LIBERIA: SCENE SETTER FOR CODEL LOWEY

UNCLAS MONROVIA 000910

SIPDIS

SENSITIVE

SIPDIS

STATE FOR AF/W-PDAVIS/DOKEDIJI, H-CHERITH NORMAN

USAID FOR AFR/WA-SSWIFT

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: OREP PGOV PREL EAID ECON LI
SUBJECT: LIBERIA: SCENE SETTER FOR CODEL LOWEY


1. (SBU) Embassy welcomes the August 16, 2007 visit of the
Congressional delegation led by Representative Nita Lowey,
Chairwoman of the House Appropriations Committee, Subcommittee on
Foreign Operations. Liberia is at a critical moment in its history,
emerging from 14 years of civil war under a democratically elected
government that has been in office a year and a half. The Government
of Liberia faces daunting challenges. The country's civil and
societal institutions, as well as its infrastructure, were destroyed
during the conflict. Rebuilding Liberia involves reestablishing the
rule of law, recruiting and training a new police force, standing up
a new army, rebuilding procedures and institutions for sound
economic governance, controlling rampant corruption, and putting in
place infrastructure needed to stimulate economic growth and to
facilitate provision of basic services. In addition to rebuilding
infrastructure, the issue of social relationships and
reconciliation, including coming to terms with the atrocities of
the war, are all part of the agenda facing the new government and
are essential to moving Liberia from being a failed state to
becoming fully functional once again.

Political Overview
--------------


2. (U) Liberia, Africa's oldest republic, is located on the West
Coast of Africa, along the Gulf of Guinea, and shares borders with
Sierra Leone, Guinea, and Cote d'Ivoire. Liberia is a member of the
Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS),the African
Union (AU),the Mano River Union and the United Nations. Liberia's
population is estimated to be 3.4 million with a population growth
rate of 2.5 percent. Approximately 1 to 1.5 million persons live in
greater Monrovia, the country's capital, while the rest of the
country is sparsely populated. Approximately 60% of the population
is under 25 years old. The last census was conducted in the mid
1980s. A new census will be taken in 2008.


3. (U) Peace was restored to Liberia after a fourteen-year civil war
with the signing of the Accra Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) in
August 2003. The CPA established the National Transitional
Government of Liberia (NTGL),which was constituted by
representatives of former warring factions, former Government of
Liberia officials, and civil society representatives. The United
Nations stationed 15,000 peacekeeping troops in Liberia and
initiated a disarmament and demobilization program in which 103,000
ex-combatants enrolled. Over the course of 2003 to 2004, the United
Nations Mission in Liberia (UNMIL) expanded its deployment to all of
Liberia's fifteen counties and is still primarily responsible for
security throughout the country.


4. (U) As specified by the CPA, national elections took place on
October 11, 2005 to choose Liberia's President, Vice President,
Senate, and House of Representatives. Thirty political parties were
recognized for the election and 22 candidates ran for the
Presidency. Ellen Johnson Sirleaf of the Unity Party (UP) was
elected President in a November 8 run-off election against former
soccer star George Weah of the Congress for Democratic Change (CDC)
party. Johnson Sirleaf was inaugurated as Africa's first female
head of state on January 16, 2006. The executive branch has 20
ministries and 15 parastatal companies or state-owned enterprises.
Capacity below senior levels of most ministries is quite low, as are
civil service salaries (In the government's budget for July
2007-June 2008, the minimum wage for civil servants was set at US$
50 per month.) This lack of capacity hinders implementation of
government reforms.


