Thursday, June 26, 2008

Liberia Media Center Releases 2nd Media Monitoring Report

After nearly three months, the Liberia Media Center today released its second media monitoring report on the coverage of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission process and the trial of former Liberian President Charles Taylor.

The exercise, follow up on the center’s previous monitoring of the TRC coverage by the local media is meant to technical and editorial advice to the country’s media for the improvement of news content and programs being delivered to the general population.

According to an LMC release, the monitoring also seeks to build a culture of professional accountability amongst media houses. The center noted that the Liberian media has generally shown strong interest in the coverage of the TRC and the Charles Taylor trial, in spite resource and editorial constraints.



The release extolled the outstanding works done by the Daily Observer, New Democrat, Star Radio and Radio Veritas for their coverage of both processes, though overall the broadcast media provided more coverage than the print. The LMC also flagged The Analyst Newspaper’s persistency in notably keeping a number of issues, especially the appearance of President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf before the TRC on the front burner.

All media institutions combined produced far better quality stories than the previous review. But the report berated the National Chronicle for what it called its troubling pattern of reporting. It strongly admonished the paper clearly delineate its news articles from its opinions.

The study stated that coverage of the TRC process declined since the issuance of the first monitoring report. This, the report noted is in part due to lack of access by reporters, and the movement of the hearings further away from the capital city Monrovia.

According to the report, the print media published a total of 182 articles dropping from a monthly average of 95.5 in the preceding period to 60.6 articles. While the broadcast media aired 126 articles which accounted for a 1.93% reduction on the previous monthly average of 65.5 to 42.0 news stories.

The monitoring found that coverage of the Charles Taylor trial is almost evenly divided between the print and broadcast outlets, though the broadcast sector relied rather heavily on Talking Drum Studio and the BBC World Service Trust syndicated reports from the trial taking The Netherlands.

In a related development the LMC has recommended that the TRC should to reconsider its approach to issues regarding media. The center said the commission’s media unit is acutely under-resourced and requires concrete support to carry out its functions and that support for local media coverage of the process should be provided if and when necessary.

The center also noted that a mechanism needs to be instituted for providing print media houses access to resources on the Charles Taylor trial. It says institutions like the ICTJ, LMC, BBCWST and TDS should explore the possibility of forging partnership as well as other creative ways to narrow the information gap, especially within the print media.

The LMC is expected to release its final report on its media monitoring project in the coming months.

Wednesday, June 25, 2008

CALL FOR APPLICATION TO ATTEND THE HIGHWAY AFRICA CONFERENCE 2008

2008 Theme: Citizen Journalism, Journalism for Citizens
CALL FOR APPLICATION TO ATTEND THE HIGHWAY AFRICA CONFERENCE, 8 – 10 SEPTEMBER 2008, RHODES UNIVERSITY, GRAHAMSTOWN, SOUTH AFRICA

Highway Africa, a programme of the School of Journalism at Rhodes University, will be hosting the 12th edition of the Highway Africa Conference from 8-10 September in Grahamstown, South Africa.

Highway Africa has a limited number of scholarships for practising African journalists who are keen on learning and using digital media. PLEASE NOTE THE EMPHASIS ON PRACTISING JOURNALISTS. WE DO NOT HAVE SPONSORSHIP FOR ANY OTHER INTERESTED PARTICIPANTS OUTSIDE THIS CATEGORY.

Interested PROFESSIONAL JOURNALISTS should submit the following information:
• a curriculum vitae with 2 contactable referees
• a 300 word statement on why they are interested in attending the Highway Africa and what will be done with the skills and information acquired
• a letter of support from your Editor or Publisher

Please submit the above by the 30th of June 2008. INCOMPLETE APPLICATIONS WILL BE DISCARDED. SEND THROUGH ALL DOCUMENTS AT THE SAME TIME.

Shortlisted candidates will be required to complete registration and indemnity forms supplied by Highway Africa.

The decision of Highway Africa on the selection of candidates is final.

