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Tag: George Weah

  • Liberian President, George Weah confers award on Nigerian Army officers

    Liberian President, George Weah confers award on Nigerian Army officers

    President George Weah of Liberia has conferred award of “Distinguished Service Order of the Republic of Liberia” on some Nigerian Army senior officers at the nation’s 65th Armed Forces Celebration.

    The Director, Army Public Relations Officer, Brig.-Gen. Onyema Nwachukwu, in a statement on Saturday, said the award was in recognition of their outstanding contribution to the growth and development of Liberian Armed Forces.

    Nwachukwu said that the Liberian President made the presentation during the 65th Armed Forces of Liberia Day Celebration held on Friday at the Barclay Training Centre, Camp Johnson Road, Monrovia, Liberia.

    He quoted President Weah as saying that the Liberian Government gave the awards annually to individuals whose outstanding contribution had significantly impacted the growth and development of Liberia, its armed forces and humanity.

    Nwachukwu said the awardees also got a letter of commendation from the Nigerian Ambassador to the Republic of Liberia, Amb. Godfrey Anichebe Odudigbo for making Nigeria proud.

    He said the award was conferred on the senior officers, who were seconded to the Armed Forces of Liberia (AFL) at different times, as part of ECOWAS Advisory Training Team.

    According to him, the awardees contributed immensely to the building and restructuring of the new AFL.

    “The officers who benefitted from the awards are, Col. Aminu Usman Gumel, Col. Gbenga Oyinwola, Col. Emmanuel Chukwu, Col. Ismaila Sule and Lt.-Col. Abdulkadir Abubakar.

    “Other awardees were drawn from Ghana, Sierra Leone, Liberia and USA,” he said.

    The Army spokesperson said that Col. Gbenga Oyinwola received the awards and letters of commendation on behalf of the recipients.

    He said that Oyinwola expressed gratitude to President Muhammadu Buhari and Chief of Army Staff, Lt.-Gen. Faruk Yahaya for the opportunity to have served Nigeria in their various capacities.

    “He stated further that the award will motivate the recipients to be more productive in their service to the Nigerian army and the nation,” he said.

  • Ronaldo not world’s best – George Weah

    Ronaldo not world’s best – George Weah

    Former AC Milan star George Weah said Cristiano Ronaldo is not the best player in the world but he is still working hard to attain that feat.

    On Wednesday, the 35-year-old led Juventus to win the Italian Supercup with a goal in their 2-0 victory over Napoli.

    Weah, who is currently the President of Liberia, likened Ronaldo’s hard work and passion to Zlatan Ibrahimovic’s influence in Stefano Pioli’s team.

    “Ibra is strong and confident, but there is more behind this. Milan signed him because he can be every useful for young players. He is an example and an inspiration for them,” Weah told La Gazzetta dello Sport.

    “He is always focused and he gives everything for his passion. If you work hard and don’t lose your passion, then age is just a number. Think about Pietro Vierchowood, Franco Baresi or Paolo Maldini, they all played at high level until almost 40 years of age.

    “Ronaldo is also testimony to how combining hard work and passion can bring unexpected results. He is not the best in the world, but he trained so much to become the best. I am a fan of Ronaldo because he remained humble and he earned everything he achieved. He fought to get where he is now.”

  • Popular Ghanaian actress denies pregnancy rumours for Liberian president

    Popular Ghanaian actress denies pregnancy rumours for Liberian president

    Canadian-born Ghanaian actress, Jackie Appiah, has dispelled the reports linking her to Liberian President George Weah.

    Reports had it that she is pregnant for Liberian President George Weah.

    The rumour went viral after a blogger on Instagram, claimed Jackie Appiah gained weight because she is carrying Weah’s child.

    However, the 36-year-old has told her fans to “Ignore” the grapevine.

    “Please ignore all rumors, it is not true, I don’t entertain unnecessary rumors, do I look like a pregnant woman here? Please ignore the rumors…I love you all…ignore all rumors,” Jackie told reporters at the naming ceremony of the son of her colleague Victoria Labene during the weekend.

    The beautiful actress also dropped a little more words on the rumours in an Instagram post on Monday.

    She described the reports as fabricated stories.

    “The laughter that dispels lies and fabricated stories.” she wrote.

    However, the only notable moment that can be linked to Jackie Appiah and George Weah was in December 2017, when the actress congratulated him on winning the presidential election with a photo of both of them together.

    “Congratulations to George Weah for winning the presidential elections in Liberia You are a great person and I know you will do great things in Liberia to make the whole of Africa proud,” she had written on Facebook.

