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….
election
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….
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….
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 Liberian Government has Silenced Accountability in Runup to Elections
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. As Varney Dukuly reports for Okay FM a source inside the Commission, who requested anonymity for fear…
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…
Will Liberia’s Women Support “Ma Ellen” again?
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…
The Morning After Is Only the Beginning
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…
Nobel Peace Prize winner Johnson Sirleaf runs for re-election
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…
Despite Stiff Opposition to 2nd Term Bid, Sirleaf Vows To ‘Do it Again’
Standing on a makeshift stage hooked on to two trucks at the jam-packed Antoinette Tubman Stadium in Monrovia, Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf seems assured by the crowd assembled for her party’s launch that she will win a second term. “Ellen’s got the Mansion Key,” she sings amid cheers from her supporters. Johnson Sirleaf is…
In Run-Up to Election, Women’s Views Diverge on Liberia’s First Female President
INTRO: 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….
Return to Conflict? Upcoming Elections Threaten Post-War Liberia’s Security
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….
UN Prepares for Violence in Liberia’s poll
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….
She Na Fini Yet ‘O: Why Ellen Is the Only Choice on October 11
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…
‘No Vote For Ellen In Nimba’: Candidate Prince Johnson Claims Referendum Victory
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…
In Run-Up to Election, Women Debate Record of Liberia’s First Female President
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. …
Women lifted Ma Ellen to president in 2005. Will they do it again?
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…