Tag: Ellen Johnson Sirleaf

  • Mixed feeling trends Twitter over 2017 Mo Ibrahim prize

    Mixed feeling trends Twitter over 2017 Mo Ibrahim prize

    Twitter users on Monday expressed mixed feelings over the emergence of former Liberian President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf, as the winner of the 2017 Mo Ibrahim Prize for Achievement in African Leadership.

    Johnson-Sirleaf, a Nobel Peace Prize laureate, won a five million dollars Mo Ibrahim award, designed to improve the quality of African political leadership.

    Jonson-Sirleaf became the first woman to win the Mo Ibrahim Prize for Achievement in African Leadership, in recognition of her efforts to rebuild her country following two devastating civil wars.

    The Ibrahim Prize is awarded to former Executive Head of State or Government by an independent Committee composed of eminent figures, including two Nobel Peace Prize Laureates.

    The views featured series of tweets on thoughts about the award conferred on Johnson-Sirleaf as the prize winner since 2007 the award was been organised.

    Below are some of the tweets by the social media users:

    @Omar_Ramadhan wrote: “Mo Ibrahim Foundation should stop its madness.

    “You give an individual five million dollars in five years plus 200,000 dollars yearly until she dies? For what sort of magic did she do in her country?

    @AICPowerAction  wrote: “congratulations to ex-President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf for winning the Mo Ibrahim Foundation African Leadership Price.

    @gibbysaine wrote: “I learnt with great pride and sense of direction that Liberia’s ex-president has won the Mo Ibrahim Foundation prize.

    “It is a five million dollar prize fulfilling certain democracy indicators.”

    @Tendaijoe wrote: “the Ibrahim Prize is a US$5 million award paid over 10 yrs and US$200,000 annually for life thereafter.

    We recalle that on six occasions, no leader was considered worthy of the Prize.

    In 2007, Mozambique’s former President Joaquim Chissano, in 2008, Botswana’s former President Festus Mogae.

    In 2009 and 2010, no award was given while in 2011, Cape Verde’s former President Pedro Pires won the prize.

    Meanwhile, 2012: No award given, 2013: No award given, 2014: Namibia’s former President Hifikipunye Pohamba, 2015: No award given, 2016: No award given and 2017: former Liberian president, Johnson-Sirleaf.

    The Prize seeks to change perceptions of African leadership by showcasing exceptional role models from the continent.

    The Prize recognise African leaders who, under challenging circumstances, strengthened democracy and human rights for the shared benefit of their people and paving the way for sustainable and equitable prosperity.

    NAN

  • ‘Change is on,’ says George Weah

    ‘Change is on,’ says George Weah

    Former football superstar, George Weah, took to his Facebook page to react to provisional results of Tuesday’s presidential runoff polls in Liberia.

    “My fellow Liberians, I deeply feel the emotion of all the nation. I measure the importance and the responsibility of the immense task which I embrace today.

    “Change is on’’, Weah wrote shortly after the results were released by the National Elections Commission (NEC), putting him in a comfortable lead to be the next president of Africa’s oldest republic.

    The former World Footballer of the Year who ran on the platform of the opposition Coalition for Democratic Change (CDC) is way ahead with 720,023 votes or 61.5 per cent.

    His rival and incumbent Vice President, Joseph Boakai, of the ruling Unity Party ( UP ) is far behind with 451,088 votes representing 38.5 per cent.

    Read also: George Weah set to become Liberia’s President

    The Chairman of NEC, Mr Jerome Korkoya, who released the results at a news conference in Monrovia on Thursday, said 98.1 per cent of the total votes cast in the polls had been counted.

    With pending results from just 104 or 1.9 per cent of polling places, Weah has sealed a massive victory as the successor to outgoing President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf.

    The announcement was greeted with massive celebrations by Weah’s supporters in the capital, Monrovia, and across the country.