  • Africa Beyond Covid-19: President Weah, US Senator Coons, Elumelu, Other Global Leaders at the 2nd UBA Africa Day Conversations Urge Government, Private Sector Collaboration

    Africa Beyond Covid-19: President Weah, US Senator Coons, Elumelu, Other Global Leaders at the 2nd UBA Africa Day Conversations Urge Government, Private Sector Collaboration

    United Bank for Africa (UBA) celebrated Africa Day 2020, by bringing together global leaders at the 2nd UBA Africa Day Conversations, screened live across the continent.

    UBA helps set the debate around African economic development through its series of “Africa Conversations”. This year, the focus was on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the Covid-19 pandemic.

    Leaders emphasised the need for meaningful collaboration between governments and the private sector, as a requirement for the quick recovery of the economy of the African continent post Covid-19.

    The panel included the President of Liberia, H.E George Weah; United States Senator Chris Coons; the President & Chairman of the Board of Directors of the African Export–Import Bank (AFREXIMBANK), Professor Benedict Okey Oramah; President, International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), Peter Maurer; and was moderated by the Group Chairman, UBA Plc, Tony O. Elumelu.

    Other leading voices contributing were the Founder, Africa CEO Forum, Amir Ben Yahmed; the Secretary-General of the African Caribbean and Pacific Group of States (ACP), H.E George Chikoti; Administrator, United Nations Development Program (UNDP), Achim Steiner and Donald Kaberuka, the former President of the African Union.

    Elumelu spoke on the need to mobilise quickly and explained the necessity to identify a more fundamental solution to Africa’s challenges. “This is the time for us to deal with the situation, this is not the time for finger pointing, but for collaborative efforts by governments and organisations, to fight the pandemic globally. There is need to flatten the curve, we need global co-operation to stem global depression. Africa requires a large stimulus package, and we need long-term solutions to prevent a cycle of debt.”

    Liberian President, George Weah, demonstrated how collaboration has assisted his country to stem the sufferings brought about by the coronavirus pandemic. “In Liberia we have taken measures to ease the financial burden on vulnerable business in the informal sector by providing small loan assistance to SMEs and traders. In addition, we are working with commercial banks to manage the repayment of loans as well as to create stimulus packages for citizens,” President Weah said.

    US, Senator Chris Coons made valuable contributions to the discussions, saying “We must develop a vaccine that is free and affordable and freely distributed so that full economic activities can return. This is no time to be looking backwards. We recognise the power of collective collaboration on the continent.”

    Prof. Benedict Okey Oramah called for the swift implementation of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) agreement and disclosed that Afrexim has made available $200million to supply fertilisers and grains amongst across Africa. The Afrexim boss asserted “If Africa allows hunger takeover the people, it will see an increase in insecurity, which will take a long time to overcome.”

    George Chikoti of ACP, said that the huge task of economic recovery on the continent, rests on both the government and the private sector. “African governments need to accept the support of the Private Sector in alleviating the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic in Africa. We have so far been able to release $25m to all member states”, Chikoti added.

    Achim Steiner of the UNDP focused on digital connectivity as an enabler of development. “What we need to look at is to find a way for government as a regulator and also as an investor, to leverage private sector investment into these areas” Steiner said.

    Peter Maurer, President, ICRC, said there is the need to look at pandemics as part of a broader health system which needs stabilisation. “We must do more than life-saving. This pandemic has illustrated the weakness of health, water, sanitation and social systems, and we have to heavily invest into the stabilisation of these systems,” he said.

    Amir Ben Yahmed said the crisis is going to be a super accelerator of already existing trends. “We have to get away from the commodity driven model which has failed in creating prosperity. “We need to use this crisis to take Africa to the next level. We also need to attain self-reliance. Self-reliance is an important goal,” Yamed said.

    The UBA Africa Conversations concluded with the need to act quickly and effectively, highlighting that Africa has lessons to teach the world in containment, but was economically vulnerable.

  • Senegal, Liberia presidents, others for UBA Africa Day forum today as Elumelu presides

    Senegal President Macky Sall, Liberia President George Weah and United States Senator Chris Coons will be part of a High-Level Leadership Panel to be moderated today by Chairman, United Bank for Africa (UBA) and Founder of the Tony Elumelu Foundation, to discuss Africa’s economic recovery at the 2020 edition of UBA’s Africa Conversations.

    They will be joined by other global leaders, including the President & Chairman of the Board of Directors of the African Export–Import Bank (AFREXIMBANK), Prof. Benedict Okey Oramah; President, International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), Peter Maurer and President and Founder, Africa CEO Forum, Amir Ben Yahmed.

    The event with the theme, ‘Emphasising Economic Collaboration: Restructuring and Repositioning for the New African Order,’ is the second edition of the symposium organised yearly by UBA, in celebration of Africa Day.

