“How Will The Future Generation Manage?” RIVERCESS, Liberia–A dispute is brewing here in the Gbarsaw Clan in this southeast county over a large portion of land being cultivated by the Managing Director of the National Port Authority (NPA), Bill Tweahway. Mr. Tweahway, who also hails from this town, has hired dozens of people from the…
Editor’s Note: This story is the first of a two-part series on growing tension between Equatorial Palm Oil and villagers in Grand Bassa County over land rights. JOGBAHN CLAN, Grand Bassa – October 6, 2016 was a happy day for Morris Beah and other townspeople of Gmenee, Wesseh Village, Paye Town, Morb Town and Kampala, which…
MONROVIA – Weatta Gbelly has seen hardship in her 35 years but nothing prepared her for the Covid-19 pandemic. Ms. Gbelly has never had the virus, neither does she know anyone who has, but she has suffered just the same. Ms. Gbelly is a mother of six. She and her husband used to farm to support…
BUTAW, Sinoe County – Timothy Browne bought into the promises made by Singapore-owned palm oil company Golden Veroleum Liberia (GVL) when they came to this rural area of Sinoe County with offers of jobs and development for the people here in exchange for 2,600 hectares of land. Browne even hosted one of the major meetings…
New Narratives Fellow Anthony Stephens of Power TV/FM with the piece that prompted an uproar in the Liberian Senate. Legislators say Speaker Chambers is blocking legislation to establish a war and economic crimes court in Liberia. Watch the story here….
In this Radio Gbanga panel New Narratives fellow Moses Bailey asks what has happened to nearly $2m Bong County has received in County and Social Development Funds since 2018, including $500,000 from Arcelor Mittal? Moses talks with Mr. Stephen Mulbah Jr., Chairman of the Project Management Committee for Bong and Representative Marvin Cole of electoral…
Forgbe Kloh of Lux FM and New Narratives reports on Gebril Massaquoi’s war crimes trial in Monrovia. In this report, she also interviews Lennart Dodoo of Frontpage Africa and New Narratives about today’s court proceedings….
Anthony Stephens of Power FM/TV reports on Alieu Kosiah’s war crimes trial in Bellinzona, Switzerland, where Kosiah is demanding over $ 1.3 million in compensation. In this report, he also speaks to the lead lawyer for the plaintiffs, Alain Werner, who Kosiah’s lawyer accused of “advertising his client’s statements for his personal benefit”. James Harding…
Finally this month a trial over war crimes will start on Liberian soil. It’s been 18 years since the end of the Liberian civil war and nine years since the Truth and Reconciliation Commission recommended the country hold a war crimes court to bring those accused of directing the atrocities that left 250,000 dead to…
The pages of newspapers in low-income countries often look more like promotional material for development groups than reportage of the major issues impacting society. A group of experts met, a hospital is planned, new wells are installed. Press release copy-and-paste, no context, no second source, no new perspective. And no insight for citizens hoping to…
FOYA DISTRICT, Lofa County, Liberia – The ruins of a factory sit on a major route in a town called Menigesua, towards the Sierra Leone border. Tall grass and weeds have engulfed what used to be staffers’ domiciles of this facility. Two huge, rusted metal tanks—that stored palm nuts before they were processed into palm…
When the United Liberation Movement of Liberia (ULIMO) sieged Lofa County in Northern Liberia in bloody fashion in June 1993, they allegedly committed all kinds of atrocities, including widespread looting. Under the command of Alieu Kosiah, ULIMO made Foya District their stronghold — and then proceeded to tear it apart. Looting is one of the…
As Liberian rebel commander Alieu Kosiah faces a war crimes trial in Switzerland, Evelyn Kpadeh Seagbeh visits his civil war stronghold of Foya. She speaks to survivors about the extent of Kosiah’s alleged looting and love of money, that got him the war name “Physical Cash.” This piece originally aired on Truth FM’s magazine show,…
Evelyn Kpadeh Seagbeh visits accused “war criminal” Alieu Kosiah’s stronghold of Foya and speaks with survivors of his alleged violence, for whom justice is long overdue. Kosiah goes on trial in Switzerland for war crimes in Liberia. This piece originally aired on Truth FM’s magazine show, State of the Nation, as part of the West…
Liberia’s frontline soldiers fighting coronavirus are complaining of working under poor conditions. Health care workers tell Anthony Stephens they have not been paid for months and are not receiving hazard compensation. After this piece aired on PowerTV, Liberia’s government announced it would give hazard pay to those risking their lives. But healthcare workers say they…
Power TV’s Anthony Stephens and cameraman Harry Browne bring this in-depth report on how Liberia’s security forces are brutalizing civilians to enforce the coronavirus lockdown and victims are demanding justice. Security Brutality Amid Liberia’s Coronavirus Lockdown from New Narratives on Vimeo….
KINJOR, GRAND CAPE COUNTY – Musu Konneh recalls she became speechless for several minutes when she heard that Bea Mountain Mining Corporation intends to start underground mining for gold by 2022 in a stakeholder consultation conducted by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Konneh’s clan was one of 322 families who relocated from their ancestral villages…
Monrovia – Liberia risks being delisted from the Extractives Industries Transparency Initiative, the global body which monitors transparency in oil and mining industries, in a move that will likely deal another blow to the shaky economy. Liberia will be delisted if it doesn’t meet a deadline set for December 31 to file overdue reports according to…
FORNOR/MANO RIVER KONGO GRAND CAPE MOUNT COUNTY – Illicit miners have invaded the Gola Forest National Park, extracting gold and diamonds from one of Liberia’s five protected areas and smuggling them across the border to Sierra Leone, local authorities say. Gola Forest National Park cuts across Sierra Leone and Liberia. Residents of Porkpa District, Grand…
WESSEH TOWN, River Cess – Fifty-two-year-old Churchemah Wesseh says her grandson died from malaria last year because she could not afford to pay the hospital bills in time. A fisherwoman for more than 30 years, the single mother of six hardly makes ends meet these days. Her catch has declined, and the little money she…
MamadeeKelledue, Lofa County – Fatuma Kamara, turned to gardening, planting plantains, cassavas and bananas after her husband died more than three decades ago. Her garden prospered. Proceeds from the garden did not only feed her family but left her with enough money to save and pay her children’s tuition. It seemed her dream of becoming one…