    NAN

  • Probe Okorocha over ‘statues of Zuma, Johnson-Sirleaf’ – SERAP to ICPC

    Probe Okorocha over ‘statues of Zuma, Johnson-Sirleaf’ – SERAP to ICPC

    Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project, (SERAP) has asked Dr Muhammad Isah Acting Chairman of the Code of Conduct Bureau (CCB) and Professor Bolaji Owasanoye Acting Chairman of Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) to “jointly investigate allegations of incompatibility and/or apparent conflict of interest situation, and abuse of office involving Governor Rochas Okorocha of Imo State in connection with the exercise of his public functions and leadership of the Rochas Okorocha Foundation, and to collaborate with the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) in any such investigation.”

    The organization said that “Such investigation would help to improve public confidence in public authorities, and minimize the risks of bad government by public officials.”

    In the petition dated 10 November 2017 and signed by SERAP executive director Adetokunbo Mumuni, the organization expressed “serious concern that Governor Okorocha may have spent over N1 billion of public funds to build statues of South African President Jacob Zuma and Liberian President Mrs Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf.”

    According to the organization, “the spending on statues and apparent misuse of public resources may have violated constitutional provisions and international standards on code of conduct for public officers. The initiatives cannot be justified under any circumstances whatsoever, especially at a time when Imo state is unable or unwilling to pay teachers’ salaries and pensioners’ entitlements.”

    The petition copied to Ibrahim Magu Acting Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) read in part: “Inviting Zuma and Johnson-Sirleaf to attend the opening of his Foundation and then ‘honouring’ them with statues suggests abuse of office and apparent conflict of interest situation, as such acts were undertaken by Governor Okorocha in the exercise of his public functions to presumably promote and advance the commercial and other interests of the Foundation.

    “SERAP believes that rather than serving the common interest of the public, spending over N1 billion possibly of public funds on Zuma and Johnson-Sirleaf in the context of their participation in the opening of the Rochas Okorocha Foundation would seem to put Governor Okorocha in a conflict of interest situation.

    “SERAP notes that the Nigerian Constitution 1999 (as amended) and UN Convention against Corruption to which Nigeria is a state party prohibit conflict of interests and set ethical standards for public officers. Indeed, both the Constitution and the Convention require public officers to abstain from all acts that may compromise the exercise of their public office and functions, or are inconsistent with their entrusted positions.

    “Public officers also must discharge their public duties truthfully and faithfully, abide by the constitutional code of conduct, observe the primacy of public interest, and not allow their personal interest to influence their official conduct.”

    “The CCB and ICPC should carry out a joint investigation in collaboration with the EFCC of the allegations of conflict of interest, abuse of office and apparent misuse of public funds by Governor Okorocha. SERAP also urges the CCB and ICPC to prosecute Governor Okorocha after leaving office if there is relevant and sufficient admissible evidence of abuse of public office against him.

    “Conflict of interest represents a situation where the person exercising a public function has a personal interest of patrimonial or commercial nature, which could influence the objective fulfilment of the duties incumbent on public officers under the Constitution and international standards.

    “Conflict of interest arises from a situation in which a public official has a private interest which is such as to influence or appear to influence the impartial and objective nature of his or her official duties in order to promote private interests, which would be contrary to the public interest.

    “According to reports, Governor Okorocha recently hosted two African presidents—South African President Jacob Zuma and Liberian President Mrs Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf and built statues in Owerri to ‘honour’ them. The statues reportedly cost over N1 billion to build. Further, a Memorandum of Understanding between the Zuma Foundation and the Rochas Foundation was signed, while Mrs Johnson-Sirleaf visited the newly established Rochas Foundation College of Africa (ROFOCA).”

  • Liberia’s ruling party backs challenge to presidential result

    Liberia’s ruling party backs challenge to presidential result

    Liberia’s Unity Party ( UP ) said it would back a legal challenge to the result, accusing President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf of interfering in the vote.

