Category Archives: Liberia

School in Paynesville, Greater Monrovia, expels Kindergarten pupil for alleged witchcraft

Posted on 20 March 2021 by Dr. Fred P.M. van der Kraaij

The following is a heartbreaking story. One of Liberia’s leading newspapers, the Daily Observer, on March 18, 2021 published an article, entitled ‘School Expels K-1 Pupil for Alleged Witchcraft’. To read the article click here. I was baffled. The administration … Continue reading →

Posted in Liberia | Leave a comment

The USA in the 19th century: a far from homogeneous country

Posted on 4 December 2020 by Dr. Fred P.M. van der Kraaij

It’s the year 1839. In the southern states of the United States of America (the ‘slave states’) hundreds of thousands of black people are kept in bondage. On slave markets in these southern states human beings are sold as slaves, … Continue reading →

Posted in 1807, 1822, 1839, 1861, 1865, abolitionist, ACS, Africa, African-Americans, American Colonization Society, Anti-Slavery Society, Bassa Cove, colonization, Commonwealth of Liberia, discrimination, emigration, free-born, freed slaves, Liberia, Louisiana, Maryland, Mason-Dixon Line, Mississippi, Mississippi in Africa, Pennsylvania, repatriates, reward, runaway, slaves, United States, United States of America, Washington DC, WASP, West Africa | Leave a comment

Liberia at 172 – Happy July 26 to you all!

Posted on 26 July 2019 by Dr. Fred P.M. van der Kraaij

 

Posted in 'July 26', Liberia | Leave a comment

The Kouwenhoven extradition case: the umpteenth postponement. Why?

Posted on 16 April 2019 by Dr. Fred P.M. van der Kraaij

On April 12, 2019 the Magistrate’s Court in Cape Town again postponed the case. It was the umpteenth postponement. I nearly lost track of the previous delays. The Dutch authorities want Guus Kouwenhoven back in the Netherlands. In April 2017 a Dutch … Continue reading →

Posted in Charles Taylor, Emmanuel Shaw, George Weah, Guinea, Guus Kouwenhoven, Justice, Kouwenhoven, Liberia, rule of law, Sierra Leone, South Africa, war crimes | Leave a comment

A trip back in history: the United States, 1851

Posted on 28 February 2019 by Dr. Fred P.M. van der Kraaij

Arrest of a fugitive slave Browsing through old American newspapers searching for articles on the newly created republic of Liberia (1847), I read with a shock a headline that gave me goose pimples. “Arrest of Another Fugitive Slave” I read … Continue reading →

Posted in 1847, 1851, 1863, Abraham Lincoln, Afro-Americans, Barnet Anderson, civil rights, Columbia, discrimination, Emancipation Proclamation, fugitive slave, John Bolding, Liberia, New York, Poughkeepsie, racism, runaway slave, slavery, South Carolina, The New York Herald, United States | Leave a comment

Liberia’s rich biodiversity of flora and fauna

Posted on 24 October 2018 by Dr. Fred P.M. van der Kraaij

The other day I was preparing a powerpoint presentation on Liberia for a group of people interested in this country, but hardly familiar with it. For this purpose I was doing some research on Liberia’s flora and fauna and I … Continue reading →

Posted in 'Birds of Liberia', avifauna, bee-warbler, biodiversity, butterflies, butterfly, Choeropsis liberiensis, climate, fauna, fish, flora, Friedhelm Weick, Guinea, Hexaprotodon liberiensis, Ivory Coast, Liberia, mammals, Martin Woodcock, Monrovia, moths, ornithological paradise, pygmy hippo, pygmy hippopotamus, rainfall, rainforest, Sapo National Park, Sierra Leone, snake, snakes, tropical rainforest, West Africa, Wulf Gatter, www.telegraph.co.uk | Leave a comment

The importance of George Weah’s election victory

Posted on 21 March 2018 by Dr. Fred P.M. van der Kraaij

January 22, 2018 was a historic day for Liberia. On that day, George Manneh Weah was inaugurated as Liberia’s 25th president, the country’s first democratically elected indigenous president since the creation of the republic, 170 years ago! Yes sure, Africa’s … Continue reading →

