Esi Ashun knew a time would surely come that she would have severe vision problems. She had seen it happen to her mother, who is now bedridden and blind, and her late neighbour. Both women had made their livings from fish smoking here on Ghana’s coast. But Esi didn’t expect to lose her sight so…
Success Stories
Blind Women Defy Disabilities to Become Entrepreneurs
Blindness is one of the many tragedies that Liberians suffer at higher rates than people in other countries because of limited medical care. As many 22,000 Liberians suffer from impaired vision….
Presidential Candidate Tiawan Gongloe Promises to Sweep Corruption from Liberia, But Can He Win Over Voters?
Counsellor Tiawan Saye Gongloe, a veteran statesman and human rights lawyer, is one of few of the 20 presidential candidates in next week’s election with a detailed plan to fix Liberia’s problems….
At 78, Boakai Claims Age Makes Him the Best President. Critics Say He’s Too Old and Alliance with Johnson Will Hurt Liberia
With just weeks to the presidential election, pundits say Joseph Boakai, standard-bearer of the Unity Party (UP), presents a serious threat to George Weah, the incumbent president. …
As Instability Sweeps, West African Leaders Plead With Liberian Party Chiefs to Stop Inflammatory Comments
A series of violent incidents by political partisans, and inflammatory comments from party leaders, has Liberians on edge in the runup to next month’s presidential and legislative elections….
Nimba First-Time Voters Say Education Most Important Issue in Choosing President, in Survey
They’re a big group of new voters, in the country’s second-largest county. First-time voters in Nimba will have a major impact in next month’s election so there is a lot of interest in how they will vote. …
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. …
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….
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. …
The EU’s Failed US$3M Bid to Fix Monrovia’s Trash Crisis – part one
In this two-part investigation, Anthony Stephens and Tina S. Menhpaine report with New Narratives on a US$3 million European Union project that was meant to solve Monrovia’s trash crisis….
“Hacks and Hackers: Liberia” – Digital Transformation Workshop for Media and Technologists
Liberia’s media institutions received a major boost when the Swedish Embassy in Monrovia funded a digital revenue workshop with regional pioneers Premium Times aimed at helping media learn to raise independent revenue from online sources and donors. The “Hack and Hackers” Digital Transformation for Newsroom training provided Liberian media and technologists the opportunity to learn and conceive new and innovative products to generate revenue. …
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…
How the Government Silenced Accountability in Runup to Election
Three months after the government raced an act through the Legislature overhauling the Liberia Anti-Corruption Commission, Liberia’s independent corruption watchdog has almost ceased functioning, all but ending scrutiny of government corruption in the runup to next year’s election. A source inside the Commission, who requested anonymity for fear of losing their job, said prosecutions have…
One Year Since President Weah Declared Rape a National Emergency Activists Say Nothing Has Changed
President Weah promised to set up a special committee to look into sexual and gender-based crimes. He promised a special prosecutor to handle rape cases, a national sex offender registry, and a national security task force to handle sexual and gender-based violence. The president said he had allocated $US2m in emergency funding to the problem.
But a year on, nothing has been heard of the committee or government plans to address the problem. Activists are bitterly disappointed….