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News Extra
VOL 8 NO.699
WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 15, 2014
CENTRAL BANK OF LIBERIA
MARKET BUYING AND SELLING RATES
LIBERIAN DOLLARS PER US DOLLAR
These are indicative rates based on results of daily surveys of
the foreign exchange market in Monrovia and its environs. The
rates are collected from the Forex Bureaux and the commercials
banks. The rates are not set by the Central Bank of Liberia.
Source:
Research, Policy and Planning Department,
Central Bank Liberia,
Monrovia, Liberia
TUESDAY, OCTOBER 7, 2014 L$84.00/US$1 L$85.00/US$1
BUYING SELLING
L$84.00/US$1 L$85.00/US$1
L$85.00/US$1 L$84.00/US$1
MONDAY, OCTOBER 13, 2014
TUESDAY, OCTOBER 14, 2014
EDITORIAL - pg.3
CIVIL SERVICE BOSS
ON THE HOT SEAT

p8 p5

I
N
S
I
D
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Liberian Government Gets Additional
Funding to Combat Ebola
ANC GIVES $500 TO FAMILY
News Extra

USAID, NORWAY,
STEPPING UP
SUPPORT
ERIC DUNCAN A
VICTIM, NOT A
CULPRIT
D-DAY
THURSDAY?
Senators again fail to
reach fnal decision
of President Sirleaf
request for Absolute

We have no doubt that eradicating the deadly Ebola virus out of Liberia should be the number priority of each and every
Liberian but we must tread carefully how we proceed with granting absolute power to a single branch of government in
the wake of this major health epidemic that is poised to infect thousands more if adequate measures are not put in place.
Quarantine, Containment and Contact Tracing Must override any quest to restrict movement and free speech.

