Monrovia – A Liberian man facing a minimum 20-year sentence for trafficking nearly 200 Liberian women to Oman has skipped bail and vanished leaving victims angry. Cephas Selebay, believed to be in his early 30s, worked as an accountant for the Forestry Training Institute in Bomi County before he was arrested in August. By: Anthony…
Liberia
Police and Public Officials Step Up Attacks on Journalists in Liberia
As the 2023 general elections approach tensions are rising everywhere. No one has felt that more than Liberia’s journalists. Newsmen and women have faced arrest, threats and physical assault. Press freedom advocates say these are designed to intimidate them from doing their jobs. It has worked. Newsrooms across the country report a sense of fear…
Domestic Violence and Gender Based Violence Continue to Plague Liberians
Domestic and Gender Based Violence continue to be major problems in Liberian society including here in Bong County. Of about two hundred and fifty five inmates currently behind bars at Gbarnga Central Prison, seventy are there for sexual violence offences. But anti-violence activists say cases that make it to conviction are just a tiny share…
Jerome Saye Reporting Fellow, Radio Nimba
Jerome Saye has more than 10 years experience in journalism. He is a reporter with Radio Nimba, based in the city of Sanniquellie in the northern Liberian county of Nimba. Jerome has also contributed to Front Page Africa newspaper. He has taken part in elections coverage with Irex, the Press Union of Liberia and the Nimba…
As Climate Change Hits Farmers Find Success in Lowland Farming
Farmers in Liberia are moving away from subsistence farming with the help of international partners. As climate change is causing higher temperatures and unpredictable rainfall, donors are trying to help Liberians adapt. Subsistence farmers – as much as 80 per cent of the population – are already facing a food crisis from the changing climate. …
Six Liberian News Media Chosen for Investigative Journalism and Digital Revenue Program
New Narratives is pleased to announce six Liberian news organizations that have been chosen to take part in our 3-year program to build the capacity of leading newsrooms to fund and do investigative journalism. The program is funded by the Swedish Embassy in Liberia. Our selection committee has chosen: Front Page Africa The Daily Observer…
Farmers Say Food Crisis is Looming From Climate Change
The impacts of climate change are no longer possible to ignore. Wildfires in California and Australia; devastating flooding in Asia, make headlines every day. Rich countries battle over plans to solve it.Meanwhile poor countries like Liberia are on the frontlines, facing rise sea levels, higher temperatures, more extreme weather that are threatening people’s health and…
Radio Panel on Community Land in Nimba Country
A community representative, civil society actor and local land administrator discuss customary land rights in Nimba County, Liberia. The panel was sponsored by New Narratives with funding from the America World Jewish Service (AJWS)….
NEW NARRATIVES LIVE PANEL DISCUSSION ON GBARNGA
A civil society actor, paramount chief and land administrator discuss customary land rights in Bong County, Liberia. This story was a collaboration with New Narratives as part of our Land Rights and Climate Change Reporting Project. Funding was provided by the American Jewish World Service. The funder had no say in the story’s content….
Barconnie and Harmonville Community Forest Struggles with Conversation
When the Forest Reform law was passed in 2006, Liberia’s 51 community forests were offered a chance to conserve or commercialize their forests in logging and other deals with companies.44 chose the money. But conservation groups persuaded seven to pursue conservation – protecting their forest resources and promoting biodiversity.It’s not been an easy road. Varney…
Buchanan Seaside Communities Beg for Rock Wall
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 a popular store known as Gibson…
Buchanan Seaside Communities Beg For Rock Wall To Protect Them for 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…
This Gas Station Violates the EPA’s Wetland Protection Policy. Why Won’t the Agency Shut it Down?
MONROVIA-It has been four years since a gas station and minimart owned by George Kailondo, the businessman and politician with the ruling Coalition for Democratic Change political party, were constructed on SKD Boulevard in Paynesville. The building, constructed on wetlands protected by the Liberian government under an international agreement to help save an important and…
Key Accused War Criminal Massaquoi Ally, ‘Zizar Marzah’, Says Finnish War Crimes Court Got it Wrong
A key former ally of Gibril Massaquoi, the Revolutionary United Front commander, says a Finnish District Court got it wrong when it acquitted Massaquoi of charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity allegedly committed in Liberia….
One Year Since President Weah Declared Rape a National Emergency Activists Say Nothing Has Changed
MONROVIA – It was a year ago that President George Weah declared rape a national emergency. His announcement came in response to a crime that shocked the nation: a fifteen-year-old boy had raped a three-year-old girl, using a razor blade to commit the crime. By Mae Azango with New Narratives That followed years of cries…
Rescued From Bush School, Girls Detail Female Genital Cutting; Mother Pursues Justice
In the last few years the Liberian government has enacted a range of efforts to combat violence against women and girls. A new domestic violence law, a National Road Map and President George Weah’s announcement of a two million dollar national emergency fund, have done little to stop the violence. It continues right under the…
Defence Strikes Blows in Liberia War Crimes Trial
FINLAND — The defence team in the trial of Gibril Massaquoi, the former RUF commander accused of committing war crimes in Liberia, has had some wins in the concluding weeks of the trial in Tampere, Finland. Since it resumed in Finland, after three months hearing testimonies in Liberia and Sierra Leone, the trial has narrowed to…
Witnesses Tell Court Massaquoi Killed Family
By Joaquin Sendolo with New Narratives MONROVIA, Liberia – The Finnish court hearing the war crimes case against former Revolutionary United Front commander Gibril Massaquoi heard from two witnesses on Wednesday who said they saw Massaquoi murder their relatives during the Liberian civil war. The witness, now 47, detailed the crimes he said he witnessed…
Finnish Court Visits Alleged Massaquoi War Crime Sites
VOINJAMA, Lofa County – The trials of alleged war criminals taking place in the US and Europe became very real for villagers in Lofa County last week as the judge in the war crimes trial of Gibril Massaquoi in Finland arrived with prosecutors and the defense lawyer to see firsthand the scenes of atrocities alleged to…
Prosecution Alleges Gibril Massaquoi Directed Witnesses in War Crimes Trial
TAMPERE, Finland – Prosecutors in the war crimes trial of Gibril Massaquoi alleged Friday that the defendant tried to influence witnesses in the case. State Prosecutor Tom Laitinen told presiding judge Juhani Paiho that a cleaner at the prison where Massaquoi was being held in pretrial detention found handwritten notes in the restroom of the…
Finland Begins Hearing of Sierra Leonean Accused of War Crimes in Liberia
TAMPERE, Finland – The trial of Gibril Massaquoi, a Sierra Leonean former rebel commander accused of committing war crimes in Liberia, began on Wednesday in the Finnish city of Tampere. By Saila Huusko, with New Narratives Massaquoi, 51, entered the Pirkanmaa District Court shortly after 10 am local time, wearing a gray pinstripe suit and a face…