Applications should be submitted to Luthando Kiti on:

L.Kitit@ru.ac.za and copied to dirtyharry70@gmail.com

Please do not phone to inquire about your application. We will respond to e-mail correspondence ONLY.

Monday, June 23, 2008

(A short story)
By Omari Jackson

Willie Kolmar’s detention did not make sense to him. The police had come to him late Saturday, a month ago, and wanted to speak with him.
“It’s important to see you,” the officer, who had introduced himself, had said, “We’re not here to hurt you.” Willie listened to the officer from the confines of his room, a two-room apartment that he shared with his wife, in central Monrovia. He heard murmurings of several people outside the door, and he felt that something was wrong.

“You’re an officer, right?” His voice was shrill and direct. Since the end of the civil-war the Liberian local police was assisted by the United Nations, and Willie knew they would respect the standard procedure, respecting policing. “Is there any UN police officer with you?”

“Hey, Willie,” the voice outside continued, “We’re all Liberians, and you’re asking if a foreigner is with us?”
It made sense to Willie, but in today’s Liberia, one should not trust too much. But Willie Kolmar could not understand the reason for the visit. As a journalist, and here he examined his activities in recent time, he had not written any story that could be described as “embarrassing” to the government. Except those who were bent on engaging in corruption, and he was determined to expose them, and make life too difficult for them.

So, how come police men were looking for him?
“I know we’re all Liberians,” he said, “and you know that was true of the rebels.”
“We know it is late,” a voice from the other end said, in reassurance, “just nine o’clock and as officers we must do our job.” Willie knew he was making sense. He was a law abiding citizen, and would not want to set an example to disobey and disrespect members of the police service.

“You must have an authority to come here, you know,” he reminded the officer, as his door creaked open, and immediately five officers pounced on him. It was like a dream, lightning fast!
“What the hell is this?”

“We got report,” the officer told him calmly, “you raped a ten year-old girl.”
“You received a report from where?”
“We’re doing our job,” the officer insisted, firmly.
That was how he found himself in this detention center. He could not remember if he insisted on seeing any Warrant of Arrest that the law required for the probable cause, authorizing the arrest and detention of any citizen of the Republic of Liberia.

He knew it was a failure on his part, but then even if he had remembered and insisted on that they would still arrest him, as they did. That night was a humiliation for him.
By the time his wife, Antoinette, who had awaken due to the exchanges, came to the door, the famous journalist’s hands were firmly secured on his back, his eyes downcast, as he fought back tears.
“What happened here, Willie?” Her voice, shocked, could only demand to know her husband’s crime.

“This man,” one of the police officers, said, pointing his right hand to the captive, “raped a ten year-old girl.”
“So you condemn me before we go for the law, eh?” Willie said, because since it was an allegation, the officer should not be too sure about the crime.
“Who told your he raped a ten-year-old?”
“If you want to know,” the same officer informed her, “Come to the station tomorrow.”

So for thirty days, Willie languished in jail, and he knew it was a set up. But who was behind it? The new Liberia, not the one he had known and experienced in the course of the 14 years of war, supposed to change.
“This could be the work of corrupt people in this country,” Willie said it aloud; as he examined what could be responsible for his predicament.

Meanwhile, the local dailies, and even the internet magazine he had been working for had a field day with his story.
“Famous Liberian Journalist Busted for Rape,” one newspaper said. “Journalist Caught In Sex Act,” another said, and gave in graphic details, quoting the mother of the alleged victim, without any quotation from any medical official to confirm the rape.

And so when his wife came to visit in the second day of his detention, and to his horror, he was told about the accuser, Willie just sank into the corner of his cell, and looked into the heaven, as if he was done.
“You brought that girl from the street,” Antoinette told her husband, “now her mother is saying you raped her.”

“I didn't do anything like that?” the journalist said, his face looked spent, tired. “Someone is framing me.”
“The girl ma told the police.” Antoinette said, “The newspaper even say you did it to some Ghana woman you were going out with.”

