Bong County, Liberia: missing child sparks fear and anger

It may be qualified as normal that parents are worried when one of their childen is missing and it’s also quite normal when neighbors and relatives share in these emotions and help in searching for the missing child. In Bong County, residents took to the streets and even stormed the police headquarters on February 5 after a 9-year old boy, little Moses Vesselee, was reported missing the previous day.

A community leader expressed the generally felt fear that the situation might be caused by a ritualistic killing. After all, in Bong County ritualistic killings are no exception.

In recent years several murders for ostensibly ritual purposes have been reported, mutilated bodies of victims (often young children) have been found. In 2017, a year when presidential and general elections were held, there were demonstrations in this vote-rich county against the reported surge in ritualistic killings.

On February 8, the body of little Moses Vesselee, commonly known Kuwai, was found in an open pit. The coroner concluded that the little boy had died from drowning, hence no ‘foul play’.

Be that as it may – and let’s hope the coroner’s conclusions are warranted and there was indeed no foul play – the incident shows once more the persistent problem of ritualistic killing in this West African country. The reader is reminded of Dr. Alan White’s testimony before the US Congress, in 2023. In his testimony, Dr. White, the former Chief Investigator of the Special Court for Sierra Leone, elaborated on the phenomenon of ritualistic murders in Liberia, and he linked the Weah Administration – replaced in January 2024 – to extrajudicial, ritualistic killings (see below for details).

Concluding, the anger and frustration of the Bong County residents who stormed the police headquarters may thus have become clear. Let’s hope that there is never again reason to reproach the police a slow response or lack of action, and let’s hope that no more ritualistic murders will take place.

Only the future will tell if this hope is justified.

Warning: the articles presented below contain graphic contents and pictures which may upset readers (FVDK).

Bong County: 9-year-old boy goes missing – residents storm Police’s HQs for speedy investigation

Published: February 8, 2024
By: J. Peter S. Dennis – News Public Trust, Liberia

GBARNGA, Liberia- Angry residents of Rubber Factory Community on have stormed the Headquarters of the Liberia National Police Bong County Detachment to intervene in the search of a missing nine-year-old child some 198 kilometers from Monrovia.

According to the furious citizens in this central city, Little Moses Vesselee commonly known as Kuwai, went missing during the afternoon hours of Sunday, February 4, 2024.

He and his parents including Church members had gone to dig sand at the bank of Jor River in Gbarnga. The Jor River is noted for its illegal and unregulated sand mining activities in Bong County.

Speaking on behalf of the angry citizens, Mr. Adolphus Kpana, the community leader and a resident, Clarence Sally, expressed fear that any delay in the search of Little Kuwai Vesselee might lead to an undesirable situation while reflecting on several reported ritualistic killings of minors in Bong County (italics and bold letter type added by the webmaster FVDK).

“We want you join us to look for the child. We’re against this act. We want our son,” they said.

“Any action of us not finding our son, the citizens will inspect every car leading to and fro Monrovia. We will not take this likely” they warned.

The Rubber Factory Community residents openly petitioned the Liberia National Police Bong County Detachment through its Assistant Commissioner of Police, Fasu V. Sherriff to investigate and intervene towards the search of the mysterious disappearance of the 9-yr-old boy.

The concerned citizens were seen with placards saying:  “Please stop the ritualistic killing in Bong; We want our son to be freed; the killing must stop, release our son.” (italics and bold letter type added by the webmaster FVDK).

In remarks, Sherriff said he and his men have instituted all security measures since they obtained information regarding the disappearance of little Moses Vesselee and expressed hope of finding the child alive.

He however, called on residents of Rubber Factory community to assist the police with vital information in the discharge of their investigation.

“We started since this morning looking for the boy as soon as we got the tipoff. We are sharing the information with our colleagues to find the boy alive. We want you to provide additional information to do our work. We need your cooperation,” Sheriff said.

Investigation into circumstances surrounding the child’s mysterious disappearance continues.

Source: In Bong: 9-Year-Old Boy Goes Missing, As Residents Storm Police’s HQs For Speedy Investigation

After four days the missing 9-year old boy was found dead:

Liberia: Missing Child, Moses, Found Dead in Sand Mining Deposit in Gbarnga
As  Police in Gbarnga say, an investigation is continuing into the mysterious  death of the little child

The late Moses T.K. Vesselee, age 9, was found dead in a sand mining deposit, 5ft 10 inches deep, with bruises on his head and his skin peeling.

Published: February 8, 2024
By: Patrick S. Tokpah – Daily Observer, Liberia

After being missing for four days, 9-year-old Moses T.K. Vesselee was discovered dead in Rubber Factory Community in Gbarnga, Bong County.

Popularly known in the community as Kuwai, Little Moses’ corpse was discovered on February 7, 2024, near the Jor River in the Rubber Factory Community, Gbarnga City. The 9-year-old boy’s remains were discovered in a sand mining deposit, about 5ft 10 inches deep, with bruises on his head while the outer layer of his skin was peeled or removed.

The deceased went missing on Sunday, February 4, 2024, at about 3:00 pm when he and his parents, along with other church members, had all gone to mine sand along the Jor River in the community.

Residents of the community in Gbarnga, Bong County, on February 5, 2024, stormed the headquarters of the Liberia National Police Bong County Detachment to intervene in the search for a missing nine-year-old child.

They expressed fear that delays in the search of the boy might lead to an undesirable situation reflective of circumstances involving the killings of other children in the county without the alleged perpetrators being brought to book.

Meanwhile, upon the discovery of Kuwai’s body on Wednesday, a 15-man jury constituted by the LNP Bong County CSD Department examined the body and reported “no foul” played, thereby instructing family members of the victim to immediately interrogate his remains. The coroner jury report further revealed that Little Vesselee died from drowning.

Furthermore, family members of the late Moses T.K. Vesselee, in a remorseful mood, concurred with the jury’s report but scapegoated police officers in the county over their delay in investigating the whereabouts of their 9-year-old son. 

Moreover, Police in Gbarnga say an investigation is continuing into the mysterious  death of the little child 

Prior to his death, Moses was a 5th-grade student at Community House Elementary and Junior High School, located in the Rubber Factory community of Gbarnga.

Source: Liberia: Missing Child, Moses, Found Dead in Sand Mining Deposit in Gbarnga

Some of the recent ritual murder cases in Bong County:

2015:

Girl, 11 found dead with missing body parts
Date: January 22, 2015
Published by: The New Dawn, Liberia

The decomposed body of an 11-year-old girl, who went missing in the Frank Joe Community in Gbarnga, Bong County has been found with several body parts allegedly extracted.

Sunday afternoon, 18 January, 2015 was a scene of grief and consternation in Gbarnga  as the minor’s  corpse was discovered along the bank of the Jor River in the central Liberia provincial capital.

Little Dailey Gbapue’s body parts, including vagina, ears, and nose were all reported missing when the body was discovered.

A relative of the deceased, Salome Gbapue, narrated that the little girl was sent by a neighbor of the community last week Wednesday afternoon, 14 January to go and buy something, but never return only to discover her dead body four days later with body parts reportedly missing.

She continued that they had to bury the little girl by the river bank because the body was almost decayed.

Miss Gbapue said a man only identified as Oldman had informed her that he knew the whereabouts of little Dailey Gbapue and she asked him to led her to the location, which he failed to do.

She said police have since arrested and detained Oldman and the female community resident, who sent the deceased on the errand.

Police in Bong County have confirmed the arrest and launched an intensive investigation into the incident.

Many residents are linking the death of little Dailey Gbapue to ‘heart man’ or ritualistic activities. Though dead bodies had been discovered in Gbarnga, especially in the Jor River in recent years, were no reports of body parts missing.

Bong County residents have called on police in the county to launch thorough investigation into the matter and bring the perpetrator to justice.

The death of little Dailey Gbapue has created fear in several quarters in the county with some expressing that this might be a return of ritualistic killings for power.

Source: Girl, 11 found dead with missing body parts

And in 2016 it was reported:

3-yr-old missing child found dead with several body parts missing
Published: February 23, 2016
By: Ramsey N. Singbeh, Jr. in Margibi-Edited by Jonathan Browne – The New Dawn, Liberia

Mr. Jackson father of missing boy, A three-year-old boy has been
mysteriously found dead in Kpatolee Clan, Salala District, lower Bong County.

The late Jacob Jackson was found dead on Thursday, February 18, 2016 with several parts extracted from his body after he had gone missing on 11 February in his parents’ garden. His lifeless body was discovered in a little water called Nanei about five minutes’ walk from his parents’ garden in a swamp.

Among parts that were missing from the lad’s body include eyes, nose, tongue and esophagus as well as his penis. Speaking to reporters on Saturday, February 20, the secretary of a 15-member jury only identified as Morris, explained the body was found lying on its back, completely naked with skin on forehead removed.

Morris also narrated they saw the area where the body was forcibly pushed and dragged into the water, but said no one has been linked to the gruesome death of little Jacob Jackson. He accused authorities of Kpatolee Clan of denying family of the deceased and community residents the opportunity to search houses in the area because news had earlier come that the boy was still alive in one of the houses in the community.

He said authorities of the clan prevented youth, including himself from erecting road block to draw the attention of central government. Morris recalled that on 14 February two strange guys were arrested with some drugs and turned over to the local authorities, but the suspects claimed they were in search of a local herb called country spot.

He said the guys were arrested with blade, toothbrush and flashlight in the same surrounding where the late Jacob went missing. “Of the two men, one claimed to have come from Kakata while the other said he came from Salala.”

He said they were immediately arrested and turned over to the police in Salala and subsequently sent to jail, but wants the suspects brought to justice. One resident of Salala who spoke on anonymity, said the child went missing in an area where his father was present and working the very day, but was reluctant to carry out a search despite pressure from his wife.

However, the boy’s mother continuously cried on him to help her find the child, and without getting his cooperation, reported the matter to residents of the town who compared him to stop work and join his wife to look for their son.

Mr. Jackson refused to speak to the press on the mysterious death of his son.

Source: 3-yr-old missing child found dead

2017 was an election year. In Liberia an election year often means an increase in ritualistic killings.

In August 2017, Bong County citizens took to the streets to protest against the reported surge in ritualistic murders. A leading Liberian newspaper, FrontPage Africa, published an alarming article on this citizens’ protest, Vote-Rich Liberian County Protests Election Year Ritualistic Killings’ which I posted.

