Liberia’s anti‑corruption watchdog has admitted its plan to fight graft by placing “whistleblower boxes” in government buildings has failed, with fewer than three reports submitted in seven months as citizens fear retaliation for being seen near the boxes. Experts say the experiment highlights a deeper crisis of trust and safety in reporting corruption, and are…
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Victims and Advocates Angry As Government Stays Silent Over Bribery Allegations in Country’s Biggest Human Trafficking Case as Suspects’ Release Date Nears
Liberia’s biggest human‑trafficking case is now hanging by a thread as government officials remain silent over explosive bribery allegations, while 11 accused traffickers could walk free on bail this month due to delays in prosecution. Victims who bravely came forward say they feel abandoned as the justice system falters, raising serious concerns about corruption, accountability,…
Experts Say Protecting Nature Is Key to Surviving Climate Change
By Nemenlah Cyrus Harmon, climate correspondent with New Narratives Summary A few nights before a high level climate dialogue convened in Monrovia last week, a violent windstorm tore through Gomue Village, Zota District, Bong County in, what experts said, was an ominous reminder of the stakes for Liberians across the country as climate change worsens. Roofs were shredded;…
Three Months On From Government’s World Sight Day Pledge to Screen 1,000 Students and Distribute 12,000 Glasses, Few Details Are Available
Three months after the government’s big World Sight Day promise to screen 1,000 students and distribute 12,000 reading glasses, communities are still waiting for clear answers. While the Ministry of Health says thousands of glasses came from international donors, there’s still no public breakdown showing who actually received them. With so many Liberian children struggling…
Funding Cuts, Weak Oversight, And Hidden Traps: Experts Sound the Alarm on Liberia’s New U.S. Health Deal
Liberia’s new U.S. health deal is being sold as progress, but experts warn it may leave the country more vulnerable than ever. Funding for lifesaving programs has been slashed, oversight is weaker, and critical services for women and families could disappear just when Liberians need them most. Even more alarming, the agreement gives the U.S….
The Corruption That Allows Liberia’s Human Traffickers To Stay Free To Exploit the Poorest Citizens
More than 50 Liberians escaped a trafficking compound hidden in plain sight — and now they fear the people who tortured and deceived them may walk free. These survivors, some held for nearly a year, starved, beaten, and forced to lure their own family members into the trap, bravely told prosecutors everything. Their testimony should…
Liberia’s Anti-Corruption Watchdog Asked Liberians to Report Corruption By Putting Allegations in Boxes – It Didn’t Work
By Joyclyn Wea with New Narratives Summary: In August, the Liberia Anti-Corruption Commission, hoping to encourage Liberians to call out what experts say is rampant corruption at every level of government, began placing whistleblower boxes across key government ministries, agencies, and police stations. They hoped people, particularly officials of government, would quietly report corruption and other illegal…
How Liberia’s Human Traffickers Stay Free
A mass escape from a trafficking ring handed prosecutors everything they needed for Liberia’s biggest trafficking conviction. 51 victims say a bribe is about to set their traffickers free By Anthony Stephens, senior justice correspondent and New Narratives editors On a morning last October, more than 50 women and men walked into Paynesville magistrates’ court…
“We Are Tired”: Women Demand Justice and Action on Gender Violence; Police Chief Promises Action
Women across Monrovia raised their voices in a powerful march demanding justice for Toni Jackson and urgent action to end the rising tide of gender‑based violence in Liberia. Carrying signs that read “We Are Tired,” they called on authorities to protect women and girls with the seriousness the crisis deserves. Police Inspector General Gregory Coleman…
The Hidden Health Risks Facing Clothing Recyclers in a World Flooded With Plastic Fibers
By Albert Oppong-Ansah Not too long ago, every morning would have found Linda seated next to her friend Ruth Odom, at their small stalls at Accra’s Kantamanto market, in one of the largest secondhand clothing markets in the world. Before them would lie piles of clothes in different colours and sizes – polo shirts,…
Saudi Rice Shipment Becomes Early Test of Boakai Government’s Anti-Corruption Drive, But Experts Say Delay in Trial is Undermining Trust
In Liberia, a corruption case involving 25,000 bags of donated Saudi riceis from Saudi Arabia is becoming an early test of President JosephBoakai’s promise to crack down on graft. In 2024 thousands of flood victims in rural counties were left with nogovernment help after flood waters washed away homes. Prosecutorssay half the rice was stolen….
