Monrovia – Former Central Bank of Liberia (CBL) Governor Dr. Milton A. Weeks has requested Criminal Court ‘C’ to advance his case on the docket for the May Term for speedy trial.

Defendant Weeks made the application on Thursday, June 11, through a motion title:” Motion for the Advancement of Case on the Court’s Docket”.

In the motion, the defense team argued that since the former CBL governor was indicted, there has been no serious effort by the government to prosecute the case.

“Movant says and submits that the June 8, 2020 indictment makes it the third indictment that the respondent has issued, served and return and return served on him in more than year without any serious attempt to prosecute the case and or Grant him speedy trial as required by Article 20(A) of the 1986 Constitution and laws of the Republic of Liberia,” states the motion.

“Your Honor is kindly requested to take Judicial notice of the records of this court in particular respect of the series of indictments issued along with the writs of arrest and the length of time the defendant has been held before this court at the instance of the respondent without trial.”

Weeks’ lawyers also argued that the conduct of the State to repeatedly indict, arrest and seek their client (Weeks) detention on the same allegations and related charges without trial violates his dignity and right to speedy trial.

The defendant’s lawyer added that only the “court should exercise its good and sound discretion to advance the case on the docket such that the prosecution can prove its case and Movant can defend himself.”

The former CBL government is urging the court to use its discretion and schedule the case for hearing during this May term of court.

“[This] will send out a clear message to the prosecution and the general public that this Honorable Court cannot and will not be used or seem to be used as a vehicle through which the  State flagrantly violate the dignity and fundamental right of individuals including the right to speedy trial by keeping them restrained indefinitely without any effort to prove the crimes charged under the required standard of proof,” the motion states.

The defense team further argued that the only remedy available under the law to curtail and abate the State’s deliberate and continuous violation of their client’s right is to move the court for speedy trial.

Meanwhile, Defense motion was expected to be heard on Tuesday, June 16, 2020 but has been postponed until further notice due to ill health of the judge.

Dr. Weeks was indicted on June 8, along with other ex-officials of the CBL for the alleged commission of the crimes of Economic Sabotage, Fraud on the Internal Revenue, Misuse of Public Money, Property or Records, Theft/Illegal Disbursement of Public Money, Criminal Conspiracy, Theft of Property and Criminal Facilitation.

The indictment was issued on the former CBL Governor immediately after State prosecutors had dropped charges against him in the second indictment, making the current indictment the third. 

He was first arrested, charged, and taken to court in connection to the alleged printing surplus Liberian currency.

Monrovia – All charges that were drawn against Mr. Charles Sirleaf, a son of former President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, and others, in the ongoing L$16 saga, have now been dropped. Mr. Sirleaf is now a free man, while others, who were charged along with him were reduced to lesser charges and one still has all the original charges.

By Alaskai Moore Johnson, alaskaijohnson@gmail.com 0777889870

Cllr. Sayma Cyrennius Cephus, Solicitor General of the Republic of Liberia, announced Friday, May 15, that the state prosecuting arm, which he heads at the moment, have dropped all charges against Mr. Sirleaf having found out that his only mistake in the process was that he (Sirleaf) made an “egregious abuse of administrative discretion” when he didn’t follow through with the instructions he had received earlier as it relates to the printing of the first L$5 billion. Cllr. Cephus also termed Mr. Sirleaf’s error as a “gross malfeasance” adding, “But it’s not criminal.”

He added: “So what they did, they departed from the original objective of replacing the legacy banknote or using Thomas De La Rue with the designs, specifications, texture, physical appearance they went to Crane Currency. When they went to Crane Currency, Crane Currency printed and delivered every other thing that they needed.”

According to him, Sirleaf printed an entirely “new money”, containing L$500 denomination, which he said wasn’t the original objective and it was infused into the economy. “Instead or withdrawing or replacing the legacy banknotes, they added the new money into the economy, so there was the concomitant or parallel usage of both the mutilated banknotes, which is the legacy banknotes.”