Bong County citizens protest against ritualistic killings.

On October 15, 2021 the Liberia National Police gave a press briefing on the ritualistic killing in Bong County (and other national issues) which can be downloaded on YouTube, see below.

Screenshot. To watch the Liberia National Police Press Briefing on the Ritualist act in Bong County and other National Issues, please click here

The immediate reason for this press conference was the discovery of the mutilated body of a 21-year old woman in Gbarnga, Bong County’s capital. I posted this report, published by FrontPage Africa, a week later, on October 22, 2021 as ‘Liberia – another ritualistic murder: missing young woman found dead, body parts extracted‘.

Front Page Africa, October 15, 2021 reporting on the murder of a 21-year woman for ritualistic purposes.

The preceding overview does not pretend to be complete. Its main purpose is to demonstrate that the anger and fear of the residents of Bong County after 9-year old Kuwai Vesselee got missing was warranted.

For briefness sake I will refer here to Dr. Alan White’s testimony before the US Senate on ritual murders and mysterious disappearances in Liberia on September 19, 2023, linking the Weah Administration to extrajudicial, ritualistic killings. Dr. White is the Chief Investigator of the Special Court for Sierra Leone (SCSL) .

A Liberian shares his sad experience with his tribe’s secret society risking the death penalty

The existence of secret societies in Liberia is no news. It is rare, however, that people openly talk about secret societies. Everyone knows in Liberia that talking ‘too much’ about secret societies, their members or the incidents happening carries the death penalty.

For this reason the following story is interesting. While reading the article one is tempted to take Alexander Tarley’s confession with a grain of salt since his story also raises a number of questions. Moreover, the text is not always clear due to typos or the author’s mastery of the English language. Nonetheless I’ve decided to include his testimony about secret societies and their power in Liberia as it demonstrates the existence and power of traditional beliefs in this West African country, still in the third millennium.

It is not known to which secret society the speaker refers, but he mentions a Putu village named Jarwodee (presumably a village in the Putu Range, in Grand Gedeh) which makes it likely that his family is Krahn.

From other sources we learn more – though not everything – about the village of Jarwodee, the Putu Range (rich in iron ore, unexploited), the Krahn people (highly recommended source of information!) and Grand Gedeh County.

In this remote part of eastern Liberia traditional life and the modern world meet, but many mysteries and secrets including secret societies remain.

Put mountains, Grand Gedeh County, Liberia

As soon as I wil lhave found out more about Alexander Tarley’s story I will report my findings here. For the time being I just want to share his story with you.
(webmaster FVDK)

A Liberian, Alexander Tarley Explains His Sad Story About ‘Secret Society’

Frontpage GNN News Liberia, January 16, 2024

Published: January 16, 2024
By: GNN, Liberia

Since my childhood, my grandfather had always said I will be the head of the secret society in my village putu Jarwodee. My grandfather was the Zoe (head of the secret society) my parents told me to avoid my grandfather whenever him come to Monrovia to visit.

When I asked my parents why my grandfather targeting me not my siblings.my dad told me it’s because I am named after my grandfather (Alexander Tarley) my grandfather would offer come to Monrovia where I grew up to get me. December 15, 2023 my grandfather died. It was a mixed feeling (happy and sad).

I was resolved that I am now safe, on December 19, 2023. The fourth day which is a traditional ritual to bury a high priest on the Fourth day after his deaf. Free from the verbal threats of killing me if I do not comply with my grandfather wish, I was happy that the consistent intimidation and physical harassment from my grandfather was over.

December 17, 2023, my family and I travel from held on Tuesday December 19, at the funeral (grave site) all the women were asked to leave.one of the women walk up to me and told me to leave immediately or else I will be initiated or killed if I refuse, fear grasp me and I came up with a escape plan. i asked the same lady to trick the Zoe’s by asking them to allow me give her water from my vehicle, they agree and allow me to walk to my vehicle.

We urgently got in the vehicle and escape from the grave site. I was terrified when that some people believed were chasing  drove excessively and a man on the bike and I screened help, the bike rider tricked those following us we took off our shirts and  droved to Buchanan.

While in Buchanan, some guys guys broke into my house and took away my money and other important items, my neighbor called my wife and told her that our house was broken into they were calling my name and making terrible statement to killed me two days later January 3, 2023 I left Liberia for Canada

Source: A Liberian, Alexander Tarley Explains His Sad Story About ‘Secret Society’

Language and ethnic groups in Liberia. Source: ‘Liberia: From the Love of Liberty to Paradise Lost‘ by Fred van der Kraaij (African Studies Centre Leiden, 2015) Available in open access.

Liberia: man narrowly escapes attempted ritualistic murder – suspected link with forthcoming elections (October 10)

Warning: the following story’s graphic content and photo may upset the reader.

One of Liberia’s best and most reliable newspapers, FrontPageAfrica, yesterday published a harrowing and scaring report on an attempted kidnapping, presumably for ritualistic purposes. It all happened in Paynesville, Greater Monrovia, Montserrado County, around 3:00 a.m. last Thursday, September 21.

When hearing or reading about alleged or attempted ritualistic murders I am always wary of the danger of jumping too soon to conclusions. But certain details of the story which the aimed victim Sherman Cooper tells us are very realistic: the black, unmarked car, a Nissan Pathfinder, the way he managed to escape from his agressors, as observed by an eyewitness, and above all his wounds, the cutting marks around his neck and another on his genitals. Moreover, and the author of the article, Lennart Dodoo, also mentions this explicitly, it is election time in Liberia: ‘Ritualistic killings during elections are not a new phenomenon in Liberia.’

Last week I put the spotlight on Dr. Alan White’s testimony before a subcommittee of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the US House of Representatives when the former Chief Investigator of the Special Court for Sierra Leone focused on the frequency of ritual murders in Liberia and the alleged link with the Weah Administration, notably the Office of the President.

It sounds unreal, in the 21st century, but we cannot close our eyes for the at times brutal reality. Investigations into real or alleged ritual killings very often fizzle out in Liberia, reportedly because of the alleged, suspected or real involvement of ‘big shots’ (politicians, high-ranking government officials or other highly-placed Liberians) – similar to investigations into alleged or real corruption.

We’ll see whether we ever hear more about this case…
(webmaster FVDK)

Liberia: Man Narrowly Escapes Attempted Ritualistic Murder; Brother Abducted by Kidnappers, Still Missing

Published: September 27, 2023
By: Lennart Dodoo – FrontPageAfrica, Liberia

MONROVIA – Saved by an act of bravery but severely wounded, Sherman Cooper, a victim of an alleged kidnapping and attempted ritualistic killing, now wonders about the whereabouts of his brother, Michael, whom the alleged kidnappers escaped with.

Sherman jumped out of the black, unmarked speeding Nissan Pathfinder, which had given him and his brother a lift from Paynesville, near the Fabulous opposite Bethesda.

FrontPageAfrica has confirmed that Sherman is currently receiving medical attention at the John F. Kennedy Memorial Medical Center’s trauma unit.

Some residents of the area and eyewitnesses say the unmarked black Nissan Pathfinder is often seen patrolling the VOA area in Paynesville.

An eyewitness who was driving behind the speeding SUV said he saw Sherman jump out of the moving vehicle. He said the kidnappers looked foreign and suspected them of being Burkinabe.

In a video seen by FrontPageAfrica, Sherman, who was stark naked and bloody, is seen with cutting marks around his neck and another on his genitals. He also sustained severe injuries on his knee, head, forehead, back, buttock, and thigh.

He is heard wailing, “I’m in pain, oh, I’m in pain, oh. Y’all help me. They carried my brother. They’re going to kill my brother. Y’all, please carry me to the hospital.”

He added, “The people put the windshield [glass] up, I fought. The passenger seat behind [extra cabin seat in the trunk] and two people were sitting behind we didn’t know. When we sat, that’s when they… I said ooh they want to kill us.”

FrontPageAfrica learned that the police and security authorities have been interrogating Sherman as the whereabouts of Michael remain unknown.

According to the eyewitness who saw Sherman jumping down from the car, he stopped his car and observed when he saw Sherman jump from the car. “He started crawling towards me, crying ‘Please help me, please help me,’” he explained.

This happened around Rehab.

According to the eyewitness, the incident occurred at about 3:30 a.m. last Thursday. In his narrative, he said Sherman and his brother were supposed to alight at Rehab, but as the vehicle approached Rehab, it increased its speed, and that’s when Sherman and his brother started fighting.

“The guys put a rope around their necks. They had two guys in the back seat, so they put a rope around their necks, and they started fighting. But he was fighting for his life, so he managed to hold on to the glass, and they tried to put the glass up, but his hands were already between the glass, so he managed to pull the glass down with strength while they were concentrating on taking off his private part, and he managed to jump through the window while they were at the junction,” the eyewitness explained.

Ritualistic killings during elections are not a new phenomenon in Liberia. In 2021, a UN human rights expert called on the government to investigate a series of killings that have occurred this year, some of which have reportedly been linked to ritualistic practices.

At least 10 people were killed in unclear circumstances in December 2021, including five in September, reportedly with suspected links to ritualistic practices or political motivations.

Last week, Dr. Alan W. White, Co-Executive Director of the Advocacy Foundation for Human Rights, delivered a compelling testimony before the Committee on Foreign Affairs, Subcommittee on Global Health, Global Human Rights, and International Organizations, addressing the pressing issue of ritualistic killings in Africa, with a particular focus on Liberia. Dr. White shed light on the Foundation’s mission to combat human rights violations, including ritualistic killings and the alarming allegations linking these acts to high-ranking government officials, including the Executive Mansion.

In his testimony, Dr. White detailed the challenges faced in gathering information and conducting investigations into ritualistic killings, emphasizing the danger faced by sources who dare to speak out against these crimes.

Dr. White’s testimony also touched upon recent cases of ritualistic killings in Liberia, such as the mysterious disappearance of three young men hired for a task in Bong County in October 2020 by the St. Moses Funeral Home. The bodies of these young men were never returned to their families, and investigations into their deaths remain unresolved, raising suspicions of involvement by influential individuals with close government ties.

“The Foundation has received disturbing information about the frequency of such killings and the allegations linking it to the Executive Mansion (The Office of the President) and other high-ranking government officials. Details of these atrocities are difficult to obtain,” he said.