Faces Senate probe Over civil
Servants downsizing
CHIEF JUSTICE, HIGH COURT MUST REMAIN IMPARTIAL IN PRESIDENTS
ABSOLUTE
POWER DEBATE
Page 2 |
Frontpage
Wednesday, October 15, 2014
Wade C. L. Williams, wade.williams@frontPageAfricaonline.com
We know how many bodies leave here
a day and how many persons die a day;
we have records on them. He bypassed
us, carried the people back there and
they went and took the body from there.
I want to see that doctor. They did it
because the person who died is related
to a big shot. Jerry Dadzie, Hygienist
Island Clinic ETU
Monrovia-
T
he Island Clinic Ebola Treatment Unit was a scene
of confusion on Monday October 13, 2014 when
a body collection team from the ministry of health
tried to secretly take away the corpse of a 35-year-
old woman who had died from the deadly Ebola virus.
The team sent accordingly on orders of Liberias Chief Medical
Offcer Dr. Bernice Dahn told FrontPageAfrica that they were
sent for the body of a woman who was the daughter of Dahns
special assistant who died from the disease last month.
We were sent here from the ministry, to come and pick up one
of our boss daughter that contracted this virus and she died at
this unit, said Sam P. Theoway, Ambulance driver.
Continued Theoway: We are here to pick up the body and
then carry it to the site. We came since this morning, we met
the health workers out here saying that they are not working,
they are on strike and they are expecting all of us to be on
strike.
Theoway said he was told by health workers who control the
removal of patients who succumb to the deadly Ebola virus
that all bodies from the center were to be taken for cremation
and was surprised that he and his crew were sent there to pick
a special body.
They say Red Cross will take all the bodies because it is Red
Cross that is responsible for all bodies, he said.
We did not explain our reason for coming here to them in
detail and some of them responsible for the bodies in there are
saying no body is leaving the unit to go anywhere.
Jerry Dadzie, a hygienist who controls the collection of bodies
from the Island Clinic Ebola Treatment Unit said he was
shocked that people in high positions of authority could fout
their own guidelines on the issue of burial for Ebola bodies,
while at the same time refusing other poor people the remains
of their loved ones or at least the last respect of choosing a
burial site for them.
There is a doctor in there, Im told gave a body out to some
people today, I want to see him. He dressed, bypassed us.
Anybody who comes here for bodies consult the body team
because we have records on all the bodies, he said.
We know how many bodies leave here a day and how many
persons die a day; we have records on them. He bypassed us,
carried the people back there and they went and took the body
from there. I want to see that doctor. They did it because the
person who died is related to a big shot.
Dadzie was sad that the government was playing games with
the issue of Ebola dead bodies and how they should be disposed
of. He said the government had told people working at Isolation
centers in Monrovia to allow burial teams to cremate bodies of
people who die from Ebola but he said it only works for the
poor and people without connections.
It happened at JFK, that Orlando, a hygienist and my personal
friend died; when we went for the body they said they were
taking it to the crematorium to burn it, he said.
We said we need the body, we will bury the body but they said
it was an executive order that no Ebola body be buried. I dont
know where that order came from. They told us they would
burn the body and give us the ashes and we accepted.
Dadzie said the 35-year-old woman who died had connections
with offcials at the ministry of health and that they had ordered
the body to be removed from among the rest of the bodies that
were to be picked up by the Red Cross burial team.
Today they came for her body to put it in casket and go and
bury it. They are not treating everybody fairly. What happens
to those of us who are working, what becomes of us if we die?
He asked.
Members of the crew that had gone to pick another body were
dressed in Personal Protective Equipment for almost an hour
and the security at the gate would not let them into the hospital
until they received permission to allow them to enter.
One of the angry masked men threatened to take off the PPE
because it was so hot and he could no longer bear the heat. He
argued that those who sent them had not explained the reason
for taking one persons mortal remains and leaving the others
behind and the worst part was that they could not identify the
dead person they came to collect.
They have so many bodies in there and they did not label the
bodies, no name on the bodies, so how can we identify the
person? We dont know the person if we knew the person; we
cant just take any body, he said angrily. But then if they
cremating bodies they should not have allowed us to come
here to take a specifc body and carry it. They should have told
us to take all the bodies and carry them.
As the men were waiting for those who sent them to make the
right arrangement one of the medical doctors who works at the
facility only identifed as Dr. Kollie emerged and asked the
securities to allow the men to take the body away. Dr. Kollie
seeing journalists flming the scene stated that they go into the
ETU to see the head of the clinic, some agreed to enter but
others stayed behind to see if the body would be given to the
team that had come to pick it up.
The hospital administrator telling them that journalists were
not allowed inside the center as tension was high and health
workers were threatening to strike yelled at the journalists
who were able to enter. Phone calls were made to Dr. Bernice
Dahn and she used her connections at the center to get the body
out. The crew was able to take the body away to an unknown
location for burial. All efforts made to reach Dr. Dahn proved
futile as her phone was switched off.
Onlookers on the scene were shocked after watching what
had transpired at the Center. Fatu Bah who had been going to
the isolation center to check on her husband for the past three
weeks expressed disappointment over the situation.
Ive been coming here almost one month since I brought my
husband here but no body to tell me what happened, but look
at what going on here; so only rich people can see their family
when they die from Ebola? She asked with tears in her eyes.
Reports gathered from people who work at the center says it
is not the frst time that this has happened. One health worker
said this is a common practice at the government run ETU in
Monrovia including the John F. Kennedy ETU.
When the outbreak of the Ebola virus reached its peak with
more deaths and Government unable to bury the number of
dead bodies collected daily, President Sirleaf announced
cremation of all Ebola dead.
The Liberian National Red Cross responsible for collection
of bodies transports every Ebola related body and other
suspected Ebola bodies to the Marshall cremation site for
cremation but Liberia having a culture where people normally
refer memorializing their dead relatives during Decoration
Day celebrated in March each year, some senior offcials of
government are now beating the system to have their dead
relatives buried.
One source also told FrontPageAfrica that secret burial is
ongoing at night by higher ups who do not want their dead
relatives cremated.
Contacts with the dead through burial has been cited as one of
the modes of transmission of virus but higher-ups have turned
to using health workers wearing PPEs to collect the bodies of
their dead relatives for burial.
Frontpage
Wednesday, October 15, 2014 Page 3
NAKOMO DUCHE, nakomoduche@hotmail.com, Contributing Writer
FrontPage
v
v
Commentary
EDITORIAL
SUPREME COURT CHIEF JUSTICE FRANCIS KORKPOR, threw
his hat behind President Ellen Johnson-Sirleafs power quest when
he declared during the opening of the October term of court Monday
that the constitution authorizes the President to curtail rights otherwise
available to citizens.
THE CHIEF JUSTICES COMMENT is already generating buzz
among legal scholars and political observers from both sides of the
debate over an issue that has sparked controversy both locally and
internationally.
MANY ARE OF the view that the court should be a disinterested arbiter
of disputes and by rendering an opinion in favor of the president, the
Chief Justice may have prejudice the court and may have to recuse
himself in any matter where the constitutionality of the president
asserting such powers are an issue.
ACCORDING TO CHIEF JUSTICE Korkpor, during a state of
emergency, the Constitution authorizes the President to exercise a
range of powers and to curtail rights otherwise available to citizens and
residents of this nation during normal times.
THIS IS TRUE. On the surface, the statement is clear about what
the constitution. But the Chief Justices statement suggests that the
President has unbridled power to curtail rights under the state of
emergency. This is not true because the very constitution, the Chief
Justice cites, Article 88, states:
The President shall, immediately upon the declaration of a state of
emergency, but not later than seven days thereafter, lay before the
Legislature at its regular session or at a specially convened session, the
facts and circumstances leading to such declaration. The Legislature
shall within seventy-two hours, by joint resolution voted by two-thirds
of the membership of each house, decide whether the proclamation
of a state of emergency is justifed or whether the measures taken
there under are appropriate. If the two-thirds vote is not obtained, the
emergency automatically shall be revoked. Where the Legislature shall
deem it necessary to revoke the state of emergency or to modify the
measures taken there under, the President shall act accordingly and
immediately carry out the decisions of the Legislature.
THEREFORE under the expressed language of the constitution the
legislature can tell the president that she cannot suspend certain powers
like postponing elections indefnitely as was the case last week when
her request was thrown in the dustbin by the lower house.
THE CHIEF JUSTICE went on to urge Liberians and foreign nationals
residing in the country to be cognizant of the limitations of the exercise
of certain constitutional and statutory rights during this period of the
state of emergency.
ADDED CHIEF JUSTICE KORKPOR: It is absolutely essential
that these three branches coordinate and cooperate with one another
during these critical period of our nation to achieve the common goal of
eradicating the Ebola virus.
COOPERATION BY THE three branches of the Government especially
at this time does not mean that any one branch will reignite any of its
powers to one or the other two branches.
WE HAVE NO doubt that eradicating the deadly Ebola virus out of
Liberia should be the number priority of each and every Liberian but
we must tread carefully how we proceed with granting absolute power
to a single branch of government in the wake of this major health
epidemic that has now claimed the lives of 4,033 persons in Liberia,
Sierra Leone, Senegal, Nigeria, Spain and the United States of America.
Liberia accounts for nearly half of those deaths with 2,316 out of 4,076
infections to date.
ON TUESDAY, the World Health Organization announced that there
have been 8,914 cases overall, including the fatal cases, but says
those numbers could top 9,000 by the end of the week and could get
dramatically worse with the rate of infection soaring to 10,000 new
cases every week unless drastic measures are not taken within the next
two months.
WHO Assistant Director General Dr. Bruce Aylward said that it could
easily get that dramatic if steps are not taken now. "A lot more people
will die," Aylward said if more on-the-ground prevention measures are
not put in place in the next 60 days.
THIS IS WHY we believe strongly that the focus should remain medical
and not political; humanitarian and not constitutional at this point in
time when a lot of international goodwill is pouring in.
THE GOVERNMENTS MAIN focus now should be how to manage
the crisis better, how to ensure that donations from various organizations
are distributed properly and not left to rot as has been reported in a
number of cases.
WE MUST begin immediately to strategize ways and means of dealing
with the hundreds of children who are now orphans after losing their
mothers, fathers, sisters and brothers to the deadly outbreak.
WITH SCHOOLS now closed, our focus should be directed toward
COMMENTARY
CHIEF JUSTICE, HIGH COURT
MUST REMAIN IMPARTIAL
IN PRESIDENTS
exploring how the government can take education to the various homes
by providing home-school materials, sketch books and reading materials.
IN THE MIDST of such a deteriorating crisis, government must begin
to explore how to keep kids who continue to ply the streets in the middle
of traffc just to make a buck to feed their families at home, further
endangering their lives and putting them in harms way of the virus.
SIMPLY PUT, THE PURSUIT of absolute power simply does not make
any sense for Liberia at this point in time.
WE OWE it to all of those who have lost their lives in the civil war and
under brutal past regimes in the struggle for freedom, for justice, equality
and a free press.
THOSE, WHO LIKE the president endured the strong might of
dictatorships and was jailed for falling in breach of the very powers she
now seeks to exploit.
WE OWE IT to those fathers, mothers, sisters, brothers and children who
have not been fortunate to survive the deadly Ebola outbreak so far, to
stay on the course of recovery from war and continue our journey toward
a transition from war to peace and from one government to the next.
LIBERIA MUST, especially now focus on the fastest and most precise
manner in which we can work with international stakeholders and
partners in bringing this nightmare to an end and avoid dwelling on
issues far removed from whats at stake here, eradicating Ebola from
Liberia.
WE DO NOT FEEL that giving the president special absolute powers to
compel certain labor or services without compensation during this state
of emergency will help end Ebola.
WE DO NOT FEEL that the broad and sweeping powers the president
seeks to restrict peaceful assembly and limit the movements of certain
individuals, groups or communities as the case may be to prevent the
further spread or contain the epidemic in certain areas, will help to stop
Ebola.
THE PRESIDENT already has enormous powers under existing
healthcare law to deal with the spread of Ebola.
WE DO NOT FEEL that restricting certain practices, generally or
specifcally, if the President fnds that such practice further endangers
the public health and contributes to the spread of the virus, will help end
Ebola.
WE DO NOT FEEL that preventing any citizen, groups of citizens or any
entity protected under Article 15 of the Constitution from making any
public statement in person, by print or electronic, which may have the
tendency of undermining the State of Emergency, confusing the public
on the nature of the health care threat, otherwise causing a state of panic
about the health care or security conditions, will help end Ebola.
OUR PROBLEM is that these phrases are too broad. What constitutes
undermining the state of emergency? This very editorial could be
interpreted as undermining the state of emergency. That is the danger of
such powers.
OUR FEAR IS that people close to the president with axes to grind with
anyone could prevail on her to put her newly-acquired powers to use
under the guise of a state of emergency.
WHAT WE DO feel strongly about is creating an environment conducive
enough to allow those who are making enormous sacrifces to fourish;
that health care workers are well compensated and supported to do
their jobs without worrying about how to get to work, how to feed their
families or when one of them might get infected and what would become
of the families theyre leaving behind.
THIS IS LIBERIAS DILEMMA, Africas oldest republic eclipsed by
a world of enormous possibilities, entangled in a recurring theme of
bad governance, corruption, lack of transparency and accountability and
massive abuse of human rights and free speech.
RULERS AND LEADERS before have come and gone and have
tried, but none have succeeded in curtailing free speech or the rights to
assemble. State of Emergency or not, Liberia must never surrender its
quest for a democratic concept. We must do all we can to make those who
lost their lives for the freedom we seek and are enjoying today proud and
are smiling in their graves or wherever their bodies were dumped in the
middle of the night.
THE BOTTOM LINE IS the Supreme Court must remain the true and
impartial arbiter of justice in our quest to defeat a common enemy in
Ebola.
THIS IS LIBERIAS promise, one of hope and determination to defy the
impossible odds standing between our past and our future, our present
and our existence. We have been down this road before and we all know
how it ended. Lets keep our focus on Ebola and the rest will defne and
expedite itself, accordingly.
T
he Ebola epidemic is an emergency. I identifed it as a threat
to international peace and security well before the Security
Council declared, and the Government recognised, it as such.
Public health and logistics experts and others are addressing it
with the fervour, if not the alacrity, required. Once the effort gets into full
gear, a reversal of the exponential rate of infection should result. This will
portend the ultimate control, and hopefully the elimination, of the disease.
While focussing on this problem, urgent attention also needs to be paid
to the economic hit that the country faces. A recent World Bank report
indicates that the short-term output and fscal impacts, like the incidence
of the disease itself, are expected to be greater for Liberia than for Guinea
or Sierra Leone. Accountability and transparency with regard especially
to the massive resources being mobilized for the Ebola fght must be
prioritised. The Ebola and resulting economic problems, in turn, have
political consequences the most obvious of which is the fact that elections
are not being held this week in keeping with Articles 45, 46 and 83(a) of
the Constitution.
Accordingly, one could say that a state of emergency exists. However,
state of emergency, as lawyers like to put it, is a term of art, having
specifc legal signifcation. It is very carefully defned in the Constitution
and, when declared, may result in emergency powers being used. So, is
there a state of emergency as spelled out in the Constitution?
The Constitution is the fundamental law, our secular bible. Why? Because
it is the will of the people in whom, after all, all power is inherent. Such
inherence is not by gift of the Constitution, although it is good to see
that this immutable law of mankind is recognised in Article 1. Popular
sovereignty is fundamental, learned by observing the human condition.
Like the law of self-preservation or the law of gravity, it cannot be
repealed certainly not on this planet. Unlike them, the Constitution
can be changed, but only by reference to the sovereign people. Indeed,
the Constitution does need amendment, perhaps even thorough revision.
Until that happens, it must be fully respected, not trampled.
Article 86(b) clearly and unequivocally provides that a state of emergency
may be declared ONLY in the case of a threat or outbreak of war or
civil unrest that threatens the Republic and represents a clear and
present danger. That is not our situation now. Under our system, the
Legislature makes the law, the Executive ensures that it is carried out, and
the Supreme Court interprets it all in conformity with the Constitution.
All senior offcials take an oath to defend the Constitution and laws of the
Republic. (See Constitution of the Republic of Liberia, 1986, Articles 31,
53 and 70.)
The Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives had the right idea
when he suggested that the Supreme Court weigh in on whether Article
86(b) could be used to cover the Ebola crisis. While it would be unusual
for the Court to issue an advisory opinion, it would not be a novel event,
for the Court has done so at least once, in 1876. (See Opinion of the
Court on Interpretation of Section 6, Article II of the Constitution, 1 LLR
509 (1876)). The Court would consider all the facts and circumstances
and likely refer toMINUTES OF CONSTITUTION COMMISSION to
determine the intent of the drafters of the Constitution, as it did in a recent
case (See Toe v. FrontPage Africa Newspaper, decided 15 July 2013).
The drafters obviously had in mind the sad history of emergency powers
which were used to victimize some of them.
Emergency powers have been the bane of Liberias existence since, at
least, the beginning of World War II which was used as a convenient
pretext in 1939 to pass an Emergency Powers Act. Thereafter, Acts were
passed regularly, often suspending the writ of habeas corpus, something
that can no longer be done. (See Constitution, 1986, Article 87(b)). Under
the 1847 Constitution, the writ could be suspended for not more than
12 months. (See Constitution of the Republic of Liberia, 1847, Article
I, Sec. 20th.) On occasion, the suspension was renewed from year to
year, in keeping with the letter, though not the spirit, of the constitutional
injunction. In 1961 and 1967-68, the Acts were used to suppress labour
strikes and the latter Act was a handy tool in the prosecution of Henry
B. Fahnbulleh, Sr. for an alleged coup plot. Interestingly, the 1961 Act
granted to the President nineteen sweeping powers, including authority to
expand the army and police, mobilize and conscript all labor, commandeer
private property without going through the courts, order arrest without
warrants, and detain citizens for one year without bail. (See Carl Patrick
Burrowes. Power and Press Freedom in Liberia, 1830-1970: The Impact
of Globalization and Civil Society on Media-Government Relations).
These sweeping delegations of authority were, in effect, derelictions
of duty manifestations of hubris, avarice and a collective autocratic
psyche. They point to a need for the restoration of governmental balance,
devolution of central power and repeal of oppressive laws.
Are emergency powers required to combat Ebola? No new powers
needed to be invoked to disinfect the apartment and vehicle of the health
care worker in Houston, Texas who contracted Ebola while caring for a
Liberian. Had she refused, a simple court order would have solved the
problem. We have similar remedies already on the books.
Another thorny question concerns the senatorial elections which were to
have been held this week. In order not to have violated the Constitution,
an amendment should have been arranged. This would not be possible
under a de jure state of emergency. In any case, conducting an
amendment referendum would have posed the very same problem
exposing participants to Ebola contamination ostensibly being sought
to be avoided by the postponement.
Could elections be held in the midst of an Ebola outbreak? Perhaps.
Experts may be able to design them in such a way as to minimize the
risk of contamination. Was this possibility considered? In any event, it
is interesting to note that U.S. presidential elections were held in 1864
during their civil war.
The conundrum presented by postponing the elections could have been
resolved with prior broad political negotiations at the most senior level
and involving all stakeholders, similar to the Accra peace process in 2003
when representative groups came together to forge a peace and make
necessary changes to the Constitution an awkward solution, but one that
was required to resolve an even more awkward problem. The beauty of
such an arrangement is that it would get as close to popular involvement
as possible. This would encourage broad, willing acceptance.
It is not too late.
TRAMPLING THE CONSTITUTION
We have no doubt that eradicating the deadly Ebola virus out of Liberia
should be the number priority of each and every Liberian but we must
tread carefully how we proceed with granting absolute power to a single
branch of government in the wake of this major health epidemic that
is poised to infect thousands more if adequate measures are not put in
place. Quarantine, Containment and Contact Tracing Must override any
quest to restrict movement and free speech.
ABSOLUTE POWER DEBATE
Page 4 |
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Wednesday, October 15, 2014
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DITORIAL TEAM
WHAT READERS ARE SAYING
ABOUT OUR STORIES ON THE
WORLDWIDE WEB
The Reader's Page
EDWARD ROYE TOP COMMENTER LIBERIA
COLLEGE
Madam Tah's resignation is wrongly timed. investigating the head
of the national security boss, I am not aware of the NSA being a part
of the justice ministry. the justice ministry controls and manages
the: national police, immigration bureau, DEA, national fre service,
NBI but not the NSA. the NSA head reports directly to the president
and not anybody else. that is statute that created it. the NSa boss is
subject to impeachment should there arise something questionable
about his/her activities. so, Cllr. Tah, I think u should have allowed
the Liberian senate to institute investigation about the NSA boss.
in this case, I think u made a mistake. the NSA and the former SSS
now EPS are not under the justice ministry. Cllr. Tah , u have never
been proactive in the execution of your duties and responsibilities.
countless audit reports were passed to u for prosecution but u
always said there was no evidence, u swept it under the carpet. only
the former boss of LTA(Bropleh) u arrested in his morning robe
and dragged to prison. Tell the Liberian people, your real reason
for resigning.
R_FILIPS (SIGNED IN USING AOL)
You are funny in that where the NSA takes on the function not
assigned its mission, the Justice ministry must step in to investigate
or indict. NSA's role is limited to data collection and coordination. It
cannot directly affect an arrest in a matter that is within the purview
of the Ministry of justice.
Please see below other responses:
1. The post of NSA director is not an elected post and serves at the
pleasure of the president of Liberia. Only elected offcials can be
impeached.
2. The constitution empowers the minister of justice to investigate
all reports of criminal activities. The NSA director is suspect of
converting or illegally seizing personal values of complainant - an
act inconsistent with the administration of justice.
3. one of the reasons Minister Tah resigned is the lack of cooperation
from the President. How sure are you that she was not undermined
by the president in doing her job? Do you expect the ministry of
justice to turn blind eyes?
JESSE FAHNGON TOP COMMENTER METROPOLITAN
STATE UNIVERSITY
Who determines a person right to resign, referenced, timing?
JAMES YONLY UNIVERSITY OF LIBERIA
A sycophant infected with drum major instinct is waiting take the
Job. Any way. to many Liberians, holding a post in government
is about getting a pay check with fnger full of fringe benefts.
Then there they go, bullying their mother or father if the president
demands so. thank you Madam. You've made the difference
DEGAN BALLAYAN TOP COMMENTER CUSTOMER
SERVICE REPRESENTATIVE AT CURRENTLY WORK AT
HOLIDAY INN EXPRESS, COLLEGE PARK - GEORGIA
Madam now former Minister of Justice, you probably did the right
thing, though sort of late. Having studied law in both the United
States and Liberia, even helped to re-write some of the laws on the
books in Liberia as I was informed or read, you should have kept
your integrity intact at all times, regardless of the fies that were
making noise in the market or in the political arena. Principles count
in every job or in appointed positions - especially in government.
To just sit there pushing paperwork, conducting legal businesses
of behave of the people in the same, corruption practices was not
reputable. In other words, the same more, same more, cancerous,
epidemic impunity continue to exist. This is unacceptable in the 21
century!! Why allow a mountain of cases go unresolved in a country
of 43,000 square miles.
HARRIS GBAHN TOP COMMENTER WORKS AT SELF-
EMPLOYED
Whom is Madam Tah accusing of preventing her from doing her
jobs? What I know is, it is only the Constitution of Liberia that can
prevent her from performing her duty when she is not in the right
direction, because no one, not even the President is above the Laws
of the Land. Moreover, her justifcation for her resignation here
is still not clear. The frst said resignation letter submitted to the
President was understood by the public to be her reaction to the
action of the Legislature by stopping her from practicing her career;
if there were any motives besides that, it is today we are getting to
know. Again, her present resignation letter will be considered by
Liberians as a deliberate and long-awaited plan so as to exit from
the government and fnd her way out to America because of the
fear of Ebola. What I believe is that if she loves her people and her
country, and as a cardinal government offcial, and even if she has
been encountering so many problems from her boss as alleged, this
is not the right time to resign. No matter what she explains now it
will be considered by the public as a point of cover-up for her fear
for Ebola.
DISTRUST, BETRAYAL PUSHED
TOUGH SKIN TAH OUT OF EJS GOVT
The Editor,
I
read Minister Lewis Brown's response to the Press Statement
by the former Justice Minister, and wondered what manner of
people are Liberia's leaders who are incapable of introspection.
Mr. Brown, as usual, was in full uninformed attack mode. Rather
than focus on the substance of the Madam Tah's statement, which has
resonated across the globe as a scathing indictment of the Government
and the government, Mr. Brown chose to be, well...Mr. Brown (see
Mr. Brown from the TV Show).
One would think, any response coming from an offcial government
source, would be based on deep introspection, reason, and judgment.
It is clear neither the government nor Min. Brown seem capable of
that.
In his very frst paragraph Mr. Brown deliberately misrepresents that
Madam Tah "fnally mustered the courage to exercise her prerogative
to resign."
Did Mr. Brown's boss, President Sirleaf, not inform him of the
Minister's resignation of March 31, 2014? Mr. Brown the Minister
resigned on March 31, while still under suspension. Your boss has
that resignation letter. It would be in the best interest of full disclosure
that she release to the Liberian public a full copy of the original letter
of resignation.
I, for one, am curious, as to why the President refused to accept the
original letter of resignation?
As several legal scholars have already written, the President did not
give any substantial weight to the precedent set under her by allowing
the Court to remove a member of the Cabinet from his / duties. I
continue to believe, the President colluded with the Court to orchestrate
the suspension, because
she wanted to accomplish other nefarious goals which the Minister
would not allow.
If one must listen to people opine about actions of the Judiciary, one
should listen to legal scholars who understand legal doctrine. As is
usually the problem in Liberia, people do not know how to "stay in
their
lane." In the case of Minister Brown, he should pull off the road
entirely.
Was Minister Brown aware, that Madam Tah returned to Liberia even
as the Ebola epidemic was growing, and the president already had
her resignation letter in hand? And he wants to talk about mustering
courage? What exactly did she have to gain? She could have demanded
then that the President accept her resignation.
Now, it is not clear to anyone why Minister Brown thinks that Minister
Tah will be angry when she has been magnanimous to return to work
and help this Government that is now spiraling into an abyss, without
complaining, after her rights were abused by the Judiciary with the
complicity and endorsement
of President Sirleaf. It is, rather, the Government that is angry and
embarrassed by the forthrightness of the former Minister, which it is
incapable of responding to.
Please tell us "what bigger interest" of the Liberian people is served,
when the Minister of Justice, cannot investigate allegations of fraud
against other government agencies? Or is it just the National Security
Agency, which happens to be headed by her son? You have the
audacity to talk about "teaching by good examples?"
Minister Brown, please tell us what "bigger interest" of the Liberian
people was served, when the President decided that the Security
services under the State of Emergency would be under the control of
the Minister of Defense, as opposed to the Minister of Justice where
it belonged?
Do you understand that is directly contributed to the death of a
Liberian citizen, Shaki Kamara. Apparently, it has not occurred to
you and your boss, that her decision to place command where it should
not be placed, had consequences for the Liberian people. I do not need
to remind you of the public beat down by the American ambassador
regarding the misuse of the Army.
How does it serve the Liberian people's "bigger interest" when a
president, in offce is so consumed by petty parochial interests that
her decisions lead to the death of a Liberian citizen, and international
rebuke?
I also fnd especially troubling is the misogyny and sexism you
demonstrate when you state "the former Minister may be deeply
beholden to the human emotions of bitterness and anger." What is it
about crude men like you that you would seek to dismiss the statement
from a Minister of Justice as "emotional?"
Minister Brown, let me suggest, that you resist the urge for your
natural tendency to be a fanatic, confer with the President and cabinet,
and decide what the government's offcial response is to the indictment
made by the former Minister of Justice.
You seem eager to tell us of your meeting on October 4, where the
President expressed concerns about corruption investigations, where
she stated there were no sacred cows. Perhaps then her son, the
Director of the NSA is a sacred sheep or goat. Because when it was
necessary to investigate charges
of fraud in his agency, the investigation was promptly sent to a private
party outside of the Ministry of Justice.
Mr. Minster please consult with the Minister of Finance, and provide
the Liberian people HOW MUCH money has been made available to
the Ministry of Justice for investigators and prosecutors? Please ask
the Minister of Finance to provide to the Liberian people the budgetary
allotment for LAWYERS, in other government agencies. How does
that compare with what is provided for the Ministry of Justice?
Will those fgures refect a commitment to investigating and fghting
corruption?
For a government, which has completely lost the trust of its citizens, it
should be evident that whoever speaks on behalf of the government, at
this time, should be a person of substantial credibility. The President
seems to prefer the face of her government to be a man singled out,
by the Truth and
Reconciliation Commission for economic crimes.(see Page 296 if the
TRC Final\ Report), and one forbidden to enter the United States.
Isn't this the very Lewis Brown who accused the President of
desecrating the offce of the Presidency, only a few years ago?
As for Deputy Minister of Information, Isaac Jackson, I will not
dignify his comments, as it is evident he lacks the aptitude and the
intellectual heft to understand the contents of Minister Tah's statement.
This President seems to have a penchant for losing women of great
credibility, Antoinette Sayeh, Olubanke King, and now Madam Tah.
At some point, you must look in the mirror, instead of looking in
the echo chamber, comprised of the likes of Lewis Brown, and ask
yourself: what am I doing wrong.
Finally, with regards to corruption cases, we have seen the President's
attitude towards her cronies, like for example, resubmitting names to
the Senate, in the face of brewing scandals. It does not take a rocket
scientist to conclude the Justice Ministry would have been pressured
by the President to forego prosecution of her cronies.
We are all waiting to see the government's performance on corruption
going forward. We will be watching.