He indicated that in the mind and opinion of the Solicitor General that is an egregious abuse of administrative discretion on the part of Mr. Sirleaf.      

Providing justification further, he stated, “All they did they departed from the objective of replacing the legacy banknotes to the introduction of new currency and the parallel or concomitant usage of the two currencies: of course the resultant force led to what we called the ‘hyperinflation’ that you saw. Significantly, the rate moved from L$80 to L$100 and on. So in that case, it was bridge of administrative protocol. Mr. Sirleaf was without authority by law to have done what he did but they brought the exact quantity of money that was requested, printed, delivered and accounted for.”

He further said that in the wisdom of the Solicitor General (him) and the prosecution of the Ministry of Justice, for this purpose, they saw that it was “an egregious abuse of administrative discretion,” which, according to him is not criminal.

All they did they departed from the objective of replacing the legacy banknotes to the introduction of new currency and the parallel or concomitant usage of the two currencies: of course the resultant force led to what we called the ‘hyperinflation’ that you saw. Significantly, the rate moved from L$80 to L$100 and on. So in that case, it was bridge of administrative protocol. Mr. Sirleaf was without authority by law to have done what he did but they brought the exact quantity of money that was requested, printed, delivered and accounted for.”

Solicitor General Sayma Cyrennius Cephus

Solicitor General Cephus added: “So today, we entered on his behalf a motion for Nolle Prosequi with prejudice to the state.” This means that the state is no longer going to go after Mr. Sirleaf as it relates to this case. He furthered: “Meaning he’s off the hook, if there was any; meaning we are not indicting him. We have removed all the charges on him.”

He had earlier said that Mr. Sirleaf had previously entered into a contract with Thomas De La Rue, the company which had been printing the Liberian currency, to print the money.

“The clear understanding was that it would be done with Thomas De La Rue. When the authorization came, when there was a change of printer or contractor meaning that Thomas De La Rue wouldn’t have been able to deliver on time as required by the Central Bank of Liberia, and there was a need to revert to a third party in the case of Crane Currency, they didn’t revert to the Legislature to give them the information.”

According to Cllr. Cephus, this is where the problem had come from. He added: “The problem was if you went to Thomas De La Rue, the line, the texture, the design, physical appearance and every other thing will look different, it will carry different stamp. If you went to Crane Currency, it will look different.”     

Previous Indictment

Mr. Sirleaf, who is a former Deputy Executive Governor for Operations at the Central Bank of Liberia (CBL), was indicted along with other former officials, including Mr. Milton A. Weeks, Executive Governor, Richard Walker, Director for Operations, Dorbor Hagba, Director for Finance Department and Mr. Joseph Dennis, Deputy Director for Internal Audit.

On March 1, 2019, while acting as head of the CBL, because Executive Governor Weeks had resigned, Sirleaf, along with Hagba was arrested by officers at the Liberian National Police (LNP) at the CBL Headquarters on Ashmun Street. Their arrest was followed by the arrests of Messrs. Weeks, Walker and Dennis.

The initial charges placed on them were economic sabotage, theft of property, criminal conspiracy and criminal solicitation. But when the present Solicitor General was appointed by President George Weah and he became involved with the case, he added money laundering to the previous charges, according to him, “after I had reviewed the file and analyzed the issues.”  

In a later indictment of money laundering, Cllr. Cephus and others had argued that in April 2016 and up to and including August 2016, “The five defendants knowingly, deliberately and intentionally collude and conspired with the wicked intent to launder money and sabotage the Liberian economy by unauthorizingly printing excess Liberian Dollar banknotes amounting to L$2,645,000,000 and also unauthorizingly paid and caused to be paid and did pay the amount of U$835,367.72 to co-defendant Crane Currency of Sweden for the amount printed.”

According to the indictment, also from the investigation conducted independently by the Presidential Investigation Team (PIT) and Kroll Associates from the US, it was established that on May 17, 2016, Co-defendant Sirleaf while serving as Acting Executive Governor of CBL made a request thru former President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf to the Legislature to print L$5B to replace the legacy notes known as mutilated notes.