He also linked the past regime to acts of ritualistic killings, saying, “The Ellen Johnson Sirleaf administration during her 12 years (2006-2018) in office was plagued with ritual killings, and despite vows to bring them to an end, they continued. The same problems continue under the Weah administration, and unlike Sirleaf, there were no insiders reporting her direct involvement with the ritual killings.”

A graphic picture showing the injuries Sherman Cooper sustained. He’s currently receiving medical attention in the trauma unit of the John F. Kennedy Memorial Medical Center

Source: Liberia: Man Narrowly Escapes Attempted Ritualistic Murder; Brother Abducted by Kidnappers, Still Missing

Liberia – counties

Dr. Alan White, Former Chief Investigator of the SCSL, on ritual abuse in Sierra Leone and Liberia, links the Weah Administration to extrajudicial, ritualistic killings

A few days ago, on September 19, an important meeting took place in the United States, in the House of Representatives to be precise. A subcommittee on global human rights, of the Commission of Foreign Affairs, held a hearing on ‘Efforts to Address Ritual Abuse and Sacrifice in Africa’.

Witnesses invited to speak were Obed Byamugisha, Program Advisor, Kyampisi Childcare Ministries, Miriam Fullah, Trafficking in Persons Protection Manager, World Hope International, Dr. Alan White, Co-Executive Director, Advocacy Foundation for Human Rights and former Chief of Investigations of the Special Court for Sierra Leone (SCSL, which sentenced former Liberian warlord and president Charles Taylor to 50 years in prison), and Josephine Aparo, Founding Member, Global Survivor Network and International Justice Mission.

At least three leading Liberian newspapers published articles on the hearing, revelations and accusations notably of Dr. Alan White, who linked immediate past and present Liberian governments to ritualistic killings. The three articles – in the Daily Observer, Front Page Africa, and The New Dawn – are reproduced below. In a separate posting I will pay attention to the testimonies of the other witnesses.

The responsibility for the reporting on Dr. Alan White’s testimony in the three Liberian newspapers rests entirely with the publishers of said newspapers. White’s testimony addresses the roles of former president Sirleaf (2006 – 2018) and president Weah (2018 – present) and he formulates his observations and conclusions carefully. The newspapers’ headings are meant to attract the attention of the readers (buyers), without nuance. Therefore and to avoid any misunderstanding about White’s statements I’ve also included the full text of his important testimony (below).

Dr. White, who – as Chief Investigator of the SCSL – has extensive knowledge of ritualistic practices and abuses which occurred in Sierra Leone during this country’s civil war (1991-2002), also referred to these atrocities in his testimony. Moreover, he said, “This practice continues today in Sierra Leone and surges during election periods where people running for office believe that sacrificing a person, mostly younger boys and girls because it is believed the younger they are, the more power they get.”

With respect to Liberia he provides more than one example of ritualistic abuse and murder. His most serious accusation addresses the previous Administration of President Sirleaf and the present Weah Administration: “The Ellen Johnson Sirleaf administration during her 12 years (2006-2018) in office was plagued with ritual killings and despite vows to bring them to an end they continued. The same problems continue under the Weah administration and unlike Sirleaf there were no insiders reporting her direct involvement with the ritual killings. However, we have received information that current administration has been linked to ritualistic killings of children. Sources advise the police are not allowed to investigate these matters or if they do, it is done superficially as to not get to close to those involved. Also, because of the high-level links to the government it is taboo to say anything about it or otherwise you could be the next victim.” 

White could hardly be more specific when stating: “The Foundation has received disturbing information about the frequency of such killings and the allegations linking it to the Executive Mansion (The Office of the President) and other high-ranking government officials. Details of these atrocities are difficult to obtain.” 

On October 10, presidential and legislative elections will be held in Liberia. Should I add more?
(webmaster FVDK).

Liberia: Alan White Accuses Weah’s Gov’t of Extrajudicial, Ritualistic Killings

…. Calls for justice for murdered auditors, three missing boys resound at U.S. Congressional hearings

Piublished: September 20, 2023
By: William Q. Harmon – Daily Observer, Liberia

Renowned human rights activist and Co-Executive Director for the Advocacy Foundation for Human Rights (AFHR), Dr. Alan White has told the United States House Subcommittee on Foreign Affairs that President George Weah and his Congress for Democratic Change (CDC) are involved in acts of extrajudicial and ritualistic killing.

Addressing the subcommittee on Global Health, Global Human Rights, and International Organizations, under the House Foreign Affairs Committee, Dr. White said that at least 10 people were killed in unclear circumstances in 2021, including five in September of that year reportedly with suspected links to ritualistic practices or political motivations.

The killings referenced by Dr. White, all of which occurred during the Weah administration, were never solved and remain fresh on the minds of Liberians as the country goes to the polls on October 10 this year, to elect a president, vice president and 88 legislators. 

On December 10, 2021, the United Nations issued a public statement –“A UN human rights expert today called on the Liberian Government to promptly investigate a series of killings that have occurred this year, some of which have reportedly been linked to ritualistic practices.” 

White told the subcommittee that his organization has received disturbing information about the frequency of such killings and the allegations linking it to the Executive Mansion (The Office of the President) and other high ranking government officials. Details of these atrocities, he said, are difficult to obtain. 

“Sources advise the police are not allowed to investigate these matters or if they do, it is done superficially as to not get too close to those involved,” White told the Subcommittee on Global Health, Global Human Rights, and International Organizations at a hearing on Tuesday, 19 September.  “Also, because of the high-level links to the government it is taboo to say anything about it or otherwise you could be the next victim.”

White called on the U.S. government and global partners for the prosecution for these heinous crimes. “The killing must stop and hope your legislation can effect change and stop this madness once and for all,” he told the subcommittee. 

White’s AFHR, a nonprofit organization, located in Washington, DC, USA, targets human rights violators, that engage in public corruption and seek justice and accountability for the victims of such atrocities. The group is also actively engaged in conducting investigations and compiling information about those individuals who are committing ritualistic killings, especially in Liberia.

In his testimony, White made specific references to the mysterious disappearance of three young men who were hired by Moses Ahossouhe, owner of the St. Moses Funeral Parlor in Monrovia, to undertake a task in Bong County; the high profile death of four auditors; as well as other mysterious deaths that took place in the country under the Weah administration. 

On October 17, 2020, Robert M. Blamo, Jr, 29, Siafa  Gbana Boimah, 34, and Bobby S. Gbeanquoi, 32, were reported drowned in a river in Fuamah District, lower Bong County, when a canoe they were allegedly riding capsized.

“The bodies of the three young men were retrieved by Ahoussouhe and never returned to the parents. He has close ties to the President and the government,” White told the committee. “And the Ministry of Justice has failed to provide an update or release the outcome of an investigative report on circumstances that led to the conclusion they drowned. Why didn’t they release the bodies to the family?” 

The aggrieved families believed that their children are being kept in a sacred place to be used for alleged ‘ritualistic purposes’. The family members sought the assistance of the international community, including the US Embassy and the United Nations.”

Three of the most recent victims were either former officials or had links to high profile former politicians, he said. “Even a recent death of some young girls involved in political campaign event held by the CDC sparked outrage by the citizens and allegations their deaths were done for ritualistic reasons,” he said while referencing the headline of a local newspaper which said: Citizens to President Weah: ‘No ritual can help you from leaving office after the elections.’ 

White noted that the Ellen Johnson Sirleaf administration during her 12 years (2006-2018) in office was plagued with ritual killings and despite vows to bring them to an end they continued. “The same problems continue under the Weah administration and, unlike Sirleaf, there were no insiders reporting her direct involvement with the ritual killings,” he said.

Over the past 20 years White has been actively engaged in seeking justice and accountability for victims of human rights violations and conducting criminal investigations of war crimes and crimes against humanity in Africa, most specifically West Africa. From July 2002-July 2005, he was detailed to the United Nations backed Special Court for Sierra Leone located in Freetown, Sierra Leone West Africa where he served as the Chief of Investigations. 

“As Chief of Investigations of the Special  Court for Sierra Leone, I directed all criminal investigations which led to numerous indictments and convictions, most notably was former Liberian President Charles Taylor who was the first sitting Head of State to be indicted and convicted for war crimes and continues to serve his 50 year prison sentence.” 

White was one of four witnesses who testified during the hearing on the theme: “Efforts to Address Ritual Abuse and Sacrifice in Africa” on Tuesday, September 19, 2023. The others were Obed Byamugisha, Program Advisor, Kyampisi Childcare Ministries; Miriam Fullah, Trafficking in Persons Protection Manager, World Hope International; and Josephine Aparo, Founding Member, Global Survivor Network and International Justice Mission. 

He applauded the work of the Subcommittee and its members, noting that his organization will continue to work on the issues. “We hope that this Hearing will shed a very bright light on a very dark issue plaguing many African countries and especially Liberia, who experienced this despicable crime against humanity during war and peace, yet it doesn’t stop,” he said. 

His testimony to the U.S. House Subcommittee is the latest deposit in a trove of numerous reports with claims of crime and corruption on the part of the Weah administration. So far, some of these claims have resulted in sanctions against three of Weah’s top lieutenants — former Minister of State for Presidential Affairs, Nathaniel McGill; former Solicitor General, Cllr. Saymah Syrenius Cephus; and former Managing Director of the National Port Authority, Bill Twehway. 

Yet, amid the U.S. sanctions, the three individuals continue to wield influence across the country — especially during the current election period, as Both McGill and Twehway are splurging cash to gain favor with voters in order to be elected to legislative office come October 10. 

Dr. White’s hope that the U.S. Congress’ “…  legislation can effect change and stop this madness once and for all,” might resonate with many Liberians at home and abroad, but the October 10 elections will be the litmus test of whether the critical mass of Liberians at home feel the same way about the state of affairs in their country.

Source: Liberia: Alan White Accuses Weah’s Gov’t of Extrajudicial, Ritualistic Killings

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Liberia: Dr. Alan White Highlights Ritualistic Killings in Liberia before U.S. House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee; Links Immediate Past and Current Government

Published: September 20, 2023
By: Lennart Dodoo – Front Page Africa, Liberia

Washington, D.C. – Dr. Alan W. White, Co-Executive Director of the Advocacy Foundation for Human Rights, delivered a compelling testimony before the Committee on Foreign Affairs, Subcommittee on Global Health, Global Human Rights, and International Organizations, addressing the pressing issue of ritualistic killings in Africa, with a particular focus on Liberia. Dr. White shed light on the Foundation’s mission to combat human rights violations, including ritualistic killings and the alarming allegations linking these acts to high-ranking government officials, including the Executive Mansion.