George K Fahnbulleh
gkfahnbulleh@lakepiso.com
Mesa, AZ
CURIOSITY OVER PRESIDENT SIRLEAFS
RELUCTANCE TO ACCEPT EX-JUSTICE
MINISTER TAHS RESGINATION
Frontpage
Wednesday, October 15, 2014 Page 5
F
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NEWS EXTRA
USAID, NORWAY, STEPPING UP
LIBERIA SUPPORT AGAINST EBOLA
Monrovia-
T
he administrator
of the United
States Agency
for International
Development, USAID and
the Norwegian Foreign
Minister Brge Brende
visited Liberia and toured
a 300-bed Ebola Treatment
Unit being built with support
from USAID in Monrovia
to help combat the deadly
Ebola Epidemic.
The USAID Administrator
announced additional help to
the government to help cater
to health workers during the
outbreak.
In our case the five million
dollars for health workers
will be an addition to what
we did previously. And
really it is in support of the
government to help best
determine how to maintain
its healthcare workforce
during this difficult period in
time, he said.
Its clear where the new
commitments made today by
the United States Norway and
so many other partners that
together we really believe we
can overcome Ebola. There
is enough expertise and
knowledge, on how to do that
here in Liberia.
Administrator Shah said the
US government and the rest
of its partners in the global
community is helping the
government in its fight
against the deadly Ebola
virus and wants to see closure
to the epidemic very soon.
The center that we are at
right now is one that we have
helped to support the United
Nations to build, that will
be one of the largest Ebola
Treatment Centers anywhere
in the world, he said.
Its clear where the new
commitments made today by
the United States Norway and
so many other partners that
together we really believe
we can overcome Ebola,
he said. There is enough
expertise and knowledge,
on how to do that here in
Liberia and our goal was to
learn about whats happening
here and try to accelerate the
efforts so that fewer people
die and more people survive
so that we really turn the tide
on this epidemic.
Minister Affairs Brende said
Norway has a comprehensive
strategy for assisting West
Africa to tackle the Ebola
Epidemic, which include
supporting the United
Nations with donations and
will also do more to support
Liberia in its fight against
Ebola and carrying on with
development.
We are also supporting
WHO, so they can do their
part of the job, We also
have bilateral programs, in
collaboration with the US
and also UK, he said.
We have so far pledge 16
Million US dollars for the
overall Ebola operations,
that also include support
for the World Banks Trust
fund, in addition we are also
very focused on making sure
that the livelihood of the
people in Liberia, so we will
continue our partnership on
energy and electricity, on the
rain forest.
He said there are 160
Norwegian doctors and
nurses that have volunteered,
travel to West Africa to help
the region combat Ebola.
We will then send
Norwegian health personnel
and we will also look into
logistics, using military
aircrafts to make sure that
the materials and in kind
materials like hospital beds
will arrive and also having
an emergency so that we can
bring people out if they have
Ebola, he said.
During a joint press
conference with President
Ellen Johnson Sirleaf at her
Foreign Ministry office,
the USAID administrator
said the US has put in
place its most significant
disease control efforts ever
to respond to the Ebola
Epidemic. He announced
additional US$142Million
dollars of critical support
from the United States for
the fight against Ebola.