“So my own people will not get my side of the story,” the journalist said, tears in his eyes. “Somebody has set me up, and my friends are unwilling to come to my help. This is a new day in Liberia indeed.”

The journalist considered the recent allegations and detentions of the misunderstood ex-military general, Charles Julu, and his colleague, Andrew Dorbor, and he understood his agony. However, like the two who were vindicated after their ordeal, he would be vindicated, and then he would fight for, not only those who could not fight for themselves, but for those who would become targets for the powerful establishment.


In truth Willie Kolmar could not admit that he did anything wrong. As his wife reminded him, he remembered almost six months ago when he saw a little girl alone sleeping under a bench, he had felt sorry for her.

There had been several NGOs helping abandoned children in Monrovia and other places, and here he was, able to help out, and the girl of that age, homeless, what would he do? He was a man, a father, who had a fear of God.
That night, he took the girl to a nearby shop, and made sure she ate something, and from there took her to his house.

“Look after her,” he told his wife, “she is your daughter till we can find her ma.” Remembering this story wrenched his heart. He wanted to help one of Liberia’s abandoned children, the ones the government could not help and now see what that action had led him.

And he was even more horrified when on the tenth day of his incarceration, his wife was also detained, for, as he was told, defending him, insisting that he was innocent.

Now that he had been inside for 30 days, he appreciated the experience of those who had been on the other side of the law. Looking around him, the six- by-six room did not give him a way to be comfortable. In the corner on his right sat a small bucket to be used for nature’s demands.

In fact he had to deal with the CIC, a brutish fellow, who had been in detention for his alleged criminal activities. The first night, he was stripped naked, since he did not have the money requested by the CIC.

The room itself was meant to accommodate three to four people; it held nearly ten persons, who had allegedly committed various crimes, and waiting their days in court. And Willie wondered if this was not the new Liberia, created after the violent civil-war. Why? The detained was waiting for their days in court, for more than thirty days. And what did the law say about the number of days for a person to be detained? Willie could only hope for the best.


He decided to fight back, and tell his side of the story.
His lengthy personal narrative on what he considered to be the source of his anguish went out to the general public. It was meant to explain it all and he took pains to pen it. Willie went all out, and pulled all the punches, naming names, and putting the blame where it belonged.

His story, in his own handwriting, appeared in the media, and many people understood why, while others expressed pity for him. “What kind of justice is this?” they asked. Many Liberians made reference to the recent false accusations against two former military officers, and the many months they spent in jail.
“Justice in the jungle, indeed!” many said, in disgust.

Willie, on the other hand knew he was suffering because of his avowed determination to expose corruption and their supporters, and by doing his job, he had stepped on the toes of somebody in high places, and without knowing it he was his target.

Since there was no evidence to link him to the crime that he was said to have committed, he saw the picture clearly, and also realized that he would have a battle to fight.

Though his wife was released the following day, he knew he must fight on, and fight well, and it was necessary, those who caused his incarceration he would help bring them down.


The law, he was aware, said no citizen should be detained more than 48 hours, Willie had been in detention for 30 days now, and so when he was finally processed and appeared before the presiding judge, his accusers, including the prosecution could not provide proof beyond any shadow of doubt of his guilt.

Standing in the dock, the judge almost cried with shame when the prosecution attorney said, “Your Honor, we don’t have sufficient proof against this man.”
As Willie fought back tears, he heard in his mind, the popular Liberian song, “Sweet Liberia,” and lowered his gaze. With all his popularity, if he could be detained for 30 days, what about those unknown thousands? What about those still in detention, who told him that they were innocent of the crimes against them?

As the judge’s gavel lifted in the air to conclude the present saga, Willie heard him say, “Release him and let him go home.” But for Willie, his war had just begun. And it was a war that he would fight to the end. Being vindicated reassured of the goodness in men, and though his experience had all the trappings of revenge, he could not refuse to accept the truth that his experience would serve as a way for him, and others, to understand what was happening in Liberia today.