The Advocacy Foundation for Human Rights, a non-profit organization based in Washington, D.C., has been dedicated to targeting human rights violators, exposing public corruption, and advocating for justice and accountability for the victims of such atrocities.

Others who testified before the Committee headed by Congressman Chris Smith Obed Byamugisha, Program Advisor, Kyampisi Childcare Ministries; Miriam Fullah, Trafficking in Persons Protection Manager, World Hope International; Josephine Aparo
Founding Member, Global Survivor Network and International Justice Mission.

In his testimony, Dr. White detailed the challenges faced in gathering information and conducting investigations into ritualistic killings, emphasizing the danger faced by sources who dare to speak out against these crimes.

Dr. White’s credentials as Chief of Investigations for the Special Court for Sierra Leone, where he directed criminal investigations leading to numerous indictments and convictions, lent significant weight to his testimony. He notably highlighted the conviction of former Liberian President Charles Taylor, the first sitting Head of State to be indicted and convicted for war crimes, serving a 50-year prison sentence.

Screenshot – to watch the video, click here

The Special Court for Sierra Leone was established to investigate and prosecute those responsible for the devastating civil war in Sierra Leone, spanning from 1991 to 2002, which resulted in the deaths of over 70,000 people. Dr. White’s investigations led him to neighboring Liberia, which also experienced two brutal civil wars, resulting in the deaths of over 250,000 Liberians.

During his tenure as Chief of Investigations, Dr. White bore witness to unspeakable human rights violations perpetrated through ritualistic activities, a phenomenon he had not encountered before. He recounted a chilling story from 2002, where a 70-year-old man seeking a political position in a local Village, believed in black magic and sacrificed a 9-year-old boy to gain power. This horrifying act shed light on the prevalence of ritualistic killings in West Africa, where individuals commission murders to obtain body parts for magic spells and gain political power.

The Foundation has received disturbing information about the frequency of such killings and the allegations linking it to the Executive Mansion (The Office of the President) and other high-ranking government officials. Details of these atrocities are difficult to obtain.

Dr. Alan W. White, Co-Executive Director of the Advocacy Foundation for Human Rights

Dr. White’s testimony revealed the widespread practice of ritualistic killings during Sierra Leone’s civil war, with various rebel groups and warring factions, such as the Revolutionary United Front (RUF), the Armed Forces Revolutionary Council (AFRC), and the Civil Defense Force (CDF), routinely engaging in such acts. He described how rebels would boast about consuming the organs of their victims, believing it granted them supernatural power.

Importantly, Dr. White highlighted that ritual killings persist in Sierra Leone today, often escalating during election periods when some politicians believe they can gain power through human sacrifices. These alarming practices have also been reported in Liberia, where ritualistic killings are a combination of traditional beliefs and the criminal behavior of unscrupulous politicians.

Liberia has a history of ritualistic killings during its civil wars, with figures like Milton Blahyi, also known as ‘General Butt Naked’, publicly admitting to eating children’s hearts and taking part in human sacrifices to ensure victory in battle.

Dr. White’s testimony also touched upon recent cases of ritualistic killings in Liberia, such as the mysterious disappearance of three young men hired for a task in Bong County in October 2020 by the St. Moses Funeral Home. The bodies of these young men were never returned to their families, and investigations into their deaths remain unresolved, raising suspicions of involvement by influential individuals with close government ties.

“The Foundation has received disturbing information about the frequency of such killings and the allegations linking it to the Executive Mansion (The Office of the President) and other high-ranking government officials. Details of these atrocities are difficult to obtain,” he said.

He also linked the past regime to acts of ritualistic killings, saying “The Ellen Johnson Sirleaf administration during her 12 years (2006-2018) in office was plagued with ritual killings and despite vows to bring them to an end they continued. The same problems continue under the Weah administration and unlike Sirleaf there were no insiders reporting her direct involvement with the ritual killings.”

Dr. White commended the Subcommittee for its work and called for a thorough examination of the issue of ritualistic killings in Africa, especially in Liberia. He urged legislation that could bring an end to these heinous crimes, emphasizing the importance of exposing those involved and prosecuting them for their actions. The Advocacy Foundation for Human Rights remains committed to addressing this dark issue plaguing many African countries and hopes that the Subcommittee’s efforts will help put an end to these atrocities once and for all.

Source: Liberia: Dr. Alan White Highlights Ritualistic Killings in Liberia before U.S. House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee; Links Immediate Past and Current Government

AND:

The killings must stop! 

— Dr. Alan White asks U.S. for prosecution of those in ritualistic killings in Liberia

Published: September 20, 2023
By: New Dawn, Liberia

The U.N. former chief investigator for the special court of Sierra Leone, Dr. Alan White is requesting prosecution for ritualistic killings and despicable crimes against humanity in Liberia during war and in peace, saying “the killings must stop.”

Dr. Alan briefed U.S. lawmakers in Washington Tuesday, 19 September 2023, giving historical accounts of recent killings and those carried out during Liberia’s civil war for ritualistic purposes.

“Those involved need to be exposed and prosecuted for these heinous crimes. The killings must stop, and we hope that through legislature can effect change and stop this madness once and for all,” said Dr. White.

Dr. White indicated that former President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf’s administration was plagued with ritualistic killings, and the same problem continues under incumbent President George Manneh Weah’s administration.

Unlike Sirleaf’s administration, Dr. White said, there was no insider reporting on her direct involvement on ritualistic killings.

However, he said he has received information that President Weah’s administration is being linked to the ritualistic killings of children.

He said sources have revealed that the police are only allowed to investigate these matters in a conspicuous but very superficial manner.

Dr. White explained that notable of these cases is the incident involving victims Robert Blamo, Jr., 29, Siafa Boimah, 33 and Blama, who went missing after being hired by St. Moses Funeral Parlor proprietor Mr. Moses Ahoussouhe to undertake a contract in Bong Mines.

Mr. Ahoussouhe was accused of hiring the three men on Saturday, 15 October 2020 to travel to Bong Mines to do technical work for him at his diamond creek when all three of them went missing. They were alleged to have drowned when a canoe they were riding in had capsized.

Dr. White said Ahoussouhe (St. Moses) retrieved the bodies of the three young men but they were never returned to their parents.

“He has close ties with the president and the Government of Liberia, and through the Ministry of Justice, he has contact as well. They failed to provide update or release the outcome of the investigation or report on the circumstances that led to the conclusion [that] they drowned,” said Dr. White.

Dr. White indicated that the aggrieved families believe that their children are being kept in a secret place to be used for ritualistic purposes.

He said the family members sought the assistance of the international community including the U.S. Embassy and the United Nations, leading the UN to call on the Liberian government to investigate killings which had been reported to link to ritual practice.

In 2021 alone, Dr. White said at least ten people were killed, reportedly linked to ritualistic killing or political motivation.

He added that they were either former officials or had links to former politicians. White noted that recent deaths involving some girls during President George Manneh Weah’s 2023 political campaign outraged the citizens.

He said the allegation is that the killings were done for ritualistic reasons. He also referenced citizens’ message to President Weah which was carried in the NewDawn newspaper’s headline that no amount of money or rituals can help President Weah and his Coalition for Democratic Change from leaving office after the 10 October 2023 elections.

Dr. White said his organization will continue to work on these issues in African countries, especially Liberia which experiences despicable crimes against humanity during war and in peace.

He recalled that during the 14 years civil war in Liberia, there were so many cases where gunmen, some of them child soldiers, ate victims’ body parts.

He stated that it was well documented that during Liberia’s civil war, ritualistic killing was a common place, naming Gen. Butt Naked, now Evangelist Milton Blayee as of the notorious culprits.

According to Dr. White, Mr. Blayee testified before Liberia’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) that he ate children’s hearts.

He said Blayee indicated that human sacrifices were intended to ensure victories in battles.

Source: The killings must stop!
– Dr. Alan White asks U.S. for prosecution of those in ritualistic killings in Liberia

AND:

Full text of the Testimony Submitted to The Committee on Foreign Affairs, Subcommittee on Global Health, Global Human Rights, and International Organizations – “Efforts to Address Ritual Abuse and Sacrifice in Africa” – September 19, 2023 – 10:00 a.m.
Statement of Dr. Alan W. White,
Co-Executive Director – Advocacy Foundation for Human Rights – Washington, D.C. and Founding Chief of Investigations of the United Nations backed Special Court for Sierra Leone.

First of all I would like to the thank Chairman Congressman Chris Smith and Ranking Member Congresswoman Susan Wild, of the U.S. House of Representatives Global Health, Global Human Rights, International Organizations and other members of this Subcommittee for holding this very important hearing. I also want to publicly commend Congressman Smith for his tireless and unwavering efforts in seeking justice and accountability for countless victims of human rights violations from around the Globe. You provide a voice that otherwise would go unheard and a platform to those victims, who have suffered and continue to suffer with no one to turn to. Your steadfast support is globally recognized and very much needed in these troubled times we live in, and where so many atrocities are being committed around the world. 

I am the Co-Executive Director for the Advocacy Foundation for Human Rights, a non- profit organization, located in Washington, DC. The Advocacy Foundation for Human Rights targets human rights violators, that engaged in public corruption and justice and accountability for the victims of such atrocities. We are actively engaged in conducting investigations and compiling information about those individuals who are committing ritualistic killings, especially in Liberia. The Foundation has received disturbing information about the frequency of such killings and the allegations linking it to the Executive Mansion (The Office of the President) and other high-ranking government officials. Details of these atrocities are difficult to obtain. 

Sources to the Foundation are endangered just by speaking out – and I will discuss this later in my testimony. 

Over the past 20 years I have been actively engaged in seeking justice and accountability for victims of human rights violations and conducting criminal investigations of war crimes and crimes against humanity on the continent of Africa, most specifically West Africa. During my last 3 years of Federal Law Enforcement service from July 2002-July 2005, I was detailed to the United Nations backed Special Court for Sierra Leone located in Freetown, Sierra Leone West Africa where I served as the Chief of Investigations. As Chief of Investigations of the Special Court for Sierra Leone I directed all criminal investigations which led to numerous indictments and convictions, most notably was former Liberian President Charles Taylor who was the first sitting Head of State to be indicted and convicted for war crimes and continues to serve his 50 year prison sentence. 

