Liberia’s civil war ended 18 years ago, but some of the child soldiers from that conflict are still fighting. It’s a battle not against human enemies, but against drugs and the addiction that has devasted their lives ever since the war.A series of efforts to rehabilitate former child soldiers have mostly failed. Drug trafficking through…
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Harsh Punishment Could Deter Pirates In Liberia
(Last Updated On: May 25, 2021) PHOTO: DC World Film Director Shadrach Gaye and some apparently pirated films being sold in Monrovia By William Selmah, [email protected] A Liberian artist is predicting doom for the movie sector and the entire creative industry unless stern measures are taken to clamp down on piracy and related crimes within the…
Mandingo population say they are being targeted in war crimes trials and stigmatized anew
The recent conviction of former Ulimo commander Alieu Kosiah in Switzerland brought celebrations in many parts of Liberia. Kosiah was the first Liberian to face trial for war crimes committed in Liberia. Many victims felt it was justice at last. But for some in Liberia’s Mandingo community it sparked anger. The conviction of Kosiah, following…
Speaker Chambers Accused of Blocking War Crimes Court, But Fails to Comment
New Narratives Fellow Anthony Stephens of Power TV/FM with the piece that prompted Thursday’s dispute in the Liberian Senate saying Speaker Chambers is blocking legislation to establish a War Crimes Court in Liberia….
Fessibu First to Complete Customary Land Process, As More Communities Line Up
FESSIBU, LOFA COUNTY – The town in the Gizzimah clan Zorzor District of Lofa County made history in June when it was certificated by the Liberian government after becoming the first community in Liberia to legalize the ownership of its land. The people here are now poised to obtain a deed for the 3,500-acre land they…
Digging in the Past: A New Look at the Customary Land Conflict in Liberia
In 2018, the Land Rights Law of Liberia was passed into law. This was a good hundred years after the government formally declared “perfect, complete and absolute” possession of all lands within the borders of the State, This new law finally gives back to tribal people, the lands of their ancestors. It offers them the protection of…
Grand Bassa Officials Sign Bogus Logging Agreement with ‘Serbian’ Company
Editor’s Note: This story is the first of a two-part series on an illegal logging agreement between Vambo and Marloi townships in Grand Bassa County, and African Trades Entrepreneur Enterprises Incorporated. VAMBO – Officials of Grand Bassa County have signed an illegal deal with a company to pave a dusty road through two townships in…
Liberians Overdosing At Home Over Fear of Coronavirus
PAYNESVILLE – Beginning June 9, Mary Jones, a 42-year-old mother of four, took sick for a week. She had sore throat, headache and running stomach, the same symptoms associated with the novel coronavirus. Jones bought drugs from two pharmacies and took them. She thought she would contract coronavirus or be tested for the disease if…
Health Authorities Calm Over Limited Ventilators
MONROVIA – Liberia has only six ventilators, one of the country’s many challenges in combating the novel coronavirus pandemic but health authorities say they are not worried about that. Why? They have not had to use the available, meager equipment. “The absence of ventilators is not having any impact on us because none of our patients…
Liberians Are Combating Coronavirus and Storm At The Same Time
BARNESVILLE – David Wesseh, a resident of Kebbah, appears confused after his two houses were unroofed by a heavy storm. Wesseh, his wife and his seven children are being accommodated by friends not far from where his roofless houses stand, but he is worried that he and his family could catch coronavirus. There have been no…
GVL Lays Off Nearly 450 Workers
BUTAW, SINOE COUNTY – Four hundred and forty-three workers have been laid off at Golden Veroleum Liberia, more than 10 percent of its workforce, the company said on Saturday. “[They are] due to the downturn of the global economy due to the coronavirus and the constant drop in the price of oil palm on the world…
More Cases of Multiple Sales of Land Despite Law
PIPELINE – In 2009,Jimmy Dasaw’s plan to expand Kiddies College was underway when he purchased three acres of land for US$2,600 in Pipeline, Paynesville from Johnny Hill, the administrator of Tarsue Gbazue Estate in Johnsonville. That dream for his elementary school eventually turned into nightmare. Five years after purchasing the land, in 2014, Dasaw found himself…
Communities Use New App to Track Illegal Logging
SALAYEA, Lofa County – Rural towns and villages are now using ForestLink, a new app, to track illicit forest operations and deforestation across Liberia, including illegal logging and mining, and poaching in their communities. The tool also makes it possible for them to store and share information on mobile phones in a short period of time from…
Despite LURD Atrocities Survivors are Split Over Call for Justice
GBARMA, Gbarpolu County – When news broke that Jankuba Fofana had been arrested by British police as part of an investigation into war crimes one might have expected celebration here in Gbarma. Fofana is the first member of the rebel group Liberians United for Reconciliation and Democracy (LURD) to face justice for war crimes in Liberia’s…
Arrest of Ex-LURD General In UK Brings Faction’s War Crimes Out From The Shadows; In A War Filled With Shocking Brutality…
GBARMA, Gbarpolu County – Miatta Gray wept as she recalled the day, nearly 20 years ago, that rebels with the absurdly named “Liberians United for Reconciliation and Democracy” (LURD) upended her life. Mrs. Gray said the rebels arrived here with a friendly request that everyone assemble in the town square for a meeting. Then the killing…
Mandigoes Feel Targeted in War Crimes Trials, Bility Calls Claim “Ridiculous”
BARKEDU, Lofa County – The convictions of Alieu Kosiah and Mohammed Jabateh for war crimes committed in Liberia sparked celebrations across Liberia. 18 years since the war ended survivors saw them as long overdue justice for the horrors of the civil war. But Liberia’s Mandingo population has not felt the same way. “There are other people…
The Referendum Could Have Given Weah Possible Three Terms – Here’s What History Teaches Us
Until December, 2022, the possibility of a third term for Mr. Weah still looms, provided the entire process—from an act to a referendum—is completed by then. Yet, we should all be wary of any new extension referendum. History tells us this is not a good idea. This seed should not be allowed to germinate. According…
Senate Race Renews Taylor’s Relations with Bong County
SAMAY, Bong County – On October 27, 1994 fighters of the National Patriotic Front of Liberia (NPFL), led by Charles Taylor, stormed into Samay, a town on Kokoya Road towards Bong County’s border with River Cess, accusing the people of the town of supporting the rival Liberia Peace Council (LPC). The NPFL rebels killed 27 people…