His vindication had come at a proper time, to make him understand that the experience of the war would result in a situation like a woman in the pangs of distress. And how far she would endure depends on her ability to work for her own salvation.
Posted by Omari Jackson Cell: 404-293-5476: Email: jackson_omari@hotmail.com at 9:34 PM

Liberi's Population Increses by 1 Million from 2.5m

...Becomes 3.5 Million People in Post War Liberia,

Monrovia -

Liberia now has a total population 3, 489, 072 (three million, four hundred and eighty nine thousand and seventy two) people, according to the preliminary results of the 2008 National Population and Housing Census.

The preliminary findings is the first conducted since the end of the fourteen-year civil war which claimed the lives of an estimated 200,000 people and send hundreds of thousands others fleeing into other countries, creating a Diaspora as their homeland descended into anarchy.

PRELIMINARY FINDINGS
“The census preliminary results are being released for decision makers and researchers to combine with results from the surveys LISGIS has recently conducted namely: 2007 Liberia Demographic and health Survey (2007 LDHS), the core Welfare Indications Questionnaire, the Poverty participatory Survey (PPS), the National Establishment Census (NEC), etc. In order to establish an invaluable database for socio-economic development planning."

The firs census was conducted in 1962, followed by the 1974 Population and Housing Census. In 1984, Population and Housing Census was never published. The manuscript and most of the data went missing during the civil war. According to the United Nations prescriptions, Liberia should have had two censuses in 1994 and 2004 but the disruptions of civil order could not allow this to happen. In 2008, the population density of Liberia was 93 persons per square miles. This represents a 66 percent rise over the figure of 56 attained in 1984. Compared with some sub-Saharan nations, Liberia is moderate by African standards.

Dr. Edward Liberty, Executive Director of the Liberia Institute of Geo-Information Services, declared that Montserrado remains the county with the highest population of 1,144,806 people while Grand Kru as the county with the lowest population of 57,100. "The variance shows the impact of displacement, economic growth, road network, among others but also illustrates a 2.1 growth rate over the past twenty four years."

According to the report, “In specific terms, apart from Bong, Margibi and Nimba counties where the household size tended to remain the same, the rest of the counties were almost evenly split in terms of counties with rising household sizes and those that experienced a decline in the 1984-2008 inter-censal period. The national household size of 5.1 was exceeded in eight of the fifteen counties. The most dramatic fall in household sizes were in River Cess County while the reverse is true for Grand Gedeh, Maryland and River Gee.”

But Liberty says the 2008 Population and Housing Census is seen as the most plausible means to obtain recent information on the population of Liberia. “As such, the census preliminary results are being released for decision makers and researchers to combine with results from the surveys LISGIS has recently conducted namely: 2007 Liberia Demographic and health Survey (2007 LDHS), the core Welfare Indications Questionnaire, the Poverty participatory Survey (PPS), the National Establishment Census (NEC), etc. In order to establish an invaluable database for socio-economic development planning,” Liberty said.

The 2008 census, according to Liberty was a result of dedicated effort of the Census Commission, the Development Partners, the Board of Directors, the Management and staff of the Liberia Institute of Statistics and Geo-Information Services (LISGIS) supported by United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), the Ministry of Internal Affairs and its local authorities, a total of 11, 618 field staff who were deployed throughout the country and the millions of Liberians and foreign residents who responded.”

President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf, in a foreword to the findings obtained by FrontPageAfrica, declares that the statistics would serve as a guide for government and its partners in planning recovery programs. Though the result is preliminary, the President believes there will be little change in the final result that is being compiled.

According to Sirleaf, post war socio-economic planning and development of our nation is a pressing concern to any government and its development partners. “Such an onerous undertaking cannot be actualized with scanty, outdated and deficient databases. Realizing this limitation and in accordance with Article 39 of the 1986 Constitution of the Republic of Liberia, I approved on May 31, 2007, “An Act Authorizing the Executive Branch of Government to conduct the National Census of the Republic of Liberia.”

