Arterial Network Launched in Liberia

An umbrella association for creative artist in Africa has been launched in Liberia to enable Liberians to start to appreciate their own culture.

The program was launched on November 13, 2010 in the auditorium of the university of Liberia main campus in Monrovia an array of universiterians and artist living in Liberia gathered to witness the birth of the noble organization in the country.

Speaking at the program the former director of the national bereau of cu;ture and tourism in Liberia, Ambassador Jallah K.K Kamara expressed disappointment in the way Liberians have depreciated their own cultural for western culture.

He noted that travelling across Liberia there is little artifacts to tell about the history of the Liberian cultural heritage that exist in the country.

“No matter how long a log remains in the river it will never become an alligator. Most Liberians have shied away from their original cultural and adapt to that of the western cultural. No matter how hard we try we cannot become Americans and there is no way Americans are going to see Liberians as American,” He said.

Following this speaker, Mr. Ras Kollie of the Renaissance Communication Incorporated urged Liberians that they should not neglect their culture because of western culture that is a borrowed culture in this land.

He give some analogies stating that no one rise is superior but the northern and western powers are making themselves feel superior because Africans are agreeing to the ill facts that they are inferior to the white race.  

Meanwhile, the launching ceremony makes Liberia the 33^rd country in the world that the Arterial Network in operating in.

The program was graced by performance from the ambassadors culture dance troop and Siafa K. Ballah, the son of liberia’s veteran culturist Peter Ballah.

also an election was to be held for the sake of democracy within the net work but thew gathering agreed that since there was little knowledge about the organization there was a need for the interim country representative spearhead the organization until it is well grounded in the country.

More news on the development of the Arterial Network in liberia will be visible on Newsline. keep reading

Young Liberian Holds High Ambition

-Says he need support in his endeavor

A young creative Liberian, Mr. Rabbia Saab, have called on potential people of the Liberian society to aid him on his endeavor to become a designer and builder of air and sea crafts.
Mr. Saab, 27, through his handy work designed two model Brussels airline planes with electricity and operational engines which can be powered up by an AC adaptor.
According to the craftsman, he single handedly build the model airliners over a period of twelve months to demonstrate that he could built a live aircraft if he had gone abroad to get advance training for building aircraft.
Speaking with the Daily Observer, Mr. Saab said he needs a scholarship to forward his academic status and his craft in designing and building planes and vessels that could put Liberia on the world’s invention map.
Asked if Mr. Saab have any previous tutorials in designing and building the model planes he had built, he said his craftiness was an inborn tendency which he believes could be further explored.
“I started building these planes on my own. It is an inborn tendency; it is a natural gift from God. As a little boy I have always being building planes though they were not as advanced as my latest Brussels airliners,” Mr. Saab said.
Mr. Saab, who resides in Buchanan, Grand Bassa County, said he was working on a model ship that would sail on water with fully operational cranes that would load and offload model containers.
“Currently I am building a ship with two hatches,” he said, “it would be floatable and everything about it is going to work. I am going to build a remote control and drive it on water.”
27 years was born unto the union of Essan Saad, a Lebanese engineer, and Diannah Saab, Bassa; and is on the verge of completing his high school requirements to become a graduate of the W. P.L. Brumskin United Methodist High School in Grand Bassa County.
Meanwhile, Rabbia Saab said he would appreciate all the help he can get to meet his goal of becoming one of the designers and builders of ships and planes in the world and the first from Liberia.

DEA Napped Several Grams of Narcotics

Gbarpolu- The Drugs Enforcement Agency (DEA) detail within Gbarpolu County had arrested at least two drugs smugglers at the Compound-su check point in the county with several grams of narcotics drugs.
The two smugglers identified as, Edmond Dweh, 33, and Onyeka Samuel Ogochukwu, 36, was arrested in October with approximately 724 grams of cocaine and four parcel of Italian white.
According to information gathered from source within the DEA detachment in the county, suspect Edmond Dweh was arrested on October 5, 2010 with four parcel of Italian white while he was transporting the drugs to Henry’s Town beyond Bopolu city.
Mr. Dweh in his statement at the DEA Charge of Quarter said he was transporting the drugs from a lady he identified as comfort in Grand Gedeh to a lady named sis Alice in Henry’s town when was napped by DEA officers.
The alleged perpetrator stacked the parcels of Italian white into the waist of the jeans the he was wearing but was discovered by the DEA agents at the compound su check point.
The second suspect Onyeka Samuel Ogochukwu, was arrested on October 26, 2010 at the compound su check point with 724 grams of cocaine which street value was put at about US$36,924.00 by the agents who arrested him.
According to the DEA charge sheets, both of the suspect, have admitted to the position of narcotic substance were charged for drugs trafficking and the possession of dangerous narcotic drugs.
Speaking with Newsline, Ltc George Ponney, Officer in Charge (OIC) of the Gbarpolu Dea Detail said drugs are flowing into that part of the country from across the borders and from Monrovia as well.
He said there is a steady flow of marijuana entering the country from Sierra Leone through Kungbor while other drugs including cocaine and Italian white were flowing from Monrovia.
“For example, those people that we arrested in Gbarpolu they came from Monrovia and were travelling to Henry’s town beyond Bopolu. We do not know where they got it from but we got information and we tracked them down,” he added.
Mr. Ponney said suspect Onyeka Samuel Ogochukwu camouflaged the 724 grams of drugs in a pack of female cortex and had the pack sealed up.
“The Nigerian suspect was arrested with 724 grams of cocaine from him. He placed in a pack of cortex and taped it fine as if it was a new one form the store. But because we are security and we believe in information, when he arrived at the checkpoint we searched him and found the drugs with him,” He explained.
He further said suspect Edmond Dweh hid the four parcels of Italian white inside a trousers waist band and pretended that the trousers was a dirty working cloth he was carrying in his bag.
However, the Ltc Ponney said, that his detail is faced with problems in executing their duties in parts of the county where there were drugs abuse due to the poor road network in the county and limited resources that they operate with.
“Beyond Bopolu in areas such as Henry’s town and Gayarmah crimes are very high. Officers and agents have to walk eight to nine hours some times to carry out arrest. This is risky for the officers. The road condition is bad,” he said.

