When he took office in 2018 President George Weah promised his government would lift one million Liberians out of poverty by the end of his six year term. Half Liberia’s five million people live below in the poverty line. In January the Weah government declared a victory that surprised many people: it claimed to have…
Success Stories
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….
Communities Drowning in Trash Furious Over Failed US$3M Waste Management Project – Part Two
In part two of this two-part investigation Anthony Stephens and Tina S. Menhpaine report with New Narratives on the obstacles that doomed a $3m EU-funded waste management project….
Breaking the Chains – After Being Trafficked to Oman a Group of Liberian Women Decided to Take Matters into Their Own Hands
Esther thought she was boarding a flight that would take her to a lucrative job in Dubai. Instead, she landed in Muscat, Oman, where she was beaten and sold into modern-day slavery. This is the incredible story of how Esther, and hundreds of other Liberian women, worked together to free themselves from human trafficking syndicates. …
The EU’s Failed US$3M Bid to Fix Monrovia’s Trash Crisis – part one
In this two-part investigation, Anthony Stephens and Tina S. Menhpaine report with New Narratives on a US$3 million European Union project that was meant to solve Monrovia’s trash crisis….
“Hacks and Hackers: Liberia” – Digital Transformation Workshop for Media and Technologists
Liberia’s media institutions received a major boost when the Swedish Embassy in Monrovia funded a digital revenue workshop with regional pioneers Premium Times aimed at helping media learn to raise independent revenue from online sources and donors. The “Hack and Hackers” Digital Transformation for Newsroom training provided Liberian media and technologists the opportunity to learn and conceive new and innovative products to generate revenue. …
Activists Say Govt’s Failure to Release Auditors’ Deaths Report Creating Trust Crisis
Monrovia – It is two years since Sylvester Saye Lama lost his wife Gifty, the breadwinner of his family, under unusual circumstances. Gifty was one of four government auditors, tasked with uncovering government corruption, that were found dead in the space of weeks. Their deaths shocked the country, scared anti-corruption activists into silence, and raised…
How the Government Silenced Accountability in Runup to Election
Three months after the government raced an act through the Legislature overhauling the Liberia Anti-Corruption Commission, Liberia’s independent corruption watchdog has almost ceased functioning, all but ending scrutiny of government corruption in the runup to next year’s election. A source inside the Commission, who requested anonymity for fear of losing their job, said prosecutions have…
One Year Since President Weah Declared Rape a National Emergency Activists Say Nothing Has Changed
President Weah promised to set up a special committee to look into sexual and gender-based crimes. He promised a special prosecutor to handle rape cases, a national sex offender registry, and a national security task force to handle sexual and gender-based violence. The president said he had allocated $US2m in emergency funding to the problem.
But a year on, nothing has been heard of the committee or government plans to address the problem. Activists are bitterly disappointed….
LGBTQ+ Liberian Fired From High Profile US Job
One of the most high-profile Liberians in the United States has lost his job after being caught up in the sexual harassment scandal that took down New York Governor Andrew Cuomo. Alphonso David, 50, was the head of the Human Rights Campaign, the most powerful group lobbying for the rights of LGBTQ Americans, until last…
Lawmaker Salaries Among The Highest In The World Despite Smallest Economy
It will come as no surprise to most Liberians that they are getting poorer. The average Liberian now lives on just $570 a year, down from $650 in 2013 according to the World Bank. That makes Liberia among the ten poorest nations in the world. It may surprise Liberians then, that their lawmakers are among…
Will Liberia Finally Ban Female Genital Cutting?
Listen here: Liberia is one of just three West African nations where female genital cutting is legal. New Narratives’ Evelyn Kpadeh Seagbeh finds strong resistance to the bill from traditional leaders and little political will to challenge them. At the same time membership of traditional societies is plummeting.This story was a collaboration with Ok FM…
As Membership Plummets Traditional Leaders Resort to Kidnapping, Forced Genital Cutting, and Extortion
In part two of this two-part series with New Narratives, Evelyn Kpadeh Seagbeh finds Liberians are abandoning the Sande traditional society leading some leaders to resort to kidnapping and forced cutting. MOUNT BARCLAY, Montserrado – Deborah Parker was 15 when she was sent to a “Bush school” run by the Sande traditional society in her home…
A New Bill to Ban Female Genital Cutting Looks Set for Defeat Even as Liberians Abandon the Practice
Liberia is one of just three West African nations where female genital cutting is legal. In this two-part series with New Narratives Evelyn Kpadeh Seagbeh finds strong resistance to the bill from traditional leaders and little political will to challenge them. At the same time Sande’s membership is plummeting. MOUNT BARCLAY, Montserrado – 18-year-old Dearest is one…
FGM Bush Schools Still Operational Despite Three-Year Moratorium
GARPUE TOWN, Grand Bassa County – Schools are now open in Liberia, but 14-year-old Tutugirl has not joined her classmates. Tutugirl says it has been impossible since she returned injured and traumatized from the “bush school” where she and her friends were forcefully taken after they were kidnapped from this town in September. While she…
Liberia gets Tough on Human Trafficking with Amended Law
In part three of this three-part series Anthony Stephens looks at the Liberian government’s efforts to get tough on human trafficking. In September 2021 the Liberian government sent a signal it was getting tough on human trafficking. The Legislature passed a revision to a 2005 law increasing the prison sentence for anyone found guilty of…
NSA Agent, Brother on Trial For Human Trafficking
MONROVIA – A disgraced agent of the National Security Agency has gone on trial with his brother for allegedly taking payments from international trafficking agents to mislead young Liberian women into traveling to the Middle Eastern country of Oman where they were to work as domestic servants. The indictment alleges Arthur Chan-Chan, and his brother…
Traditional Leaders Say They Will Not Stop Female Genital Cutting Without More Money
Massa Kandakai, the head of over three hundred FGM practitioners in Montserrado County, says she along with her women have fulfilled their part of the bargain with UN Women by closing all bush schools in Sonkay Town and Todee in Montserrado. Kandakai says UN Women should uphold the agreement by continually supporting them – with monthly salaries, access to cell phone networks, fishponds and processors for making Farina or flour from cassava and potatoes. The women say they will revert to the practice if their requests are not met….
Using Technology to Stamp Out Corruption
By: R. Joyclyn Wea with New Narratives MONROVIA-Corruption has plagued Liberia since its founding and threatens to engulf the Weah administration still reeling from the US Treasury’s dramatic move to place three top ministers on the Magnitsky Sanctions List. It is well proven that corruption constrains economic growth entrenching the majority of Liberians in extreme…
Liberian Public Prosecutors Call off Three-Week Strike
Monrovia – Liberian state prosecutors have called off a three-week strike which paralyzed courts across the country. The prosecutors, who represent the government in legal cases, were demanding the government increase their monthly salaries and provide benefits, including vehicles. But after a lengthy meeting among themselves, the prosecutors have conditionally agreed to return to work. By…
In a Whatsapp Group Trafficked Women in Oman Plead for Help, Suspect Flees
In part two of this three-part investigation Front Page Africa and New Narratives look at efforts to repatriate women trafficked to Oman and efforts to bring traffickers to justice. Monrovia – After a harrowing six months in Oman Sarah and Kolu, victims of human trafficking, returned home in early March. Their families were vexed with…