TAPPITA DISTRICT, Nimba County – This disarmingly peaceful forest area in Liberia’s far north Tappita District has been the scene of conflict of one form or another for decades. But since 2014 it had enjoyed some peace as two clans here, supported by a US-backed project known by the acronym PROSPER, agreed on a boundary line…
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…
GBONYEA, Bong County – Emmanuel Tokpah always wanted a home of his own. The 27-year-old bike rider had saved enough money to begin construction on a house in this village. But his dreams were shattered in July 2016 when a group of men from neighboring Gbonata came and ordered him to stop work. The men claimed…
BUSHROD ISLAND – Liberians are facing the latest and most dangerous wave since the Covid-19 pandemic started 15 months ago. This latest wave, caused by the highly infectious Delta variant which entered the country a month ago, has taken dozens of lives including journalists and high-profile personalities. As of July 11, 2021, the National Public Health…
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…
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,…
“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…
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…
New Narratives, a non-governmental organisation that has been driving improvements in Liberia’s media sector for 11 years will run a 15-month project that supports Liberian journalists and news organisations to cover issues related to land, water and natural resources rights including those related to climate change. Support for the project will come from the Foreign,…
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…
In December 2019, conflict broke out between an iron ore miner, Solway Mining Company and Gbazor villages when the company entered the Blei Forest after acquiring a mining licence from the Liberian government. The conflict was caused by a disagreement between government that badly needs revenue from the mining company and the Gbazor community who…
After five years of apprenticeship under his father and 12-years working dry riverbeds as an artisanal miner, Alieu Musa knows a thing or two about digging, swishing gravel and finding diamonds. His roughened hands parade his 37-years as they grip the handlebars of the small “okada” (a local motorbike) as he wheels over the pitted…
SAND BEACH, River Cess – As a commander of the Small Boy Unit —a brigade of child-soldiers of the National Patriotic Front of Liberia — Emmanuel Gaye guarded civilians his adult commanders captured on a goldmine in River Cess. He monitored their movement and activities. Nearly 18 years after the war, the 36-year-old has returned…
Poor economies of Liberia and Sierra Leonean since the end of civil wars have made it almost impossible for hundreds of thousands of ex-combatants to make a living, despite the large rehabilitation and reintegration programs run by the UN at the end of the conflicts. Many, whose fighting days left them ostracized from communities, and…
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…
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…
