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Elen Johnson Sirleaf |
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The
24th and incumbent president of the oldest
African republic – Liberia
was in London earlier this week to attend
the replenishment conference for the Global Alliance for Vaccines
and Immunisation (Gavi) that
allowed donors from rich countries to
pledge billions of dollars that will pay for children from less fortunate
parts of the world to be
vaccinated against killer diseases. Congratulations
especially to Bill Gates, who made it his personal crusade to get
there.
Despite the time constraints, the President made it possible to meet
the Liberian Community of the United Kingdom on the Guys Campus of
the Kings College of the University College of London. After complaints
about the observation of the necessary protocols of a formal town
hall meeting, the President and her delegation arrived on the campus
at 15H35 BST and departed around 19H00 BST. They were welcome by the
Principal of the college and programme introduced by a member of the
Liberian Community in the UK followed by a special statement by Hon
Prince Taylor, the leader of the Union of Liberian Organizations in
the UK (ULO-UK). In his address, Hon. Taylor recognized the success
of Mrs Johson-Sirleaf’s administration that has allowed the
restoration of the pride and dignity of the Liberian people in and
out of Liberia. Despite this success, he (Mr. Taylor) mentioned the
setbacks in other areas developments – roads, hospitals, education
etc. At the end of his address, the following requests were made for
the attention of the President;
•
The issuance of dual citizenship to Liberians
who found themselves out of their country and as citizens of other
nations due to problems not of their faults,
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The establishment of mechanisms that will
allow Liberian Embassy in the UK to issue passport to the Liberian
citizens residing in UK and other European countries,
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A formal request from the Liberian government
of the British government to have a resident Ambassador in Liberia
to facilitate free movements of citizens of the two nations and reinforce
the bilateral ties,
•
Consider the Diaspora Liberians in Europe
as a group ready to contribute to the development of Liberia similar
to the consideration of the Liberians in the United States of America.
The ULO-UK leader ended his statement by
appreciating the appointment of Ambassador Johnson as the Liberian
Ambassador to the United Kingdom. He maintained that Ambassador Johnson
has built a memorable image with the Liberians in UK and has always
cared for the welfare and opened the doors of the Embassy to Liberians.
This exercise was concluded by the presentation of a winner’s
award on behalf of the Liberians in UK to the President. After various
remarks, the President was introduced by Ambassador Johnson who considered
his task as the most difficult item on the programme sheet – “introducing
someone who needs no introduction”.
Subsequently, the President introduced
members of her delegation that included the Foreign Minister, Land & Mines
Minister, Special Assistant among others. After the introduction she
made statements on the topics such as the government’s vision
of establishing equal opportunity, justice, rule of law, economic
revitalization, cooperate social responsibility etc. Her government
challenges of corruption and regional stability was addressed. As
of corruption, she admitted that there is a need to do more in this
area and considered lack of value system, law and inefficient judicial
system to be among the root causes of this deficiency of the Liberian
society. A new governmental vision (2030) is set to eradicate the
problem and address serious issues of unemployment, education, trained
judges and the establishment of social development funds. The President
who is also the current chair of the Mano River Union Countries also
promise to do all she can to promote regional stability by engaging
regional and international instruments, agencies and organizations.
Finally, the time for members of the Liberian Community in the UK
had the chance to ask their president questions and prominent among
issues raised and addressed were,
•
Land Issue in Nimba – for this issue, the President informed
the Diaspora Liberians that the Musa Bility Commission’s report
is the bedrock of the government decisions for finding solutions to
the problem and the land in Ganta seized by the government will be
used to built a public facility that will be used by all those concerned
in the conflict.
•
Issuance of Passport in UK – after confirmation from the Foreign
Minister, the President informed the audience that there is currently
a team in the United States installing the system and London will
be the next station for the installation of passport issuance mechanism
to Liberians in the Diaspora.
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