The Special Court for Sierra Leone was established to investigate and prosecute those who bear the greatest responsibilty for the civil war in Sierra Leone, which lasted from March 1991 to January 2002 and resulted in the deaths of over 70,000 people. Our investigations led us to neighboring Liberia which had suffered two civil wars, the first from December 1989 to August 1997 and then again in 1999 to 2003 where over 250,000 Liberians were killed. 

While serving as the Chief of Investigations I witnessed and investigated some of the most horrific and unspeakable human rights violations no one could ever imagine that someone could inflict on another human being. The horrors of civil war are always tragic, however, to see those involved in the commission of killing and torturing another human being by engaging in ritualistic activities was something I had not seen before and quite frankly prepared to deal with. Yet shortly after I arrived in Freetown, Sierra Leone I recall in August 2002 a news story where a 70-year-old man seeking to become a Paramount Chief of a local Village, a political position in traditional system of local government and an integral element of governance, was convicted of a ritualistic killing. I learned quickly that ritualistic killings were common place, particularly in West Africa. This story reported the man seeking to become a Paramount Chief believed in black magic and in order to get elected he needed to sacrifice a young child and in this case he bought a 9-year old boy for 800,000 leones ($160) from a family desperate for money.  

Reportedly he gruesomely killed the 9-year-old boy by slitting his throat and removing his liver and taking some blood to local witch doctors in the neighboring country of Guinea where they would use in making a liquid concoction he could drink and give him what is known as “Juju”. This was a term I learned later meant power and used in ritualistic killings by rebels fighting in the civil wars, both in Sierra Leone and Liberia. Suprisingly, I learned that ritual killings or human sacrifices to local deities were customary in parts of West Africa, where some people commission killings to obtain body parts for magic spells to gain political power and influence. 

Early on during my criminal investigations of war crimes and crimes against in Sierra Leone I heard routinely about ritualistic killings involving the various rebel group and warring factions in Sierra Leone, which included the Revolutionary United Front (RUF), the Armed Forces Revolutionary Council (AFRC) and the Civil Defense Force (CDF). 

The war started in Kailahun, so we started our investigations in that part of the country where we uncovered numerous mass graves and in most cases the victims were civilians, including children. Their identities were mostly unknown, although some names were given. However, our witness interviews revealed that the RUF or RUF/AFRC were identified as the alleged perpetrator. 

There were several causes of death of the victims reported including they were locked in houses and burnt, “ritual human sacrifice for protection” and gunshot and knife wounds. One of the witnesses interviews I recall involved a female RUF ex-child combatant, who advised that ritual killings were routinely practiced on enemy fighters or on civilians, including children. Sadly, the rebels from the various warring factions would boast about killing their enemy, many of which were young child soldiers, and eating their heart, drinking their blood, or eating other body parts claiming they received extra power from doing so. 

This practice continues today in Sierra Leone and surges during election periods where people running for office believe that sacrificing a person, mostly younger boys and girls because it is believed the younger they are, the more power they get. The Voice of America (VOA) in Freetown in 2012 reported on the so-called ritual murders during election time and have been a part of African society for centuries. “In Sierra Leone, some believe ritual murders increase  during election time because some politicians think they will gain political power from another human’s body parts.” 

Chief Minister, NaCSA Boss Indicted in Attempted Ritual Murder of Virgins Girls in Freetown (sierraloaded.sl) 

In October 2021 a senior government official, who reported to the President of Sierra Leone was indicted for an attempted ritual murder of six “Virgin Girls” in Freetown. The Chief Minister in Sierra Leone has been accused of forcing a primary school teacher to kidnap six virgin schoolgirls for ritualistic purposes. Fortunately, the plot was foiled when one of the whistleblowers came forward and reported it to the police which led to the Chief Minister’s arrest and indictment. However, reportedly he was released from custody while the investigation continued and to date no prosecution has occurred. 

Dr Fred P.M. VAN DER KRAAIJ, author of a blog known as liberiapastandpresent.org, who lived and worked in Liberia as an Economist has chronicled a number of the ritualistic killings and other significant events in Liberia. In one of his blogs, he writes — “Today’s practice of ritual killings in Liberia – because it still exists! – mainly is a combination of traditional beliefs which inspire men-eating and modern-day criminal behavior of unscrupulous politicians who consider their ambitions worth more than the life of their victims. During the 14-year civil war (1989-2003) there were so many cases of gunmen – some of them child soldiers – eating their victim’s hearts and other body parts that the Catholic Church issued a formal denunciation of these practices (Stephen Ellis, The Mask of Anarchy, 1999: dust jacket). Liberia.” 

It is well documented that during the civil wars in Liberia that ritual killings were commonplace and one of the most notorious rebels engaged in such horrific acts, is Milton Blahyi aka General Butt Naked, a feared former Rebel Commander who fought in the Liberian civil war. He testified before the Liberian Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) where he publicly stated “I ate children’s hearts,” and admitted to taking part in human sacrifices as part of traditional ceremonies intended to ensure victory in battle. He also told BBC that his forces his forces had killed over 20,000 people. 

During the first civil war (1989-1996) there were also other reports about Charles Taylor and his rebels accounts reportedly the formation of a group of cannibals called Top 20 of which he was a member. Reportedly the group, comprised of Taylor and 16 rebels of his own army known as the National Patriotic Front for Liberia (NPFL) engaged in human sacrifices at Taylor’s house. 

On December 10, 2004, BBC publicly reported Hundreds of Liberian women had taken to the streets of the capital, Monrovia, protested against a recent wave of ritual killings. Bodies of children had been found with some of their organs missing, taken for what are viewed as magical properties. These killings were reportedly linked to politicians and the wealthy, who many believe to pay for the murders to increase their chances of good fortune. 

There were other media reports documenting, including the Analyst, the discovery of the bodies of two unidentified children around the Du River area. One of the victims was a girl believed to be 12 years old. The media reports quoted eyewitnesses as saying that the body was discovered with “fresh blood coming from its mouth and nose.” 

The Ellen Johnson Sirleaf administration during her 12 years (2006-2018) in office was plagued with ritual killings and despite vows to bring them to an end they continued. The same problems continue under the Weah administration and unlike Sirleaf there were no insiders reporting her direct involvement with the ritual killings. However, we have received information that current administration has been linked to ritualistic killings of children. Sources advise the police are not allowed to investigate these matters or if they do, it is done superficially as to not get to close to those involved. Also, because of the high-level links to the government it is taboo to say anything about it or otherwise you could be the next victim. 

One of the most notable allegations of ritualistic killings involve the mysterious disappearance of three young men who were hired by the Proprietor of the St. Moses Funeral Parlor to undertake a task in Bong County. On October 17, 2020, Robert M. Blamo, Jr, 29, Siafa Gbana Boimah, 34, and Bobby S. Gbeanquoi, 32, were reported drowned in a river in Fuama district, lower Bong County when a canoe they were allegedly riding capsized while returning to their respective homes. They were reportedly contracted to do a, “piece of job” at the Oriental mining company owned and operated by Mr. Moses H. Ahossouhe (Proprietor of St. Moses Funeral Parlour), and one Mr. Abraham S. Samuels. It was reported by Mr. Ahoussouhe that the three young men drowned. The bodies were retrieved by Mr. Ahoussouhe and never returned to the parents. He has close ties to the President and the Government of Liberia (GOL), through the Ministry of Justice has failed to provide an update or release the outcome of an investigative report on circumstances that led to the conclusion they drowned. Why didn’t they release the bodies to the family? 

The aggrieved families believed that their children are being kept in a sacred place to be used for alleged “ritualistic purposes.” The family members sought the assistance of the international community, including the US Embassy and the United Nations. 

On December 10, 2021, the United Nations issued a public statement –“ A UN human rights expert today called on the Liberian Government to promptly investigate a series of killings that have occurred this year, some of which have reportedly been linked to ritualistic practices.” 

At least 10 people have been killed in unclear circumstances in 2021, including five in September reportedly with suspected links to ritualistic practices or political motivations. According to information received by the Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary, or arbitrary executions, Morris Tidball-Binzthree of the most recent victims were either former officials or had links to high profile former politicians. 

Even a recent death of some young girls involved in political campaign event held by the CDC sparked outrage by the citizens and allegations their deaths were done for ritualistic reasons. The local headlines read – Liberia – Citizens to President Weah: ‘No ritual can help you from leaving office after the elections.’ 

On August 24, 2023, the New Dawn News reported Several residents of Montserrado County have told incumbent President George Manneh Weah that no amount of alleged human sacrifice, ritual, and money can prevent him and the Coalition for Democratic Change (CDC) from leaving office. 

“We want to tell President Weah that no amount of human sacrifice, ritual, and money can help in this election,” potential voters said in Montserrado County.” 

The foundation will continue to work on this issue and applauds the work of this Subcommittee and its members. We hope that this Hearing will shed a very bright light on a very dark issue plaguing many African countries and especially Liberia who experienced this despicable crime against humanity during war and peace, yet it doesn’t stop. Those involved  need to be exposed and prosecuted for these heinous crimes. The killing must stop and hope your legislation can effect change and stop this madness once and for all. 

Source: Testimony Submitted to The Committee on Foreign Affairs, Subcommittee on
Global Health, Global Human Rights, and International Organizations – “Efforts to Address Ritual Abuse and Sacrifice in Africa”; September 19, 2023 – 10:00 a.m. – Statement of Dr. Alan W. White, Co-Executive Director, Advocacy Foundation for Human Rights, Washington, D.C.

Chopped up with an axe and a heart eaten out – an atrocious crime committed in Lofa County, Liberia, in 1993

Warning: the following article contains a graphic description of an inhumane act

I’ve written on an earlier occasion on the atrocities, ritualistic murders, cannibalism and other war crimes committed during Liberia’s civil war – for shortness sake let me refer to my October 20, 2022 posting, entitled ‘Atrocities, witchcraft, superstition and ritualistic cannibalism during Liberia’s First Civil War (1989-1997)‘.

There’s not much to add without risking repeating myself. Let me just briefly mention what I consider the triple motive of the perpetrator(s): first, to intimidate the bystander, the perceived enemy; secondly, to make clear that he, the actor, is the strongest, the conquerer, and thirdly, without doubt, there is a religious or superstitious drive, a belief in the supernatural powers of eating the heart of the enemy. Notably the latter motive makes it a ritualistic act, and murder, a despicable crime.