5. (SBU) There are 11 political parties represented in Liberia's
legislature. The CDC party has the largest single block in the
House of Representatives with 16 elected members out of a total of
64 members (one seat is currently vacant following the death of the
sitting legislator). The Coalition for the Transformation of
Liberia (COTOL) has the largest single block of representation in
the Senate with 7 elected members out of a total of 30 Senators. The
Liberian legislature has been largely ineffective during its first
year and a half, passing no more than a handful of laws. Members of
the House of Representatives spent the first month of the current
session, which began January 15, mired in a crisis brought about by
an attempt to unseat former Speaker Edwin Snowe. Some members of
the House refused to sit under Snowe's gavel and held plenary
sessions at a separate location and passed a resolution removing
Snowe. Snowe responded by alleging that his colleagues had accepted
bribes in exchange for ousting him and lodged a case before the
Supreme Court alleging that his constitutional right to due process
and his rights under the Standing Rules of the House of
Representatives were violated. The Supreme Court decided that the
acts taken to remove Snowe were unconstitutional and vacated his
removal from office. Snowe ultimately resigned as Speaker on
February 15. While Liberia's citizens waited for legislation to
provide them with basic services, jobs, and an improved quality of
life, their elected representatives squabbled. Alex Tyler of COTOL
was elected Speaker of the House on April 5, with a small margin of
32 votes out of a total of 60.


6. (SBU) The Liberian judiciary is divided into four levels: justice
of the peace courts, magistrate courts, circuit courts, and the
Supreme Court. Judges and magistrates are assigned throughout
Liberia's 15 counties, but not all counties have a courthouse and
many lack furniture and basic supplies. Judges are subject to
political, social, and financial pressures and corruption exists.
Trials are public and juries are used in circuit court trials, but
not at the magistrate court level. Under the law, defendants have
the right to consult with an attorney in a timely manner and to have
access to government-held evidence relevant to their case. However,
in practice these rights are not always observed. There continue to
be long delays in disposition of cases and most prisoners are in
pre-trial detention.

Economic Overview
--------------


7. (U) Liberia's abundant natural resources make it a country with
great potential for investment, th3ugh civil unrest, insecurity, and
corruption have stymied this potential in the last 25 years.
Liberia's infrastructure was destroyed during its civil war, leaving
it with a limited transportation network, scores of broken down or
half-finished buildings, no central electric power, no piped water
system, and no landline phone system. Poor infrastructure makes it
difficult for Liberians to conduct business and even more difficult
to attract the investment needed to create jobs and give Liberian
tangible evidence of a better future.


8. (U) Liberia is one of the poorest countries in the world with an
estimated per capita GDP of US $407. We estimate that only 15% of
the labor force is employed in the formal sector. Estimates of
illiteracy range from 60-85%. Liberia's largely unskilled labor
force works as rubber tappers, petty traders, seafarers, miners, and
agricultural workers. The government has prepared an Interim
Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper (IPRSP) as part of its strategy to
address economic development. Downsizing of the civil service and
raising salary levels are government priorities. The legislature
passed forestry legislation in September 2006, which provides the
legal framework for the development of this sector of the economy
and resulted in the lifting of UN sanctions on the export of timber.
The first timber concessions will not be awarded before late 2007
and timber exports are not expected until 2008. Liberia was deemed
compliant with the Kimberly Process in May 2007 and the UN ban on
exports was lifted. However, a mining moratorium remains in effect
until Kimberly Process certificates are received. U.S. assistance
including resident experts from the USDA Forestry Service and the US
Geological Service were critical in helping Liberia get out from
under UN sanctions on timber and diamonds.


9. (U) Liberia was designated AGOA-eligible on December 29, 2006 and
the Ministry of Commerce is aggressively seeking ways to take
advantage of AGOA. The high price of rubber is encouraging
development of that sector after years of neglect and
Bridgestone/Firestone, the country's largest rubber exporter and
largest private employer, is pursuing a multi-year investment and
replanting program. In the iron ore mining sector, Acelor/Mittal
signed a revised mineral develpment agreement on December 28, 2006
to rehabilitate the Yekepa mine, rebuild the railroad between Yekepa
and the Port of Buchanan, and renovate the Port of Buchanan. The
estimated investment is one billion dollars and the project is
expected to stimulate corollary developments in housing, power
generation, and agricultural production, and will create over 3,500
direct jobs.