The state prosecutors further stated that both the House of Representatives and Senate through a joint resolution granted approval to the CBL and a contract was executed with co-defendant Crane Currency for the amount of US$5,210,000 for L$5B to be printed.

They didn’t get authorization, there was a blatant attempt of concealing information; they withdrew from the national treasury reserve US$10M unauthorizingly to print L$10.5B plus excess out of which L$2.6B is unaccounted for,”

Cllr. S. Cyrennius Cephus

Though the state prosecutors claimed that the approval for the printing of the L$5,000,000,000 new Liberian bank notes was granted by the Legislature on May 17, 2016 but Mr. Sirleaf had earlier executed and entered into a contract with Crane Currency on May 6, 2016, 11 days before the Legislature gave him the approval to go ahead.

Judge Over Case Recused Himself and Weeks Still Charged

Further addressing newsmen and women, Cllr. Cephus said as the case commenced and they were into it, the presiding judge recused himself only with these words: “for reason best known to myself.” According to him, he is still bewildered at this moment on why the judge recused himself.

“The Government of Liberia being dissatisfied and leading the prosecution, we went on a petition for a Writ of Certiorari to review the ruling of the judge. We asked the Supreme Court to review the ruling of the judge and to compel the judge to state the basis for his withdrawal because the phrase or reason ‘best known to myself’ is not sufficient enough for withdrawal.”

He narrated further that Associate Justice Yousif Kaba, after reviewing the matter, ordered that the case should start as fresh. According to him, at this point, Mr. Weeks took an appeal to the full bench of the Supreme Court, thereby detaching himself from the rest of the accused men, while Sirleaf and others agreed to move back to the lower court to begin the case at new.

Judge Blamo Dixon had presided over the case for three weeks before surprisingly stepping aside from it on September 26, 2019.

Cllr. Cephus accused Weeks and the other members of the CBL Board of Governors, of unilaterally printing L$10.5B “plus excess” without a legislative approval and subsequently LS$2.6B of this money became unaccounted for.  

“They didn’t get authorization, there was a blatant attempt of concealing information; they withdrew from the national treasury reserve US$10M unauthorizingly to print L$10.5B plus excess out of which L$2.6B is unaccounted for,” Cllr. Cephus said; adding, “That constitutes theft.”

“They conspired, they concealed, they grossly misled and sabotaged the Liberian economy,” Cephus stressed.

Dorbor Hagba, Richard Walker and Joseph Dennis

The Solicitor General also disclosed that his prosecuting team had also entered Nolle Prosequi without prejudice to the state in the three men’s behalf. However, this time he defines it as, “meaning, we removed the charges and suspended them. The reason being they served in subordinated capacities.”

“If you look at the roles that Dorbor Hagba, Richard Walker and Joseph Dennis played, they played their roles respectively based on the instructions coming from the board by and thru the Executive Governor. So, the Republic of Liberia is going after the Executive Governor and the Board,” he stated.

Cllr. Cephus, however, disclosed that all those who aided the process directly or indirectly, will be brought in. “The reason why they are going to be brought is that they aided and abetted the process.”

He said he has now placed the three men in the category of “accessories after the fact,” which he said means, “After the crime has been committed, the man who is helping the man who committed the crime to escape.”

Board Members Talking to Him

Cllr. Cephus maintained that they aren’t going to go after the three men and leave the main alleged doers of act.

“Interestingly, something that has happened is that two of the board members have started to talk to me. They wouldn’t be subjected in the same manner and forms the others would be.”

He named Madams Melissa Emmet and Elsie Dossen Badio as the two who have shown “flexibility of discussing with the Office of the Solicitor General. They have said they are going to come forward and explain the role we played.”

No Money Missing

It can easily be said that Cephus and his team might likely loss this case when it is concluded in court as senior government officials, including the Finance Minister Samuel Tweah, Central Bank Governor Nathaniel Patray and Justice Minister Frank Musah Dean are on record of saying all of the monies were printed, brought into the country and are in vaults of the CBL and that no money is missing. This is contrary to Cephus’ claims of unaccounted for L$2.6B.