The 2009 report of Liberia’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) includes many examples of ritualistic acts committed during the back-to-back civil wars (1989-2003). For reasons only known to herself, President Sirleaf (2006-2018) never implemented the TRC recommendations including the prosecution of the rebel leaders responsible for war crimes and human rights violations, possibly because she was also recommended for a sanction because of her (admitted) support of the NPLF, the rebel organization which started the civil war in 1989. Also President Weah (2018 – present) decided not to start procedures establishing a war crimes court, backtracking on previous statements when still in opposition.

The result is impunity for the perpetrators. Injustice. An insult to the survivors and victims.

Liberians will go to the polls on October 10 to elect a president, vice president and 88 lawmakers. The incumbent president, George Weah, has shown his position when it comes to justice for the victims and survivors. His main challengers are a former Vice President under President Sirleaf, Joseph Boakai, from Lofa County, whose running mate is a political protégé of warlord-turned-senator Prince Johnson – yes, the rebel commander who in 1990 gave his men orders to torture and kill then President Samuel Doe – and Alexander Cummings, who has promised to establish a war crimes tribunal when elected into the highest office.

We’ll closely watch events in Liberia during the coming month(s).
(FVDK)

Chopped up with an axe and a heart eaten out: some crimes never die

Published: September 13, 2023
By: Alain Werner – Civitas Maxima

Exactly 30 years ago, in the summer of 1993, a group of rebel soldiers sowed unheard-of terror in the town of Foya, in the small West African country of Liberia, then ravaged by civil war.

Here, 450 kilometers north of the capital Monrovia, a pious man respected by his community had the courage to denounce the rebel group that occupied the premises, ULIMO (United Liberation Movement of Democracy for Liberia). He did so to a humanitarian group, and told them that ULIMO was responsible for the looting of a hospital financed by humanitarian aid.

Once the foreigners had left, the pious man was taken to what was then used as an airstrip and his thorax was cut out by the rebels, his heart extracted and eaten in front of the population. “Try ULIMO, your heart” – which could be translated as “Defy ULIMO, we’ll take your heart” – was one of the slogans used to terrorize the population, a slogan that some civilians who survived that inferno still remember.

The most bloodthirsty of the ULIMO commanders, who opened the pious man’s chest with an axe and spread his killing spree to Foya, was known by the war nickname of “Ugly Boy”, despite his handsome features. The local population, who spoke a different dialect than the ULIMO soldiers, had nicknamed this commander differently among themselves, so as to be able to alert each other to his arrival without being understood by the rebels. They called him “Saah Chuey”, or “the man with the axe” in the Kissi language, as this commander was famous for chopping up civilians with his axe.

“Ugly Boy” was never tried for his ignominious deeds. Indeed, legend has it that he died by popular vindication, having been recognized in Guinea by refugees who had fled Liberia. However, if he were still alive today, “Ugly Boy” would still not have been tried in Liberia.

Indeed, in August we will be celebrating 20 years since the end of the wars in this country, and yet no one has been tried by a court in the country; the government and the United Nations having done nothing for the forgotten victims of Liberia. Despite the fact that a national Truth and Reconciliation Commission recommended in 2009 that the main players in the war should be brought to justice, and that at least 250,000 people lost their lives during these bloody conflicts between 1989 and 2003.

However, on Thursday June 1, 2023, the Federal Criminal Court of Appeal in Switzerland convicted a man, Alieu Kosiah, of participating in the axe murder of the Pious Man. Jurisdiction was given in our country because Mr. Kosiah had been resident in Lausanne since the late 1990s. The conviction came exactly 30 years after the events, and was handed down in Bellinzona, seat of the Federal Criminal Court, some 7,000 kilometers from the scene of the crimes, Foya.

Alieu Kosiah had already been convicted in June 2021 by the Criminal Court for multiple acts of war crimes, including having eaten a piece of the pious man’s heart in the company of “Ugly Boy”. At the time, however, he was found not guilty of the axe-murder, the first judges considering that he had not played an active role in this crime.

The appeal judges decided otherwise and sentenced Alieu Kosiah for complicity in the murder of the pious man, an act qualified as a war crime and a crime against humanity. During the reading of the verdict, the President of the Court, Olivier Thormann, explained that, according to the Court, Alieu Kosiah had handed the pious man over to “Ugly Boy” to be taken to the Foya airstrip, knowing full well what would happen next.

This appeal judgment marks Swiss legal history, as it is the very first conviction in our country for crimes against humanity. It now opens the way for prosecutions in Switzerland for such crimes, even if committed before 2011 and the entry into force of the new provisions of the penal code.

As a lawyer and Director of Civitas Maxima, since 2014 I have represented several Liberian victims in this case alongside Me Romain Wavre, including a friend of the pious man who was present at the scene and witnessed his ordeal, having himself been a victim of ULIMO crimes.

Our clients and other victims have shown exceptional resilience, dignity and courage. Most of them came to Switzerland three times to testify throughout the proceedings, and overcame the obstacles posed by the Ebola epidemic in 2014-2015 and the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020-2021 to finally obtain justice.

War crimes and crimes against humanity are unique in that they “never die”. Indeed, because they concern the international community as a whole, these offences are not extinguished by a statute of limitations after a certain number of years, as is the case for most ordinary crimes. Prosecutions for war crimes and crimes against humanity are thus theoretically possible as long as the person accused of committing them is alive and evidence exists, theoretically even if the victims are all dead. Just as the forgotten victims of Liberia obtained justice in Switzerland in 2023 for crimes committed so far away in 1993, victims of international crimes committed during current or recent armed conflicts must never lose hope. Even if we must do everything to ensure that they obtain justice before 2053 for the crimes they have suffered.


The article first appeared in French on Heidi News on the 16th of July, 2023.

Source: Chopped up with an axe and a heart eaten out: some crimes never die

Liberia – Citizens to President Weah: ‘No ritual can help you from leaving office after the elections’  

On October 10 general and presidential elections will be held in Liberia. At least 20 candidates are vying for the presidency. The opposition is determined to make incumbent president George Weah, a famous soccer star turned politician, a one-term-president. The ruling CDC wants to stay in power. After all, elections in Liberia – and elsewhere on the African continent – is all about access to resources, ideologies and political vision hardly play any role.

Elections and ritualistic murders often go hand in hand in Liberia (also elsewhere on the continent). Reportedly there was a surge in ritual killings in this West African country in recent years. Recently, people in Montserrado County, the seat of the government and the country’s capital Monrovia, told President Weah that no ritual, human sacrifice or money can prevent his loss and that of the ruling CDC in the ensuing elections.

Of course, such a public outcry is no proof or indication of any real or suspected involvement of an ambitious politician, named or unnamed, or of the ruling coalition or the fragmented opposition in criminal acts such as ritual murders. However, the hidden message is noteworthy.

That’s why I consider it worthwhile to include it here.
(webmaster FVDK)

No ritual & money can help CDC

Voters in queue – Liberia, elections

Published: August 26, 2023
By: Lincoln G. Peters – The New Dawn, Liberia

Several residents of Montserrado County have told incumbent President George Manneh Weah that no amount of alleged human sacrifice, ritual, and money can prevent him and the Coalition for Democratic Change (CDC) from leaving office. 

“We want to tell President Weah that no amount of human sacrifice, ritual, and money can help in this election,” potential voters said in Montsrrado County. 

They were responding to President Weah’s urge for his supporters to consider the tragic motor accident that killed some of his supporters last week and then give him a resounding one-round victory this October.

But some Liberians in Montserrado have criticized Mr. Weah’s statement, describing it as completely heartless and worthless.

” We listen to the President telling his supporters to not allow the death of the Daughters of Weah to go in vain. President Weah urged them to use the death for a resounding one-round victory for him and CDC,” the citizens said.

“We are aware that he used the death of those people to remain in power. But let them be informed that it will not work because God is not sleeping,” they noted. 

On Wednesday, 23 August 2023, President Weah and his party held a program to mourn the death of some members of the Daughters of Weah who were involved in an accident while en route to Gbarnga, Bong County for a political campaign.

During the mourning, President Weah urged supporters of the CDC not to allow the death of their partisans to go in vain.

Mr. Weah urged CDCians to ensure that the deaths of the Daughters of Weah be repaid with a resounding one-round victory. 

“I want to urge every one of you here today, don’t allow the blood and death of those that died in the accident go in vain,” said Mr. Weah. 

“We [want] you to ensure that this be repaid with a resounding one-round victory. We have to make sure that we pay for the death of those that died by giving me, CDC one-round victory, ” President Weah stated. 

In response Thursday, 24 August 2023, one of those interviewed, Mr. Jeremiah Doe, a resident of Logan Town Community, said President Weah is daydreaming. 

Mr. Doe said Liberians have resolved to democratically remove President Weah, claiming that no amount of human sacrifice, rituals, and money spent by President Weah and the entire CDC can help them to remain in power. 

” We are aware that President Weah and the CDC sacrificed those girls. But what I want to say is that President Weah is daydreaming because he can never be elected again,” Mr. Doe alleged. 

“This President has failed us and the only way to prevent this is to stop him from being re-elected,” he noted.

Source: No ritual & money can help CDC

World Day Against Witch Hunts

August 10 is World day against witch hunts.

During the past five years I have frequently posted on this sad topic. See e.g. the following posts: Witchcraft Persecution and Advocacy without Borders in Africa, earlier this year, as well as the following country-specific postings: DRC, Ivory Coast, Ghana, Kenya, Liberia, Nigeria, Tanzania, Uganda, South Africa, Zimbabwe.

Although not the main focus of this website I find it useful and necessary to draw attention to this phenomenon which is based on superstition, violates human rights and creates many innocent victims – not only elderly women and men but also children, just like ritual murders.

I wish to commend Charlotte Müller and Sertan Sanderson of DW (Deutsche Welle) – see below – for an excellent article on this topic. It’s an impressive account of what happens to people accused of witchcraft and victims sof superstition.
(FVDK)

World Day Against Witch Hunts: People With Dementia Are Not Witches

Witch camps in Ghana

Published: August 4, 2023
By: The Ghana Report

August 10 has been designated World Day against Witch Hunts. The Advocacy for Alleged Witches welcomes this development and urges countries to mark this important day, and try to highlight past and contemporary sufferings and abuses of alleged witches in different parts of the globe.

