PHOTO: Edited by Gabriel Williams
A new international magazine with a focus on Africa and the African Diaspora is available on the newsstands in Liberia.
The maiden edition of the New African Messenger magazine highlights major developments in Liberia as the country prepares for Presidential and General elections in 2023, such as the alarming rate of rape, the rise of the “Zogo” gang, and mysterious killings occurring in Liberia.
The front cover of the magazine carries an article, titled, “Who Will be Liberia’s Next President?” The article profiles five opposition candidates who have declared their respective intentions to unseat incumbent President George M. Weah and make him a one-term leader. The article notes that the 2023 Presidential election would be like “judgment day” for President Weah, on whether Liberians are satisfied with his leadership to give him a second term, while much is left to be desired as to whether a splintered opposition bloc at war within itself would be able to unseat the sitting President.
On the African continental scene, the magazine also highlights the “Resurgence of Military Coups in West Africa,” an anti-democratic development which continues to undermine Africa’s progress, while also drawing attention to the brutal civil wars and gross human rights violations taking place respectively in Ethiopia’s Tigray region and Cameroon’s predominantly English-speaking region.
On the global scene, the New African Messenger also highlights the widespread international condemnation of Russia over the military invasion of Ukraine in violation of international law. In view of what appears to be a breakdown in the international order governing international relations, as the Russian aggression and other global developments reflect, the magazine calls for the establishment of a new international order.
From the Diaspora, the Messenger profiles the new President of the Union of Liberian Associations in the Americas (ULAA), the umbrella group of Liberians and their various organizations in the United States. The magazine also highlights two U.S.-based Diaspora Liberians who are contributing to the welfare of Liberia and its people.
It features an article on the SALT Rehabilitation Clinic in Sinkor, Monrovia, established by Arthington-born Dr. Catherine Turkett Kamara to provide stroke and trauma rehabilitation services.
The other U.S.-based Liberian featured is Attorney Varney Taylor of the Taylor Law Firm in Washington, D.C. Among numerous humanitarian activities, the Varney Taylor Foundation has installed solar panel street lights in three villages in Bomi County, while in March 2022, 40 underprivileged students from various parts of Liberia have been sponsored by the Foundation to undergo various training programs at the Liberia Opportunity Industrialization Center Vocational Center in Bong County.
There are also articles on the new Bishop of the Episcopal Church of Liberia, the funeral of former Liberian Interim President Dr. Amos C. Sawyer, the dysfunctional state of Liberia’s education sector, and the reopening of the Executive Mansion – for which President Weah is applauded.
Copies of the maiden edition of the New African Messenger are available on the newsstands in Monrovia and at the offices of The Inquirer newspaper, located at the intersection of Benson and Gurley Streets, Monrovia.
While an online platform is being established for the New African Messenger, the print edition of the magazine intended for the U.S. market will be available through subscription and other distribution plans being instituted.
New African Messenger is published by Lift Africa Global Corporation based in Sacramento, CA, USA. The Publisher and Editor is Gabriel I.H. Williams, journalist, author, and former diplomat. For Letters to the Editor, features articles, advertisement, subscription, and other information our readers and others may want to share with the New African Messenger, please use the contacts in the magazine.
New African Messenger is being launched to help fill a void in providing well-written, well-researched, and professionally balanced reports in order to properly inform and educate the reading public.