Responding to the General Auditing Commission’s report on the same issue in May 2019, Justice Minister Dean said, “There is, therefore, no issue as to the L$2.6 billion, representing the value of US$17M, being brought to the vault of the Central Bank of Liberia (CBL). It can safely be concluded that no money is missing in the US$25 million mop-up exercise,” the Justice Minister said in count six of his “Response to the Auditor General’s Report on Factual Findings on the US$25 Mop-up Exercise Conducted by the Central Bank of Liberia.”       

“Records from Crane Currency of Sweden, which was contracted to print the money, show that Crane delivered 15.5 billion Liberian dollars through Freeport and Roberts International Airport between 2016 and 2018,” Nathaniel Patray, the Central Bank of Liberia governor, told a press conference early October of 2019. “All these monies were logged by the CBL (Central Bank of Liberia) and delivered into the reserved vaults of the CBL.”

New Castle, Delaware – The Association of Liberian Journalists in the Americas (ALJA) says it welcomes the swift and robust action taken by the Liberian government in bringing to justice the alleged perpetrators linked to the missing 16 billion Liberian dollars scandal in the country.  But the Association is cautioning the government against acts that insinuate selective justice in how the matter and the unaccounted-for US 25 million dollars mop-up exercise are being handled.

ALJA says the recent arrest and detention of five current and former executives of the Central Bank of Liberia (CBL) including former Governor, Milton Weeks, and Deputy Governor, Charles Sirleaf, for their alleged roles played in the missing 16 billion Liberian dollars scandal is praise worthy, but it is calling on the Weah administration not to limit the ongoing fight against corruption in Liberia to the accused.

In a press release issued on March 4, 2019, ALJA urged President Weah to muster the courage in taking similar actions in bringing to justice Liberia’s Finance and Development Planning Minister, Samuel Tweah and others, implicated in the mismanagement of the government’s US 25 million dollars mop-up exercise.  ALJA insists if the ongoing prosecution of the CBL executives for alleged economic crime is to be seen as credible and impartial than, the need for Minister Tweah and others, who implemented the mismanaged mop-exercise to face justice cannot be overstated.

The Association said beginning July 2018 to October 2018, the Finance and Development Planning Minister as chairman of the Liberia Economic Management Team (EMT) in collaboration with the CBL authority reportedly supervised the physical purchase of Liberian dollar banknotes from local businesses and foreign exchange bureaus in keeping with the government’s mop-up initiative, which focused on the rejuvenation of the Liberian economy through the elimination of excess Liberian dollars from the market.

However, ALJA quoting the US based Kroll Inc, a Division of Duff and Phelps’ recently release Scoping Report: Independent Review Regarding Allegations of the Disappearance of New Liberian Banknotes, maintained the Minister and the CBL authority reportedly executed the US 25 million dollars mop-exercise without a clearly documented strategy as to how the money was spent.

The Association said while it acknowledges and supports the prosecution of the arrested and detained CBL executives for their complicity in the missing 16 billion Liberian dollars scandal, it strongly believes the Finance and Development Planning Minister and other linked to the US 25 million dollars mop-up exercise, should also, be investigated and made to fully account for how the people’s money was spent.

The Americas based Liberian journalists quoting the legal maxim “He who comes into equity must come with clean hands,” said it sets a bad precedent for the CDC led government to focus solely on the prosecution of former Governor Weeks, Deputy Governor Sirleaf and the other accused while ignoring the indicated failure of Minister Tweah and the others to account for the US 25 million dollars used for the Weah administration professed mop-up exercise.

Meanwhile, ALJA is reminding President Weah that if his pronounced fight against corruption and dishonesty in the public sector is to be taken seriously then he must begin to hold all public officials accountable, especially those linked to acts that are inimical to the peace and stability of Liberia. “Mr. President, you can’t fight graft by cherry picking in terms of who gets prosecuted or not when economic crimes are committed by government officials,” the ALJA press release quoted the Association’s National President, Moses D. Sandy, as saying.