Witchcraft belief is a silent killer of persons. Witchcraft accusation is a form of death sentence in many places. People suspected of witchcraft, especially women and children, are banished, persecuted, and murdered in over 40 countries across the globe. Unfortunately, this tragic incident has not been given the attention it deserves.

Considered a thing of the past in Western countries, this vicious phenomenon has been minimized. Witch persecution is not treated with urgency. It is not considered a global priority. Meanwhile, witch hunting rages across Africa, Asia, and Oceania.

The misconceptions that characterized witch hunting in early modern Europe have not disappeared. Witchcraft imaginaries and other superstitions still grip the minds of people with force and ferocity. Reinforced by traditional, Christian, Islamic, and Hindu religious dogmas, occult fears and anxieties are widespread.

Many people make sense of death, illness, and other misfortunes using the narratives of witchcraft and malevolent magic. Witch hunters operate with impunity in many countries, including nations with criminal provisions against witchcraft accusations and jungle justice.

Some of the people who are often accused and targeted as witches are elderly persons, especially those with dementia.

To help draw attention to this problem, the Advocacy for Alleged Witches has chosen to focus on dementia for this year’s World Day against Witch Hunts. People with dementia experience memory loss, poor judgment, and confusion.

Their thinking and problem-solving abilities are impaired. Unfortunately, these health issues are misunderstood and misinterpreted. Hence, some people treat those with dementia with fear, not respect. They spiritualize these health conditions, and associate them with witchcraft and demons.

There have been instances where people with dementia left their homes or care centers, and were unable to return or recall their home addresses. People claimed that they were returning from witchcraft meetings; that they crash landed on their way to their occult gatherings while flying over churches or electric poles.

Imagine that! People forge absurd and incomprehensible narratives to justify the abuse of people with dementia. Sometimes, people claim that those suffering dementia turn into cats, birds, or dogs. As a result of these misconceptions, people maltreat persons with dementia without mercy; they attack, beat, and lynch them. Family members abandon them and make them suffer painful and miserable deaths. AfAW urges the public to stop these abuses, and treat people with dementia with care and compassion.

Source: World Day Against Witch Hunts: People With Dementia Are Not Witches

And:

Witch hunts: A global problem in the 21st century

Accusations of witchcraft typically affect the most vulnerable — such as this refugee living in the DRC
Image: Getty Images/AFP/F. Scoppa

Published: August 10, 2023
By: Charlotte Müller | Sertan Sanderson – DW

Witch hunts are far from being a thing of the past — even in the 21st century. In many countries, this is still a sad reality for many women today. That is why August 10 has been declared a World Day against Witch Hunts.

Akua Denteh was beaten to death in Ghana’s East Gonja District last month — after being accused of being a witch. The murder of the 90-year-old has once more highlighted the deep-seated prejudices against women accused of practicing witchcraft in Ghana, many of whom are elderly.

An arrest was made in early August, but the issue continues to draw attention after authorities were accused of dragging their heels in the case. Human rights and gender activists now demand to see change in culture in a country where supernatural beliefs play a big role.

But the case of Akua Denteh is far from an isolated instance in Ghana, or indeed the world at large. In many countries of the world, women are still accused of practicing witchcraft each year. They are persecuted and even killed in organized witch hunts — especially in Africa but also in Southeast Asia and Latin America.

Many women in Ghana are pushed to live in so-called witch camps because they are rejected by society Image: picture-alliance/Pacific Press/L. Wateridge

Witch hunts: a contemporary issue

Those accused of witchcraft have now found a perhaps unlikely charity ally in their fight for justice: the Catholic missionary society missio, which is part of the global Pontifical Mission Societies under the jurisdiction of the Pope, has declared August 10 as World Day against Witch Hunts, saying that in at least 36 nations around the world, people continue to be persecuted as witches.

While the Catholic Church encouraged witch hunts in Europe from the 15th to the 18th century, it is now trying to shed light into this dark practice. Part of this might be a sense of historical obligation — but the real driving force is the number of victims that witch hunts still cost today. 

Historian Wolfgang Behringer, who works as a professor specializing in the early modern age at Saarland University, firmly believes in putting the numbers in perspective. He told DW that during these three centuries, between 50,000 and 60,000 people are assumed to have been killed for so-called crimes of witchcraft — a tally that is close to being twice the population of some major German cities at the time.

But he says that in the 20th century alone, more people accused of witchcraft were brutally murdered than during the three centuries when witch hunts were practiced in Europe: “Between 1960 and 2000, about 40,000 people alleged of practicing witchcraft were murdered in Tanzania alone. While there are no laws against witchcraft as such in Tanzanian law, village tribunals often decide that certain individuals should be killed,” Behringer told DW.

The historian insists that due to the collective decision-making behind these tribunals, such murders are far from being arbitrary and isolated cases: “I’ve therefore concluded that witch hunts are not a historic problem but a burning issue that still exists in the present.”

A picture of so-called witch doctors in Sierra Leone taken roughly around the year 1900 Image:
Getty Images/Hulton Archive

A pan-African problem?

In Tanzania, the victims of these witch hunts are often people with albinism; some people believe that the body parts of these individuals can be used to extract potions against all sorts of ailments. Similar practices are known to take place in Zambia and elsewhere on the continent.

Meanwhile in Ghana, where nonagenarian Akua Denteh was bludgeoned to death last month, certain communities blamed the birth of children with disabilities on practices of witchcraft.

Screenshot – to watch the video please consult the source

In the Democratic Republic of the Congo, it is usually the younger generations who are associated witchcraft. So-called “children of witchcraft” are usually rejected by their families and left to fend for themselves. However, their so-called crimes often have little to do with sorcery at all:

“We have learned of numerous cases of children suffering rape and then no longer being accepted by their families. Or they are born as illegitimate children out of wedlock, and are forced to live with a parent who no longer accepts them,” says Thérèse Mema Mapenzi, who works as a mission project partner in the eastern DRC city of Bukayu.

‘Children of witchcraft’ in the DRC

Mapenzi’s facility was initially intended to be a women’s shelter to harbor women who suffered rape at the hands of the militia in the eastern parts of the country, where rape is used as a weapon of war as part of the civil conflict there. But over the years, more and more children started seeking her help after they were rejected as “children of witchcraft.”

With assistance from the Catholic missionary society missio, Mapenzi is now also supporting these underage individuals in coping with their many traumas while trying to find orphanages and schools for them.

“When these children come here, they have often been beaten to a pulp, have been branded as witches or have suffered other injuries. It is painful to just even look at them. We are always shocked to see these children devoid of any protection. How can this be?” Mapenzi wonders.

Thérèse Mema Mapenzi is trying to help women and girls accused of being “children of witchcraft”
Image: missio

Seeking dialogue to end witch hunts

But there is a whole social infrastructure fueling this hatred against these young people in the DRC: Many charismatic churches blame diseases such as HIV/AIDS or female infertility on witchcraft, with illegitimate children serving as scapegoats for problems that cannot be easily solved in one of the poorest countries on earth. Other reasons cited include sudden deaths, crop failures, greed, jealousy and more.

Thérèse Mema Mapenzi says that trying to help those on the receiving end of this ire is a difficult task, especially in the absence of legal protection: “In Congolese law, witchcraft is not recognized as a violation of the law because there is no evidence you can produce. Unfortunately, the people have therefore developed their own legal practices to seek retribution and punish those whom call them witches.”

In addition to helping those escaping persecution, Mapenzi also seeks dialogue with communities to stop prejudice against those accused of witchcraft and sorcery. She wants to bring estranged families torn apart by witch hunts back together. Acting as a mediator, she talks to people, and from time to time succeeds in reuniting relatives with women and children who had been ostracized and shamed. Mapenzi says that such efforts — when they succeed — take an average of two to three years from beginning to finish.

But even with a residual risk of the victims being suspected of witchcraft again, she says her endeavors are worth the risk. She says that the fact that August 10 has been recognized as the World Day against Witch Hunts sends a signal that her work is important — and needed.

Hunting the hunters  a dangerous undertaking

For Thérèse Mema Mapenzi, the World Day against Witch Hunts marks another milestone in her uphill battle in the DRC. Jörg Nowak, spokesman for missio, agrees and hopes that there will now be growing awareness about this issue around the globe.

As part of his work, Nowak has visited several missio project partners fighting to help bring an end to witch hunts in recent years. But he wasn’t aware about the magnitude of the problem himself until 2017.

The first case he dealt with was the killing of women accused of being witches in Papua New Guinea in the 2010s — which eventually resulted in his publishing a paper on the crisis situation in the country and becoming missio’s dedicated expert on witch hunts.

But much of Nowak’s extensive research in Papua New Guinea remains largely under wraps for the time being, at least in the country itself: the evidence he accrued against some of the perpetrators there could risk the lives of missio partners working for him.

Not much has changed for centuries, apart from the localities involved when it comes to the occult belief in witchcraft, says Nowak while stressing: “There is no such thing as witchcraft. But there are accusations and stigmatization designed to demonize people; indeed designed to discredit them in order for others to gain selfish advantages.”

Maxwell Suuk and Isaac Kaledzi contributed to this article.

Screenshot – to watch the seven images please consult the source

Source: Witch hunts: A global problem in the 21st century

Ritual killings and elections in Liberia

This posting is not about a particular ritual murder but it certainly is about ritual killing, in Liberia, Africa’s oldest republic founded in the first half of the 19th century by African-American colonists.

As I have previously stated here and elaborated multiple times on the motives of the perpetrators of these heinous crimes, today’s ritual murders are 100% criminal acts uniquely aiming personal gains. In Liberia’s history we’ve repeatedly noted a surge in ritualistic killings in times of political tension and during election campaigns. For this reason, the last paragraph of the article presented below contains a remarkable observation. It was written by Edward H. Stemn, Maryland County correspondent of one of Liberia’s best newspapers, the Daily Observer.

Maryland County, in south-eastern Liberia, is notoriously-known for its ritualistic killings. On more than one occasion I’ve drawn attention to this fact. Therefore I will not dwell on it now.

Edward Stemn’s observation is almost casual but it is revealing. For this reason I’ve decided to include the article and share it with you (webmaster FVDK).

Liberia: Police Charge Teenagers for ‘Corpse Abuse’ in Maryland County

Police arrested and turned over to the three children for allegedly digging a corpse from a grave in a cemetery.  

