Jerry Zeah’s search for a better life in Monrovia ended in a prison cell, untried for a crime he denies, as he faces a justice system delay stretching beyond his alleged offense’s sentence….
FrontPage Africa
Liberia: As Schools Outsourcing Experiment Falters Teachers Say It’s Time to Give Counties Control
In part two of this two-part series with New Narratives Eric Opa Doue finds widespread opposition from teachers and civil society to government’s privatization of schools and a plea to government to abandon the scheme and let counties take charge….
Liberia: Students Dropping Out of School in Rivercess Due to Lack of Teachers
Jacob Beegar, 15, faces a grim future in Kporkon, Liberia, as the prolonged closure of his school since 2020 forces him to forsake education for farm labor, dimming his hopes of escaping poverty….
Sinoe Forest Community Fumes Over Numerous Illegalities by Forestry Development Agency As Lawmaker’s Company Wins Concession
Community members here in Tartweh and Drapoe chiefdoms are fuming over a range of what they claim are violations of Liberian laws by the country’s forest management body the Forestry Development Agency….
Land Title Authorities Overwhelmed By Disputes following Land Rights Act
Emmanuel Tokpah always wanted a home of his own. The 27-year-old bike rider had saved enough money to begin construction on a house in this village. But his dreams were shattered in July 2016 when a group of men from neighboring Gbonata came and ordered him to stop work. By Mae Azango The men claimed…
Overwhelmed Doctors at StarBase Treatment Unit Plead with People to Believe the Covid-19 is Real
Liberians are facing the latest and most dangerous wave since the Covid-19 pandemic started 15 months ago. This latest wave, caused by the highly infectious Delta variant which entered the country a month ago, has taken dozens of lives including journalists and high-profile personalities. By Mae Azango with New Narratives As of July 11, 2021,…
Hundreds of Sacked GVL Employees Still Waiting for Jobs; Company Blames the Pandemic
BUTAW, Sinoe County – Timothy Browne bought into the promises made by Singapore-owned palm oil company Golden Veroleum Liberia (GVL) when they came to this rural area of Sinoe County with offers of jobs and development for the people here in exchange for 2,600 hectares of land. Browne even hosted one of the major meetings that…
Farmers Demand ‘Balance’ Payment In Land Deal with Equatorial Palm Oil in Grand Bassa County
Editor’s Note: This story is the first of a two-part series on growing tension between Equatorial Palm Oil and villagers in Grand Bassa County over land rights. JOGBAHN CLAN, Grand Bassa – October 6, 2016 was a happy day for Morris Beah and other townspeople of Gmenee, Wesseh Village, Paye Town, Morb Town and Kampala, which…
Logging Company EJ&J Shipped US$3 million in Lumber Despite Telling Community Exports were Halted; FDA Fails to Act
ZAMMIE TOWN, River Cess County – Water dictates the lives of people in this part of central River Cess. With just three hand pumps to supply a town of 7,000, women and children here wake as early as 3 am to fetch water from distant creeks. But the creek water carries dangers they say: contaminants from…
Buchanan Seaside Communities Beg for Rock Wall to Protect Them from the Sea
Coastal erosion caused by climate-induced rises in sea levels and intense tropical storms have already destroyed the homes of hundreds of Liberian families and put critical fisheries at risk. Nine of the country’s fifteen counties sit along the sea coast putting 60 per cent of the population at threat and causing tens of millions of…
Buchanan Seaside Communities Beg for Rock Wall
By Eric Opa Doue with New Narratives BUCHANAN, Grand Bassa – Forty years ago Atlantic Street was one of this port city’s busiest streets, humming with stores and chop shops. Today it is almost deserted. The encroaching shoreline has swallowed up structures and is threatening to take out the street itself. Bobby Gibson’s father used to run…
New Farming Approach is Luring Farmers Out of the Forest
As the changing climate impacts more and more people worldwide, there are renewed efforts to protect the planet’s forests. Trees soak up the carbon that is the worst factor in causing climate change. Liberia’s forest is one of the largest remaining. But millions of Liberians rely on the forest’s bounty for their survival. As the…
Can the Coastal Defense Project Save West Point?
Alex Weah had no clue that the sea would swallow up his home when he built his six bedroom house here. But the Community Youth Chairman and senior student at the United Methodist University watched helplessly in 2017 as the sea quickly overtook the house. “The sea was coming closer but we were thinking that…
Monrovia and Paynesville are Drowning in Plastic; One Company Tries to Help
MONROVIA – Waste plastic is becoming a scourge around the world but it is especially true here in Liberia’s capital city and its satellite sister, Paynesville. Discarded plastic is choking waterways, blocking drains, killing fish, and leaching harmful chemicals into the water and soil. By Tina S. Mehnpaine, with New Narratives With poor or limited waste management…
Former State Security Agent Gets 25 Years for Human Trafficking; Trafficker Claims a State Conspiracy
MONROVIA — A Monrovia court has sentenced Arthur Chan-Chan, a former agent of the National Security Agency, to 25 years in prison for human trafficking—the highest penalty yet for a convict of the crime in Liberia. The longest sentence until now was 20 years – following Liberia’s revision of the trafficking law making the minimum sentence…
Former National Security Officers Found Guilty of Human Trafficking in Landmark Trial
MONROVIA, Liberia – A former agent of the National Security Agency has been found guilty of human trafficking, becoming the first person with a direct link to the Liberian government to be convicted of the charge. Following a landmark trial ten of the twelve jurors in the case at Criminal Court “A” said they agreed…
Foya Victims Celebrate Kamara Conviction
By Evelyn Kpadeh Seagbeh with New Narratives NGISAKONJA, Lofa County – Evelyn Pillo points to the spot where her father’s house once sat. It was here that her family endured the horrors that, she says, haunt them to this day. In 1993 when troops with the United Liberia Movement of Liberia (Ulimo) took control of…
Activists Say Govt’s Failure to Release Auditors’ Deaths Report Creating Trust Crisis
Monrovia – It is two years since Sylvester Saye Lama lost his wife Gifty, the breadwinner of his family, under unusual circumstances. Gifty was one of four government auditors, tasked with uncovering government corruption, that were found dead in the space of weeks. Their deaths shocked the country, scared anti-corruption activists into silence, and raised…
Bridge International Promised to Solve Liberia’s Education Crisis. Six Years On Schools Are Still Failing
In 2016 US-based Bridge International Came To Save Liberia’s Schools. In the first of a two-part investigation with New Narratives Eric Opa Doue finds Bridge schools doing little better than state schools. YARPAH TOWN, River Cess County – Babygirl Smith helps her mother to sell snacks at the town market every Monday. The 17-year-old should…
Teacher Shortages Force Schools to Close as Rural Education Crisis Continues
This two-part series by Eric Opa Doue with New Narratives examines the county’s school system. MONWEH, River Cess- Jacob Beegar sits on a rattan chair under a palaver hut while his friends run around. Jacob doesn’t join them. The 15-year-old doesn’t want to play. He would rather be in school. Jacob should be in the…
Witnesses’ Lawyer Confident Accused Liberian Warlord Will Be Found Guilty in Paris Trial
PARIS, France—The lawyer for the ten plaintiffs who filed a formal complaint against Kunti Kamara, an accused Liberian warlord, says she’s hopeful he will be found guilty when the jury retires to consider their verdict next week. The defendant, 47, faces up to 30 years in prison if convicted….