Sirleaf says the country currently finds itself at the crossroads of a major rehabilitation and reconstruction. Virtually, every aspect of life has become an emergency and in resource allocation, crucial decisions have to be taken in a carefully planned and sequenced manner. “We note that the statistics are not final and that the final report of the 2008 National and Population Census will require sometime to be compiled. In the interim, I recommend that these provisional statistics be used in all development planning for and in the Republic of Liberia.”

Sirleaf sid although the government contributed considerable resources to this project, the requirements were clearly beyond our capacity and it is with pleasure that we recognize the support of the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) whose timely and continuous intervention gave impetus to the execution of the exercise. We would also like to thank the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), United Nations Mission in Liberia (UNMIL) and United Nations Development Program (UNDP) for being partners on this first phase of the project.

For outgoing Planning Minister, Dr. Togah McIntosh, Liberia now has reached a reasonable experience in holding censuses and the 2008 Census was conducted against the background of an almost complete lack of timely, accurate, sufficient and time series data for socio-economic, political and physical development planning. “In the same vein, not all the required technical expertise for such an undertaking was available in-country. In addition, although Government of Liberia exhibited very high commitment of political will and put in considerable amounts of resources the required levels of financial and other inputs could not have been provided given the overcrowding of demands from other equally important sectors of the economy.”

Notwithstanding, McIntosh says, the Census programme is adjudged to have been executed within acceptable limits of the highest international standards, using state-of-the-art technology and expertise at all stages of the census operations. The extra resources and other support have been coming from a plethora of organizations whose contributions and moral support are hereunder acknowledged.

McIntosh says the mapping exercise of census taking has been improving over the years and the 2008 NPHC portrays these improvements. “However, there are two basic additions to this census; foremost, the shift from de jure censuses of 1962, 1974 and 1984 to a de facto census in 2008 and secondly, the inclusion of an Agricultural module. The de jure census records usual residents of the household while the de facto one records persons who spent a reference night in the household. De facto censuses are easier to conduct and, hence, most countries adopt them. Liberia, being predominantly agricultural country, the Agricultural Module was introduced with the aim of generating a sampling frame that will be used to design and implement agricultural surveys in the future. “

The enumeration started on the morning of March 21, 2008 and ended in the evening of March 30th 2008. It was done by trained enumerators who administered a standard questionnaire to the household heads or any other knowledgeable household members. According to the report, arrangements were made to ensure that special categories of the population were enumerated; for example, street children who do not live in formal households, in-mates in hotels and transients at air and sea ports.

Vindication

Saturday, June 21, 2008

(A short story)
By Omari Jackson

Willie Kolmar’s detention did not make sense to him. The police had come to him late Saturday, a month ago, and wanted to speak with him.
“It’s important to see you,” the officer, who had introduced himself, had said, “We’re not here to hurt you.” Willie listened to the officer from the confines of his room, a two-room apartment that he shared with his wife, in central Monrovia. He heard murmurings of several people outside the door, and he felt that something was wrong.

“You’re an officer, right?” His voice was shrill and direct. Since the end of the civil-war the Liberian local police was assisted by the United Nations, and Willie knew they would respect the standard procedure, respecting policing. “Is there any UN police officer with you?”

“Hey, Willie,” the voice outside continued, “We’re all Liberians, and you’re asking if a foreigner is with us?”
It made sense to Willie, but in today’s Liberia, one should not trust too much. But Willie Kolmar could not understand the reason for the visit. As a journalist, and here he examined his activities in recent time, he had not written any story that could be described as “embarrassing” to the government. Except those who were bent on engaging in corruption, and he was determined to expose them, and make life too difficult for them.

So, how come police men were looking for him?
“I know we’re all Liberians,” he said, “and you know that was true of the rebels.”
“We know it is late,” a voice from the other end said, in reassurance, “just nine o’clock and as officers we must do our job.” Willie knew he was making sense. He was a law abiding citizen, and would not want to set an example to disobey and disrespect members of the police service.

