By Nemenlah Cyrus Harmon, senior correspondent with New Narratives Summary: For more than two decades, they lived in silence, haunted by the war. In January, seventeen Liberians summoned the courage to travel to the U.S. court in Philadelphia and testify against one of the most feared rebel commanders of Liberia’s second civil war: Laye Sekou…
Liberia: Cost and Lack of Awareness Leave Millions With Poor Vision Limiting Children’s Education and Endangering Lives
Summary: By Fatu Kamara with New Narratives When Dominic Gbordoe completed high school this year, his biggest challenge wasn’t exams. It was simply seeing the blackboard. The 23-year-old found his vision starting to become blurry several years ago. By 2023 it was having a big impact on his schooling. “When I sit in the back,…
Government Suspends Chaotic National ID Registry Rollout Indefinitely as Activists Demand a Thorough Review
Following a chaotic rollout and mounting public frustration, the Liberian government has indefinitely suspended its controversial compulsory national identification program. The government announced the move in a press release from the Ministry of Information Monday. “The National Identification Registry (NIR) informs all public social service providers to take note and act in compliance with this…
Liberia Extends ID Card Deadline After Chaotic Rollout, Promises Digital Solutions
By Tetee Gebro and Joyclyn Wea with New Narratives MONROVIA, Liberia—The Liberian government has extended the deadline for compulsory registration of national Identification Cards by 76 days. The move followed a chaotic rollout process that had sparked national outrage. Long queues, poor communication, and limited infrastructure had triggered widespread frustration and service denials for millions….
Liberian Lawmakers Urge Free National ID Cards; Registry Chief Backs Proposal, Says Cost Is Government’s Call
By Joyclyn Wea and Tetee Gebro with New Narratives MONROVIA, Liberia — Members of Liberia’s House of Representatives are pushing for the government to make the country’s mandatory National Identification Cards free of charge in the wake of the chaos and frustration surrounding the registration process. The National Identification Registry is charging $US5 for a…
National ID Chaos: Frustration Grows as Banking Access and Other Services Denied Amid Enrollment Backlog. World Bank Funding For More Centers On Hold Because of Government Debt
By Tetee Gebro and Joyclyn Wea with New Narratives RED LIGHT, Monrovia – Rick Scott arrived at the National Identification Registry center here on a recent morning at 5 a.m., joining a line of hopeful citizens in the predawn darkness. By evening, the 54-year-old businessman returned home empty-handed for the fourth time in a week,…
Liberia: U.S. Aid Cuts Leave Thousands Without Promised Clean Water, Prompting NGO Intervention
Summary: By Grace Joshua with New Narratives YARNWEILLE, Margibi county —Beatrice Paye has a firsthand experience of the impact of waterborne diseases. In April, the community leader’s eight-year-old daughter was hospitalized for a week with a dangerous case of diarrhea. Paye blames the illness on water her daughter drank from the creek here. Paye and…
Radio: Economy Deeply Hit by Aid Cuts as Jobs Are Lost and Local Businesses See Huge Drop in Income
This story is a collaboration with New Narratives as part of the Investigating LiberiaProject. Funding was provided by the Swedish Embassy in Liberia which had no say inthe story’s content….
Radio: As Climate Change Drives More Farmers Into the Forests Ambitious Boakai Forestry Sector Reform Is Yet to Help Local Communities
This story was a collaboration with New Narratives as part of the “Investigating Liberia” project. The Swedish Embassy provided funding, but the founder had no say in the story’s content….
Liberia: Can Whistleblower Boxes Help Solve Liberia’s Corruption Problem? The Anti-Corruption Commission Thinks So
By Joyclyn Wea, senior correspondent with New Narratives Summary: OLD ROAD, Monrovia – The wooden box bolted to the wall at the Ministry of Education looks ordinary enough. But according to the Liberia Anti-Corruption Commission, the country’s independent corruption watchdog, this simple contraption could be a game-changer in the country’s long fight against entrenched corruption….