    UP, Liberia’s ruling party candidate finished runner-up in the first round of this month’s presidential election.

    Unity Party said in a statement that the Oct. 10 poll, meant to usher in Liberia’s first democratic transition of power since 1944, was “characterised by massive systematic irregularities and fraud”.

    The statement, read to reporters by Unity Party Chairman Wilmont Paye, said Johnson Sirleaf had acted inappropriately by meeting privately with elections magistrates before the vote.

    “Greed has resurfaced in its most callous form, sowing seeds of discord yet again with the intent of disrupting the fragile peace of Liberia,” the party said in its statement.

    Unity Party officials said they were supporting a legal challenge by Liberty Party of the third-place candidate Charles Brumskine, which has petitioned the elections commission for a re-run of the first round.

    The All Liberian Party of businessman Benoni Urey also said on Sunday it was backing the complaint.

    “It doesn’t mean we will not take part in the (run-off),” Augustine Ngafuan, Unity Party’s national campaign chairman, told Reuters.

    “We hope the court can rule before the run-off. If not, we will decide what next to do.”

    An official from the elections commission said it expected to hear the formal complaint on Monday.

    he commission’s findings can be appealed in the Supreme Court.

    At Johnson Sirleaf’s residence, where she was celebrating her 79th birthday, her spokesman Jerolinmek Piah told reporters that he would comment on the accusations later as he did not want to overshadow the festivities.

    International observers from the European Union, the Carter Centre and the National Democratic Institute have said they saw no major problems with the vote.

    Unity Party’s statement cements a falling out between Johnson-Sirleaf, a Nobel Peace Prize laureate, and her party’s leadership after 12 years in power that saw the country consolidate a post-war peace but it also drew sharp criticism over alleged corruption and underdevelopment.

    Joseph Boakai has served as Johnson Sirleaf’s vice president since the president’s inauguration in 2006.However,

    Johnson-Sirleaf declined to endorse him and he distanced himself from the last administration.

    George Weah, a former soccer star in Europe, won the first round with 38.4 per cent of the vote to Boakai’s 28.8 per cent and has momentum heading into the run-off.

    On Thursday he picked up the endorsement of former warlord Prince Johnson, who won eight per cent of the vote in the first round.

    Morluba Morlu, a senior official from Weah’s CDC party, said those challenging the result were “opting to stage trouble”.

    “But no matter what they do … they cannot stop the election of Ambassador Weah,” he added.

    Weah has been a UNICEF goodwill ambassador.

    NAN

  • Liberia set to elect new president

    Liberia set to elect new president

    Voters in the West African nation of Liberia are set to elect a new head of state, as President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf prepares to step down after 12 years in power, an official poll has said on Tuesday.

    Report says Tuesday’s polls are expected to mark the first time in 73 years that a democratically elected president is peacefully handing over power to a successor chosen by the people.

    Twenty candidates are in the race for president, with 72-year-old Johnson Sirleaf, a Nobel Peace Prize-winner often dubbed the “Iron Lady,” retiring after two six-year terms in office.

    The official report said that there are only three contenders who analysts believe have a real chance of winning.

    They are Vice President Joseph Boakai of the ruling Unity Party ( UP ), former international football star George Weah, who leads the main opposition Coalition for Democratic Change ( CDC ) and Charles Brumskine, the head of the Liberty Party ( LP ).

    Boosting the economy, creating jobs and fighting corruption are high on the agenda of all candidates’ campaigns.

    The last peaceful transfer of power between two democratically elected presidents took place in Liberia in 1944 when former President Edwin Barclay handed over to William Tubman.

    Liberia remains one of the poorest countries in the world and continues to struggle with the aftermath of the 2013-15 Ebola crisis, which killed over 4,000 people nationwide.

    As well as a brutal 14-year civil war that ended in 2003 after having claimed over 250,000 lives and displaced about a million people.

