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…
FrontPage Africa
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
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 this area for four months Pillo says…
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 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 4th grade at the nearby Giemengbleh Public…
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….
Accused Liberian Warlord Calls Plaintiffs Criminals in Paris War Crimes Trial
PARIS, France—Kunti Kamara has lashed out at the ten plaintiffs in his trial for crimes against humanity here calling them “criminals” and professing his innocence on charges of cannibalism, torture, rape, murder and forced labor….
Why the International War Crimes Trials of Liberians Matter
Opinion PARIS, France – The trial of former Ulimo battalion commander, Kunti Kamara aka “Kunti K.” ends its third week. Kamara is being tried for crimes against humanity, torture, forced labor and acts of barbarism, in the town of Foya in Lofa Country, Western Liberia, where the accused has admitted he was stationed for four months…
Court Abruptly Adjourns as Inconsolable Witness Recalls Alleged Rape by Accused Warlord’s Soldiers
PARIS, France – The judge in the ongoing war crimes trial of Kunti Kamara abruptly adjourned the hearing on Tuesday after an inconsolable witness began a graphic description of her alleged rape by a soldier under Kamara’s command. It was an emotional day of testimony that saw two witnesses break down in tears as they described…
Convicted War Criminal Kosiah Dismisses Cannibalism Charge in Paris War Crimes Trial
PARIS, France – Alieu Kosiah, convicted of war crimes in a Swiss court last year, appeared as a defense witness in the trial of Kunti Kamara, his one-time United Liberation Movement of Liberia for Democracy colleague today and rejected the charge that Kamara had committed cannibalism. Kosiah, who travelled from Switzerland under heavy guard, was not…
Child Soldier Confirms Forced Labor; As Kosiah Testifies Today In War Crimes Trial in Paris
PARIS, France – A witness claiming to be a child soldier with Kunti Kamara has confirmed testimonies of over a dozen witnesses of forced labor by Kamara—one of the charges the former commander of the United Liberation Movement for Democracy faces at his war crimes trial here in Paris, France. The issue has been critical in…
Plaintiff Alleges Attacks and Intimidation In Retaliation for Testimony in Kosiah Trial
BELLINZONA, Switzerland – In a dramatic third day in former Liberian rebel commander Alieu Kosiah’s appeal of his 2021 war crimes conviction, a plaintiff in the 2021 trial told the court he has been threatened, beaten and forced to flee his home because of his testimony. By Antoine Harari with New Narratives “When I came…
Former Child Soldier Again Upends Kosiah War Crimes Court; Asks UN to Hear Asylum Claim
By Antoine Harari with New Narratives BELLINZONA, Switzerland — In a dramatic replay of his controversial appearance in convicted Liberian war criminal Alieu Kosiah’s 2021 trial, a former child soldier has upturned court proceedings, claiming he is in danger if he returns to Liberia. The former child soldier was brought from Liberia to testify for Kosiah…
Alleged Rape Victim Gives Emotional Testimony at Start of Appeal of Liberian Warlord
By Antoine Harari with New Narratives BELLINZONA, Switzerland—The appeal of the Liberian warlord Alieu Kosiah, former commander with the Ulimo rebel group, against his 2021 conviction for war crimes, opened today with a surprise report financed by Kosiah’s friends and family. Redacted by a Liberian lawyer, it consisted of eight pages of fact finding missions…
US Amb. On War Crimes Decries “Corrosive Impunity” in Liberia, Backs Work of Justice Advocate, Hassan Bility
MONROVIA – Beth Van Schaack, U.S. Ambassador-At-Large for Global Criminal Justice has warned that impunity for past and current crimes remains high in Liberia. Ambassador Schaack says this weakens the country’s peace. “Liberia faces many challenges when it comes to justice and accountability,” says Schaack in an open letter to Liberians seen by FPA/NN. “Not…
Charles Taylor’s Ex-Bodyguard “Bull Dog” Dies
By Anthony Stephens with New Narratives Momoh Gebah, commonly known as “Bull Dog”, an ex-aide-de-camp to warlord turned President Charles Taylor, has died. Gebah died on Saturday of XX, according to the National Patriotic Party (NPP) of which he was a member. Gebah was considered one of Taylor’s most trusted security chiefs and was seen…