Posted in 1847, 1980, 1980 coup, 2017 presidential elections, 2018, 24th Liberian President, 25th Liberian president, Accra Comprehensive Peace Accord, ACS, African-American presidents, African-Americans, Afro-Americans, American Colonization Society, Americo-Liberian presidents, Americo-Liberians, April 12 1980, Charles Gyude Bryant, Charles Taylor, civil society organizations, Civil War(s) Liberia, Comprehensive Peace Agreement CPA 2003, decolonization, democratically elected indigenous president, elections, elections fraud, Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, freed slaves, George Manneh Weah, George Weah, Gio, Gola, Grebo, indigenous presidents of Liberia, international soccer star, Jackson F. Doe, Krahn, Kru, Liberia, Liberia Colony, Liberian Action Party, Liberian History, military coup, Moses Blah, People's Redemption Council, PRC, President Hilary Richard Wright Johnson, Samuel Kanyon Doe, vote rigging | Leave a comment

‘Tribute to a fallen friend Stephen Byron Tarr, 1943 – 2017’

Posted on 4 November 2017 by Dr. Fred P.M. van der Kraaij

On October 7 an eminent scholar, an outspoken politician, but above all a dear friend, Dr. Stephen Byron Tarr, died after a prolonged illness in St. Joseph’s Catholic Hospital in Monrovia. Dr. Byron Tarr was one of Liberia’s brightest economists. … Continue reading →

Posted in 1943, 1972, 1974, 1977, 1980, 1986 Constitution, 2017, Africa Capacity Building Foundation, African Development Bank, African Union, Aimee Zeoweh Tarr, Amos Sawyer, April 12 1980, Byron Tarr, Center for Policy Studies/CERPS, Daily Observer, elections, elections fraud, Elections in Liberia, Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, Elwood Dunn, European Union, Famous Liberians, Grand Bassa County, Harry Greaves, IGNU, Jackson F. Doe, John T. Woods, Kenneth Best, LAP, Liberia, Liberia Action Party, Liberia: A National Polity in Transition, Liberian Action Party, Liberian History, military coup, Minister of Finance, Minister of Planning and Economic Affairs, Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ministry of Planning and Economic Affairs, Monrovia, Nah Doe Patrick Bropleh, National Constitution Commission, Phillip Tarr, PRC, Samuel Kanyon Doe, Sewanee University, Seymour Bruce Tarr, St. Joseph's Catholic Hospital Monrovia, Stanley Byron Tarr, Steve Tolbert, The Perspective, Tuan Wreh, United Nations Development Program, United States Agency for International Development, Vision 2030, vote rigging, William R. Tolbert Jr., World Bank, Zondo village | Leave a comment

A ‘Kru ring’ found in a thrift shop in the Netherlands

Posted on 18 October 2017 by Dr. Fred P.M. van der Kraaij

An extraordinary find Last week I received a letter from a fellow-Dutchman who lives in a remote region of the Netherlands. He wrote me that he had found a strange object in a local thrift shop. Attracted by its shape, … Continue reading →

Posted in 'Dwin', 'Holland', 'tien', Arnoldus G., Brabant province, Culture, Europe, Fred J, garage sale, Germany, Gods of water, Grain Coast, Grebo, Grebo rings, Groningen province, Kru, Kru rings, Kru/Grebo rings, Liberia, Liberian History, nitien, research, Scott Sheppard, shipyard, the Netherlands, thrift shop, US, water spirits, Winschoten | Leave a comment

Liberia’s 170th Independence Anniversary Calendar of Events

Posted on 20 July 2017 by Dr. Fred P.M. van der Kraaij

The following calendar of events in observance of Liberia’s 170th Independence Anniversary was originally published by FrontPage Africa, one of Liberia’s leading newspapers; click here for the original text plus background information on this year’s National Orator, Dr. Herman Browne, … Continue reading →

Posted in 'July 26', “Sustaining the Peace”, 170th Independence Anniversary, 1847, AFL, Antoinette Tubman, Ashmun, Barclay Training Center, Bentol, Brewerville, C. Cecil Dennis, Centennial Memorial Pavilion, Cuttington University, Dr. Herman Browne, Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, Executive Pavilion, FrontPageAfrica newspaper, Independence Day, Independence Day Orator, July 26, Liberia, Liberian History, Monrovia, Monrovia City Hall, Montserrado County, National Orator IndependenceDay, Nigeria, Olusegun Obasanjo, Paynesville, Samuel Kanyon Doe, University of Liberia | Leave a comment