CAJ Intl Mag

President Joseph Boakai sold Liberians a “Rescue Mission” anchored on education and health. On Friday, his administration announced a nationwide expansion of the Presidential Scholarship Program to public high schools, TVETs, universities and community colleges in all 15 counties. The pitch is familiar: merit, opportunity, and a lighter burden for families. But the announcement lands as the rescue promise frays elsewhere. At JFK Hospital, maternal fees have climbed past $200 and full deposits are now demanded before surgery. Health workers protest unpaid adjustments. Drug shelves sit empty. With only $200,000 budgeted annually and no new funding named, critics ask how the same money will now stretch across twice as many schools and students. For many Liberians, the scholarship sounds good on paper. The hospital bill at the door tells a different story

President Joseph Boakai came to power promising a "Rescue Mission" for Liberia, with healthcare at the heart of it. Two years on, that promise is colliding with a painful reality. At JFK Hospital, maternal fees have jumped and full deposits are now demanded before surgery. Health workers protest unpaid adjustments while medicines vanish from shelves. A $124 million US health deal meant to give Liberia control is instead raising fears of less funding and weaker oversight. From market women to doctors and civil society, the criticism is growing. For many Liberians, the rescue they voted for now feels like another bill they cannot afford to pay.

In the five years since the Congress of African Journalists (CAJ) was registered with the Corporate Affairs Commission in Nigeria, the organization has grown from an idea into a pan-African movement. Founded to defend press freedom, build journalist capacity, and ensure Africans tell African stories, CAJ has become a voice that governments, partners, and journalists across the continent are listening to. At the center of this work is Michael Adeboboye, Chairman of the Board of Trustees and Editor-in-Chief of CAJ International Magazine. An international journalist and advocate, Adeboboye has led CAJ through funding challenges, safety threats, and the push to build cross-border collaboration in an increasingly complex media landscape. In this exclusive interview with Dela Ahiawor, CAJ West Africa Bureau Editor, Adeboboye speaks on CAJ’s impact since 2020, the significance of the organization’s engagement with the European Union, and how the new International Media Cooperation Protocol will help African stories travel across languages and borders. He also addresses his recent appointment by the Worldwide Writers Association as Literature Cultural Ambassador for Nigeria, and how he plans to bridge journalism, literature, and cultural diplomacy.

In 2026, Luanda’s suburbs still see water trucks queue at dawn. In Huambo and Moxico, women walk kilometers with jerry cans. Yet in Talatona and parts of Benguela, taps now run daily. Angola’s government has spent billions of dollars since 2017 to change this story. New dams, treatment plants and rural boreholes are part of a push to meet SDG 6: clean water for all by 2030. The progress is real, but so are the gaps: broken pipes, unpaid bills, climate droughts, and millions still without safe water. This is how far Angola has come, how well services work today, and what must happen next.

Rovingman column

Tiawan Saye Gongloe is a Human Rights Lawyer, Former Solicitor General of Liberia, Former Minister of Labor, Former President of the Liberia National Bar Association, Assistant Professor of Law at the Louis Arthur Grimes School of Law, University of Liberia, Former Presidential Candidate, and Advocate for Good Governance, Constitutional Democracy, and the Rule of Law. Mr. Gongloe was a candidate in the 2023 Presidential and Legislative Elections and has long advocated for constitutional democracy, political inclusion, human rights, accountability, national reconciliation, and the rule of law in Liberia.