    Head, External & Media Relations of United Bank for Africa Plc Ramon Nasir, in a statement, said the virtual event will be held at 3pm WAT, urging interested participants to register on the UBA website.

    Africa Day is celebrated worldwide on May 25th, to showcase the diversity and beauty of Africa and its people and at UBA with footprint in 20 African countries, the development, growth and unity of the continent remains the core of the bank’s focus.

  • COVID-19: Churches, mosques reopen in Liberia May

    COVID-19: Churches, mosques reopen in Liberia May

    Liberian President George Weah has said he will partially lift restrictions on praying in mosques and churches aimed at curbing coronavirus while extending a lockdown in the capital Monrovia.

    In a statement on Friday, the former footballer star said emergency measures announced in April would be extended for two weeks in the West African nation.

    These include a ban on all movement between the country’s 15 counties, the closure of non-essential businesses, and stay-at-home orders for Monrovia’s roughly one million inhabitants.

    But Weah said he would allow churches to resume services from May 17, and mosques from May 15, provided that they run at 25-percent capacity to allow for social distancing.

    Liberian authorities have recorded 199 cases of the coronavirus to date, with 20 fatalities.

    As with other poor countries in the region, there are fears that Liberia is ill prepared to handle a large outbreak.

    The nation of some 4.8 million people was badly hit during West Africa’s 2014-16 Ebola crisis, which killed more than 4,800 people in the country.

     

  • COVID-19: Liberia Govt. extends lockdown, allows places of worship to reopen

    COVID-19: Liberia Govt. extends lockdown, allows places of worship to reopen

    The government of Liberia has extended the lockdown to curtail the spread of the Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in the country for another 14 days, but following calls from religious leaders, has allowed places of worship to reopen.

    TheNewsGuru.com (TNG) reports the President of Liberia, Dr George Weah announced the additional extension of the measures on Friday, renewing the order for people to stay at home and observe the protocols that were originally instituted on April 10, 2020 by an additional two weeks.

    Health authorities have advised that in the wake of the unresolved crisis, the need for the measures to remain in place still is pertinent. However, because of the government’s decision to provide food aid during the period, corridors will be opened to enable food products move from one county to the next, while observing social distancing, face covering and other measures.

    Last month President Weah announced a State of Emergency to be observed throughout the Country. During this period, the joint security command and the Chief of Staff of the Armed Forces of Liberia were ordered to enforce the different protocols that were pronounced.

    Amongst the measures were orders to quarantine the 15 counties; ensure that everyone in those counties stay at home for two weeks – with exceptions granted to designated essential persons and businesses; require all to be indoors by 3pm, and a directive to the Ministry of Internal Affairs to engage market leaders in order to make “satisfactory arrangements” for the operations of markets during the period.

    But following calls from religious leaders, President Weah has proposed that Churches, Mosques and worship centers consider the commencement of their operations beginning Sunday, May 17, 2020, with 25 percent of the regular worship-hour occupancy for each service, which will allow for social distancing and other protocols such as the use of face coverings, handwashing, etc.

    According to the President, Muslims can begin on the Friday before that with the observation of similar 25 percent of its normal occupancy and the observance of health regulations.

    “The security forces will be required to monitor these guidelines to make sure there is no violation,” President Weah said.

    The Government of Liberia also called on Liberians, led by religious leaders, to use the upcoming Unification Day celebration to pray for the Country to be healed from the virus.

  • George Weah decorates Wenger with Liberia’s highest honour

    Liberia’s President George Weah has decorated former Arsenal football club manager Arsène Wenger with the country’s highest honour at a ceremony in the capital, Monrovia, BBC Africa reports.

    Wenger was Mr Weah’s first European football coach and brought him to Monaco in 1988.

    Mr Weah went on to become the only African to win Fifa World Player of the Year, and the first international sports star to become president.

    Wenger was inducted into Liberia’s Order of Distinction and has been given the title of Knight Grand Commander of the Humane Order of African Redemption.

    Some Liberians say that the honour should not have been given to an individual for what they had done for the president personally, reports the BBC’s Jonathan Paye-Layleh from the capital, Monrovia.

    Liberia’s Information Minister Eugene Nagbe told the BBC the award was not only about Mr Weah’s personal connection with Wenger, but was a way to recognize that the Frenchman had “contributed to sports in Africa and has given many Africans opportunities”.

  • Weah thanks departing 108 Nigerian Police personnel as they end tour of UN mission in Liberia

    The President of Liberia, George Weah, has thanked “specially” the last batch of 108 Nigerian Formed Police Unit (FPU) deployed to Liberia under the UN Mission in Liberia (UNMIL) whose tour of duty will end after five years following the conclusion of their mission.

    The mission which ends at the end of the month will see the last 108 Nigerian FPU officers and the last UNMIL uniformed contingent in Liberia withdrawing as part of the UN mission’s termination.

