By Lewis S. Teh
Grand Gedeh, June 30, 2025: Liberia’s President Joseph Nyumah Boakai is urging citizens across the country’s fifteen counties to let go of the past and embrace peace for the country’s growth.
“Let us reject bitterness, let us reject division, let us walk forward with hope, guided by love for our country and faith in our shared destiny. Let us protect the peace we now have with vigilance and cherish it with patriotism.”
President Boakai spoke at the State Funeral Service and Reburial of Former President Samuel Kanyon Doe, Sr., and Burial of former First Lady Nancy Bohn Doe at the Zwedru City Hall in Grand Gedeh County on Friday, June 27, 2025.
Boakai narrates that the peaceful homegoing of the late Samuel K. Doe and his wife Nancy Doe was not just a burial; instead, it was a moment of national reflection, a time to reconcile with our history, to heal from our wounds, and to remember with respect and purpose.
He revealed that the late Samuel Doe led Liberia through a decade of immense challenges, from 1980 to 1990, during which he rose to power as a young man with a bold vision to empower ordinary Liberians and uplift the voices of those who had been long marginalized.
According to President Boakai, the former President Samuel K. Doe’s administration laid the foundations for infrastructure, education, and industry, adding that many of those efforts remain visible and relevant today. His dream was to transform Liberia into a nation where every citizen could thrive.
The Liberian leader also recalled the valuable relationship he had with the late Samuel K. Doe, saying, ‘I speak not only as President, but also as someone who served under President Doe.’ I served first as Managing Director of the Liberia Produce and Marketing Corporation, and later as Minister of Agriculture.
Through our work together, I had the opportunity to get to know him personally. He was determined. He was sometimes misunderstood. But he was always committed to improving the lives of the Liberian people. Our collaboration was built on mutual respect and a shared vision of national service, he said.
This reburial carries weight far beyond Grand Gedeh or the Doe family. It symbolizes a broader effort to reconcile with our past and to heal our nation. The civil conflict that followed his tragic death inflicted deep scars. But through God’s grace, we have enjoyed peace for over two decades, says Boakai.
“Let today be more than a symbolic gesture. Let it be a chapter turned, a mark of our readiness to move forward, to make peace with the past, and to uphold justice, unity, and truth.”
The dignified reburial, according to President Boakai, reflects the country’s national maturity and its collective will to heal and move forward. It underscores my Government’s policy to remove the lingering shadows of conflict and to foster reconciliation for all Liberians.
He further disclosed, stating, as I mentioned in my Annual Message earlier this year, that reconciliation and healing are central to our development agenda. “We cannot build a prosperous Liberia on broken foundations. Our future depends on unity, on confronting the past through truth, forgiveness, and a shared commitment to progress.”
At the same time, the Liberian leader used the occasion to caution young people across the country, saying to our youth, many of whom were not yet born during those difficult years, I say this: learn from the lessons of our history, understand the cost of division. Let unity, peace, and service to country be your guiding stars, he adds.
He further urged the bereaved families to stick together in this challenging period, saying to the Doe family, ‘I urge you to remain united and continue to lead by example.’ Let your legacy be one of strength, dignity, and national healing.
To the people of Grand Gedeh, and all Liberians across our fifteen counties, this is our time to come together, Let us reconcile, Let us heal, Let us build a Liberia where no region is forgotten, no citizen is overlooked, and no past injustice is allowed to define our future he concludes.
The funeral service brought together a cross-section of government officials from line ministries, agencies, and commissions, as well as families and relatives of the late Samuel K. Doe, his wife, Nancy Doe, development partners, citizens of Grand Gedeh, youths, women’s groups, and others. -Edited by Othello B. Garblah.