Wade C. L. Williams, wade.williams@frontPageAfricaonline.com
MARK ZUCKERBERG AND WIFE PRISCILLA
CHAN DONATE $25 MILLION TO FIGHT EBOLA
F
acebook founder
Mark Zuckerberg
and his wife Priscilla
Chan announced on
Tuesday that they are donating
$25 million to the Centers for
Disease Control Foundation to
fght Ebola.
Zuckerberg revealed the
donation in a post on Facebook
(of course), the site that has
made him into the $33 billion
man he is today.
In a status update, Zuckerberg
compared the disease to Polio
and HIV, noting that 8,400
people have already been
infected by Ebola and that
it has the potential to spread
quickly. Here's his full update:
Priscilla and I are donating
$25 million to the Centers for
Disease Control Foundation to
help fght Ebola.
The Ebola epidemic is at a
critical turning point. It has
infected 8,400 people so far,
but it is spreading very quickly
and projections suggest it could
infect 1 million people or more
over the next several months if
not addressed.
We need to get Ebola under
control in the near term so that
it doesn't spread further and
become a long term global
health crisis that we end up
fghting for decades at large
scale, like HIV or polio.
We believe our grant is the
quickest way to empower the
CDC and the experts in this
feld to prevent this outcome.
Grants like this directly help
the frontline responders in their
heroic work. These people are
on the ground setting up care
centers, training local staff,
identifying Ebola cases and
much more.
We are hopeful this will help
save lives and get this outbreak
under control.
There is no cure for Ebola yet,
but the chairman for the CDC
said earlier this month that he
is "confdent" the United States
will not experience an Ebola
outbreak.
Fellow tech billionaire Bill
Gates announced last month
that his foundation wouldgive
$50 million to fght Ebola,
the largest donation that
the Bill and Melinda Gates
Foundation has ever made to a
humanitarian cause.

Page 6 |
Frontpage
Wednesday, October 15, 2014
Suakoko, Bong County-
T
he number of people
infected with Ebola
hemorrhagic fever
in Bong County last
week rose from 200 to 250
both suspected and confrmed,
although no new deaths had
been reported by press time,
according to the Bong County
Health Team.
The head of the Bong County
Health Team Monday said
there were also 73 new cases
reported during the period
under review. He said they
were handling suspected cases
of Ebola whose blood samples
had been sent to Monrovia
awaiting confrmation.
In Malwah, Fuamah district,
Dr. Sampson Azouarkoi said
they were treating fve deaths
in the area with suspicion but
could not confrm that they
were as a result of Ebola.
The County Health Team
said over 50 samples had
been collected from people
suspected of having the disease
for analysis while surveillance
continues.
The County Health Team
surveillance team in county
actively and closely following
up to 50 people who are
suspected to have got into
contact with the dead, he
said. These contacts have not
shown any signs of the disease
but will be monitored for 21
days. After 21 days, they will
be declared Ebola-free.
Dr. Azouarkoi also disclosed
that a cumulative number
of 972 contacts listed were
recorded. He said out of the
BONG COUNTY RECORDS INCREASE
IN EBOLA; 73 NEW CASES REPORTED
number 155 persons completed
the 21 days quarantine.
He named Gbarpolu County
as the latest epic center of the
virus. The latest increase in
the number of suspected Ebola
cases in the county comes amid
an ongoing back off by Health
Workers around the country.
Fear factor
Meanwhile the admission
of patients suspected to
be infected with the Ebola
hemorrhagic fever in Malwah
has forced other patients to fee
from the area, according to the
County Health Team.
Reports from the area indicate
that the area has, since the
Ebola outbreak, not received
any patients with non-related
ailments.
Dr. Azouarkoi said people in
neighboring areas have also
fed. Several families have
been relocated to other adjacent
districts in the county, he said.
In a related development the
Chief Medical offcer of the
Phebe Hospital Dr. Jefferson
Sibley says the ongoing go-
slow action by health workers
is a major setback to the
hospital.
The National Health
Association of Liberia began
an indefnite go-slow action to
claim governments attention
to their plights.
The nurses are among other
things calling for the re-
instatement of the Associations
President and secretary
general, the implementation
of the Senator Armah Jallah-
committee report and risk
benefts.
But in an interview with
FrontPage Africa Dr. Sibley
said the action by nurses is
not timely considering the
constraints the health sector is
facing as the result of the Ebola
outbreak.
The Phebe Hospital chief
medical offcer believes Liberia
has come a long way in the
fght against the epidemic and
current strike by nurses could
undermine the fght against the
virus.
Dr. Sibley wants nurses return
to work and continue to engage
the government in meeting
their demands.
Dr. Sibley said there are over
50 patients currently admitted
at the hospital but some were
leaving because of the nurses
strike.
The Phebe Hospital Chief
Medical Offcer however said
payment of risk benefts for
nurses and other employees
who work for the month of
September was ongoing at the
hospital.
He explained that the
money was provided by Act
Alliance, a non-governmental
organization, through the
Lutheran Church in Liberia
during the dedication of the
isolation center at the hospital
in late September this year.
F
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NEWS EXTRA
Selma Lomax, FPA Bong Reporter