    The roughly 2.2 million registered voters in the country of 4.1 million are also set to elect 73 members of the House of Representatives on Tuesday.

    NAN

  • Gambia: Military intervention inevitable as Jammeh stays put

    Gambia: Military intervention inevitable as Jammeh stays put

    As all attempts to convince President Yahya Jammeh of the Gambia to step aside on the expiration of his tenure fails, the prospect of military intervention by regional forces seem inevitable.

    Recall that Jammeh lost the presidential election to the candidate of the United Democratic Party (UDP) Adama Barrow on December 1st, 2016 and initially conceded defeat before refusing to step down.

    Jammeh and Barrow

    Jammeh had ruled the country for more than two decades, but said if God willed it, his presidency could go on for “a billion years“.

    He has refused to leave office despite international pressure and a threat by leaders of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), to enforce his election defeat.

    Earlier this week, he disclosed the telephone conversation he had with the Chairperson of the ECOWAS, and Liberian President, Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, public. See video below:

    On Wednesday, a military commander with West Africa’s regional bloc, Seydou Maiga Mboro said its forces will “take action” at midnight unless a solution is found to Gambia’s political crisis before then. According to him, all the troops are already in place awaiting the deadline for President Yahya Jammeh to step down.

    Senegalese and Nigerian troops have arrived the borders of the Gambia awaiting instructions to oust Jammeh out of office if he refuses to step down after clinging to power for over 22 years despite losing to Adama Barrow.

    However, Barrow on his social media account invited everyone to his inauguration which according to him will hold at the Gambian embassy in Dakar, Senegal.

     

    Before running for the Presidency of his country, Barrow lived in the United Kingdom (UK) for several years, where he reportedly worked as a security guard at the Argos catalogue store in north London, while studying for his real estate qualifications.

    [news_box style=”2″ display=”tag” tag=”Gambia” count=”8″ show_more=”on” show_more_type=”link” header_background=”#ef8700″ header_text_color=”#000000″]

  • Buhari, three other leaders meet over Gambia

    Buhari, three other leaders meet over Gambia

    President Muhammadu Buhari on Monday met behind closed-door with three West African leaders in Abuja.

    The meeting is in continuation of discussion on the crisis brewing in The Gambia.

    Among the heads of state at the meeting are the President of Senegal, Macky Sall; President of Liberia, Ellen Johnson Sirleaf and ex-President of Ghana, John Mahama.

    But the Vice President of Sierra-Leone was yet to arrive when the meeting started.

    The meeting was still in progress at the new Banquet Hall of the Presidential Villa, Abuja, at the time of filing this report.

  • Guinea Bissau: ECOWAS to address political impasse at Dec. 17 summit

    Guinea Bissau: ECOWAS to address political impasse at Dec. 17 summit

    Leaders of the sub-region would address the situation in Guinea Bissau at their forthcoming summit on Dec. 17. This statement was made by Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, the Chairperson, Authority of ECOWAS Heads of State Government.

    Sirleaf spoke while addressing newsmen at the ECOWAS Commission in Abuja on Monday.

    The ECOWAS chairperson  described the situation in Guinea-Bissau as “very complicated, adding that “it is pertinent to choose a leader that reflected the will of the people.

    “The situation in Guinea-Bissau is very complex and has been that way for the past four years.

    “One has found an impasse in the situation, with several prime ministers coming and going.

    “It just remains one missing piece, and that piece is that of a prime minister, acceptable to all the people; that we have not found an answer to.

    “To find that consensus candidate has been a real challenge; it is something that I think all the Heads of States need to think about when we come to the summit on Dec. 17.

    “They can take a decision on that.”

    Sirleaf said that a delegation led by President Alpha Conde of The Republic of Guinea visited the country and a roadmap was developed.

    She said that the roadmap has since been endorsed by all parties in Guinea-Bissau.

    In April 2012, the military staged a coup d’état in that country, and military leaders and a coalition of political parties announced the formation of a Transitional National Council, under international pressure.