Published: May 10, 2023
By: Edward H. Stemn, Maryland County corespondent – Daily Observer

The Liberia National Police have charged three teenage boys in Maryland with “abuse of corpse.”

According to the LNP report, the township commissioner of Hoffman Station, Harper City, arrested and turned over to the police station three children for allegedly digging a corpse from a grave in a cemetery.

The police report, established through investigation, revealed that the teenagers broke into a grave and took up the corpse, brought the skull to town, and started to scare people in the community.

“It was during the process of instilling fear in the community that they were arrested and brought to the police station for investigation,” the police report disclosed.

Following their arrest, police said the boys admitted to the act when queried by LNP officers. 

Those arrested and turned over to the police are Hilary Prowd, 13; Alphonso Nevis, 13; and George Sartee, 15 — all residents of Hoffman Station.

The three male teenagers are currently in police custody.

During the police investigation, the three suspects, in separate accounts, said the human skull in their possession was not meant for any ritualistic purpose.

George Satia, giving his account of their actions, said that, on May 6, after eating with his colleagues at night, they paid a visit to a graveyard in Hoffman Station and suddenly discovered that a human skull was seen outside one of the graves. 

“We got through eating and left our house to at least play outside, but since the graveyard is not too far from us, we planned to go there and sit and lecture,” Satia told the investigators.

“While going close to the grave, we saw the human skull, and that is how we went closer and removed it from the hole, carried it outside of the graveyard, and kept it in the bathroom to scare our friends with it,” he explained.

For his part, Alphonso Nevis stated that the skull was brought out of the graveyard to scare their peers and not for anything negative.

The action of the teenagers has created fear amongst residents of Hoffman Station township, as many believe that the action of the kids might be for ritualistic and political reasons as Liberia fast approaches the legislative and presidential elections in October.

Source: Liberia: Police Charge Teenagers for ‘Corpse Abuse’ in Maryland

Liberia: Tiawan Gongloe links recent ritualistic killings to poverty under the Weah-led Government 

A few days ago I reported on ritualistic murders in Liberia and the link with scheduled elections. Unfortunately, a painful phenomenon hard to eradicate.

More in general, in Liberia (as in many other countries) not all ritual murders are discovered whereas not all discovered ritual murders are reported in the local or national press. What we learn from Counselor Gongloe’s statements is that in recent times more ritual murders have been committed in Liberia than one might think based on reports in the media (printed, radio, television, twitter).

Tiawan Saye Gongloe who hails from Nimba County in Liberia is the presidential candidate of the Liberian People’s Party (LPP). He is a highly respected lawyer and human rights advocate and known for his progressive ideals and integrity. Gongloe served as an executive assistant to the interim president of Liberia, the late Amos Sawyer, from 1990 to 1994 and as Solicitor General (2006-2009) and minister of Labor (2009-2010) during the first term of the Sirleaf Administration (2006-2012). Hence his statements about a recent surge in ritualistic killings must be taken seriously and not interpreted as ‘political warfare’ against his opponent, incumbent President George Weah.
(webmaster FVDK)

Liberia: Cllr. Tiawan Gongloe links recent ritualistic killings to poverty under the Weah-led Government 

Cllr. Tiawan Saye Gongloe

Published: February 1, 2023
By: Weah Karpeh, Contributing Writer – FrontPage Africa

MONROVIA – Cllr. Tiawan Saye Gongloe, Standard-bearer of the Liberian People’s Party (LPP) has told the people of Lofa County that he would curb corruption in public service by taking stringent measures to root out the menace as President of Liberia. According to him, the vice grossly impedes Liberia’s progress while past and present leaders look on as if it is normal to carry on when it must be nipped in the butt.

Addressing an array of people in continuation of his acquaintance tour of Lofa, which has already taken him to 20 towns in the County including Voinjama, Kolahun and Foya, the LPP Standard-bearer named a number of ways corruption occurs in public service. He said willful underperformance, stealing assets and moneys, conflict of interest, putting family members and friends in positions they are unfit to hold, overestimating bids and contracts to obtain cuts, unlawful extraction of natural resources and profiteering are part of common acts of corruption that continue to undermine the very fabric of the nation.

Due to greed prompted by the abovementioned, the candidate bemoaned that the vice was part of fertilizers of ritualistic killings the government is unable to curtail. He indicated that people who are unready but desire government jobs simply to steal State resources, resort to “juju-people” that ostensibly requires human parts in order to work.

People in Cllr. Gongloe’s audiences including women in Salayea, Borkaza, Konia and LPMC (Nyandisu) particularly admonished the “incoming” President of Liberia to deliberately fight ritualistic killing because it is now commonplace in Liberia. In his word, the LPP Standard-bearer Gongloe stated: “This is very bad. It creates insecurity among the people. Therefore, as President of Liberia, I will combat corruption in order to render the wicked services needless”.  

From town-to-town, Tiawan asserted that as President, he would declare and publish his assets in social media and conventional media outlets and would robustly press other office holders in the three Branches of our Government to declare and publish their assets in like manner. In addition, he avowed that he would publish the salaries and benefits of the President and that of his cabinet and other officials of agencies and commissions and would vehemently urge the Speaker and members of the Legislature and Chief Justice and Associate Justices to do similarly.

Renowned for his impeccable character in public service, Cllr. Gongloe added that he would leave no stone unturned or spare any official when culpable in any graft, propounding that there would be conduct of quarterly lifestyle audits of government officials. The LPP Standard-bearer reiterated “I assure you that I will dismiss and order the arrest, investigation and prosecution of any official of my administration found guilty of cheating and stealing our Country’s resources”.

Source: Liberia: Cllr. Tiawan Gongloe Links Recent Ritualistic Killings to Poverty under the Weah-led Government 

Liberia: several cases of ritual murder reported – a ghastly run-up to the forthcoming elections 

In October this year presidential and general elections will be held in Liberia, Africa oldest republic, created in 1847 by African Americans including freed slaves, free-born blacks and colored people in general. They commonly referred to themselves as Americo-Liberians and constituted an elite of less than 5% of the total population who, notwithstanding their minority status, controlled political life in the republic until 1980 when a brutal military coup ended Americo-Liberian rule over Liberia.

Ritualistic activities and murders in Liberia have a long history. Notably when elections are coming, there is a surge in reported cases of ritual killings. See my previous postings. Yet again, elections are due in October and again there are cases of ritual murder. This time in Bomi County, about 40 miles (60 kilometers) from the country’s capital Monrovia. According to former Bomi County senator, Sando Johnson, “As we approach elections, this act is always happening in those two districts. Suehn and Dewein districts are noted for these kinds of ritualistic killing.”

The police announced it had arrested six suspects, among them the uncle of the 2-year old boy who was ‘sacrificed’. A swift and commendable action, but who ordered the ritual killing? Very often, powerful people involved behind the scene manage to prevent further investigations and arrests. Will it be different this time?

Only time will tell but – very unfortunate – I have my own thoughts on future developments….
(webmaster FVDK)

Liberia: Police Launch Probe into the Grisly Murder of 2-Yr-Old Boy in Bomi; Six Arrested

Published: January 26, 2023
By: Obediah Johnson – FrontPage Africa

MONROVIA – Police in Tubmanburg, Bomi County have arrested six persons in connection with the gruesome murder of a two-year-old child in Dewein District.

The victim identified as Saah Momo went missing during the afternoon hours of Monday, January 23.

When he was reported missing, residents of the town and other surroundings launched a manhunt search for him.

His remains were discovered in a Bamboo bush, with his stomach opened and parts extracted from his body, including one of his eyes.

Following the incident, the LNP arrested the six inspects, including the uncle of the victim identified as one Siafa Gray.

“Siafa Gray is the uncle of the victim; the victim is his sister’s son. He has been arrested as one of the prime suspects and they are currently in police custody in Bomi,” a source, who preferred not to be named stated.

Police Spokesman Moses Carter told FrontPage Africa via telephone that the suspects are being transferred to Monrovia and a news conference will be held on the incident today.

When news of the gruesome murder of little Saah Momo broke out in the county, fear gripped the residents and parents were panicking to also send their underage children to school in the county.

Normal working and commercial activities also commenced on a slow pace in the county for fear that the incident would stir up a violent protest.

Speaking in an interview with FrontPage Africa via telephone , former Bomi County Senator Sando Dazoe Johnson described the incident as “alarming, barbaric, and uncivilized.”

He challenged state security actors to leave no stone unturned in ensuring that justice prevails in the matter.

“For a two-year old child to be murdered in cold blood and body parts extracted it is painful and it should not be tolerated in our society. All of the perpetrators should be brought to book and when they are found guilty, they deserve a harsh punishment.”

Always happening

Mr. Johnson observed that this is not the first time for a minor to be gruesomely murdered in the county.

According to him, similar incidents have consistently occurred in Dewein and Suehn Mecca districts in the county.

He linked the incident to alleged ritualistic killing.

“As we approach elections, this act is always happening in those two districts. Suehn and Dewein districts are noted for these kinds of ritualistic killing. Anytime we are approaching elections, these things will happen.”

Mr. Johnson maintained that the parents of the victims and other family members are the ones that are mostly affected as a result of the growing wave of ritualistic killings in the county.

“This is a ritualistic killing-when people died under this kind of mysterious circumstance and body parts are extracted.”

He claimed that the body parts extracted from the victims are most often used, “with an evil intent by wicked individuals and others for political and financial gains.”

Becoming a habit

“This is not the first or second time this has happened in Bomi County. It is becoming a habit in those two districts wherever there are elections around.”

Mr. Johnson pointed out that residents of the two districts in the county were already living in fear prior to the latest incident.

According to him, the ghastly murder of little Saah will further elevates fear among the residents.

“These acts are normally done by evil men and we pray to God that one day they will be exposed.”

Mr. Johnson, however, challenged authorities of the Liberia National Police (LNP) to be vigilant in bringing both the killers and their sponsors to book.

He called on the citizens to be mindful and take precautions during this electioneering period in Liberia.

“We want to call on our people to man their little children because, during these times, evil men are in the bushes trying to hunt down children for their personal gains. We will work along with the police to ensure that these criminal-minded individuals in high or low places are brought to book.”

Source: Liberia: Police Launch Probe into the Grisly Murder of 2-Yr-Old Boy in Bomi; Six Arrested