Liberia

UN Receives Boakai’s Letter Requesting War and Economic Crimes Courts Support as Major Donors Express Concern Over Process for Appointment of Courts Chief

By Anthony Stephens with New Narratives Monrovia – President Joseph Boakai has taken the first step in inviting international support for the establishment of Liberia’s War and Economic Crimes Courts by sending a letter to António Guterres, the United Nations Secretary General, requesting financial and technical assistance for the courts. Requesting UN support is a crucial…

Anthony Stephens
Frontpage Africa

Bar Adds to Condemnation of War and Economic Crimes Courts Process, Says it Was Not Consulted

By Anthony Stephens with New Narratives MONROVIA, Liberia—The leader of Liberia’s powerful National Bar Association, the professional organization of the nation’s lawyers, has joined the growing list of civil society and victims’ groups that have condemned the process by which President Joseph Boakai appointed Cllr. Jonathan Massaquoi as executive director of the Office of War…

Anthony Stephens
Frontpage Africa

US War Crimes Ambassador Warns ‘Unsubstantiated Allegations Put Civil Society Actors at Risk’

By Anthony Stephens with New Narratives Monrovia – The US Ambassador-at-Large for Global Criminal Justice has condemned Mr. Alan White, an American former investigator for the Sierra Leone Special Court, and a group of activists for making unsubstantiated allegations against leading human rights activists in a Congressional committee hearing in Washington D.C. last month. Mr….

Anthony Stephens
Frontpage Africa

Finland Awards More Than $US426,000 in Compensation to Acquitted Sierra Leonean Warlord Massaquoi

By Anthony Stephens with New Narratives The Finnish government has awarded €390,000 ($US426,00) in compensation to Gibril Massaquoi, the former Sierra Leonean rebel leader acquitted in January of war crimes and crimes against humanity prosecutors said he committed during Liberia’s second civil war between 1999-2003. The payment covers Mr. Massaquoi’s loss of liberty and income during the…

Anthony Stephens
Frontpage Africa

President Boakai Withdraws Appointment of War and Economics Crimes Office Head After Widespread Condemnation from Human Rights Groups and Lawyers

By Anthony Stephens with New Narratives MONROVIA, Liberia—President Joseph Boakai has withdrawn his appointment of Liberian lawyer, Jonathan Massaquoi  to head the newly constituted Office of War and Economic Crimes Courts following nearly two months of public condemnation from almost all leading victims and human rights advocates and the umbrella body for lawyers in the…

Anthony Stephens
Frontpage Africa

Ivorian Man on Trial As Stalled Human Trafficking Trials Resume

By Anthony Stephens with New Narratives MONROVIA, Liberia—An Ivorian man is standing trial in Monrovia over human trafficking allegations in the first trial since Liberia was downgraded to the US State Department’s tier two Trafficking in Persons Watch List after the Weah administration cut off funding to trafficking prosecutions. The US government has warned the…

Anthony Stephens
Frontpage Africa

Stroke, Heart Disease, Cancer and Diabetes Reaching Crisis Levels, Say Experts, But Few Liberians Know How to Protect Themselves

By Tetee Gebro with New Narratives In a three-part series Tetee Gebro, senior reporter with Front Page Africa and New Narratives, examines what health experts call Liberia’s “next epidemic” and the barriers to helping Liberians retake control of their health. NEEZOE, Montserrado County —In 2018, William Pewu was living a regular life like most Liberians. The 54-year-old father of…

Tetee Gebro
Frontpage Africa

“Next Epidemic” of Heart Disease, Diabetes, Mental Health and Cancers Can Be Prevented Says WHO Representative, But it Needs a Nationally Coordinated Approach

Across the country, experts are raising the alarm about the growing number of Liberians becoming sick and dying from so called non-comminable diseases like diabetes, heart disease and stroke.Experts say the greatest tragedy is that they are preventable with the right information and lifestyle changes.But in part two of this series on the crisis, Tetee…

Tetee Gebro
Radio

“Next Epidemic” of Heart Disease, Diabetes, Mental Health and Cancers Can Be Prevented Says WHO Representative, But it Needs a Nationally Coordinated Approach

By Tetee Gebro with New Narratives In this series Tetee Gebro, senior reporter with Front Page Africa and New Narratives, examines what health experts call Liberia’s “next epidemic” and the barriers to helping Liberians retake control of their health. In 2018 Kulah Quaqua began her usual day waking up early, heading to her job as…

Tetee Gebro
Frontpage Africa

Christmas Momentum Fades in Liberia’s Bong County

Momentum for the 2024 Christmas and New Year holidays has faded. As with every part of Liberia, residents of Bong County, one of the country’s populous regions, have complained of economic hardship. They told Joseph Titus Yekeryan, our Bong County correspondent, that the issue prevents them from providing for their families during these holiday periods….

Joseph Titus Yekeryan
Radio

Hunger on The Rise in Liberia, According to Latest Global Hunger Index

Hunger in Liberia is “serious” according to the latest Global Hunger Index.The number of malnourished people has risen to two in every fiveChild “stunting”, death and wasting has not improved in eight yearsGovernment rejects findings and commits to increasing food production as you will hear in this report by Cyrus Harmon, New Narratives’ senior correspondent….

Nemenlah Cyrus Harmon
Radio

3500 Teaching Scholarships Ended with US Cuts; Experts Say Cuts Will Hurt Efforts to Lift Low Skill Level of Liberia’s Teachers

This month’s shock cancellation of almost all foreign aid by the incoming administration of President Donald Trump has students and teachers across Liberia shellshocked. The US government has made substantial investments in Liberia’s education sector over the years spending hundreds of millions of dollars. Though experts say the education system is still largely dysfunctional, defenders…

King Brown
Radio