By Nemenlah Cyrus Harmon, climate and environment reporter with New Narratives Summary GBAA-GAYE TOWN, Grand Bassa County – Eight-month-old Helen does not play the way babies usually do. She lies against her mother’s chest, as they sit under a palaver hut in this remote village surrounded by forest and accessible by one hand-cut road. Helen’s legs are…
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…
By Anthony Stephens, senior justice correspondent with New Narratives Summary: Sweden’s ambassador to Liberia has used an exclusive interview with Frontpage Africa/New Narratives marking the end of the country’s sixteen years of direct bilateral support since the end of the war, to reaffirm his government’s commitment to Liberia’s post war justice and accountability process. Ambassador…
Despite closing its embassy and ending direct bilateral development assistance to Liberia, Sweden says it remains committed to supporting the country’s post-war justice, human rights and sexual and reproductive health priorities through the United Nations, European Union and other multilateral programs. Swedish Ambassador Karl Backéus urged progress toward establishing a War and Economic Crimes Court,…
The long-delayed trial over thousands of bags of Saudi-donated rice meant for vulnerable and disaster-affected Liberians is underway in Monrovia, but flood victims in River Cess say justice must go beyond the courtroom. Saudi Arabia donated 29,000 bags of rice in 2023, and prosecutors allege that 25,054 bags, valued at about US$425,918, were stolen, misapplied…
African civil society leaders are calling for a major shift in how development money is managed, arguing that African organizations and communities should have greater power to decide their own priorities rather than simply follow donor agendas. At a gathering of more than 200 civil society leaders, funders and policymakers in Accra, participants pushed for…
By Tetee Gebro, gender and health correspondent with New Narratives Summary ACCRA, Ghana — When a donor offered money to an organization working in Kenya, it came with an opportunity to expand its work into more communities. For a small organization that needed funding, it might have seemed like an easy decision. It wasn’t. The donor wanted the…
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,…
Summary PAYNESVILLE CITY, Montserrado County—Jallah Barbu, executive director of the Office for the Establishment of the War and Economic Crimes Court, has urged President Joseph Boakai to exercise his constitutional power by recalling lawmakers from their annual constituency break to act on legislation establishing the long-promised court. Speaking Saturday at a Paynesville hotel during the 17th…
“The war took away my childhood and left wounds that I still carry in my heart. I saw families separated, homes destroyed, and people running for their lives. Some of us still wake up remembering the sounds of gunfire and the faces of people we never saw again. That is why I want to see…
Joshua Blahyi, once feared as “General Butt Naked,” confessed to killing thousands during the civil war and now insists that only a war crimes court can free him and his family from the burden of his past. He is joined by other former fighters like Victoria Zeh, who was forced into combat as a teenager…
Twenty‑three years after Liberia’s hard‑won peace, survivors celebrate progress but remind us that justice is still unfinished. This powerful piece shows how the wounds of war linger even as the nation rebuilds. Anthony Stephens reports in this social media Video. To read more about this story click this link: Liberia: 23 Years Into Peace, Victims…
“I am continuing the legacy of Liberian women who came before me, those who plaited the mat on which I sit. But I am also a forebearer of those who will come after me. I am simply keeping the seat warm for them and providing a blueprint of how Liberian women must represent our country…
By Eric Opa Doue, chief county correspondent with New Narratives Summary: BOLA, Bomi County– Kumba Thomas returns home from a long day at her farm. Around her, life in the community continues at its ordinary pace, but ghosts follow Thomas, weighing down every step of her day. Thomas says she was a new mother when fighting reached…
By Anthony Stephens, senior justice correspondent with New Narratives Summary: It was Liberia’s biggest human trafficking trial to date. At the end of 22 days of hearings in June and July, a jury took just 23 minutes to decide eleven defendants were guilty of a range of crimes against 57 victims who were trafficked, starved, forced…
By King Brown with New Narratives Summary: BUCHANAN, Grand Bassa County— The sun is hot here in Big Joe Town, outside Grand Bassa’s capital city. Lovetee, 21, sits on a wooden chair watching her four-month-old daughter, Princess, lying weak on her lap, suffering from diarrhea. Princess’s ribs show through her skin, and her hair is thinning…
By Joyclyn Wea, gender correspondent with New Narratives Summary When Charlyne Brumskine learned she had been selected to the coveted post as a judge on the Ecowas Community Court of Justice, her thoughts turned to her late father. Charles Walker Brumskine, the prominent lawyer and four-time presidential candidate who died in 2019, had hoped to…
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…
Liberia’s war and economics crimes court has won some surprising allies: former warlords. Many who were accused of atrocities during the country’s civil wars are now calling for their day in court.They say only a trial can bring justice, closure, or clear their names.Gloria Wleh reports in this collaboration with OkFm and our network of…
By Augusta S. Lafalay, senior reporter with New Narratives Summary: In 2021 Anthony Gbeh had never heard the word “dialysis”. Today, it has become the center of his life. The 45-year-old goes to the country’s only dialysis center here at John F. Kennedy hospital, every Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday, spending about 12 hours a week…
By Tetee Gebro, gender and health correspondent with New Narratives Summary: In the four years to 2023 the European Union spent $16 million to boost the systems that would keep Liberians safe from gender-based violence. But in 2026 FrontPage Africa/New Narratives found a completely broken legal system in which victims had little chance of accessing…
