Sawabenu Legal Aid Hotline and Radio Programming

Sawabenu Legal Aid Hotline
Since the launch the hotline in early 2025, SAWABENU continued to operate its legal aid hotline (0555304040 & 0777304041) by providing direct legal guidance and support to community members across multiple counties in Liberia. We continue to build on substantive inquiries received and through our in-house lawyers, address legal inquiries from the public. The geographic spread of callers beyond Grand Bassa, Bong, Nimba, Margibi and more areas in Montserrado Counties demonstrates the growing reach and recognition of SAWABENU’s legal aid services.
Some of the reported hotline cases reflect the breadth of justice challenges confronting communities across the country and the below table is a segment of cases received and addressed.

      Case Type                          Recent Count                           

1. Land Rights / Property                              3              

2. Family Law / Divorce / GBV                      2

3. Contract / Debt                                         1

4. Criminal Defense                                      1

5. Juvenile Rights                                         1

6. Labor / Employment                                 1 

7. Housing / Disability Rights                       1   

Observations          

• Land disputes remain the most common legal issue.

• Abusive marriage and inquiries about divorce reflect the growing willingness of the public to seek formal remedies for family disputes.

• Debt recovery remains a recurring concern in rural communities.

• Criminal defense inquiries continue to highlight the need for awareness of accused persons’ rights.

• We continue to receive queries about the treatment of minors in police custody.

• Abusive labor arrangements and wrongful dismissals remain high with some of the callers over time.

• Inquiries from quarters with disabilities continue to demonstrate the ongoing vulnerability of persons with disabilities.

Sawabenu Radio Programming
Throughout 2026, SAWABENU's three partner radio stations, Radio Joy Africa 97.5 MHz, Radio Peace 96.5 MHz, and Voice of Rural Montserrado 89.3 FM in Margibi and Montserrado Counties, have maintained continuous jingle broadcasts and delivered interactive talk shows, serving as both a public education platform and an alternative channel for community members to access vital legal information. Public awareness efforts on access to justice reached a significant milestone during this period through extensive multilingual radio broadcasts and interactive discussions. Pre-recorded legal awareness jingles are aired daily in Simple English, Pidgin English, Bassa, and Kpelle, ensuring full accessibility for the diverse linguistic communities in Margibi and Montserrado Counties with approximately 150 messages broadcast per station each month.

Complementing the daily jingles, regular interactive radio talk shows are conducted under the banner of the SAWABENU Legal Hour,featuring SAWABENU Program Officer Atty. Franklin Wadjie and Acting Executive Director Cllr. Sarnyenneh M. Dickson as guest speakers, successfully generating a combined 55 audience calls between April and June to address pressing community legal questions and concerns. Some topics of focus have included property and land rights, difference between civil and criminal cases, the illegality of trial by ordeal and why, how the criminal justice system works, law enforcement’s use of reasonable force and the use of the search and seizure writ, etc.