    Guinea-Bissau has also been in a political impasse since August 2015, when President José Mario Vaz sacked then Prime Minister Domingos Simoes Pereira, leader of the ruling African Party for the Independence of Guinea and Cape Verde.

    Vaz also dissolved the government on Nov. 12 in an attempt to solve a political succession crisis.

    A delegation from ECOWAS on Nov. 6 demanded that Vaz name a new prime minister and deal with dissenting deputies with the aim of resuming parliament’s normal functions.

  • Buhari tasks African leaders on socio-political stability

    Buhari tasks African leaders on socio-political stability

    President Muhammadu Buhari on Monday tasked African leaders on the need to ensure socio-political stability in their countries.

    This, he said, will help to achieve peace and speedy regional and sub-regional integration in the continent.

    He spoke during a joint press briefing with the visiting Liberian President, Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, after a closed door meeting at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.

    Even as he noted that the situation in the ECOWAS sub-region was relatively stable, he said there was need to continue to persuade the leaders to pay more attention to security and development.

    He said: “The situation in our sub-region is relatively stable but there is the need for us to continue to persuade our colleagues to show appreciation on the efforts the sub-region is doing to make sure that we pay more attention to security and development.

    “I have appreciated very much your efforts and I also congratulate you on your successes. I believe you may even go outside the region, to African Union, so that before the AU meeting we try and persuade the leadership of those countries in our sub-region to show more patience and accommodation with politics of their countries,” he added.

    He said that the forthcoming 3rd Dakar International Forum on Peace and Security would discuss some political developments in two countries of the sub-region.

    Commending the Liberian leader for handling the affairs of the ECOWAS diligently, Buhari lauded Sirleaf’s efforts in stabilizing her country.

    “I have to very sincerely congratulate you with the way you have stabilised your country and with the small contributions Nigeria was able to make throughout those difficult times that you went through.

    “And also thank you very much on the way you are handling ECOWAS responsibility. We have one or two countries that I believe we will discuss when we go to Senegal today, tomorrow and maybe on Wednesday, in terms of peace and security.’’

    The Liberian leader, who is also the Chairperson of the Heads of State and Government of the ECOWAS nations, said she was in Nigeria to be updated on the focus and challenges of the work of the ECOWAS Commission.

    According to her, the visit is also meant enable her meet with the entities of ECOWAS, the Commission, the Parliament and the Courts in preparation for the forthcoming Summit of the Authority of the ECOWAS, slated for Abuja on Dec. 17.

    “I’m glad once again to be back in Abuja. I’m using the opportunity of this visit to be updated on the focus and challenges of the work of the ECOWAS Commission, to meet with the entities of ECOWAS, the Commission, the Parliament and the Courts in preparation for the reports I will present at the Summit of the Authority, which will be held here in Abuja, on Dec. 17.

    “But, I’m so grateful that while here, I reached out to the President and asked him for the opportunity to call on him to be able to brief him on some of the findings I have had in my two days of consultation with the commission.

    “I also exchange with him  some of the developments in our sub-region, political development; economic development, and to get his wise counsel on how we can ensure that we monitor the situation in  all the West African countries so as  to maintain peace and stability in all of our countries,” She stated.

  • Weah to run for Liberia president in 2017

    Weah to run for Liberia president in 2017

    Former Liberia international footballer, George Weah, has announced he will run for president of the West African country for a second time.

    Weah had an illustrious playing career, starring for Paris Saint-Germain, AS Monaco, AC Milan and Chelsea among others.

    The two- time African Footballer of the Year is the only player from the continent to be named the FIFA World Footballer of the Year, winning the accolade in 1995, africanFootball.com reports.

    Weah, 49, previously ran for president in 2005, but was defeated by current president Ellen Johnson Sirleaf.

    Sirleaf’s second term in office will end next year and under the country’s constitution she cannot run for the top political post again.