Frontpage
Wednesday, October 15, 2014 Page 7
F
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LEGISLATIVE BEAT
CIVIL SERVICE BOSS
ON THE HOT SEAT
Faces Senate probe Over civil Servants downsizing
Senate yet to decide on Prez. Sirleaf Request for More Power
Henry Karmo (0886522495) henrykarmo47@gmail.com
Henry Karmo (0886522495) henrykarmo47@gmail.com
Monrovia-
T
he plenary of the
Liberian senate has
resolved to invite
before that august body
the Director General of the Civil
Service Agency (CSA), George
Werner to provide detailed
information about the Executive
plan of action to downsize
several civil servants who were
made to take compulsory leave
as result of the Ebola outbreak.
The senate decision is predicated
upon a communication written
by Senators Geraldine Doe-
Sheriff (formerly of the CDC,
Montserrado County) and
George Tengbeh (UP- Lofa
County) requesting the body
to invite the CSA Director to
explain the planned action by
government.
In the two lawmakers
communication to the August
body they stated that staff of
various line Ministries and
Agencies were placed under
the category of non-essential
staff and told to remain home
due to the outbreak of the Ebola
Virus, a decision according to
the president would decongest
government offces and help
in breaking the chain of
transmission by preventing the
spread of the virus.
Senators Tengbeh and Doe-
sheriff stated: presiding and
distinguished members of
the senate we request your
indulgence to accept our request
to invite to this plenary the
Director General of the CSA
to give reasons for the plan of
action by the executive.
The senators communication
was accepted by plenary through
a motion fled by Senator John
Ballout of Maryland County and
seconded by his colleague, Dan
Morais from the same County.
Though an offcial
communication hasnt being
served the Legislature by the
executive outlining the planned
downsizing process by the
CSA, the communication from
the two senators referenced a
communication dated October 2,
2014 to the legislature inviting
the Internal Reform Committee
of the legislature to a workshop
to lay out procedures for the
implementation of the recent
decision taken by the cabinet
and endorsed by the President to
downsize civil servants.
The CSA is claiming that service
delivery at the Civil Service
Agency (and other institutions)
are continuing without
interruption, even in the absence
of non-essential staff. The
decision according to the Agency
in a document is a result of a
diligent work by the CSA on a
reform of the civil service under
the public modernization project
which is intended to optimize
and rightsize the government
workforce.
It has therefore been
substantiated, that many of the
employees occupying positions
which are not necessary to carry
out the institutions mandate and
functions. This situation opens
up the possibility of permanently
eliminating non-essential
employees and the positions
they occupy and put in place
employees who can contribute to
the mandate of the institution,
the CSA document states.
The document also states that
the Civil service Agency got
its reliance from the CSA Act
section 66.5, section3.1.1 which
gives authority to the Director
General to institute the necessary
reform in the CSA.
According to the CSA plan,
Liberians who are Civil servants
but placed under the non-
essential staff category, will
receive a total severance pay (1.5
Monthly salary with an addition
of two years salary (LD) will be
added to the severance payment
plus a thank you package,
based on tenure of the employee.
The whole will be divided into
24 equal payments, the document
states.
Some Liberians are arguing
that the action of CSA is wrong
since the employees were made
to stay home based on a national
disaster.
Besides, others also hold the
view that at the moment, the
Government of Liberia is not
operating at full capacity thereby
necessitating non-essential staff
and when the Ebola situation is
under control with all sectors
functional, staff on leave will be
needed to work.
Downsizing processes by the
regime of president Sirleaf in
the past have heeded no fruitful
result. Upon assuming offce
president Sirleaf promised a
small but effective workforce
which led to downsizing at
several ministries and agencies.
In the frst six years of Sirleafs
administration the size of
government increased despite
the downsizing process.
More than 10 new agencies
and other functionaries of
government were created
including the Land Commission,
Law Reform Commission, all
employing thereby increasing
the size of government.
EMERGENCY POWER STALEMATE
Monrovia-
M
embers of the
Liberian Senate
again failed on
Tuesday to reach a
fnal decision on whether or not
to grant President Ellen Johnson
Sirleaf the extra power she
requested under the 90 days state
of emergency.
On last Thursday senators were
kept in session up to 8:00 PM a
very unusual happening at the
Liberian legislature to discuss
President Sirleafs request
seeking their authorization for
extra ordinary power to suspend
certain rights of Liberians under
the current state of emergency.
Senators are divided on two
issues including the president
decision to postpone the Mid-
term senatorial election which
was scheduled for 14 October
2014 but could not due to the
Ebola outbreak and the quest for
more power.
Some Senators are arguing
that the matter is constitutional
that needs to be addressed with
care and that it was not in the
jurisdiction of the president
to postpone the election while
others are arguing that the
decision by the president is
necessary.
In the wake of divided positions,
the senators after a long day of
discussion ended into a deadlock
with an arraignment of a special
session that took place last
Friday to decide on the election
issue, setting Tuesday of this
week to discuss the issue of the
extra power for the president.
Like the senate, the House of
Representative choose Friday
to have similar discussion but
only on the issues of the election
and choose to treat the issue of
request for absolute powers.
The two chambers discussed the
issues of election and came up
with a resolution with separate
wordings. In the House of
Representatives resolution they
mandated the National Elections
(NEC) commission to conduct
the mid-term special senatorial
election on or before the 20
of December 2014, while the
senators mandated the NEC to
conduct activities leading to
election and inform them about a
date that will be necessary from
now to December and inform
them for approval.
With the two resolutions
bearing different wordings,
in line with legislative best
practice there is a need for
the setting up of a conference
committee comprising members
of the Senate and House of
Representatives to come up with
one term.
On Tuesday the date set by the
senators to discuss the absolute
power issue, to the dismay of
many the senators ignored the
issue as it did not appear on the
agenda of the day activities, but a
communication from the House
of Representatives surfaced
seeking concurrence from the
senate to deny the President of
her request for absolute powers.
The communication was read by
the secretary of the senate and
was placed along with the senate
plan on the same communication
with Thursday set as the date
for discussions on the president
as a result of an amendment
to Senator Dan Morias motion
which set Thursday as the
day the plenary of the senate
will constitute itself into one
committee to hold discussions
on the President communication.
Citing reasons that necessitated
the suspension of the October
14 Senatorial Elections, the
Proclamation states, As a
consequence of the measures
taken by the Government under
the State of Emergency to contain
the spread and eradicate the
virus, the continued prevalence
of the Virus, and other self-
surviving measures taken by
the people in restricting their
travel and contacts, necessary
for a free, open and transparent
political atmosphere, the
National Elections Commission,
the Institution clothed with the
authority to conduct elections
in Liberia, has informed the
Government that it has been
unable to undertake several of the
processes that are prerequisites
to conducting the pending 2014
Senatorial Elections, including
the deployment of staff in the feld
to conduct civil/voter education,
the recruitment and deployment
of the required polling staff at
polling centers, the importation
of basic, essential and sensitive
electoral materials due to the
suspension of fights to Liberia,
the requisite campaigning by
senatorial candidates and the
monitoring of the process and
activities by the NEC to ensure
that there are no violations of the
Elections Law and that violations
are adequately addressed.
The President, on August 6, 2014
declared a State of Emergency
throughout the Nation, which
action was subsequently
approved by the National
Legislature as stipulated under
Article 86 of the Constitution
with the aim to combat the
deadly virus affecting Liberia
and its people and eradicate the
virus from the Nation.
Under the Constitution and
the mentioned Declaration of
the State of Emergency, the
President is vested with the
power and clothed with the
authority to suspend, during
the period of the State of
Emergency, any and all rights
ordinarily exercised, enjoyed
and guaranteed to citizens and
residents of the Republic in
normal periods, limited only by
specifc exceptions stipulated
by the Constitution, the
Proclamation adds.



Page 8 |
Frontpage
Wednesday, October 15, 2014

T
he thoughts and prayers of all members of USA Branch of the
Alternative National Congress of Liberia (ANC-USA) are
with the family of Mr. Thomas Eric Duncan as they mourn
his passing. The facts as we now know them about Mr.
Duncan, how he possibly contracted Ebola and travelled to the United
States, can lead us to no other conclusion but that he is a victim, not
a culprit. The pregnant woman he helped care for, who subsequently
died, was never offcially diagnosed with Ebola since she was turned
away from the hospital. There was no death certifcate issued stating
the cause of her death and Mr. Duncan reportedly believed she died
of complications related to her pregnancy. Accordingly, it is patently
wrong to conclude that Mr. Duncan, a layman, knew that the woman
died of Ebola.
In our view, Mr. Duncans only crime was to have been born in
Liberia, a country that has been unable to provide its citizens, including
Mr. Duncan, reasonable protections against Ebola or basic medical
and supportive care once they contract the disease. Accordingly, the
attempts to demonize and convict Mr. Duncan in the court of public
opinion as he valiantly fought for his life were not only insensitive but
without and factual basis.
Given the scale and scope of the Ebola outbreak in Liberia, Mr.
Duncan could easily have been a relative or close friend of any
Liberian. We must keep that in mind and realize that to successfully
defeat Ebola, we as Liberians must be our brothers keepers. We must
work together, strive together, and literally keep each others backs.
It is in this light that all of us at ANC-USA proudly stand in solidarity
with Mr. Duncan and his family. We trust and hope that our small gift
of $500 will help the family in its hour of need.
We sincerely thank the government and people of the United States
and the Great State of Texas for the medical care given Mr. Duncan
and his family. We are lucky to live in a country with a robust health
care infrastructure and are convinced that, as experts from the Center
for Disease Control and the National Institutes of Health have
repeatedly made clear, the professionals of the American health care
system will ensure that Ebola is timely contained and defeated in the
United States. We are equally convinced that with the help of the
United States and our other international partners, Liberia too will
defeat Ebola.
ERIC DUNCAN
A VICTIM, NOT
A CULPRIT
DOUBLE MESS
ANC GIVES $500 TO FAMILY
The Fate Of People Living With HIV In Liberia;
Amidst The Deadly Ebola Virus Disease Outbreak
LAND CONFLICT LOOMS IN LOFA COUNTY
Monrovia
L
ofa is considered one of
the counties that grow
food due to its intense
agricultural activities
among others counties in Liberia.
With Ebola outbreak still ravaging
the county and the country at
large, the National Legislature is
ratifying concession agreements,
one of which has not gone well
with the citizens from one o the
districts in Lofa.
Citizens of Quardu Gboni District
recently assembled at the Capitol
Building to petition lawmakers to
revisit the concession agreement
between the government of
Liberia and the Liberia Cocoa
Cooperation (LCC), an agreement
they claimed has been ratifed by
F
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NEWS EXTRA
Massa F. Kannehmasskanneh@yahoo.com or 0886848625
the Liberian Senate.
Acting chairman of the district,
Alhaji Sekou Dulleh told
FrontPageAfrica, that the
government has gone in error,
noting that community dwellers
own the land they occupy and as
such should be consulted before
any concession is ratifed by the
Legislature.
Dulleh believes that the people
of Lofa County are engaged in
subsistence farming for food and
taking their land forcefully will
only lead to famine in the district.
We believe our leaders are wise
people they will not just endorse a
concession that we locals are not
aware of, said Chairman Dulleh.
Unfulflled promises
A youth, Amara Kamara from
the town of (Sazazanor) one of
the few towns that gave land to
the company four years ago, says
it will be an error for the rest of
the district to get in concession
agreement with LCC.
Kamara who mentioned that he
has in his possession a copy of the
social contract agreement between
the company and the community
dwellers said the company
promised to construct facilities
including clinics, modern schools
and offering of scholarships to
youth in the area, all of which he
said have not been fulflled by the
company.
He says it is a disappointment that
the senate will affx signature to
a concession that the community
people are not aware of.
Said Kamara, They came and
went to Quardu Gboni saying
that the land was suitable for
their agriculture purpose, and the
district told them they were not
interested in such a project.
Kamara further said that Momolu
Dukuly Tolbert, owner of the
company was able to convince
residents of the town, informing
them that the project was no
longer a Quardu Gboni project but
rather Sazazanor.
Accordingly, Tolbert promised the
people a paved road, estate for the
workers on the feld and clinics
with sponsorship for fve persons
to the Muslim holy City of Mecca
each year.
Tolbert is said to have also told
the people that in thee companys
long term plan they could build
a factory that will be used to
manufacture chocolate but since
then nothing has materialized.
Since then Sazazanor people
have been disappointed, and it has
cause disunity among the people
in the town. For that reason, we
the sons and daughters in Liberia
and the Diaspora, we are strongly
against the project, said Kamara.
According to Kamara, the
town, once invited Tolbert in a
town hall meeting to review the
social contract agreement but he
refused to come but assured the
community that his project will go
on as far as the Executive branch
of government is in support.
Efforts have been made to get
someone from LCC to respond
to allegations made by the district
failed, the offce is nowhere to be
found nor anyone to speak to.