“You must have an authority to come here, you know,” he reminded the officer, as his door creaked open, and immediately five officers pounced on him. It was like a dream, lightning fast!
“What the hell is this?”

“We got report,” the officer told him calmly, “you raped a ten year-old girl.”
“You received a report from where?”
“We’re doing our job,” the officer insisted, firmly.
That was how he found himself in this detention center. He could not remember if he insisted on seeing any Warrant of Arrest that the law required for the probable cause, authorizing the arrest and detention of any citizen of the Republic of Liberia.

He knew it was a failure on his part, but then even if he had remembered and insisted on that they would still arrest him, as they did. That night was a humiliation for him.
By the time his wife, Antoinette, who had awaken due to the exchanges, came to the door, the famous journalist’s hands were firmly secured on his back, his eyes downcast, as he fought back tears.
“What happened here, Willie?” Her voice, shocked, could only demand to know her husband’s crime.

“This man,” one of the police officers, said, pointing his right hand to the captive, “raped a ten year-old girl.”
“So you condemn me before we go for the law, eh?” Willie said, because since it was an allegation, the officer should not be too sure about the crime.
“Who told your he raped a ten-year-old?”
“If you want to know,” the same officer informed her, “Come to the station tomorrow.”

So for thirty days, Willie languished in jail, and he knew it was a set up. But who was behind it? The new Liberia, not the one he had known and experienced in the course of the 14 years of war, supposed to change.
“This could be the work of corrupt people in this country,” Willie said it aloud; as he examined what could be responsible for his predicament.

Meanwhile, the local dailies, and even the internet magazine he had been working for had a field day with his story.
“Famous Liberian Journalist Busted for Rape,” one newspaper said. “Journalist Caught In Sex Act,” another said, and gave in graphic details, quoting the mother of the alleged victim, without any quotation from any medical official to confirm the rape.

And so when his wife came to visit in the second day of his detention, and to his horror, he was told about the accuser, Willie just sank into the corner of his cell, and looked into the heaven, as if he was done.
“You brought that girl from the street,” Antoinette told her husband, “now her mother is saying you raped her.”

“I didn't do anything like that?” the journalist said, his face looked spent, tired. “Someone is framing me.”
“The girl ma told the police.” Antoinette said, “The newspaper even say you did it to some Ghana woman you were going out with.”

“So my own people will not get my side of the story,” the journalist said, tears in his eyes. “Somebody has set me up, and my friends are unwilling to come to my help. This is a new day in Liberia indeed.”

The journalist considered the recent allegations and detentions of the misunderstood ex-military general, Charles Julu, and his colleague, Andrew Dorbor, and he understood his agony. However, like the two who were vindicated after their ordeal, he would be vindicated, and then he would fight for, not only those who could not fight for themselves, but for those who would become targets for the powerful establishment.


In truth Willie Kolmar could not admit that he did anything wrong. As his wife reminded him, he remembered almost six months ago when he saw a little girl alone sleeping under a bench, he had felt sorry for her.

There had been several NGOs helping abandoned children in Monrovia and other places, and here he was, able to help out, and the girl of that age, homeless, what would he do? He was a man, a father, who had a fear of God.
That night, he took the girl to a nearby shop, and made sure she ate something, and from there took her to his house.

“Look after her,” he told his wife, “she is your daughter till we can find her ma.” Remembering this story wrenched his heart. He wanted to help one of Liberia’s abandoned children, the ones the government could not help and now see what that action had led him.

And he was even more horrified when on the tenth day of his incarceration, his wife was also detained, for, as he was told, defending him, insisting that he was innocent.

Now that he had been inside for 30 days, he appreciated the experience of those who had been on the other side of the law. Looking around him, the six- by-six room did not give him a way to be comfortable. In the corner on his right sat a small bucket to be used for nature’s demands.

In fact he had to deal with the CIC, a brutish fellow, who had been in detention for his alleged criminal activities. The first night, he was stripped naked, since he did not have the money requested by the CIC.

