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…
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…
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,…
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….
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…
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…
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…
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…
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,…
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….
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…
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…
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…
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…
By Eric Opa Doue, Contributing Writer CHIO TOWN, River Cess—Aaron Harris, an injured person from the Chio Town mudslide who was being treated at the John F. Kennedy Hospital in Monrovia, was confirmed dead on Sunday morning by authorities. This brings the number of casualties to 11. Apart from the initial ten individuals who were…
Education has long been a distant hope for most young people in Liberia’s rural areas. While urban students find a way forward, rural students often find there is no school for them after the 6th or 9th grade. In this collaboration with New Narratives, reporter Siaway T. Miapue travels to Arthington in Montserrado County to…
By Anthony Stephens with New Narratives MONROVIA, Liberia— Justice activists have expressed anger and disappointment at President Joseph Boakai’s appointment of Jonathan Massaquoi as head of the Office for War and Economic Crimes Courts for Liberia. They said Massaquoi’s role as lawyer for former warlord Agnes Reeves-Taylor in cases against justice activists will undermine public…
Liberia is facing a quiet but devastating hunger crisis, and women and children are suffering the most. In communities like West Point, mothers often survive on just one meal a day so their children can eat, while many families scrape by through informal work that barely covers a few cups of rice. Liberia ranks 112th…
A 57‑year‑old grandmother from rural Montserrado is fighting for justice after surviving rape, but the system meant to protect her has instead demanded illegal fees and placed heavy burdens on her. Her experience highlights how corruption and poverty continue to block many rural women from accessing justice in Liberia, turning an already painful situation into…
Dirty air is quietly damaging the hearts of millions of Ghanaians. When we think about air pollution, we often picture coughing, asthma, or smoggy skies. But what is far more dangerous and far less visible — is how polluted air is silently attacking the heart and blood vessels. Jennifer Ambolley reports in this social media…
By Nemenlah Cyrus Harmon with New Narratives MONROVIA, Liberia — They were among 17 witnesses who overcame more than two decades of fear to travel to the United States city of Philadelphia in January to testify against Laye Sekou Camara, the once dreaded general with the Lurd rebel faction. One after the other witnesses told…