10. (U) In February 2007, the U.S. and Liberia concluded an "Open
Skies" aviation agreement, although at the present time there is no

direct air service from Liberia to the United States. Also in
February 2007, the United States Trade Representative (USTR) and the
Government of Liberia signed a bilateral Trade and Investment
Framework Agreement (TIFA).

USG Programs in Liberia
--------------


11. U.S. strategy for helping build post-conflict Liberia is based
on the recognition that there are linkages between key areas of
security, economic recovery, governance, and provision of basic
services. As a result we are engaged on a variety of issues
including: reintegration of ex-combatants, IDPs, and refugees,
reform of the security sector, community reintegration,
strengthening the rule of law and respect for human rights,
promotion of transparent and effective governance, rehabilitation of
key infrastructure, restructuring of the forestry and diamond
sectors, and expanded access to and quantity of health care and
education. Establishing rule of law is one of Liberia's most
important challenges. The U.S.-funded Justice Sector Support-Liberia
(JSSL) program is helping rebuild Liberia's justice system by
improving the quality of criminal investigations and prosecutions,
improving coordination among police and prosecutors, strengthening
the capacity of public defenders, improving court administration and
criminal case management procedures, and developing the
institutional capacity of the Supreme Court and Ministry of Justice
to develop and manage budget and finance functions. The U.S. is
taking the lead in Liberia's security sector reform by managing the
restructuring of the Liberian armed forces, retraining President
Johnson Sirleaf's protective detail (SSS) and supporting UNMIL in
restructuring the national police.


12. USAID manages a range of activities including vocational skills
training; education; health; community development; capacity
building; rebuilding infrastructure; literacy; support for
democratic and transparent elections; economic development
initiatives; improving transparency and accountability in government
entities; strengthening the legislature, political parties and
elections systems, and improving civil society's capacity to hold
government accountable; supporting increased agriculture
productivity and market development; increasing access to justice
through the establishment of legal aid clinics, victim abuse centers
legal internships, alternative dispute resolution mechanism, and
legal training. Throughout FY 2004 and 2005, USAID implemented a
nationwide public works and skills training program that employed up
to 34,000 ex-combatants and other war-affected Liberians to
rehabilitate urban and rural roads, community buildings, hospitals,
clinics, schools, and community offices. In FY06, USAID funding
created more sustainable jobs and increased farmer incomes by
resuscitating the agricultural sector with a focus on improving
production of cocoa and rubber. In FY07, USAID programs are
focusing on basic community infrastructure, maternal and child
health, primary education, improving public sector executive
functions, sustainable natural resource development, promoting
agricultural sector productivity, expanding energy services, and
improving roads and facilities at Roberts International Airport, the
country's only international airfield and the port of Monrovia. In
December 2006, President Bush announced that Liberia would be added
to the list of focus countries that will receive assistance under
the $1.2 billion President's Malaria Initiative (PMI).


13. Other USG programs in Liberia include the US Trade and
Development Agency (TDA),which is funding a feasibility study for
the rehabilitation of the Mt. Coffee Hydro Electric Dam and the U.S.
African Development Foundation (ADF),which is currently in its
third round of no-interest loans and technical assistance for
entrepreneurial expansion and small business development in Liberia.
In FY-07 ADF provided loans/grants to 8 entities for a total of US$
1.3 million. The Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC) is
also actively engaged in Liberia. It is providing $20 million in
debt capital for the Liberian Enterprise Development Fund in
collaboration with ADF and the Robert L. Johnson Foundation.


14. With funding from USAID, the National Democratic Institute for
International Affairs (NDI),the International Republican Institute
(IRI) and the International Foundation for Elections Systems (IFESH)
are engaged in political party development, legislative
strengthening, and support for elections processes. In addition,
the Carter Center and the Clinton Foundation have programs in
Liberia. George Soros, the Scott Foundation, and several other
private American philanthropic groups are also actively supporting
Liberia's recovery.

BOOTH