MONROVIA:
M
ore than three (3)
decades now, HIV
and AIDS continue
to remain a major
threat to Global Developmental
Agendas, particularly programs of
the Government of Liberia and its
citizens.
According to the 2014 Liberia
Demography Health Survey
(2014LDS), the prevalence of
people living with HIV has
increased from 1.5% in 2007 to
1.9% currently. The survey noted
that the 1.9% accounts for thirty
eight thousand people tested HIV
positive out of the Nations 4.2
million population.
As the national HIV and AIDS
response is still confronted
with challenges of stigma and
discrimination, limited capacity for
effective program implementation,
ineffective monitoring and
reporting of the national response,
and most importantly, over
dependency on external funding
for the national program, Ebola
which is being considered more
than a health issue has begun to
infect and killed people living with
HIV in the country.
Already People Living with
HIV (PLHIV) immune system
are weakened by HIV and is
only with the help of the Anti-
retroviral therapy (ART) which is a
treatment that can suppressed HIV
and AIDS, latest reports gathered
from associations of people living
with the virus and their members
revealed that more than seven (7)
persons who had HIV have died of
Ebola related causes in Liberia.
Since Ebola outbreak in March
2014, Madam Cynthia Quaqua,
President of the Liberian Women
Empowerment Network (LIWEN)
told the Anti-AIDS Media Network
team of reporters in Monrovia that
out of the seven persons, who have
pass away so far, fve were female
and rests were male.
She disclosed that only one out of
the fve female died of the EVD
while the rest died due to lack
of access to treatment, care and
support.
The LIWEN Boss explained that
the woman died after coming in
contact with a confrmed Ebola
infected pregnant woman who
vomited while on board a vehicle
from Monrovia to Lofa County.
She said their colleague died few
days after the pregnant woman
pass away.
Apart from the woman, Madam
Quaqua continues that the other six
persons died due to the suspension
of treatment protocol of PLHIV
which she claimed should have
include testing of sick persons to
determine their level of infections
before providing them drugs and
admitting them as well.
She disclosed that a 26 year old
woman in Grand Bassa County
died after striving to access
testing center to determine how
to continue her medication, but no
health worker could provide her
such service.
The LIWEN President also
disclosed that a 14 year old
girl died few weeks ago in
Montserrado County. According to
her, the girl was provided drugs by
health practitioners at the National
AIDS/STIs Control Program in
Sinkor without conducting a test.
Another 24 year old boy in Bong
County also died due to the same
testing/treatment issue.
And most recently, Madam
Quaqua noted that three of the
organizations in Southeastern
Liberia-River Gee County died
due to the same situation.
This is an unfortunate situation
for us people living with HIV
especially, women, girls and
children. Without treatment, we
cannot live, we need the help
of our international partners,
Madam Quaqua said.
The information was confrmed
by the President of the Liberian
Network of People Living with
HIV (LIBNEP+) Joejoe Baysah,
who described the current Ebola
situation in Liberia as dangerous
and troublesome for the
survivability of people living with
HIV as well as ordinary citizens
who are not infected with HIV.
Already, we are trying to live on
medications which we are praying
everyday that one day the world
can fnd a cure for this HIV issue,
Ebola which is being considered
more than a health issue has
come to add onto our sorrows.
Nowadays, no one conducting test
for PLHIV, our treatment protocol
only focuses on drug distribution
leaving out the rest, Mr. Joejoe
averred.
However, authorities of the
National AIDS Control Program
(NACP) could not confrmed or
deny reports of the increasing
PLHIV deaths and lack of access
to treatment.
Speaking to the Anti-AIDS Media
Network, Dr. Julia T. Garbo-
Program Manager of NACP said
that they never had control over
testing of sick persons, considering
the prevailing Ebola situation in
the country.
She said understanding that Ebola
is contentious and that it spreads
from one person to another person
through body fuid or coming
in close contact with the sick
people, the program could not
have continue testing of the sick,
especially between July to August
of this year; when the virus killed
more health workers.
Notwithstanding, Dr. Garbo said
to avoid drug resistance and other
HIV related complications, NACP
distributed throughout the country
drug that could carry a person
living with HIV more than one
month before he/she can request
additional.
There are still suffcient drug in
country for PLHIVs. What was
suspended was not the treatment
protocol but testing which we
never had control over at the time,
Dr. Garbo said.
For his part, Dr. Ivan F. Camanor-
Chairman of the National AIDS
Commission (NAC) who could
not also confrmed nor deny that
PLHIVs are dying, admitted to
reports that due to the outbreak
of the Ebola Virus Disease, many
sectors including the nations HIV
response has come to a standstill.
Dr. Camanor said the National
AIDS Commission was established
by a legislation to promote a more
multi-sectoral response beyond
the health sector with a purpose
of serving as the primary national
body to coordinate monitor
and mobilize resources for the
national response to HIV, but these
programs are stalled, currently.
Even progress to develop our frst
HIV and AIDS National Strategy
Plan and our Prevention of HIV
Transmission from Mother to their
babies are unable to continue. This
means achieving our shared targets
of Getting to Zeros by 2015 would
be diffcult thing, Dr. Camanor
noted.
Meanwhile, more than 4,000
people have died in the ongoing
Ebola epidemic, according to
World Health Organization fgures
published Friday October 10,
2014.
The disease is spread via the
bodily fuids of infected patients,
leaving health workers especially
vulnerable. More than 400 health
workers have contracted the
disease - about half of them in
Liberia, where personal protective
equipment is scarce. Both Liberia
and Sierra Leone have recorded 95
health worker deaths



Frontpage
Wednesday, October 15, 2014 Page 9
INVITATION FOR BIDS (IFB)
National Competitive Bidding/Procurement
of Motor Vehicles & Bikes
The Liberia Revenue Authority (LRA) has received funds from the Government of
Liberia through budgetary allocation and intends to use portion of it to fund eligible
payment under the contract for the procurement of Motor Vehicles and Bikes.
1. The LRA now invites sealed bids from eligible and qualifed bidders for the
supply and delivery of the below items;
No Description Procurement Number
QTY
Delivery
Period
1 Gasoline Sedan Vehicles,
Manual Gear
IFB No.LRA/NCB/001/13-14 5 6 weeks
after
contract
award
2 Motor bikes for rough terrain IFB No. LRA/NCB/004/014-015 20

2. Bidding will be conducted through the National Competitive Bidding (NCB)
procedures as specifed in the PPC Act and is open to all eligible bidders.
3. Interested eligible bidders may obtain further information from
Alfred Sellu,
Liberia Revenue Authority
Ministry of Finance
First Floor
LRA Logistics Section
Tel: 231-(0886) -524-612
alfred.sellu@lra.gov.lr
5. Qualifcations requirements: All bids must be accompanied by;
A bid security
Current tax clearance, current business registration
Proof of similar goods supplied
Proof of manufacturer authorization
Proof of availability of spare parts & repairs
6. Bids must be delivered to the address below on or before October 28, 2014 at
12:00
7. Bids will be opened on October 28, 2014 at 12:00pm, in the presence of
bidders representatives who choose to attend, at the address below.
Ministry of Planning Conference Room,
Ground Floor
Capitol Hill
Monrovia, Liberia
8. A complete set of Bidding Document in English may be purchased by
interested bidders upon payment of a non-refundable fee of 50.00 USD to the LRA
Budget & Finance Offce at the Ministry of Finance, First Floor, between 9:00 am &
4:00 pm daily, and obtain a complete set of bidding document.

9. All bids must be clearly marked with the address indicated below.
10. Electronic bids will not be accepted. Late bids will be rejected and returned
unopened.

11. The address is:
Procurement of Motor Vehicles, Ref: IFB No. LRA/NCB/001/13-14 OR
Procurement of Motor Bikes, Ref: IFB No. LRA/NCB/004/014-015
Liberia Revenue Authority
Ministry of Finance
First Floor
LRA Logistics Section
Monrovia, Liberia
Tel: 231-(0886) -524-612
alfred.sellu@lra.gov.lr

