Women make up about half of the total registered voters in Liberia, according to the National Election Commission. They made up slightly more than half of voters in 2005. That is almost certainly what propelled Ellen Johnson Sirleaf to become the first woman elected president of an African nation. Does Ma Ellen have the women’s…
Drug trafficking and drug use is on the rise in Liberia according to a new report by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime. The problem is fueled by the influx of drugs into the region by South American drug cartels who see this as an easy route to get their products to Europe….
All is not well within the National Union For Democratic Progress, Since the endorsement of the Unity Party a move which serves as a catalyst for delivering Vote-Rich Nimba County to Incumbent Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf by the Party’s Standard Bearer Senator Prince Johnson has caused a stir in the party. The man dubbed by many as…
I knew I had to be home on October 11. Although it would mean blowing my modest student budget for a few months, I bought the cheapest ticket I could find from London to Monrovia. And despite well-intentioned warnings from those whom I love most, I came back to cast a ballot for the first…
Surrounded by bodyguards, Prince Yormie Johnson swaggers with confidence toward a meeting hut in the center of his large Monrovia compound, decorated with brass figurines and farm animals. The Liberian senator and former warlord is among the 16 candidates vying for the presidency in the Oct. 11 general elections. Johnson, 52, already behaves like a…
Just days before winning the Nobel Peace Prize, Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf stood on a makeshift stage at the jam-packed Antoinette Tubman Stadium in Monrovia. She launched into a rousing campaign song. Singing “Ellen’s got the Mansion Key” to cheering supporters, Johnson Sirleaf appeared confident that she would win a second term as Liberia’s…
Two years ago the government of Liberia signed an $800 million dollar concession agreement with Malaysian palm oil giant Sime Darby to cultivate 220,000 hectares of land. In the agreement, the company promised to build schools and clinics and provide workers with decent housing. More than a year later workers are living in the shells…
A Diary from World Water Week, Stockholm, Sweden “We run the risk of losing the battle on water and sanitation in many cities around the world, and that is a fight we cannot afford to lose.” These are the words of Anders Berntell, Executive Director of the Stockholm International Water Institute (SIWI), one of the…
MONROVIA, Liberia — On a rainy August evening three days before a national referendum, white United Nations tanks rolled down Tubman Boulevard, the Liberian capital’s main road, and took up positions in front of the president’s house and the national legislature. It was a signal Liberia’s security forces and the U.N. force feared poll violence….
There was a lot “spoiled” about Liberia in January 2006, when a woman draped in regal gold, with a glitter of hope in her eyes, took the podium, offering a promise of renewal. Monrovia roads had pot-holes the size of bomb craters, and the streets were littered with dirt and debris. Rural roads were barely…
The flag bearer of the National Union for Democratic Progress, NUDP, Nimba County’s senior Senator Prince Y. Johnson says, he will make sure that President Johnson-Sirleaf does not get any vote from Nimba County. Senator Johnson addressing a number of issues over the weekend said President Sirleaf has lost the confidence of the people of…
Monrovia – Pale and weak, Pauline Kule was rushed to the James N. Davis Memorial hospital in July because she had been bleeding profusely. The 19-year-old swallowed 15 pills hoping to get rid of an unwanted pregnancy. A ninth-grade student, Kule says she was afraid her father would withdraw his financial support if he found…
Dealing heroin is a risky business, she says, but she would rather do it than sell her body. “I do this just to survive and not be on the street. To sell your body cheap for money on the street, that is not fine, so I rather help people to sell their drugs,” she says….
The Key campaigner of Green Advocates, Cllr. Alfred Brownell has threatened a lawsuit against the government for allowing Sime Darby, an oil palm production company to operate in Cape Mount and Bomi Counties in violation of the citizens’ rights under the constitution of Liberia. Cllr. Brownell said in an exclusive interview with this paper that…
Two-year-old Rosetta Fokpa lies on her back, left foot raised in the air. A pretty little girl with braids, she cries bitterly. Boiling water scalded her legs, exposing a layer of fresh pink skin. It happened a week ago but the little girl is still in terrible pain. Fokpa’s mother says the child stepped into…
Six years ago in the Liberian presidential elections slightly more than half of voters were women, giving rise to the first female president in Liberia and Africa. But with barely two months to go before elections women say the president shouldn’t take their vote for granted. From Monrovia, New Narratives fellow Fabine Kwiah reports. …
Maima Sackie has lived here in Memeh Town, a collection of mud and thatch-roof houses 30 minutes from Monrovia, for fifteen years, selling potato greens to take care of her four children. The stout 46 year-old, wearing a dark t-shirt and flowery lappa, says incumbent President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf hasn’t done enough to improve women’s…
Monrovia-A 38-year-old police officer has been arrested in connection with the alleged rape of a 13-year-old girl, authorities said. The alleged perpetrator had evaded police since the incident was reported on May 14. He was arrested last night at an undisclosed location in Paynesville on an insider tip. The officer was disrobed immediately, said Vera…
Barely two weeks following the arrest of 21-yr-old rape suspect, who was charged with statutory rape of a 12 yr-old girl on old road, another rape case has surfaced with a Police officer accused of raping a 13 yr-old girl in the Paynesville- ELWA Junction area.FrontPageAfrica is withholding the name of the accused officer –…
Foya, Lofa County – Theresa Fallah, a 26-year-old mother of two, worked in this green, mountainous region tilling the soil to grow rice, a Liberian staple, under a Liberian-Libyan partnership launched in 2007. Now Fallah, like other workers, is unemployed as Libya withdraws its investments in Liberia. Once a field laborer with the rice production…
The man accused of raping a young girl in Congo Town recently has finally given his side of the story. The crime captured the attention of FrontPage Africa readers almost two weeks ago when the mother of the girl, Emma Seekey, accused police of beating and imprisoning her when she reported the attack. The accused…
