As Liberia intensifies efforts to establish war and economic crimes and anti-corruption courts, the country’s Witness Protection Agency is working to build public trust while confronting significant challenges, including limited funding, a shortage of trained protection officers, lack of safe houses, and lingering public fears about retaliation. Agency Director Teklo Maxwell Grigsby II stressed that…
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Global Study Shows Most African Workers ‘Struggling’; the Cost is Paid by Teachers, Healthcare Workers Who Hold the Economy Together
A global workplace study found that many workers across Sub-Saharan Africa are struggling economically, a reality reflected in Liberia’s schools and health facilities. Teachers and healthcare workers described challenges including low salaries, payroll delays, heavy workloads, and difficult working conditions. Experts warn that these problems can weaken education, healthcare delivery, and the country’s long-term economic…
Expert Warns of Security Risks if Legislature Fails to Approve War Crimes Court Before U.N. Security Council Presidency
As Liberia moves closer to taking on a leadership role at the United Nations Security Council, experts are warning that delays in establishing a War and Economic Crimes Court could pose risks to the country’s stability and international credibility. Advocates argue that addressing unresolved civil war-era abuses is essential for justice, accountability, and lasting peace,…
Journalist Anthony Stephens Shortlisted for African Investigative Journalist of the Year Award
New Narratives journalist recognized among five finalists continent-wide for exposing corruption in Liberia’s largest human trafficking case; winner to be announced November 11 in Nairobi. Monrovia – Anthony Stephens, an award-winning journalist and lawyer with New Narratives, has become the first Liberian shortlisted for the prestigious African Investigative Journalist of the Year Award. Stephens is…
Saudi Rice Trial Goes to Court, But Victims Say They Still Want the Help They Were Promised
By Joyclyn Wea, gender correspondent with New Narratives Summary INTERNATIONAL TIMBER INDUSTRY VILLAGE, River Cess County — When Eric Kollor learned that former government officials were finally on trial over thousands of bags of Saudi-donated rice meant for vulnerable and disaster-affected Liberians, he was surprised. The case had been moving through the courts in Monrovia,…
Adentan-Dodowa Road: Delayed Construction Projects Causing Severe Air Pollution
This video highlights the severe air pollution caused by delayed construction projects along the Adentan-Dodowa Road. It explains how the stalled works have left large stretches of exposed soil and dust, which are constantly stirred up by heavy traffic, creating hazardous air conditions for residents and commuters. The report emphasizes the health risks associated with…
23 Years Into Peace, Victims Celebrate Progress but Say Justice Remains Unfinished
By Anthony Stephens, senior justice correspondent with New Narratives Summary: SOUL CLINIC, Montserrado County — Twenty-three years after Liberia’s warring factions signed an agreement ending more than a decade of civil wars, survivors and peace advocates gathered at the site of a wartime massacre to celebrate the country’s sustained peace — and warn that reconciliation remains incomplete without…
Seven In 10 Women Take Antibiotics Monthly, Experts Raise Alarm To Catastrophic Public Health Outcomes
Similar findings in an investigation in Liberia suggests the practice may be happening across the West Africa By Jennifer Ambolley in collaboration with New Narratives Summary: ● More than seven in 10 women surveyed by The Chronicle in Greater Accra said they take antibiotics every month, in the mistaken belief the drugs “clean” their bodies after menstruation…
A Woman Is Dead. The Man Who Operated on Her Pretended to Be a Surgeon: The Case That Shows Authorities Are Doing Nothing to Protect Liberians From Fake Doctors
A woman named Saybah Kollie died after undergoing surgery at Stockton Creek Health Center in Caldwell, where a man posing as a doctor operated on her without any medical qualifications. Despite being asked to provide a license in 2022, the Liberia Medical and Dental Council failed to stop him from practicing, exposing Liberians to grave…
“Smoke in Their Lungs Ghana’s Firefighters Fight a Silent Battle”
Did you know that every time a firefighter in northern Ghana runs into a burning home or a field engulfed in flames, he may be giving up a piece of his lungs to keep someone else alive? Picture a man standing in a cloud of smoke so thick it clings to his skin and sinks…
Court Hands Down Longest-Ever 50-Year Prison Terms in Liberia’s Largest Human Trafficking Case, Awards US$120,000 in Restitution to Victims
“The defendants deceived their victims, recruited them, harbored them, exploited them, sexually abused them and took money from them as registration fees,” Judge Roosevelt Z. Willie said during his more than two-hour reading of a 36-page judgment. “These are all critical elements of trafficking in persons. And it is the considered judgment of this court…