Monrovia – The chief prosecutor in the Sable Mining trial, Cllr. Daku Mulbah, says the prosecution is no longer interested in the testimony of the Central Bank Governor Milton Weeks.

Report by Kennedy L. Yangian klyangian@frontpageafricaonline.com

Cllr. Mulbah’s request to the court Friday came after Presiding Judge Yarmie Gbeisay had summoned the bank to come and testify in the case on Friday.

“Prosecution at this stage, in keeping with its right to the production of witnesses, informed this honorable court that it waived now taking the witness stand of its subpoena witness from the Central Bank of Liberia and it need be accordingly in keeping with law pray for another subpoena,” said Cllr. Mulbah

He failed to state what led to his eleventh-hour cancellation request to the court which was endorsed by the judge and rejected by the defense counsel.

In its objection to the motion, defense lawyer Cyril Jones asked the court to deny the request on grounds that it is inappropriate.

CBL governor Weeks were among several subpoenaed witnesses that the prosecution has invited during the week to come and provide clarity on the testimonies of witnesses including the Chief Investigator of the Liberia Anti-Corruption Commission (LACC).

CBL Governor Weeks was asked by the prosecution to appear and give clarity over how commercial banks are regulating the storage of checks of customers.

The prosecution’s submission to have the CBL Governor appear came after they expressed frustration over the testimony of the branch manager of the International Bank Edwin Kamanda who said that the International Bank does not have the two checks belonging co-defendant Varney Sherman.

Grand Cape Mount Senator Varney Sherman is among several former and current government officials that are currently on trial.

They have been indicted after the London-based CSO Global Witness accused them of allegedly receiving bribes to change the Public Procurement Act in favor of a British Company.

Monrovia – The Governor of the Central Bank of Liberia has been summoned by Criminal Court “C” to appear Thursday at mid-day to testify in the Sable Mining trial.

Report by Kennedy L. Yangian klyangian@frontpageafricaonline.com

Governor Milton Weeks is to testify to the Central Bank’s regulation on keeping of records by commercial banks.

His summon was triggered by a request by the prosecution, after International Bank Liberia’s head branch manager told the court the bank was only required to keep records like issued checks for a period of five years, while the checks in question were issued in 2010.

IB Bank’s Edwin Kamanda informed the court Wednesday that they have searched all their records at all their branches but could not locate the checks.

The bank had been issued two subpoenas to produce the checks and was sternly warned by the presiding judge last week that its failure to produce the check would warrant harsh punishment in the form of fine or imprisonment.

The two checks in question issued on June 23, 2010 and another on August 31, 2010 were requested by the prosecution, alluding that the checks have being allegedly issued by co-defendant Sherman to co-defendants Richard Tolbert and Morris Saytumah, respectively as bribes.

Kamanda told the court that checks had been processed by the customer service at the bank and was sent to the audit department for validation and onward to the records department.

The branch manager said that the checks were sent to the records department where they were manually filed in envelopes for safe keeping.

“Your honor, we have tirelessly, checked our storage both at our head office and branches and the only conclusion we came up with is that the checks have lost, they cannot be recovered.”

“We have worked on holidays, Sundays and weekdays, but these two checks cannot be found,” said Kamanda.

Kamanda, however, informed the court the bank is by law required to keep such records only for a period five years.

The prosecution not being pleased with the bank’s excuses, termed Kamanda’s testimony hostile and that he had refused to testify to the facts with respect to the checks for which was subpoenaed.

According to the prosecution, the bank’s failure to produce the checks is deliberate.

Judge Gbeisay stated that the court could not endorse the submission to declare the witness’ testimony hostile because there was no legal basis for that and ruled to have the witness discharged, indicating that the subpoenaed witness met the objective for which he was subpoenaed.

