This action, organized by the April 22nd Memorial Group, will take place as part of a somber effort to honor the memories of those who perished during the tragic events of April 22, 1980./ L-R: President Tolbert and members of the Tolbert’s family.
Monrovia – The remains of Liberia’s late President Dr. William R. Tolbert and 13 former senior officials from his government are set to be exhumed from the Palm Grove Cemetery on Center Street.
This action, organized by the April 22nd Memorial Group, will take place as part of a somber effort to honor the memories of those who perished during the tragic events of April 22, 1980.
On that fateful day, President Tolbert, Liberia’s 20th President, was assassinated in a coup led by Master Sergeant Samuel K. Doe and his soldiers. His lifeless body was taken to Palm Grove Cemetery, marking the beginning of a brutal chapter in Liberia’s history.
Shortly after, 13 senior government officials from Tolbert’s administration were executed, their bodies thrown into the same grave, creating what would become a mass burial site.
The site of the mass grave endured significant damage during Liberia’s civil war, but the Tolbert family, led by the late Dr. Richard Tolbert, the former Chairman of Liberia’s National Investment Commission, worked to restore the area in the aftermath.
For years, Dr. Tolbert and his family members held annual memorial services and beautification efforts at the grave site, keeping the memories of their loved ones alive.
However, the passage of time has led to a deteriorating condition of the grave, prompting the Tolbert family to take further steps.
For the first time, they have requested the services of St. Moses Funeral Parlor to carry out an exhumation of the remains. The April 22nd Memorial Group, which has played a pivotal role in preserving the memory of these fallen figures, will oversee the event and organize a brief memorial service following the exhumation.
In a release, the group announced that a solemn reburial ceremony will be held later in the year at a new memorial site. This decision comes amid growing concerns about the preservation of the grave, as well as the larger context of the country’s turbulent political history.
The exhumation comes on the heels of a statement by President Joseph Boakai, who pledged during his second State of the Nation address to institute plans for the proper burial of both President Tolbert and his assassin-turned-rival, Samuel K. Doe.
The two leaders were pivotal in Liberia’s history, marking the end of 133 years of Americo-Liberian rule and the violent beginning of a new political era.
Tolbert’s assassination was followed a decade later by the tragic death of President Doe, who was captured and executed by the Independent National Patriotic Front of Liberia (INPFL) during the early stages of the country’s civil war in 1990.
To this day, the whereabouts of Doe’s remains remain unknown, despite efforts by his family to locate them.
While the government has promised to address the issue of proper burials for these leaders, questions remain about the progress of such plans.
President Boakai’s statement regarding the burial of both Tolbert and Doe follows the tragic loss of other prominent figures in Liberia’s political history, but the fate of Doe’s remains remains unresolved, with ongoing suspicions regarding their treatment by the rebels who captured him.
The April 22nd Memorial Group’s exhumation of President Tolbert and his colleagues is seen as a step towards honoring the memory of the 1980 coup’s victims.
