The Physically Challenged Candidate Running For Office
Our coverage of election-related activities is not only about presidential candidates. We are also spotlighting representative candidates and their platforms for their constituents. …
Liberia
Candidate Wants To Boost Representation Of Liberia’s Million People With Disabilities
If resilience were all that was needed to win election, Samuel Dean would win in a landslide. The 45-year-old, who is contesting the Montserrado County District #8 seat against sitting representative Acarous Moses Gray, has had an extraordinary journey—escaping wartime Liberia as a teenager, being shot by police in New York City and, finally, using his payout to help hundreds of Liberians with disabilities….
Liberia’s First-time Voters Overwhelmingly Back a War Crimes Court Survey Finds
As Liberia commemorates 20 years since the end of the civil conflict that left devastated the country and left 250,000 people dead, a survey of first-time voters conducted in two of the country’s biggest counties found overwhelming support for a court….
In Liberia Drug Addiction Is Becoming A Major Problem. Here’s What Presidential Candidates Plan to Do About It
Drug abuse is a growing problem in Liberia. There is no reliable data on user numbers but one study, by the United Nations Population Fund, found a staggering one in five Liberian youth take narcotics. …
As Drug Addiction Reaches a Crisis Liberia’s Presidential Candidates Promise Tough Remedies
In 2012 Cecelia’s life fell apart. Struggling to take care of nine children after the sudden death of her husband, she turned to her oldest son, then in his early 20s, for help. But he was lost to the family, a year into a drug addiction that was destroying his life….
Liberia: Presidential Candidate Cummings’ Business Experience is Unrivaled but is it Enough to Win Over Voters?
Alexander Cummings, a former Coca-Cola executive, touts his global business acumen as crucial for Liberia’s economic revival in the upcoming presidential race, facing incumbent President George Weah and others….
Survey Finds One in Three Liberians Do Not Trust the Biometric Voter Registration System for October’s Elections
A survey by New Narratives reveals deep mistrust among Liberian voters towards the new Biometric Voter Registration system, marred by glitches and double registrations, ahead of October’s manual voting….
Liberia: Trafficking Victims Await Restitutions, as Ex-NSA Agent Appeals 25-Year Sentence, Another Trial Indefinitely Suspended, Amid Drama Over Lack of Lawyer for Defendant
Victims of Arthur Chan-Chan’s trafficking have not received court-ordered restitutions, while the Liberian government, despite denials, faces criticism for failing to provide for the survivors’ welfare….
Liberia’s Traffic Deaths Among the Highest in the World, So Why Did the Government Halt a $50m Facility Meant to Make Roads Safer?
Liberia’s traffic tragedy claims lives like Lucky’s, highlighting the nation’s alarming road fatality rate, as vehicles with defects continue to operate without proper checks from a ready but unused traffic management facility….
In Rural Liberia, Where Police Lack Cars Or Equipment, Criminals Rule
Residents of Grand Bassa County say they are living in fear as a state of lawlessness takes over the county. Police – with no vehicles, fuel or other resources – say they are powerless to enforce the law. As a result, serious crimes are going on with no effort to arrest perpetrators….
Liberia: As Funding For Prisons Drops 85 Percent Under Weah Government Endless Pre-Trial Detentions Are Devastating Lives
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….
President’s School Chairs Arrive In Rural Schools, But There Aren’t Nearly Enough
In Buchanan’s overcrowded Four Houses Public School, kindergarteners like 7-year-old Sarah struggle to learn while seated on the floor, amidst dire shortages of chairs, tables, and a deteriorating classroom structure….
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….
Political Parties Ignore 30 Percent Women Commitment Saying Women Aren’t Ready
MONROVIA, Liberia—With less than three months until vital presidential and legislative elections, Liberia’s political parties have defied their own commitments to fill 30 percent of their candidate ranks with women….
Government Says It Has Cut Poverty but the World Bank Says It’s Rising.
When he took office in 2018 President George Weah promised his government would lift one million Liberians out of poverty by the end of his six year term. Half Liberia’s five million people live below in the poverty line. In January the Weah government declared a victory that surprised many people: it claimed to have…
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….
Communities Drowning in Trash Furious Over Failed US$3M Waste Management Project – Part Two
In part two of this two-part investigation Anthony Stephens and Tina S. Menhpaine report with New Narratives on the obstacles that doomed a $3m EU-funded waste management project….
Breaking the Chains – After Being Trafficked to Oman a Group of Liberian Women Decided to Take Matters into Their Own Hands
Esther thought she was boarding a flight that would take her to a lucrative job in Dubai. Instead, she landed in Muscat, Oman, where she was beaten and sold into modern-day slavery. This is the incredible story of how Esther, and hundreds of other Liberian women, worked together to free themselves from human trafficking syndicates. …
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. As of July 11, 2021, the National Public Health Institute of…