Monrovia – The Executive Governor of the Central Bank of Liberia (CBL), Milton Weeks, has expressed concern over acts of dishonesty in the banking sector. He observed that honesty at banks in the country has begun to be questioned and this must not be taken for granted.

He noted that there are too many instances of malpractices which are undermining the banking system, and warned that such acts will not be tolerated.

Speaking on December 9, 2016 at an awards dinner organized by the Central Bank of Liberia Staff Association (CEBSA), the Governor noted that there are too many instances of fraud, corruption, and criminal activities within the banking system. He warned that the bank will not hesitate to reprimand anyone caught in acts of dishonesty.

Governor Weeks acknowledged that the country is experiencing economic difficulties, but expressed hope that 2017 will be a watershed year for the banking sector, provided all stakeholders work together.

“If we join hands collaboratively and cooperatively, I honestly believe that we can make this thing work.”

The CBL Executive Governor renewed his commitment to the reform measures being implemented and urged personnel of the banking sector to support the process which he said will be guided by transparency, fairness and honesty.

“With your support, I pray that you will join us in this effort to completely change this situation of ours,” the Governor added.

In remarks, the President of the Liberia Bankers Association, John Davies, welcomed the collaboration between the Central Bank of Liberia and commercial banks in the country.  He said commercial banks will continue to work with the CBL to promote the banking sector.

Mr. Davies, who is also President of the Liberia Bank for Development and Investment (LBDI), called for more regular interactions among personnel of the banking sector to help enhance the smooth work relations among personnel of the sector.

The President of the Central Bank of Liberia Staff Association (CEBSA), Mr. Matthias D. Cooper, lauded Governor Weeks for the cordial working relationship existing between the Workers Association and his office. Mr. Cooper assured Governor Weeks of the association’s cooperation to help achieve the reform agenda of the CBL.

At Friday’s program, trophies and awards were presented to banks that participated in the Governor’s cup, which attracted the football, basketball and kickball teams of banks operating in the country. Guaranty Trust Bank was awarded the football trophy while the Central Bank of Liberia was awarded the kickball trophy and Afriland First Bank of Liberia, awarded the kickball  trophy.

The three banks emerged champions of the respective sports categories at the end of the of the 2016 Governor’s Cup tournament which was held at the Barrack Young Controllers (BYC) football field in Monrovia.

Monrovia – The Executive Governor of the Central Bank of Liberia, Mr. Milton A. Weeks, has been elected Chairman of the Board of Governors of the West African Institute for Financial & Economic Management (WAIFEM). Mr. Weeks was elected at the 31^st meeting of the Board of Governors meeting held on August 4, 2016 in Conakry, Guinea.

Governor Weeks will Chair the Board of Governors for the next two years as Liberia’s representative. He succeeds the Governor of the Bank of Ghana, Dr. Abdul-Nashiru Issahaku, and outgoing Chairman of the Board of Governors of WAIFEM.

Accepting the Chairmanship on behalf of the Governor of the CBL, the Deputy Governor for Economic Policy, Dr. Mounir Siaplay, thanked members of the Board of Governors of WAIFEM for electing Liberia as Chair of the Board.

He indicated that the Central Bank of Liberia was humbled by the honor bestowed on the country and promised to do the best in ensuring that WAIFEM continues to deliver on its capacity building mandate as instructed by the Board of Governors.

Deputy Governor Siaplay thanked the outgoing Chairman, Dr. Abdul-Nashiru Issahaku of Ghana, for the able leadership provided over the last two years.

He informed the meeting that Liberia was taking the Chairmanship of WAIFEM in the face of a harsh macroeconomic environment in the Institute’s member countries, occasioned by falling commodity prices.

In spite of the difficult macroeconomic conditions, the Central Bank official reiterated the Board’s commitment to capacity building, as human resource development is very important to improving macroeconomic management in member countries.

Dr. Siaplay assured the Management and staff of WAIFEM of the Board’s continuous moral and financial support in bridging the existing capacity gaps in the sub-region.

Monrovia – The West African Institute for Financial and Economic Management (WAIFEM) has started the training of Executive Assistants and Personal Secretaries of Chief Executive Officers in a regional course on productivity enhancement.

