Liberia Losing Revenue from Diamonds Sold In Sierra Leone
Courtesy: VOA
30 January, 2010
Liberian diamonds are being sold in Sierra Leone in violation of the Kimberley Process that is intended to track the origin of conflict minerals. Liberia's government is trying to stop that trade and regain lost tax revenue.
Diamond profits fueled much of the violence in the long-running civil wars in Liberia and Sierra Leone.Former Liberian President Charles Taylor is on trial at the International Criminal Court on charges of crimes against humanity for supporting Sierra Leone's main rebel group. Prosecutors argue those rebels paid Mr. Taylor with diamonds mined along their common border in the Mano River basin. Read detail
The Poem: “They are the anti-peace elements and must unclench their fists”
By: Jesefu Morris Keita, Jr.
29 January, 2010
PART I
They whisper their words of viper in dark closet
Enflaming young minds with words of hatred and division Setting the stage for future conflagration
They are the anti-peace elements and must unclench their fists!
They transform themselves into objects of sex
To be exploited by journey men of no direction
Seen in every entertainment center and areas of drinks They waste their beauty while time quietly slipped away They are the anti-peace elements and must unclench their fists! Read detail
Liberian President's Re-election Bid Draws Mixed Reactions
Courtesy: VOA
29 January, 2010
In Liberia, there are mixed reactions to this week's announcement by President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf that she will run for re-election next year. A draft report by the country's Truth and Reconciliation Commission said President Sirleaf should be barred from seeking further political office for 30 years. President Sirleaf ended the speculation this week by announcing that she intends to be a "formidable" candidate in Liberia's 2011 election. Read detail
MMA 6th INAUGURAL EVENTS:
27 January, 2010

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Liberia's President Sirleaf Announces She Will Seek a Second Term in 2011
Courtesy: VOA News
26 January, 2010
Liberian President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf, Africa's first democratically elected woman president, has announced she will run for a second term, despite promising during her first campaign to limit herself to one term. President Sirleaf made the announcement Monday in an annual speech to the national legislature. Press Secretary Cyrus Badio said the president cited her successes in governing the country as reasons for her decision to seek re-election. Read detail
Bility Challenges Wesley for LFA Presidency
Courtesy: Liberian Observer
25 January, 2010
MONROVIA – The president of the Liberia Football Association (LFA), Cllr. Izetta Sombo Wesley, according to a source close to her office, has reportedly laughed off the recent statement made by a member of the Executive Committee, Musa Bility.The source quoted Wesley as saying that a 28-day event of sports hostility at the country level ‘can never be compared’ to the running of a national federation for four years. Read detail
African Experts Expected More from Obama Administration
Courtesy: VOA
21 January, 2010
As President Barack Obama completes his first year in office, Africa experts in the United States say they were expecting more from the country's first African-American leader.
Many so-called Africanists in the United States had high hopes when President Obama took office one year ago. Nigerian American political science professor Mojubaolu Olufunke Okome is among those now confronting reality. "I like President Obama, so maybe I am cutting him some slack, more slack, but I think he represents his country, and as the representative of America, Read detail
Former Liberian Information Minister Says His Resignation is Not an Admission of Guilt
Courtesy:VOA
January 19, 2010
Former Liberian Information Minister Lawrence Bropleh said his resignation late last week does not mean he is guilty of embezzling over $200,000 as suggested in an audit report by the country’s General Auditing Commission.
President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf suspended Bropleh last October pending the outcome of two investigations into allegations that the minister might have defrauded the government of more than $300,000. Read detail
Guinea's Military Leader Agrees to Leave of Absence
Courtesy: VOA
16 January, 2010
Guinea's military leader has agreed to a transitional government leading to elections within six months.
Captain Moussa Dadis Camara has agreed to remain outside the country, continuing his recovery from being shot more than one month ago while a transitional government takes charge in Guinea to organize new elections. Captain Camara and interim leader Defense Minister Sekouba Konate agreed to the deal during talks in the Burkinabe capital with regional mediator. Read detail
Ivorian tax-free rebel city flourishes
14 January, 2010

An itinerant salesman in a baseball cap wanders the streets of Ivory Coast's second city, Bouake, touting counterfeit perfumes. "Here no-one can say to you: 'No, that's pirated' or 'You can't sell that here,'" he tells me when I ask if he ever has any trouble from the authorities. "If we were in the south of the country, you could complain that no customs tax has been paid for.  Read detail
'Lucid' junta leader Camara arrives in Burkina Faso
Courtesy: France 24
13 January, 2010
Guinea's junta chief Moussa Dadis Camara, hospitalised in Morocco after an attempt on his life last month, arrived in Burkina Faso on Tuesday and was lucid and speaking, an official said.