Ellen Unshackles Ministers

As 2011 draws closer

President Sirleaf

With Just 11 months to the Liberian General and Presidential Election, President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf has sacked her entire cabinet to allow them pursue their individual political ambitions.
Many of the Ministers within government had been petitioned for positions within the House of Legislature and for presidency as well.
At an emergency cabinet meeting held on last Wednesday evening in the city of Buchanan, Grand Bassa County, President Sirleaf mandated an immediate administrative leave for all Ministers within the republic until they were asked to return or their successors were appointed.
The President in an interview said her decision was influenced by individual pursuits of members of her cabinet and would therefore want to give them a chance to move on.
President Sirleaf further said her abrupt action was due to the fact that her administration was entering a critical stretch that could afford her the opportunity to start with a more committed people.
“Well, as I explained to the cabinet at our meeting, we are about to enter what I call the final stretch of this administration. I want to get a lot done in this last stretch and I know many ministers have other pursuits. I want to give them an opportunity to move on,” she said.
A cabinet restructuring, according to the President, would be made in the shortest possible time and that several ministers could be reappointed. In the meantime, designated deputies are authorized to act.
“And those who will continue on the team will need to know that their being in this final period means they’ve got to bring stronger commitment and have more effective results. I’m going to be asking them to set goals and objectives that will be time-bound and have them commit to it. So it’s just an attempt to add more dynamism to the work that we are going to do in this last year,” President Johnson Sirleaf further explained.
An Executive Mansion release said the President told the Ministers that she appreciated their contributions, but the leave could be used as an opportunity for reflection on their part, especially those who might be considering other career opportunities.
According to the President, those Ministers who are travelling and are on special assignments will be allowed to complete their missions before being affected by her directive. She, however, made one exception, asking Dr. Edward B. McClain, Jr., Minister of State for Presidential Affairs, to hold on so as to collaborate with Vice President Joseph N. Boakai.
On behalf of the Cabinet, former Defense Minister Brownie Samukai thanked the President for providing Ministers the opportunity to serve her Administration and the country. He said they would be available to serve again whenever called upon.
Similar exercise is expected to be undertaken for the concerned autonomous agencies, the President said.
Meanwhile, some of the Minister have sent in their resignation and others are saying that they would not resigned and if the government was done with them it should dismissed them honorably.

“God Should Give Me One Day at a Time”

-Mother York at 85

Members of the Eliza Turner African Methodist Episcopal (AME) Church last Thursday held a thanksgiving service in honor of Mother Louise C. Wilson York on her 85th birthday, a long time member of the Board of Trustees of the AME Church.
The program was observed in the edifice of the Eliza Turner AME Church on Camp Johnson road where friends of mother York, organizations that she belongs to and some members of her church showered statements of appreciation upon her.
Within the many statements of appreciation allotted to the 85 years old York, her friends, colleagues and fellow worshippers lauded her being an educationist, straight forward and passionate person and an encourager as well.
The honoree had served many positions as a professional person within the AME mission in Liberia. Some of the positions that she had held include President Women Missionary Society (WMS), President Stewardess Board, Member Pastor’s Aid, President Conference Branch and Episcopal District Pastor.
During her remarks, Mother York thanked the Eliza Turner AME Church for organizing such a program and said her motto through life was based on the gospel hymn “one day at a time.”
“You might know the history behind this song, but this has been my motto through life; that god should give me one day at a time because he knows what is best for me. I am not asking him what he has for me in the future, I can ask him that. But I only said to him –Lord what you have for me let me have it one day at a time. That have been my pray,” she said.
She further encouraged those in the congregation to develop or stick to a motto which would make them contended with whatever God gives them.
“God has a place for everybody on the globe, everybody he created he has a place. Yours is not mine, and mine is not yours. Learn to trust God and let him show you the way to take rather than trying to force your own way,” Mother York.
She thanked god for the four scores and five years she had lived and expressed how much love she harbored in her heart for her church.
In her closing statements, mother York urged everyone attending to take time in life and there is nothing to hurry for.
She received gifts from some members of the church including a purple gown from the International Gospel Translators (IGT) choir of the Eliza Turner AME Church.

Mother York