“On this note, it is my singular honor to declare open the Regional Course on Productivity Enhancement for Assistants and Personal Secretaries of CEOs,” said Central Bank of Liberia Executive Governor Milton Weeks, when he delivered the opening speech of the course.

Governor Weeks commended the WAIFEM for bringing such an “invaluable course to Liberia.”

“Let me at the onset, commend the West African Institute for Financial and Economic Management for bringing this invaluable course to our doorstep, and for the honor done me by this invitation to deliver the keynote address,” Governor Weeks added.

Governor Weeks said the role of Executive Assistants and Secretaries is not limited to typing as was done in the past, adding that Executive Assistants, secretaries and personal assistants are an essential part of the workforce in all organizations, providing critical support to executives.

“In the past, the role of the secretary was limited to typing, answering telephone calls and taking notes. The Secretary was seen as a person employed to take orders, write letters carry out dispatches and keep records”, he continued.

“The expectations were all about the clerical aspects of secretarial work and this was the job description that floated around up to 1970s.”

The CBL Governor said the expectations of executive assistants have changed a great deal. “Their roles and responsibilities in organizations have also evolved.”

Governor Weeks stressed the need for executive assistants to have good business knowledge, adding that it is important in understanding the working environment.

The CBL Boss named good interpersonal skills, good decision making capabilities, and excellent written, analytical and organizational skills as pre-requisite for executive assistants.

 “It is clear that greater professionalism has been introduced into the work of executive and personal assistants. Executive may set up and oversee administrative policies and procedures for officials,” Governor Weeks said.

“They may work with departmental and corporate officials, and liaise with other organizations and associations on behalf of the executive,” he added.

“Indeed, the personality and capability of an assistant can impact on how the senior executive is perceived by others, and how the organization is perceived by key stakeholders.

As the first contact point for internal and external clients, the executive assistant is the face of the executive team.”

He urged the trainees to utilize the skills gain from the training for maximum productivity at their various organizations.

“I urge you to take maximum advantage of this opportunity to enhance your knowledge and skills for maximum productivity at your various organizations.”

Monrovia – Family members, friends and employees of the Central Bank of Liberia (CBL) cheered on as Milton Weeks raised his right hand and got sworn in as the next governor of the Central Bank of Liberia on Friday May 13, 2016 at the headquarters of the bank on Ashmun Street.

Cllr. Joseph Jallah, legal counsel of the CBL, performed the ceremony, calling on the governor to work in the confines of the law as per the CBL Act.

David Farhat, Chairman of the Board of Governors of the bank, indicated that it is the tradition of the bank to swear in a new governor when the tenure expires.

Two other newly appointed board members, Kollie Tamba and Elsie Badio, also took similar oath to serve as board governors.

Responding after the swearing in ceremony, Governor Weeks, a former member of the board of governors, thanked President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf for his preferment of the post.

In remarks, he called on the employees that he has not come to the bank to change anyone or to change things around.

“I have not come here to change anything around. You have worked very hard over the years. What we intend to do is to build on the existing policies,” said Weeks.

Milton Weeks was recently appointed by President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf and confirmed by the Senate to head the CBL following the end of the tenure of former governor, Dr. J. Mills Jones.

Dr. Jones’ tenure ended early this year following the completion of a two term. He is best remembered at the CBL for his micro-loan scheme, giving out to locals across the country with the aim of empowering them.

On the same Friday, the Central Bank of Liberia (CBL) honored its out-going Deputy Governor for Economic Policy, Boima Kamara.

 Kamara served the CBL over the past fourteen years and was recently appointed to replace former Finance Minister, Amara  Konneh, who has now taken a new assignment with the World Bank in Nairobi, Kenya.

Deputy CBL Governor Kamara is the second employee of the CBL to have been appointed in the Unity Party (UP) led government of President Johnson Sirleaf as Minister of Finance.

