Vol 53 No 12 | LIBERIASIERRA LEONE Warning to future Taylors 8th June 2012 Most people implicated in the warlord president’s crimes have escaped justice but his sentence will still deter others Trial Chamber II of the United Nations-backed Special Court for Sierra Leone on 30 May sentenced Charles Ghankay Taylor to 50 years in prison for his central role...
Vol 53 No 8 | LIBERIA Keeping it in the family 13th April 2012 The President rejects charges of nepotism after appointing her eldest son to head the state oil company Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf has unleashed a storm of controversy by appointing three of her sons and a nephew to important jobs in government. Most attention centred on her eldest...
Vol 53 No 5 | LIBERIA Timis drills deep 2nd March 2012 Controversial British-based mining entrepreneur Frank Timis’s African Petroleum Corporation announced a ‘significant’ oil find off the Liberian coast on 21 February.
Vol 53 No 4 | LIBERIA Ellen's green cred 17th February 2012 President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf is taking action on her green credentials after featuring in a New York Times piece headlined ‘A Nobel Laureate’s Problem at Home’. The op-ed accused...
Vol 53 No 3 | LIBERIA A low-key second term 3rd February 2012 The President promises an inclusive government to foster national unity and prevent unrest President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf has lowered the political temperature, preaching political reconciliation and pledging strong commitment to the nation’s youth after a worthy but uninspiring inauguration ceremony and...
Vol 5 (AAC) No 5 | LIBERIAJAPANBRIEFING Boardroom row over Tokyo’s oil grant 28th February 2012 A war of words has broken out between Negbalee Warner, Chairman of the Liberia Petroleum Refining Company, and his Managing Director, T. Nelson Williams. At issue is a US$25 million...
Vol 52 No 23 | LIBERIA New challenges after messy elections 18th November 2011 The President won easily but the damage to her authority and to political stability will need careful repair The Congress for Democratic Change presidential candidate Wilson A. Tubman had already decided to boycott the presidential run-off when police shot dead four of his supporters on 7...
Vol 52 No 22 | LIBERIA Brinkmanship at the ballot 4th November 2011 Tubman’s conditions for standing in the second round of the presidential caused alarm Threats by Wilson A. Tubman and his Congress for Democratic Change to boycott the second round of the presidential election on 8 November were unresolved as Africa Confidential...
Vol 52 No 20 | LIBERIA Ellen wants first-round win 7th October 2011 The President must take over 50% of the vote in the first round to avoid a far more difficult contest in the second The battle for the soul of Africa’s oldest republic is raging, with a war of words and dirty tricks between the governing Unity Party (UP) and the other...
Vol 52 No 15 | LIBERIA Honesty – not the easiest policy 22nd July 2011 As elections near, politicians in the President’s party are undermining her efforts to clean up government More than any previous leader in Liberia, President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf has worked to break the grip of corruption on business and politics. She has pressed multinational mining...