"He is lucid, he is speaking," a source in the office of Burkina Faso President Blaise Compaore told AFP. Camara had been hospitalised in Rabat after being shot in the head by his aide de camp on December 3 following a dispute, allegedly over a bloody crackdown on an opposition rally. Read detail
Pope Benedict XVI urges Italy to respect migrants
11 January, 2010
Pope Benedict XVI has called on Italians to respect the rights of illegal migrants.
It comes after a wave of violence against African farm workers in southern Italy which left some 70 people injured.

Police have evacuated hundreds of Africans by bus from the town of Rosarno, in Calabria. Correspondents say the problem is closely related to organised crime in the region.
Pope Benedict XVI spoke out strongly in favour of the rights of poor African farm workers, who have been the target of violence in recent days.  About 70 people have been injured, including migrants, local residents and police officers trying to restore order. Read detail
Immigrants riot in Italy amid racial unrest
Courtesy: Reuter News
10 January, 2010

ROSARNO, Italy (Reuters) - Thousands of immigrants protested against racism in a southern Italian town on Friday, after a night of rioting sparked by an attack on African farm workers by a gang of white youths. In one of Italy's worst episodes of racial unrest in years, dozens of Africans in Rosarno, in the Calabria region, smashed car windows with steel bars and stones and set cars and rubbish bins on fire late into Thursday night. Read detail
Togolese footballers may quit the African Nations Cup after a deadly machine gun attack on their team bus in Angola. watch video
Courtesy: SKY NEWS
09 January, 2010

Kenya 'expels hate cleric Abdullah al-Faisal to Gambia'
Courtesy: BBC
08 January, 2010
Kenya has deported to The Gambia a Jamaican-born Muslim cleric notorious for preaching racial hatred, Kenya's immigration minister says. Abdullah al-Faisal was arrested last week and there have been conflicting reports about his whereabouts.
"We had problems deporting him because many countries, including the US, declined to have him even on transit," the minister, Otieno Kajwang, said. Mr Kajwang said Faisal was being expelled for his "terrorist history". Read detail
Can we abundant Guinea?
By: Musa V. Sheriff
06 January, 2010

There are many discussions on the situation unfolding in Guinea. This explains that the international community is concerned about Guinea and its social setting. But some communist like-minded people have seen Moussa Dadis and his associates as good way out. It makes sense if we have two opposing forces discussing the same thing, which I called critical deliberation. Now let’s look at it critically from the broad context, and then analyze it from both the political and military perspectives.  We will use history as an ultimate guide in this piece.  History is the witness of the time. History is an important tool that helps us correct the present and future.  Read detail
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Liberians React to Temporary Lifting of Arms Embargo
Courtesy: VOA News
04 January, 2010
The temporary lifting of that embargo is meant to help government and UN security forces, but Liberians are divided about whether the move will help.

The U.N. Security Council has lifted its arms embargo on Liberia for one year, primarily to allow its peacekeeping mission there to receive military equipment. But it also allows the government of President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf to acquire arms and training to fight crime. Read detail
Gambian president roars at gays
Courtesy: Gambian News
03 January, 2010
Gambian president, Yahya Jammeh, is once again on the offensive against homosexuality, describing the practice as an act of 'indecency' which has no place in the country's military.
‘‘We will not encourage lesbianism and homosexuality. It is a taboo in our armed forces.” But this is not the first time Jammeh has shown revulsion for gays and lesbians, and certainly not only in the army. Read detail
Senegal's President Apologizes for Insult to Christians
Courtesy: VOA
02 January, 2010
Senegal's Muslim President Abdoulaye Wade has apologized for a controversial remark about Christianity that prompted street protests in Dakar.

The president's son issued the statement of apology. Karim Wade, who is a government official, Minister of State for International Cooperation, Land Use, Air Transport and Infrastructure, said the president cares about all of Senegal's religious communities, including Christians. Read detail