Signed:
Oliver N. Rogers, II Alfred Sellu
LRA Administration Act. Head of Procurement
STATEMENT BY THE LIBERIA TIMBER ASSOCIATION
(LTA) REGARDING THELETTER OF INTENT SIGNED
BETWEEN THE GOVERNMENT OF LIBERIA AND THE
KINGDOM OF NORWAY SURRENDERING THE FOREST
OF LIBERIA TO REDD
Fellow Liberians and development partners of Liberia, members of the fourth estate, Ladies
and Gentlemen, we the members of the Liberia Timber Association, especially Liberians, had
agreed not to contest issues even when it did not seem to be in our interest hoping that the
greater good of the Liberian people will be derived therefrom. When the Executive Order 1
was issued illegally cancelling Concession Agreements, we thought to hold our peace if indeed
the interest of Liberia and Liberian were to be enhanced. However it is evident that in the
interest of Liberians and Liberia is being subordinate to other interest and therefore we are
constrained to release this statement in regard to measures, decisions, regulations, policies and
laws on the management and operation of Liberias forest sector since the inception of the of
the Unity Party Government, led by Her Excellency President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf. These
measures, hard-pressed by foreign governments and international civil society organizations
and willingly accepted by our government, have all been designed to shut the Logging industry
down, with the perception to preserve and conserve the entire forest of Liberia at the detriment
of development in the forest communities, investors, businessmen, and thousands of Liberians
who are employed by the industry.
All of these measures which started with the 2006 Reform Law, the inclusion of forestry in the
Liberia Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (LEITI), the EU Voluntary Partnership
Agreement (VPA) and others have now been sealed and climaxed with the signing of a Letter
of Intent between the Government of the Republic of Liberia and the Government of the
Kingdom of Norway on Cooperation on reducing greenhouse gas emissions from deforestation
and forest degradation and developing Liberias agriculture sector. This agreement, which
is manifested in a Letter of Intent, was signed on 23rd September 2014 in New York City, the
United States of America.
It is regrettable to note here that neither the LTA, its member nor other stakeholders were
contacted or involved in any aspect of the negotiation and discussion leading to the signing
of the Letter of intent between the Liberian government and the Norwegian Government as
enshrined in the 2006 National Forestry Reform Law (NFRL), something the Liberia Timber
Association considers as an offense and a fagrant disregard of the rule of law by the Liberian
Government.
We can clearly recalled that the issue of Reduce Emissions from deforestation and forest
degradation (REDD) was discussed by all stakeholders, including the Government of Liberia,
the private sector and civil society and a conclusion was reached that REDD was not workable
in Liberia and we thought that that had put the issue to rest. It is therefore surprising that
the issue of REDD has resurfaced this time around with a unilateral agreement between the
governments of Liberia and Norway outside of the rules of the 2006NFRL.
We are putting up a challenge to the government of Liberia to prove to the Liberian people
that it meant well for the good of country by making the Letter of Intent public. Let the
government put the content of the agreement in the public domain for a debate.
The LTA wishes to state here that it is totally and wholly against the signing and implementation
of the Letter of intent by the two governments in manner and intent, because (1) the agreement
was signed outside of the rules established under the 2006NFRL(2) the agreement does
not address the critical issues of companies which have signed a twenty fve years Forest
Management Contract (FMC) with the Government of Liberia (3) the agreement seeks to use an
outdated Executive Order (January 2013) to place a moratorium on several logging companies
in the name of holding illegal PUPs; (4) that the implementation of this agreement in its current
form is not in the interest of Liberia and its future generations and (5) the agreement is
likely to generate more conficts with local communities who livelihood depends on forest
resources opening a door for multiple legal actions against the government of Liberia (6) the
agreement tends to denied community-related development such as roads, schools, clinics that
are traditionally undertaken by logging companies in areas where government has not been able
to undertake these development.
For many years the private companies in the Forestry Sector had flled in critical development
gaps in rural communities; reducing poverty and improving the standard of living of rural
dwellers.
The Liberia Timber Association wishes to sound this caveat that it will not accept a repeat of the
2006 scenario where all concession agreements were illegal cancelled by an ExecutiveOrder.
As this is anticipated with the current agreement, we are prepared and will leave no stone
unturned in challenging the arbitrary cancellation of any concession agreement duly signed and
rectifed by this government.
We want make it crystal clear that while we acknowledge the critical importance of the global
efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emission from deforestation and forest degradation and
protecting natural forest for the general good of humanity, we also want to recognizethe fact
that rich and industrialized nations of the world who are the greatest producers of greenhouse
gas emission, are throwing out inadequate moneys to small and poor counties like Liberia
pressuring them to preserve their forest at the detriment of theirown people and their economic
wellbeing. Why dont they stop producing and using fossil fuel which is the biggest contributor
togreenhouse gasses?
LTA supports the global efforts for the reduction of greenhouse gas emission and will cooperate
with all measures in which all parties and stakeholders are taking adquate actions in a fair and
transparent means.
The LTA is calling on the National Legislature not to rectify the Letter of Intent without an
open public debate and that thegovernment does notproceed with the implementation of the
agreement because it is not in the best interest of Liberia.
THANKS
Page 10 |
Frontpage
Wednesday, October 15, 2014
IN BRIEF
AMERICAN SHOT
DEAD IN SAUDI
CAPITAL, ANOTHER
WOUNDED: POLICE


Riyadh (AFP) -
A
gunman shot dead
one American and
wounded another at
a petrol station in the
Saudi capital on Tuesday, in a
rare attack on Westerners in the
kingdom, police said.
The victims worked for Vinnell
Arabia, a US-Saudi joint venture
which provides training for the
Saudi Arabian National Guard.
US State Department
spokesperson Jen Psaki
confrmed the incident and
said the second American was
"lightly injured".
Following the attack near
King Fahd football stadium, a
shootout occurred between the
gunman and security forces,
a police spokesman said in a
statement carried by the offcial
SPA news agency.
The assailant was wounded and
subsequently arrested, police
said, adding: "We heard that he's
a Saudi national born in the US."
F
RONT
PAGE
WORLD NEWS
IRAQI MEMBER OF PARLIAMENT
KILLED IN CAR BOMB BLAST IN
WESTERN BAGHDAD
DEFENCE CLAIMS PISTORIUS
'VULNERABLE' IN PRISON
BAGHDAD (Reuters) -
A
Shi'ite Muslim
member of Iraq's
parliament was
killed in a car bomb
attack at a checkpoint entrance
to the Shi'ite neighborhood
of Kadhimiya in Baghdad
on Tuesday, according to a
parliamentary media offcial
and police.
Police and medics said Ahmed
Al-Khafaji, also a member
of the Shi'ite Badr political
party, was among 25 people
killed in the blast on the edge
of Kadhimiya, home to the
Shi'ite shrine of Imam Kahdim.
Khafaji is also a former deputy
interior minister, his party said.
The death toll was earlier
reported to be 18. The
parliamentary media offcial,
speaking on condition of
anonymity, said Khafaji was
in the area to visit the Imam
Kadhim shrine.
Pretoria (AFP) -
D
ouble amputee Oscar
Pistorius would be
vulnerable to gang
rape if sent to one of
South Africa's brutal prisons, a
defence witness claimed during
a day of heated courtroom
argument Tuesday.
With sentencing days away, the
state and defence traded angry
barbs over the Paralympian star
athlete's disability, charity work
and "blood money" apparently
paid to Reeva Steenkamp's
family since her death.
Pistorius has been found guilty
of unlawfully killing the 29-year-
old model but acquitted of the
more serious charge of murder.
WHO: 10,000 NEW EBOLA CASES
PER WEEK COULD BE SEEN
W
HO assistant
director-
general Dr.
Bruce Aylward
gave the grim fgures during
a news conference in Geneva.
Previously, the agency had
estimated the Ebola mortality
rate at around 50 percent overall.
In contrast, in events such as
fu pandemics, the death rate is
typically under 2 percent.
Acknowledging that Ebola
was "a high mortality disease,"
Aylward said the U.N. health
agency was still focused on
trying to get sick people isolated
and provide treatment as early as
possible.
He told reporters if the world's
response to the Ebola crisis isn't
stepped up within 60 days, "a lot
more people will die" and health
workers will be stretched even
further. Experts say the epidemic
is doubling in size about every
three weeks.
WHO raised its Ebola death
toll tally Tuesday to 4,447
people, nearly all of them in
West Africa, out of more than
8,900 believed to be infected.
Aylward said calculating the
death rate means tracking the
outcomes of all possible patients
a complicated process
since the numbers of cases are
substantially underreported and
much patient data is missing.
Health workers have been hit
hard by the virus, which is spread
by contact with bodily fuids
like blood, vomit and diarrhea.
Doctors Without Borders said
16 of its employees had been
infected with Ebola and nine of
them have died.
Speaking Tuesday in
Johannesburg, the head of the
charity's South Africa unit,
Sharon Ekambaram, said medical
workers have received woefully
inadequate assistance from the
international community.
"Where is WHO Africa? Where
is the African Union?" said
Ekambaram. "We've all heard
their promises in the media
but have seen very little on the
ground."
For the last month, there's been
about 1,000 new Ebola cases per
week including suspected,
confrmed and probable cases,
Aylward said. The U.N. agency
was aiming to get 70 percent
of Ebola cases isolated and 70
percent of victims safely buried
by December to reverse the
outbreak.
Sierra Leone, Guinea and
Liberia have been the hardest-hit
nations in the current epidemic,
and Aylward said WHO was
very concerned about the spread
of Ebola in their capital cities
Freetown, Conakry and
Monrovia where people move
freely across borders.
While some regions have seen
the number of Ebola cases
stabilize or fall, Aylward said
"that doesn't mean they will get
down to zero."
He said WHO was still focused
on trying to treat Ebola patients,
despite West Africa's often-
broken health care systems.
"It would be horrifcally
unethical to say that we're just
going to isolate people," he
said, noting that new strategies
like handing out protective
equipment to families and setting
up very basic clinics without
much treatment was a priority.
Aylward said there was no
evidence that any countries were
hiding Ebola cases, but said
countries bordering the affected
area, including Ivory Coast, Mali
and Guinea-Bissau, were at high
risk of importing the disease.
"This is not a virus that's easy
to suppress or hide," he said,
noting that Ebola has not spread
very much internationally. "I
don't expect this virus to just go
anywhere. There is exit screening
in place and sick people won't be
moving."
In other Ebola news:
A U.N. medical worker
infected with Ebola in Liberia
died in Germany despite
"intensive medical procedures."
The St. Georg hospital in Leipzig
said Tuesday the 56-year-old
man, whose name has not been
released, died overnight. He
had tested positive for Ebola on
Oct. 6, prompting Liberia's U.N.
peacekeeping mission to put 41
other staff members under "close
medical observation."
In Dallas, a U.S. nurse who
caught Ebola while treating
a Liberian patient received a
plasma transfusion donated by a
doctor who beat the virus. Nina
Pham, a 26-year-old nurse, was
among 70 staff members at Texas
Health Presbyterian Hospital
who cared for Ebola victim
Thomas Eric Duncan, according
to medical records. The plasma
came from Dr. Kent Brantly, the
frst American to return to the
U.S. from Liberia to be treated
for Ebola. Brantly received an
experimental treatment and
fought off the virus.
In Spain, the government's
Ebola committee said the
assistant nurse infected with the
virus has improved slightly but
was still in serious condition.
Fifteen contacts of hers were
being monitored.
Starting Thursday, customs
and health offcials at airports
in Washington, Chicago, Atlanta
and Newark plan to take the
temperatures of passengers
arriving from three West African
countries.
DALLAS NURSE WITH EBOLA GETS BLOOD FROM SURVIVOR
DALLAS (AP)
A
Dallas nurse infected
with Ebola while
treating the frst
patient diagnosed in
the U.S. has received a plasma
transfusion from a doctor who
beat the virus.
Nurse Nina Pham was among
about 70 staff members at Texas
Health Presbyterian Hospital
who cared for Thomas Eric
Duncan, according to medical
records. The 26-year-old nurse
was in the Liberian man's room
often, from the day he was
placed in intensive care until the
day before he died last week.
The hospital issued a statement
on Pham's behalf Tuesday and a
hospital offcial said doctors and
nurses remain hopeful about her
recovery.
"I'm doing well and want to
thank everyone for their kind
wishes and prayers," Pham said.
She and other health care workers
wore protective gear, including
gowns, gloves, masks and face
shields and sometimes full-
body suits when caring for
Duncan, but she became the frst
person to contract the disease
within the United States. Duncan
died Wednesday.
Pham understood the risks and
tried to reassure her family that
she would be safe, according to a
family friend.
When Pham's mother learned
her daughter was caring for
Duncan, Pham told her: "Don't
worry about me," Christina Tran
told The Associated Press on
Monday.
Health care workers including
Pham were told to monitor
themselves by taking their
temperatures. She went to the
hospital Friday night after
fnding she had a fever.
As Pham was being treated in
isolation Tuesday, the World
Health Organization projected
that West Africa could see up
to 10,000 new Ebola cases a
week within two months and
confrmed the death rate in the
current outbreak has risen to 70
percent.
The agency's assistant director-
general, Dr. Bruce Aylward,
gave the fgures during a
news conference in Geneva.
Previously, the WHO had
estimated the Ebola mortality
rate at around 50 percent.
If the world's response to the
crisis isn't stepped up within 60
days, "a lot more people will
die," Aylward said.
Meanwhile in Berlin, a U.N.
medical worker infected with
Ebola in Liberia died. The
56-year-old man, whose name
has not been released, died
overnight of the infection, the
St. Georg hospital in Leipzig
announced Tuesday.
Pham's parents live in Fort
Worth, where they are part of
a closely-knit, deeply religious
community of Vietnamese
Catholics. Members of their
church held a special Mass
for her Monday. The Rev. Jim
Khoi, of the Our Lady of Fatima
Church, said Pham's mother told
him the nurse had received a
transfusion that could save her
life.
Jeremy Blume, a spokesman
for the nonproft medical
mission group Samaritan's
Purse, confrmed that the plasma
donation came from Kent
Brantly, the frst American to
return to the U.S. from Liberia
to be treated for Ebola. Brantly
received an experimental
treatment and fought off the
virus, and has donated blood to
three others, including Pham.
"He's a doctor. That's what he's
there to do. That's his heart,"
Blume said.
Brantly said in a recent speech
that he also offered his blood
for Duncan, but that their blood
types didn't match.
Khoi said Pham's mother assured
him the nurse was comfortable
and "doing well," and that the
two women had been able to
talk via Skype. She was in
isolation and in stable condition,
health offcials said. Another
unidentifed person who had
close contact with her has also
been isolated as a precaution.
Since Pham tested positive for
Ebola, public-health authorities
have intensifed their monitoring
of other hospital workers who
cared for Duncan.
Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention Director Tom Frieden
said he would not be surprised
if more fall ill because Ebola
patients become more contagious
as the disease progresses.
Pham's name appears frequently
throughout the hundreds of pages
of medical records provided
to The Associated Press by
Duncan's family. They show she
was in his room Oct. 7, the day
before he died.
Her notes describe nurses going
in and out of his room wearing
protective gear to treat him and
to mop the foor with bleach.
She also notes how she and
other nurses ensured Duncan's
"privacy and comfort," and
provided "emotional support."
Frieden has said a breach of
protocol led to the nurse's
infection, but offcials are not
sure what went wrong. Pham
has not been able to point to any
specifc breach.
Among the things the CDC will
investigate is how the workers
took off protective gear, because
removing it incorrectly can lead
to contamination. Investigators
will also look at dialysis and
intubation the insertion of
a breathing tube in a patient's
airway. Both procedures have
the potential to spread the virus.
Members of a Texas task force
on Ebola have scheduled
their frst public hearing for
next week. They will develop
recommendations and a
comprehensive state plan to
deal with emerging infectious
diseases.
Offcials said there was a dog
in the nurse's apartment that has
been removed to an undisclosed
location for monitoring and
care. They do not believe the pet
shows any signs of Ebola. A dog
belonging to an infected Spanish
nurse was euthanized, drawing
thousands of complaints.
Ebola has killed more than
4,000 people, mostly in the West
African countries of Liberia,
Sierra Leone and Guinea.