    Liberian President George Weah commended UNMIL for its longstanding support to peace and stability, saying the Liberian people will forever remain grateful to them for their bravery and service.

    “Thank you for your hard work and sacrifice you have made over the years to keep the peace and stability of our beloved mama Liberia. As you leave us now, we will forever remember you,” Weah said.

    ALSO READ: Nigerian Army to deploy 230 personnel to Liberia for peacekeeping operations – Buratai

    A batch of 200 Nigerian peacekeepers had also withdrawn from Liberia in February as part of the termination of the mission’s mandate, scheduled on March 30, the mission said.

    “The Nigerian contingent has been deployed in Liberia since UNMIL was first established in 2003. Nigeria has been a main contributor of military and police to UNMIL.

    “The UNMIL has been a steadfast partner to Liberia for the last 15 years.

    “It has supported security and security sector reform, rule of law, efforts to disarm, human rights and sustainable peace.

    “The Mission will complete its mandate on March 30.

    “UNMIL was established in September 2003 with 16,475 uniformed personnel to monitor a ceasefire agreement in Liberia, following the conclusion of the Second Liberian Civil War”.

    108 NIGERIAN FORMED POLICE UNIT AT UN MISSION IN LIBERIA DEPARTS FOR HOME COUNTRY

    An official farewell ceremony was held in February in honour of the last departing 689 uniformed personnel – 404 military and 285 police personnel – who had served with the Mission.

    This symbolised the end of UNMIL’s military and police operations in Liberia, more than 14 years after UNMIL was deployed in compliance with Security Council resolution 1509 (2003).

    NIGERIAN POLICE PERSONNEL WITHDRAW FROM LIBERIA AFTER 15 YEARS OF SACRIFICE

    Nigeria’s Maj.-Gen. Salihu Uba is the Force Commander and Head of UNMIL’s Military component of men and women from various countries including: Nigeria, Pakistan and Ukraine.

    Uba was Commander of the Training and Doctrine Command of the Nigerian Army before his appointment as the Force Commander for UNMIL by the former UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Jan. 9, 2015.

    The Formed Police Unit composed of Nigerian and Chinese personnel and since 2003, 61 contingents from various countries had served in Liberia, UNMIL said.

    According to Uba, the mission’s uniform component military and police have taken greater stride towards strengthening peace and security, rule of law, governance among others in Liberia.

    The Force Commander stated that it was not all roses particularly for the military which had the highest fatalities of 138 personnel while the police lost 21 persons.

    “As we are closing, the memory of those 159 persons and others in the Mission will continue to live in our minds.

    “We will continue to pay special tribute to them and those who contributed to peace and security in Liberia” the Major General said.

    THE LAST NIGERIAN POLICE ‘BOOT’ BIDS FAREWELL TO LIBERIA

    The Force Commander, on behalf of the Police Commissioner Simon Blatchly, expressed their profound appreciation to the uniformed component of UNSMIL.

    The Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General, Farid Zarif, had in his speech, stated that the farewell signified an important benchmark in the history of the UN in West Africa.

    “While my colleagues in uniform are writing the last pages of the peacekeeping operations here, Liberians and their Leaders have started writing the first pages of a brand new chapter in their history.”

     

  • I inherited ‘a broke country’ from Sirleaf – George Weah

    …renews commitment to fight against corruption

    President George Weah on Tuesday said he inherited ‘a broke county’ from his successor, Hellen Johnson-Sirleaf.

    Weah also pledged to fight corruption as he settles down to business as the country’s leader.

    He revealed this on the first day of an official visit to Paris.

    The former international football star who, took office on January 22, is faced with a dire economic situation in Liberia following two civil wars and a deadly Ebola epidemic in 2013-2015.

    “I inherited a country that is very broke, depleted by political malfeasance. We have to make sure that the things that happened will not happen again,” Weah said during a conference.

    “I ordered a complete audit to make sure that what belongs to the government goes to the government.”

    Weah also spoke about another top priority, education for young people who represent 60 percent of Liberia’s 4.7 million inhabitants.

    “I believe in education. Yes, I didn’t have the opportunity in my early days but after my career I went back to school. Today I can boast of a master’s degree,” said the new leader, who grew up in a Monrovia slum.

    Founded 170 years ago by freed slaves, Liberia is “the oldest African country but we don’t have an engineering school. We don’t even have a diagnosis centre to tell if someone has Ebola,” Weah said, vowing to do more to get children in school and “to leave the street”.

    On his first foreign trip as president, Weah on Wednesday will meet with French President Emmanuel Macron at the Elysee Palace, along with several sports figures, and the vice president of the World Bank for Africa, Makhtar Diop.