Charles Taylor’s Verdict Proves What Goes Up Must Come Down

 by New Narratives Fellow Robtel Neajai Pailey I was in The Hague on April 26 when they convicted Charles Taylor. Appearing like a child being publicly scolded, he stood on seemingly wobbly legs, head bowed, when they pronounced him guilty on 11 counts of crimes against humanity for aiding and abetting rebels during Sierra Leone’s…

Denying Liberia’s Babies: Teen Fathers Speak

By Mae Azango “Some of these young boys are from broken homes. Sometimes it is peer pressure that causes many of the teen fathers to deny pregnancies.”  But there are also other factors. – Ali Sylla, Founder and Executive Director of the Center for Counseling and Restorative Dialogue in Monrovia. Nathan became a young dad…

Moving from Open Door to ‘Growth with Development’

During President William Tubman’s Open Door Policy, Liberia was averaging double-digit growth rates. Being open for business, however, did not mean growth was open to all. In the 1960s, it was claimed that we had ‘growth without development’—economic activities from large-scale foreign concessions in iron ore, rubber, palm oil, and timber did not improve the…

From Petty Traders to Entrepreneurs in War-Battered Economy

Clothing designer Geneva Garr supervises several men crouched over sewing machines surrounded by beautifully tailored dresses hanging for customers to see. Starting up with just one sewing machine on her porch, Garr, 37, now makes 72 outfits a week. Garr says she started the business in 2005 in Accra, Ghana and moved to Liberia in…

Seek Ye First the Economic Kingdom, Woman

First appeared in Liberia’s FrontPage Africa newspaper March 1 Africa’s first post-independence president, Kwame Nkrumah of Ghana, urged colonial Africa to “seek ye first the political kingdom, and all else shall be added onto you.” Nkrumah was alluding to the biblical verse, “Seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness; and all these…

High Number of Teenage Pregnancies Holds Liberia Back Say Experts

Baby Blessed wriggles and wails in discomfort in his young mother’s lap.  Winnie pulls out her breast to feed her sick child and quiet his cries.  She looks out at the swampy backyard behind her home as if she would rather be any place other than here. By Mae Azango. Originally published in FrontPage Africa…

NN in the New York Times

Photo by NN photography coach Glenna Gordon MONROVIA, Liberia — Election officials announced on Thursday that Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, Africa’s only female president, had been re-elected by an overwhelming margin this week in a runoff vote that was marred by an opposition boycott. President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, speaking to reporters on Thursday, said she would pursue…

Despite rain, Liberians turn out in huge numbers to vote

In West Point, a shantytown community on the edge of the Atlantic, dozens of people endured long lines and the pouring rain to vote in this country’s second presidential elections since the end of 14 years of civil war. Frances Roberts, 53, arrived at the polling station at 4 a.m., four hours before voting commenced….

A Picture Is NOT Worth a Thousand Liberian Lives

I squirmed when I saw the photo online of a female protester in her crisp white T-shirt, with ruby red liquid dripping down her neck and face. There were other photos in a series. One man lay on the naked carpet of a room, surrounded by the living, his thin vertical body lifeless. Another man…

Obstacles cleared for Liberia’s runoff poll

Liberia is looking anxiously toward the country’s Nov. 8 runoff election between President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf and challenger Winston Tubman. Tubman had threatened to boycott the poll, charging that the director of the National Election Commission had rigged the first-round results in favor of Johnson Sirleaf. A boycott would have created the possibility of instability in…

Workers Protest Broken Promises by Foreign Palm Oil Company

More than two years ago the government of Liberia signed an agreement with Malaysian oil palm giant Sime Darby. As part of the $800 million dollar deal, Sime Darby pledged to build workers housing and hospitals and send their children to school. In a collaboration between New Narratives and Sky FM, Tetee Gebro visited the…

The Morning After Is Only the Beginning

I knew I had to be home on October 11. Although it would mean blowing my modest student budget for a few months, I bought the cheapest ticket I could find from London to Monrovia. And despite well-intentioned warnings from those whom I love most, I came back to cast a ballot for the first…

Is Liberia Losing the Battle on Water and Sanitation?

A Diary from World Water Week, Stockholm, Sweden “We run the risk of losing the battle on water and sanitation in many cities around the world, and that is a fight we cannot afford to lose.” These are the words of Anders Berntell, Executive Director of the Stockholm International Water Institute (SIWI), one of the…