Frontpage
Wednesday, October 15, 2014 Page 11
Sports
SPORTS
ALONSO: GUARDIOLA
WAS DESPERATE TO
SIGN ME - THAT'S WHY I
DITCHED REAL MADRID
POLAND 2-2 SCOTLAND:
NAISMITH ON TARGET
AS STRACHAN'S MEN
PICK UP POINT
SERBIA-ALBANIA
ABANDONED AFTER BRAWL
OVER FLAG-FLYING DRONE
X
abi Alonso has
revealed that
Pep Guardiola's
infectious desire to
sign him was enough to convince
him to ditch Real Madrid this
summer.
The midfelder joined Bayern
Munich in a deal rumoured to
be worth 10 million, ending his
fve-year stint with the reigning
European champions.
Many people suspected Toni
Kroos arrival from the Allianz
Arena was the reason Alonso
chose to jump the Santiago
Bernabeu ship, but he continues
to deny this and stressed that
all was well at Real Madrid and
that he just wanted a change of
scenery - which Guardiola was
desperate to provide him.
T
he hosts beat
Germany last time
out in the group but
were forced to settle
for a draw due to a spirited
performance from the visitors
who recovered from going a
goal down
Scotland secured a 2-2 draw
in Poland thanks to goals from
Shaun Maloney and Steven
Naismith.
Krzysztof Maczynski had put
the hosts ahead after just 12
minutes but Gordon Strachan's
men were level just six minutes
later when Maloney slid home
a cross from Ikechi Anya.
Poland responded strongly
to the equaliser but were left
stunned just before the hour
mark as Naismith poked home
James Morrison's free kick.
T
ensions were high
heading into the
politically-charged
clash and the referee
had to indefnitely postpone
the match just before half-time
after the players began fghting
Serbia 's highly-charged Euro
2016 qualifer at home to fellow
Balkan nation Albania had to be
suspended after a drone fown
on to the pitch triggered a brawl
between players and fans.
There is plenty of political
tension between the two
nations, with Serbia having
fought a with Kosovo (made
up largely of ethnic Albanians)
since the dissolution of
Yugoslavia in the 1990s.

GERMANY 1-1 REPUBLIC OF IRELAND:
O'SHEA DENIES WORLD CUP WINNERS
Toni Kroos had fred the
pre-match favourites into
the lead but, just as they had
against Poland, Joachim
Low's men dropped points
by failing to keep a clean
sheet
J
ohn O'Shea marked his 100th
cap by snatching a dramatic
1-1 draw for the Republic of
Ireland against Germany in
Gelsenkirchen on Tuesday.
The world champions, who suffered
a chastening 2-0 Group D loss in
Poland on Saturday, looked to have
put a lethargic frst-half display
behind them when Toni Kroos netted
a 71st-minute opener.
Yet Ireland, buoyed by wins in their
opening two qualifers, stunned their
illustrious hosts deep into stoppage
time.
Jeff Hendrick knocked a searching
cross from fellow substitute Wes
Hoolahan back across goal and
O'Shea showed excellent anticipation
to direct the ball low into the bottom-
right corner and send the travelling
support into raptures.
Ireland are now level with Poland on
seven points at the top of the group -
three ahead of Germany and Scotland.
The only two changes to the Germany
side defeated in Warsaw were
enforced as Matthias Ginter and
Julian Draxler came in for Christoph
Kramer and Andre Schurrle, who
were both absent due to injury.
Stephen Quinn and Glenn Whelan
were paired together in central
midfeld for Ireland, with Jon Walters
providing attacking support to captain
Robbie Keane, but the visitors were
rarely allowed to leave their own half
during the early exchanges.
Left-back Durm had a torrid time
against Poland but almost got the
experience out of his system after
seven minutes through a rasping 30-
yard half-volley that thudded against
the crossbar.
Fellow full-back Antonio Rudiger
should have opened the scoring seven
minutes later but headed off-target
when Thomas Muller nodded Kroos'
foated pass back across goal.
It was telling that Germany came
closest during the opening period
through efforts from defenders as
their attacking talent failed to fre
effectively - the likes of Kroos,
Draxler and Mario Gotze regularly
coming up short with the fnal pass.
Karim Bellarabi was unable to
capitalise on an embarrassing mix-
up involving Ireland defender Marc
Wilson and goalkeeper David Forde
before the latter thwarted Draxler
in frst-half stoppage time to ensure
Martin O'Neill's team went in all
square.
Germany coach Joachim Low
responded to the lacklustre opening
half with an attacking change, sending
on Lukas Podolski for Ginter.
But the Arsenal forward soon lost
possession to hand Ireland an
opening - Keane and Aiden McGeady
combining before Manuel Neuer did
well to grasp James McClean's fzzed
low cross.
Forde saved sharply in the 53rd minute
as Bellarabi stabbed towards his near
post on the end of a wonderful cross-
feld ball from Kroos, who then had
the Millwall goalkeeper at full stretch
as he hammered goalwards from 25
yards.
Muller was unable to turn home
when Mats Hummels glanced on
the resulting 56th-minute corner
as Germany fnally turned up the
pressure.
Podolski and Gotze both had penalty
appeals waved away before Ireland's
resistance was fnally broken with 19
minutes to play.
Substitute Max Kruse found Kroos,
who was allowed room by Quinn to
drive forward and arrow home a shot
via the base of the post.
Forde was soon called into action once
more to deny Gotze and it proved a
vital intervention.
Ireland's chance of grabbing a
memorable point appeared to have
gone when Durm produced a last-
ditch block to keep out Hoolahan, but
they poured forward once more and
O'Shea would not be denied.
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