The first employee was Augustine Ngafuan who rose from the CBL to the rank of Finance Minister and later Foreign Minister until his resignation last year because of his political ambition in the ensuing 2017 Presidential and Legislative elections.

 During the honoring program at the Central Bank of Liberia on Friday, former Deputy Governor Kamara was praised and offered several gifts for his dedicated 14-year service by all of the departments’ heads at the CBL.

“Kamara, God knows you and he will be with you where-so-ever you go,” said an elderly employee.

 Responding, he thanked the President for his appointment and the CBL family for the honor bestowed on him.

On the question of his current job as Finance Minister, Kamara indicated that the issue of the country’s economy needs joint collaboration with all financial stakeholders.

“The issue of the country’s economy requires the joint collaboration of all financial stakeholders mainly the government’s revenue base the Liberia Revenue Authority (LRA),” said Finance Minister Boima Kamara.

Kennedy L. Yangian kennedy.yangian@frontpageafricaonline.com

Monrovia – Central Bank of Liberia Executive Governor-Designate, Milton Weeks, says his main concern when he is confirmed to the top post will be to stimulate the domestic economy while at the same time ensuring an amendment of certain provisions in the CBL Act.

Appearing at a Senate confirmation hearing for the top job, Mr. Weeks said he will work with the Legislature to amend the CBL act.

According to him, amendments were introduced to the CBL Act in 2014 but only a few issues were addressed, ignoring a number of recommendations from the CBL and the country’s development partners which, he believes, are very relevant.

“I share the opinion that the CBL Act be further strengthened in the governance structure,” he said. “I pledge to work with the Honorable Legislature in addressing these shortfalls in the revised Act. I must also take this opportunity to draw the attention of this honorable body to the continued difficult times ahead given the global economic crisis I alluded to earlier.”

He said, given the decline in the export earnings with no corresponding decline in consumption, there exists the very real possibility of further exchange rate volatility in the short run.

He promised that the bank will remain confident given the strong level of cooperation with the fiscal authorities and its multilateral partners, furthering that the CBL will be able to maintain a good level of price and exchange rate stability in the medium term but must be prepared for greater volatility in the short term.

He cautioned lawmakers on the need to explore taking some bold initiatives intended to stimulate the domestic economy, while keeping inflation in single digits and at the same time assuring that if confirmed, the CBL under his stewardship will operate in strict adherence of the CBL Act.

“While there has been criticism of the manner in which the CBL stimulus programs that will assist in the process, going forward we will ensure that we limit our intervention to within our mandate.

“There is also a need to further reform the insurance industry. For an economy of our size, my personal opinion is that we have too many insurance companies. There is a need for consolidation within the sector that will result in strong, reliable and sustainable insurance companies that are properly capitalized and will contribute to the creation of wealth and development of the Liberian economy.”

He furthered stressed the need to attract further investment in the banking sector and the economy in general and the need for more emphasis on long term credit to support mortgage financing.

“Our regulatory framework must be robust but not inhibitive. We must safeguard the sanctity of financial services sector but we must avoid cutting off our nose to spite our face. In other words, as opposed to a confrontational approach, a collaborative regulatory framework is what we should aim for where the regulated and the regulator work together to achieve the success of the sector.”

He pledged a strong commitment to private sector development as proven by his various assignments during his career. He said his experience as an elected member of the Executive Council of the Liberia Chamber of Commerce where he conducted research works amongst others on private sector development has ably prepared him for the task.

He further assured lawmakers of his commitment to the continual development of the private sector with particular emphasis on the micro, small and medium enterprises and promised to do it within the framework of existing laws and regulations applicable to the CBL and the government. By achieving this, Weeks promised to maintain a good relationship with the banking sector.

 “The lack of access to credit remains a key challenge to enterprise development in Liberia. Recent data on access to financial services to the local communities reveal inadequate access to basic financial services, including saving, credits, remittances, insurance and payments, despite the increased activities of commercial banks in various parts of the country,” he said.

Henry Karmo (0886522495) henry.karmo@frontpageafricaonline.com