Liberians Grow Wary of George Weah as Economic Woes Deepen (Al Jazeera English)→

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When former football star George Weah won Liberia’s presidential election in 2017, he promised to make "transforming the lives of all Liberians" the "singular mission" of his presidency.

But as the 53-year-old marked two years in office on January 22, some of the poor and young voters who assured Weah's landslide victory say their economic woes have worsened under his leadership, and critics said government incompetence and failure to tackle corruption were to blame…

"Weah underestimated that playing football is different from running a country," said Robtel Neajai Pailey, a Liberian political analyst. "He lacks the traditional skill set of a president but has the popular mandate to get himself a good team. Instead he has allowed himself to be advised incorrectly."

She added: "Liberians have become so politically engaged. They feel the need to go out and protest, to demand that things change, because it's hitting them where it matters most - their pockets."

Episode 3: Robtel Neajai Pailey (KickBack: The Global Anti-Corruption Podcast)

/ KickBank: The Global Anti-Corruption Podcast/

In this episode of the KickBack Global Anti-Corruption podcast, we are very happy to welcome Robtel Neajai Pailey – a Liberian academic, activist and author who is “maladjusted to injustice” – a quote from Cornel West.

Visit https://soundcloud.com/kickback-gap/3-episode-robtel-neajai-pailey-nils-kobis for more information.

Fighting Corruption Early for the Good of the Country (Free Malaysia Today)→

/ Free Malaysia Today/

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia—Malaysia is no longer among the top 50 least corrupt nations globally, and experts recently debated how to stop the slide.

Corruption fighter Robtel Neajai Pailey grew up in the US and studied at Oxford University before coming home to her native Liberia as an idealistic 25-year-old, determined to do something about the endemic corruption plaguing her country.

Qatar Ruler, Dr. Mahathir Present Anti-Corruption Awards to Outstanding Individuals (The Sun Daily)→

/ The Sun Daily/

PUTRAJAYA, MALAYSIA—Former Nigerian anti-corruption official Nuhu Ribadu and the World Bank Group’s vice president of integrity Leonard F. McCarthy of South Africa have been named as the recipients of the Anti-Corruption Lifetime/Outstanding Achievement Award at the Sheikh Tamim Hamad Al Thani International Anti-Corruption Excellence Award here today…

Other recipients for awards are Dr Robtel Neajai Pailey of Liberia and Prof. Jason Sharman of Australia for Anti-Corruption Academic Research and Education; Accountability Lab (America) and Fernanda Angelica Flores Aguirre (Mexico) for Anti-Corruption Youth Creativity and Engagement; and PNG Phones Against Corruption (Papua New Guinea) and Dr. Roger Oppong Koranteng (Ghana) for Anti-Corruption Innovation.

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Fight against Corruption (Joy News-Ghana)

/ Joy TV/Joy News FM/

Joseph Ackah-Blay, Joy FM/Joy News TV court and political correspondent, interviews Robtel Neajai Pailey about her anti-corruption children’s books, Gbagba and Jaadeh!, on the sidelines of the 2018 High Level Dialogue on Democracy, Human Rights and Governance in Africa held in Gaborone, Botswana, on 29 November 2018.

Decolonisation and Social Media (Nordic Africa Institute)→

/ Nordic Africa Institute/

A Nordic Africa Days 2018 Roundtable discussion entitled ‘Decolonisation and Social Media’ was held 21 September 2018 and featured a panel comprising Patience Mususa, Francis Nyamnjoh, Henning Melber, and Robtel Neajai Pailey.

Global academia and African Studies in particular are in the midst of a new wave of debates and interventions calling for the decolonisation of academic disciplines, school curricula and university structures. South Africa's #RhodesMustFall movement was not only one of the trailblazers in this most recent mobilisation against persistent inequalities and prejudices in African and Africanist higher education, but it also demonstrated the power and potential of social media as a platform for social and political mobilisation.

After Charity Sex-Abuse Scandal in Liberia, a Storm of Anger, Guilt and Grief (Christian Science Monitor)→

/ Christian Science Monitor/

…beneath the upbeat story that More than Me told about itself – and that news outlets like ours told about More Than Me – was a darker story. Over a period of several years, one of the charity’s key founding staff members, Macintosh Johnson, allegedly had raped or assaulted as many as dozens of girls in its care. Meanwhile, Meyler and the nongovernmental organization had distanced themselves from the scandal, going on to take over 18 schools across Liberia and draw accolades from the world’s most influential philanthropists, according to an exposé published last week by Time magazine and the investigative news nonprofit Propublica.

Where to put the blame for what happened, indeed, remains a major question here. For some, the scandal is a warning against the often unchecked power of foreign charities in Africa. It “reveals our warped tendencies to glorify foreigners for swooping into poor countries under the guise of doing good,” wrote the political commentator Robtel Neajai Pailey in Al Jazeera this week.