Vigilante Mob Levels River Cess Village; Authorities Slow to Respond
In River Cess County, more than 150 women and children are sleeping outdoors after a mob burned homes and food stores in Bethel Town in the latest example of vigilante violence across the country.Six men including the town chief have finally been taken into custody after police took 10 days to arrive in the town.The…
As Liberia Debates War Crimes Court, Experts Urge Forced Marriage Be Treated as a Crime
Threats to witnesses in the trials of accused perpetrators in the United States and Europe aregrowing according to justice activists. Seven victims who have testified have been relocated inthe last six months alone.New Narratives’ senior justice correspondent, Anthony Stephens, met one of the witnesses,who says he now fears for his safety after the United States…
As Liberia Debates War Crimes Court, Experts Urge Forced Marriage Be Treated as a Crime
Liberian justice advocates are pushing for stronger protections for victims as the country moves toward establishing a war crimes court. At a recent conference in Monrovia, human rights expert Elise Keppler stressed that crimes like forced marriage and other gender‑based abuses must be fully recognized in the court’s legislation to ensure meaningful justice. She said…
U.N. Begins Training Lawyers Ahead of War Crimes Court’s Establishment
Liberia is taking a major step toward long‑awaited justice as the U.N. Human Rights Office begins training 20 Liberian lawyers on prosecuting war crimes and crimes against humanity. The two‑day program aims to build local capacity ahead of a proposed war and economic crimes court, strengthening legal institutions and preparing lawyers who have never handled…
French Court of Appeal upholds Guilty Verdict for Liberian Warlord
The French Court of Appeal hand has found former Ulimo comer, Kunti Kamara guilty of war crimes and crimes against humanity, upholding his earlier 30-year sentence. In the French judicial system comprising 3 judges and 9 juries, the jury needed to have an innate belief in Kamara’s guilt to convict. A simple majority of jurors,…
Anti-Corruption Watchdog is dysfunctional, ending scrutiny of government one year from election
Three months since the government’s highly controversial decision to overhaul the Liberian Anti Corruption Commission the country’s independent corruption watchdog has been silenced. Staff say no investigations are being done and morale is at zero. Things have only become more uncertain with the news that the Supreme Court will consider whether the overhaul was constitutional….
Vigilante Mob Levels River Cess Village; Authorities Slow to Respond
Residents of Bethel in River Cess County say more than 100 men from nearby Bah Clan communities stormed their town after rumors falsely accused them of killing a missing hunter, leaving 24 homes and 27 rice kitchens burned and over 150 women and children sleeping under the palaver hut with almost nothing to eat. Survivors…
Saudi Rice Shipment Becomes Early Test of Boakai Government’s Anti-Corruption Drive, But Experts Say Delay in Trial is Undermining Trust
Flood victims in River Cess and Margibi say they were left hungry and abandoned after the 2024 rains destroyed their homes, even as officials promised help that never came. Their stories now sit at the center of a major corruption case involving 25,000 bags of Saudi‑donated rice that prosecutors say were diverted instead of reaching…
What can Liberia learn from South Africa about reconciliation and Commemoration?
Now a special report from Johannesburg South Africa. In November, our reporter Fatu Kamara traveled to the city thirty years after the end of the apartheid regime that segregated the population by race and brutally oppressed the black majority. South Africa’s first Black president Nelson Mandela famously championed reconciliation with former apartheid leaders even after…
A Lack of Trash Management Leaves Rural Liberians Battling Health Impacts
We all know waste management is a crisis in Monrovia and Paynesville where mounds of trash line streets and block drainage causing major headaches. But it’s also a problem across rural Liberia where there is very little or no waste collection at all. People are forced to burn their trash adding to air pollution and…