Liberian Lawyer Accuses President Sirleaf Govt

By Hawa Wesseh

A prominent Liberian human rights lawyer and former Minister of Works in the Sirleaf Unity Party (UP) led administration has accused the Liberian government of being behind the incarceration of FrontPage Africa editor Rodney Sieh. Samuel Kofi woods spoke recently when Justice Minister Christina Tah and Liberia Solicitor General Cllr. Betty Larmie Blamo rubbished attempts by Woods to represent Sieh at the ECOWAS Human Rights Court in Abuja Nigeria. The libel case which has drawn international disapproval from Roy Gutterman, Director of the Tully Center for Free Speech, The World Newspapers Association, the World Editor Forum and the Committee to Protect Journalist, pundits say shows the UP led administration intolerance towards the free press in Liberia. Sieh was arrested on the 21 of August and is currently under heavy security guards at the John Fitzgerald Kennedy Medical Hospital in the Liberian capital of Monrovia. Sieh began a hunger strike about a week ago at the Monrovia Central Prison before he was admitted at the sanatorium for malaria.

President Sileaf: “Hustlers Become Heroes through Poisonous Pens"

By: Hawa Wesseh




Liberian president, Ellen Johnson Sirleaf says her public officials are assuming their responsibilities in the country at a time when the political environment is a difficult terrain in the country.
The Liberian president made the remarks this week when she commissioned 27 government executives including former controversial city mayor, Mary Broh who now heads the General Services Agency (GSA), a department of government that purchases and manages assets for the government.

YESTERDAY PATRIOTS: President Sirleaf and Press Freedom In Liberia!

Hawa Wesseh

Just freed from jail: Sirleaf at the hight of her advocacy for rights in Liberia

 

 

The future belongs to us, because we have taken charge of it. We have the commitment, we have the resourcefulness, and we have the strength … Ellen Johnson Sirleaf

Just as last month came to an end two significant concerns popped up in post war Liberia! Depending on which one you want to take first, all 25,000 students sitting the nation’s most prestigious university  entrance exam fail to make a passing mark; it was perhaps the biggest front-page grabber since the Charles Taylor conviction, underscoring Liberia’s rotten education system ( both teachers and students in the country are indiscipline, the government alone cannot take the blame for this one), and there was the incarceration of Frontpage Africa’s editor, Rodney Sieh on woozy libel charges wrapped up in political undertones, according the Committee to Protect Journalist (CPJ). Press freedom in Liberia Is under attack, and President Sirleaf is stoking the flames!

Paean For Philip N. Wesseh: The Citizen Journalist

A Tribute: By ralph geeplay



Philip has given so much to Liberian Journalism over the course of his practice and to the art as we know it, to me though, he is the citizen journalist, his passion is incredible!

Africa: Obama Walks In George W. Bush Shadow

                                            

By ralph geeplay 

It’s the Obama Africa’s trip and everyone is talking. Sure bet, everywhere Obama goes he sure grabs the headlines, and why not? He’s THE American President; leader of the world’s only unipolar power. Yes, China’s influence is spreading and its soft power taking root and getting noticed, especially in Africa. But the United States still commands the bully pulpit, especially where global dynamics and power play are discussed and policies enunciated when the big boys sit around the table [world powers].

11 Questions: Yor-EL Francis, Writer, Director, Producer

                                      

Francis hails from a prominent Liberian family; the Martins of Grand Bassa County and the Francis from Marshall. He is well traveled and holds a Master of Arts in Film Directing from the City University of New York.  His career began as an intern at MTV Networks, then a stint at the Black Entertainment Television [BET], before landing a job at FOX. 2003 saw the Liberian born filmmaker accepted into the esteemed two-year Directors Guild of America’s Producer Training Plan in Los Angeles. In 2005, Yor-El won the African Film Commission’s top prize for screen-writing for his screenplay, “Fire of the Sun,” a story based on the ancient Egyptian Pharaoh, Piankhi, who is an unwilling hero compelled to bring together his country’s fractured lower and upper kingdoms. As a source of national pride, Francis beat out a Ghanaian and a Nigerian, [who were numbers 2 and 3, respectively] to win the Grand prize that year. Back home in Liberia, he has been busy directing and producing Liberian films and short videos, it was his innovation that brought to life Bai T. Moore’s “Murder In the Cassava Patch,” the adaption was also the late Peter Ballah’s final on-screen appearance.  Francis last worked on the POT NOT BOILING REMIX video with Liberian all stars Xpolay, Romeo Lee, Takun J, JD Donzo, Bentman tha Don and Luckay Buckay.

The True Meaning of Independence: Reflection of Our Yesterdays and Vision for Our Tomorrow

Syrulwa Somah [Ph.D]

It is a unique privilege and honor for me to speak before this august gathering at this moment. Today, all over this land of our parentage, from its hilltops to its valleys and plains; from its villages to towns, to districts and cities there is a celebration going on with our famous request for gift, “My 26th is on you-o, ba.” I, too, want to say “My 26th is on you-o, ba.”