The room itself was meant to accommodate three to four people; it held nearly ten persons, who had allegedly committed various crimes, and waiting their days in court. And Willie wondered if this was not the new Liberia, created after the violent civil-war. Why? The detained was waiting for their days in court, for more than thirty days. And what did the law say about the number of days for a person to be detained? Willie could only hope for the best.


He decided to fight back, and tell his side of the story.
His lengthy personal narrative on what he considered to be the source of his anguish went out to the general public. It was meant to explain it all and he took pains to pen it. Willie went all out, and pulled all the punches, naming names, and putting the blame where it belonged.

His story, in his own handwriting, appeared in the media, and many people understood why, while others expressed pity for him. “What kind of justice is this?” they asked. Many Liberians made reference to the recent false accusations against two former military officers, and the many months they spent in jail.
“Justice in the jungle, indeed!” many said, in disgust.

Willie, on the other hand knew he was suffering because of his avowed determination to expose corruption and their supporters, and by doing his job, he had stepped on the toes of somebody in high places, and without knowing it he was his target.

Since there was no evidence to link him to the crime that he was said to have committed, he saw the picture clearly, and also realized that he would have a battle to fight.

Though his wife was released the following day, he knew he must fight on, and fight well, and it was necessary, those who caused his incarceration he would help bring them down.


The law, he was aware, said no citizen should be detained more than 48 hours, Willie had been in detention for 30 days now, and so when he was finally processed and appeared before the presiding judge, his accusers, including the prosecution could not provide proof beyond any shadow of doubt of his guilt.

Standing in the dock, the judge almost cried with shame when the prosecution attorney said, “Your Honor, we don’t have sufficient proof against this man.”
As Willie fought back tears, he heard in his mind, the popular Liberian song, “Sweet Liberia,” and lowered his gaze. With all his popularity, if he could be detained for 30 days, what about those unknown thousands? What about those still in detention, who told him that they were innocent of the crimes against them?

As the judge’s gavel lifted in the air to conclude the present saga, Willie heard him say, “Release him and let him go home.” But for Willie, his war had just begun. And it was a war that he would fight to the end. Being vindicated reassured of the goodness in men, and though his experience had all the trappings of revenge, he could not refuse to accept the truth that his experience would serve as a way for him, and others, to understand what was happening in Liberia today.

His vindication had come at a proper time, to make him understand that the experience of the war would result in a situation like a woman in the pangs of distress. And how far she would endure depends on her ability to work for her own salvation.
Posted by Omari Jackson Cell: 404-293-5476: Email: jackson_omari@hotmail.com at 9:34 PM

ECOWAS Summit Convenes Monday with Eye on West African Economy

Monrovia - Heads of State and Government of member countries of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), meet in the Nigerian Federal capital, Abuja, Monday, for the 34th Ordinary Session of the sub-regional economic grouping.

The frontpageafrica.com online magazine reports that the one day summit which begins Monday, will, among other issues, review the performance of West African economy and the progress toward the work of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), in view of the persistent rise in the price of oil and its adverse budgetary implications on most member countries of the region. The ECOWAS Heads of State and Government will also review security in the sub-region, with the aim of developing strategies for the consolidation of regional stability.

ECOWAS leaders will also use the Abuja summit to discuss the upcoming African Union bi-annual summit in Cairo with the view of adopting a unified approach to issues which may arise during the summit.

According to an Executive Mansion release, President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf will be among other West African leaders attending Monday’s summit. The President, who left the country Sunday afternoon, returns later on Monday following the summit before departing Tuesday, June 24th, to participate in the Poverty Reduction Strategy (PRS) Forum, scheduled to take place in Berlin, Germany beginning June 25-28. The President and party will proceed to Cairo, Egypt, immediately thereafter, for the bi-annual Summit of the African Union, to be convened in that North African country later this month.

During President Sirleaf’s absence from the country, the Minister of Internal Affairs, Mr. Ambulai Johnson will coordinate the affairs of government as Chairman of the Cabinet, in consultation with the Vice President, Dr. Joseph Boakai.