In part two of this two-part series with New Narratives Eric Opa Doue finds widespread opposition from teachers and civil society to government’s privatization of schools and a plea to government to abandon the scheme and let counties take charge….
Eric Opa Doue
Liberia: Students Dropping Out of School in Rivercess Due to Lack of Teachers
Jacob Beegar, 15, faces a grim future in Kporkon, Liberia, as the prolonged closure of his school since 2020 forces him to forsake education for farm labor, dimming his hopes of escaping poverty….
Sinoe Forest Community Fumes Over Numerous Illegalities by Forestry Development Agency As Lawmaker’s Company Wins Concession
Community members here in Tartweh and Drapoe chiefdoms are fuming over a range of what they claim are violations of Liberian laws by the country’s forest management body the Forestry Development Agency….
Port Authority Head in Dispute with River Cess Community over Customary Land
CEE TOWN, River Cess – For months, residents in this area of Gbarsaw Clan have watched with increasing alarm as hundreds of men with heavy machinery have cut down trees and hauled them away. In March, residents told The Bush Chicken that the land – more than 600 acres according to the local Community Land Development Management…
River Cess the Latest Flashpoint in Clashing Laws over Land
VONDEH TOWN, River Cess – The people of this area celebrated in 2019 when a forestry company began operations here. The five-year Social Agreement signed with the company, African Wood and Lumber, an Italian-owned company, was supposed to deliver the community US$5,000 each year in scholarship funds, US$15,000 in land rental fees, two feeder roads,…
National Rivercess Community Claims Port Authority Manager Has Illegally Farmed Customary Land
Some Citizens of Gbarsaw Clan in Central River Cess District are raising concerns about the clearing of more than 600 acres of land that they say is the community’s customary land. The person responsible for the clearing has been a mystery until now. And because none of the required community consultations have happened anger is…
Logging Company EJ&J Shipped US$3 million in Lumber Despite Telling Community Exports were Halted; FDA Fails to Act
ZAMMIE TOWN, River Cess County – Water dictates the lives of people in this part of central River Cess. With just three hand pumps to supply a town of 7,000, women and children here wake as early as 3 am to fetch water from distant creeks. But the creek water carries dangers they say: contaminants from…
Buchanan Seaside Communities Beg for Rock Wall to Protect Them from the Sea
Coastal erosion caused by climate-induced rises in sea levels and intense tropical storms have already destroyed the homes of hundreds of Liberian families and put critical fisheries at risk. Nine of the country’s fifteen counties sit along the sea coast putting 60 per cent of the population at threat and causing tens of millions of…
Buchanan Seaside Communities Beg for Rock Wall
By Eric Opa Doue with New Narratives BUCHANAN, Grand Bassa – Forty years ago Atlantic Street was one of this port city’s busiest streets, humming with stores and chop shops. Today it is almost deserted. The encroaching shoreline has swallowed up structures and is threatening to take out the street itself. Bobby Gibson’s father used to run…
Bridge International Promised to Solve Liberia’s Education Crisis. Six Years On Schools Are Still Failing
In 2016 US-based Bridge International Came To Save Liberia’s Schools. In the first of a two-part investigation with New Narratives Eric Opa Doue finds Bridge schools doing little better than state schools. YARPAH TOWN, River Cess County – Babygirl Smith helps her mother to sell snacks at the town market every Monday. The 17-year-old should…
Teacher Shortages Force Schools to Close as Rural Education Crisis Continues
This two-part series by Eric Opa Doue with New Narratives examines the county’s school system. MONWEH, River Cess- Jacob Beegar sits on a rattan chair under a palaver hut while his friends run around. Jacob doesn’t join them. The 15-year-old doesn’t want to play. He would rather be in school. Jacob should be in the…
NPFL General on TRC “Most Notorious” List Dies; Angry Victims Say He Escaped Justice
***CORRECTION: An earlier version of this story carried an image of a family member of Melvin Sogbandi. FrontPage Africa and New Narratives regret the error *** By Eric Opa Doue, Senior New Narratives Justice Reporter JUAH TOWN, Grand Bassa – James Diggs broke down in tears when he heard the news of the death of Melvin Sogbandi….
Buchanan Seaside Communities Beg for Rock Wall
BUCHANAN, Grand Bassa – Forty years ago Atlantic Street was one of this port city’s busiest streets, humming with stores and chop shops. Today it is almost deserted. The encroaching shoreline has swallowed up structures and is threatening to take out the street itself. Bobby Gibson’s father used to run a popular store known as Gibson…
Buchanan Seaside Communities Beg For Rock Wall To Protect Them for the sea
Coastal erosion caused by climate-induced rises in sea levels and intense tropical storms have already destroyed the homes of hundreds of Liberian families and put critical fisheries at risk. Nine of the country’s fifteen counties sit along the sea coast putting 60 per cent of the population at threat and causing tens of millions of…
Victims Angry as Another Accused Liberian Warlord – Melvin Sogbandi – Dies Without Facing Justice
Death has taken another of the 100 alleged perpetrators that Liberia’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission recommended face trial for their crimes during the Civil war.Melvin Sogbandi died in a Monrovia hospital in January at age 53. Sogbandi led “Strike Force Marine,” one of the deadliest divisions of Charles Taylor’s National Patriotic Front of Liberia ….
Poor enforcement of Forestry Laws Paralyzes Forestry Industry
Across Liberia forestry operations are at a standstill as logging companies and small scale loggers square off over their right to operate.At the heart of the problem is poor implementation of regulations governing the industry. The logging companies are licensed by the national authorities, but local authorities are issuing permits to small scale loggers.Eric Opa…
Forestry Industry Paralysed by Poor Regulation
NEEZWEIN, River Cess — A power struggle is playing out here deep in the forest and the stakes for the local people are high. Logging companies with concession agreements that include thousands of dollars of benefits for local communities say their work is being hamstrung by informal loggers who disrupt their operations. Informal loggers say they…
Poor enforcement of Forestry Laws Paralyzes Forestry Industry
Across Liberia forestry operations are at a standstill as logging companies and small scale loggers square off over their right to operate. At the heart of the problem is poor implementation of regulations governing the industry. The logging companies are licensed by the national authorities, but local authorities are issuing permits to small scale loggers….
Forestry Industry Paralysed by Poor Regulation
NEEZWEIN, River Cess — A power struggle is playing out here deep in the forest and the stakes for the local people are high. Logging companies with concession agreements that include thousands of dollars of benefits for local communities say their work is being hamstrung by informal loggers who disrupt their operations. Informal loggers say they…
Port Authority Head in Dispute with River Cess Community over Customary Land
CEE TOWN, River Cess – For months, residents in this area of Gbarsaw Clan have watched with increasing alarm as hundreds of men with heavy machinery have cut down trees and hauled them away. In March, residents told The Bush Chicken that the land – more than 600 acres according to the local Community Land Development Management…
River Cess the Latest Flashpoint in Clashing Laws over Land
VONDEH TOWN, River Cess – The people of this area celebrated in 2019 when a forestry company began operations here. The five-year Social Agreement signed with the company, African Wood and Lumber, an Italian-owned company, was supposed to deliver the community US$5,000 each year in scholarship funds, US$15,000 in land rental fees, two feeder roads,…