Court Hands Down Longest-Ever 50-Year Prison Terms in Liberia’s Largest Human Trafficking Case, Awards US$120,000 in Restitution to Victims
By Anthony Stephens, senior justice correspondent with New Narratives Summary: A Liberian court awarded US$120,000 in restitution to victims and imposed the country’s longest-ever human trafficking sentences, sentencing eight defendants to 50 years and three others to 20 in Liberia’s largest trafficking case. The court ordered banks and telecommunications companies to identify and freeze assets belonging…
As Sexual and Reproductive Rights Coalition Marks Five Years, Senate Delay Keeps Abortion Provision of Public Health Bill in Limbo
By Joyclyn Wea, gender correspondent with New Narratives Summary: Five years ago, organizations working on sexual and reproductive health across Liberia reached the same conclusion: acting alone was not enough. With funding from the Swedish government, they formed the Amplifying Rights Network, a coalition that has since trained community leaders, mobilized thousands of citizens, and…
When Domestic Violence Destroys a Family, Innocent Children Pay The Price
When domestic violence ends in death, and a suspect is taken into custody, the case often movesto court and out of public view. But the children are left behind—without care or support. In this collaboration with New Narratives, gender correspondent Joyclyn Wea reports from rural Montserrado County. This story was produced in collaboration with New Narratives as…
Liberia Goes Solar: Power Is Reaching More Liberians as a Record Number of Panels Enter the Country, but Experts Warn Access Challenges Remain
Liberia is experiencing a surge in solar energy adoption, with a record number of panels entering the country. This expansion is helping more households and businesses gain access to electricity, particularly in rural areas where the national grid is limited. However, experts caution that challenges remain, including affordability, maintenance, and ensuring equitable distribution of solar…
Liberia’s Largest Trafficking Trial Ends in Convictions for All Defendants
A 12-member jury in Monrovia has unanimously convicted eight defendants in Liberia’s largest human trafficking trial, finding them guilty of trafficking 57 victims after just 23 minutes of deliberation. The case, which involved harrowing testimony of beatings, torture, rape, and financial exploitation, was seen as a landmark test of Liberia’s justice system amid allegations of…
Liberia Goes Solar: Power Is Reaching More Liberians as a Record Number of Panels Enter the Country, but Experts Warn Access Challenges Remain
By Nemenlah Cyrus Harmon, climate and environment reporter with New Narratives Summary Every morning before sunrise, Karrus Hayes loads a pickup truck in Paynesville and points it toward the interior. The road to Bapolu County is long. The road to Sinoe is longer. But he goes to those rural counties anyway because people there are waiting…
Breaking News: Liberia’s Largest Trafficking Trial Ends in Convictions for All Defendants
Outcome seen as measure of justice system under international scrutiny for bribery allegations By Anthony Stephens, senior justice correspondent with New Narratives Liberia’s Largest Trafficking Trial Ends in Convictions for All Defendants A jury convicted all eight defendants on all charges Monday in Liberia’s largest human trafficking trial, delivering a unanimous verdict after roughly 20…
As Vaccine Aid Is Cut, a Remote Measles Outbreak Shows What’s at Risk
A measles outbreak struck Kiangia Town in January, moving silently from home to home before families realized what was happening. With clinics closed or lacking medicine, parents and grandparents relied on traditional remedies like leaves, honey, and alcohol, which experts say offered no protection. One child, Samuel, just four years old, died, while others suffered…
Jurors, Defendants and Alleged Victims Visit Site at Center of Largest Human Trafficking Trial as Case Enters Crucial Phase
Jurors in Liberia’s largest human trafficking trial visited the compound in Margibi County where 57 alleged victims say they were held, abused, and forced to recruit relatives and friends into the trafficking network. Prosecutors argue the site was the base of an organization that lured people with false promises of jobs abroad before subjecting them…
Senior Police Investigator Denies Taking Defendants’ Property as Largest Trafficking Trial Reaches Closing Stages
By Anthony Stephens, senior justice correspondent with New Narratives Summary: · The judge rejected a defense request to disregard a jury inspection report on the alleged crime scene. · Prosecutors opened their rebuttal case with seven witnesses, including victims, as senior police investigator Enoch Dunbar denied taking defendants’ property. · Additional rebuttal witnesses disputed testimony from defendants as the…