Liberia: Democracy in Focus

Just days before the election we look at candidates plans on a range of issues.  First up: agriculture. Also, as drug addiction takes more Liberian lives we look at candidates’ plans to stem the crisis and ask users what they need. One of two women running for president, Sara Beslow Nyanti shares her plans to build Liberia. And we hear from two visually impaired people who have defied their condit...

First-time voters overwhelmingly back a war crimes court in a survey…calling it “very important” in deciding their vote.  One of two presidential candidates to back a war crimes court is Alexander Cummings. We talk with him about his plans for Liberia. A new law meant to curb Liberia’s high rate of unsafe abortions has outraged opponents. But the government is standing firm.  And… 20 years since t...

No Liberian has had the global business success of Alexander Cummings. The 67 year-old candidate for the presidency went from humble beginnings in Monrovia to the heights of global business as a top executive at Coca-Cola. He says that makes him well equipped to fix Liberia's broken economy. But will Liberian voters be convinced? Front Page Africa's Gerald Koinyeneh and New Narratives&ap...

Coming up in this episode .. More people die on Liberia’s roads as a percentage of population than almost anywhere else in the world according to the World Bank. Why then did the Weah government kill a $US50m agency meant to make roads safer? Critics point to an allegedly illegal contract to a Weah ally. Political parties ignore their own commitment to field women in 30 percent of seats. Liberia’s...

Looking at Liberia’s newsmedia, one might think that no one lives outside the capital, Monrovia. We devote this episode to bringing some of rural Liberia's most pressing issues to light.   We visit a maternity clinic where giving birth means risking death. Six years since the land rights act just 16 communities have received land title.  Experts say its time to go back to the drawing board. ...

A six-month investigation looks at the failure of a three-million-dollar EU-funded project meant to solve Liberia’s trash crisis. War crimes court campaigner Adama Dempster has returned from meetings in the us with key officials in the American government. We get the latest. We check in with victims’ advocate Hassan Billity on the latest developments in war crimes trials in the us and Europe.  And...

Coming up in this episode… as corruption plagues the Weah government we talk to whistleblowers who say they’re paying a heavy price.  We look at the economic turmoil threatening political instability across the region. At the same time the government back tracks on claims it’s reduced poverty. World bank data shows things are getting worse.  The government loses its first case in the trafficking r...

Over the last four months ago, we’ve been reporting about the trafficking of more than 350 Liberian women to the Middle Eastern country of Oman.   A network of traffickers including Liberians and Omanis deceived the women into believing they were going for good jobs that would change their families lives. Instead they were trapped in a scam that had them working as domestic servants in hellish con...

In this episode: Two months since police seized a container of weapons imported into the county that raised alarms about a potential coup we have the latest on the investigation. The government claims it has reduced the number of people without access to toilets. World bank data says otherwise.  An international arrest warrant is in the works for the man who masterminded the trafficking of 350 Lib...

In this episode .. Seven years since us-based Bridge International Academies arrived in Liberia to overhaul schools, experts, teachers and parents say it’s time to end the experiment. After scores of children were killed by tainted imported medicines in The Gambia, what is being done to protect Liberians?  A Liberian security agent becomes the first government official convicted of human trafficki...

In this episode, as many as 350 Liberian women were trafficked to the Middle East with promises of jobs and a chance to study.  Instead they found themselves in a human trafficking scam. But the women broke free from the trap that had caught millions before them. A year on more than half are home.  The government has launched a major new push to crack down on traffickers.  Two years since the myst...

In this episode... Another gathering of global leaders fails to make commitments experts say will head off climate catastrophe. We report from COP27 in Egypt. But while there was no new agreement to limit greenhouse gas emissions there was one win for poor countries like our own. As climate change hits food production we look at efforts to secure Liberia's food sources.   Support the show Fun...

The latest warlord to face justice for crimes in Liberia's civil wars goes on trial. We report from the court in Paris. In Lofa County where he is alleged to have committed most of his crimes people say they are grateful to see justice at last. And the US Ambassador for War Crimes visits Liberia promising funding for a war crimes court. Truth and Reconciliation Commissioner John Stewart tells...

ANOTHER BILL TO BAN FEMALE GENITAL CUTTING REACHES THE LEGISLATURE BUT DOES IT HAVE ANY CHANCE OF PASSING? THE LATEST WARLORD TO FACE JUSTICE, KUNTI KAMARA OF ULIMO, GOES ON TRIAL IN PARIS THIS MONTH. WE HEAR FROM VICTIMS OF ULIMO IN LOFA. IN RIVER CESS OUR INVESTIGATION FINDS ONE LOGGING COMPANY HAS SHIPPED THREE MILLION DOLLARS OF TIMBER WHILE TELLING THE COMMUNITY THEY HAVE SHIPPED NOTHING AND...

Nearly two decades since the end of the civil wars Liberia's children are still suffering. 2022 is on track to see one of the highest numbers of reported rape cases in the last five years. The vast majority of victims are under 18. Reporter Evelyn Kpadeh Seagbeh looks at why rape continues.  In River Cess County, reporter Eric Opa Doue finds children struggling to get an education. He visits...