Former President William R. Tolbert was assassinated on April 12, 1980, his assassination was followed by the execution of 13 government officials in the coming days.
By Lincoln G. Peters
Wednesday, February 19, 2025/ Former President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf was all tears on Tuesday morning, February 18, as family members of late President Tolbert and 13 former government officials began exhuming the bodies of the former statesmen for proper burial elsewhere.
Mrs. Sirleaf, who served as Minister of Finance in the Tolbert administration in the late 1070s, resigned and fled the country after the Tolbert government was overthrown. She placed her hand on one of the tombs while tears rolled down her cheeks. She made no comment.
There is still debate surrounding the men who assassinated Tolbert during the 1980 coup, with many accounts claiming it was the work of the CIA. Tolbert, as Chairman of the Organization of African Unity, now AU, was due to attend Zimbabwe’s Independence from the British the day before his assassination. He had been upfront with the Americans pushing for the Liberations of African states from colonial rule.
However, what is certain is that his 13 officials were executed on a beach near the Military Barracks in Monrovia by slain former President Samuel Doe and his group of enlisted men. President Doe himself would be butchered 10 years later in public glare by late Senator Prince Y. Johnson during the early years of the country’s more than two decades of civil war.
On early Tuesday, family members of the deceased held a memorial ceremony at Palm Grover Cemetery on Center Street, where speeches and reflections were made. Madam Sirleaf, the children and grandchildren of former government officials, and prominent Liberians graced the program.
The exhumation process is currently being carried out by the St. Moses Funeral Parlor, headed by its Chief Executive Officer, Mr. Moses H. Ahossoucheb.
The move comes weeks after President Joseph N. Boakai announced plans during his recent State of the Nation address to conduct a proper burial for both former Presidents Tolbert and Doe.
Prior to President Boakai’s pronouncement, family members of the late Liberian leader disclosed that they were in the process of obtaining permits for the exhumation of the remains of Tolbert and his 13 officials.
Dr. Richard V. Tolbert, nephew of Tolbert disclosed on Monday, 22 April 2024, that his family and families of other deceased officials were in the process of obtaining the necessary permits to exhume the remains from a mass grave at Palm Groove Cemetery on Center Street.
He explained that plans were underway between the children and family members of the deceased government officials, both home and abroad, for a contraction of a new tomb at the Baptist Seminary.
He said at the time that the new tomb would lead to the removal and reburial of the deceased early this year.
Liberian history has spoken much about the life and death of the late President Tolbert, given his contributions to Liberia and the African continent.
However, speaking in an interview with a journalist during the exhumation process, Mr. Moses H. Ahossouche said that, as per their arrangement with the family, when the skeletons are removed, they are going to be taken to the St. Moses Funeral Home to categorize them and later buried together.
‘’ We were told to do them, so we are here to do that. So, if they are visible, we will see them, but if they are not, it means they deteriorated over the period of time,” Ahossouche added.
Meanwhile, as of 6 PM on Tuesday, the area earmarked for the exhumation was dug without any parts of the remains being discovered. Excavators have announced plans to dig a bit further. -Edited by Othello B. Garblah.