U.S. Deports Liberian Rebel Commander; Justice Advocates Say It Shows “to Warlords That There’s No Place to Hide”
Summary: By Anthony Stephens, senior justice correspondent with New Narratives U.S. Immigration Authorities announced Monday they had deported a Liberian rebel commander. Although the Immigration and Custom Enforcement, (ICE), said Mayama Sesay, 43, was deported on September 5th, it only made the announcement this week. The decision of an immigration judge to deport her in…
Liberia: As Drug Crisis Grows Medical Experts Demand Amateur Rehabilitation Centers Be Shut Down As Desperate Families Drain Savings on Treatment That Fails to Deliver
By Nemenlah Cyrus Harmon, senior reporter with New Narratives NEW JERUSALEM, Montserrado- When R. saw her son emerge drug-free after five months in a rehabilitation center in 2022, she thought her long nightmare had ended. The beauty salon owner had drained her savings—over $LD50,000 ($US270) to pay for the 33-year-old’s treatment at three centers over…
Liberia Unveils Emissions Reduction Plan: Targets 44 percent Cut by 2030
By Joyclyn Wea, senior correspondent with New Narratives Summary: Liberia has approved its third Nationally Determined Contribution committing to cut greenhouse gas emissions by 44 percent by 2030 and reach net-zero emissions by 2050. The plan, unveiled by Boakai government officials at a validation event with international partners and stakeholders at the Monrovia City Hall…
U.S. Court Sentences Gambian Death Squad Member To More Than 67 Years for Torture
By Anthony Stephens, senior justice correspondent with New Narratives Summary: A U.S. federal court Friday sentenced a former member of The Gambia’s feared paramilitary unit to more than 67 years in prison for acts of torture carried out under the dictatorship of Yahya Jammeh. Michael Sang Correa, 46, was sentenced by Senior Judge Christine M….
Liberia: Advocates Demand Anti-Corruption Court Be Removed From Mandate of Office of The War Crimes Court Saying It Is a Distraction
By Anthony Stephens, senior justice correspondent with New Narratives Summary: Leading justice advocates are urging the government of President Joseph Boakai to make the creation of a war and economic crimes court its top priority and remove the proposed anti-corruption court from the mandate of the Office of the War and Economics Crimes Court, the…
Liberia Seeks to Monetize Forests as Activists Warn Africa Summit Against “False Solutions”
By Aria Deemie, climate change reporter with New Narratives At the close of the second Africa Climate Summit, with brought African leaders together in Addis Ababa, campaigners are warning governments not to fall for “false solutions” such as carbon offsets markets that they said can worsen the climate crisis. In a press statement, ActionAid International…
Former LURD General “K1” Sentenced to Nearly 5 Years Prison After Pleading Guilty to War-Related Crimes in U.S.
By Jake Duffy with New Narratives PHILADELPHIA, Pennsylvania – Laye Sekou Camara, known by the war names “K-1” or “Dragon master”, a former commander of the Lurd rebel group, was taken into custody Thursday after being sentenced by a federal court to 57 months in prison for lying in U.S. immigration proceedings about his role…
Senior EU Diplomat Warns Disinformation Is a ‘Major Threat’ to Liberian Democracy, Links Climate Change to Regional Migration
By Anthony Stephens, senior correspondent with New Narratives Summary: A top European Union diplomat warned Tuesday that disinformation poses a growing danger to democracies, as waves of Russian-backed propaganda from neighboring Sahel states reverberate across West Africa. João Gomes Cravinho, the European Union’s Special Representative for the Sahel spoke at a press conference in Monrovia…
Liberia: As Climate Change Drives More Farmers Into the Forests Ambitious Boakai Forestry Sector Reform Is Yet to Help Local Communities
By Eric Opa Doue with New Narratives KANGBO TOWN, River Cess— On a hot morning in this forest-fringed village of Gborgar Town deep in south-central Liberia, Marthaline Gbar sits hunched outside her zinc-roofed home, stirring a pot of simmering cassava leaves. The pot, barely half full, was meant to stretch across four children aged 5…
Liberia: ‘I Smile in Public and Die Inside’; New Mothers Suffer Alone With A Condition That Devastates Families
By Augusta S. Lafalay with New Narratives Summary: · Liberian mothers face a hidden postpartum depression crisis, with cultural stigma, spiritual beliefs, and lack of diagnosis leaving many to suffer in silence. · Experts warn that inadequate screening and minimal funding are undermining maternal mental health, destabilizing families and worsening outcomes for children. · Survivors…
Liberia: As Rural Healthcare Struggles, One Lofa Entrepreneur Steps Up to Bridge the Gap
This story was a collaboration with New Narratives as part of the “Investigating Liberia” project. The Swedish Embassy provided funding, but the founder had no say in the story’s content….