Summary:
- Young Liberians met with former President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf and other senior leaders in Monrovia recently for a rare intergenerational dialogue on the country’s past and future.
- Speakers shared lessons from prison, exile, and years of struggle, telling young people that leadership takes sacrifice, patience, and service — not shortcuts.
- The event highlighted a growing national challenge: how to pass on Liberia’s political history and leadership from one generation to the next.
By Joyclyn Wea and Tetee Gebro, gender correspondents with New Narratives
Young Liberians sat face-to-face with some of the country’s most powerful political figures last week in Monrovia, listening to stories of prison, exile, and hard-won leadership. But as they absorbed lessons from the past, many also made a quiet demand: they want a real role in shaping the country’s future.
The Intergenerational Political Dialogue, organized by the Movement for One Liberia, a political party, at the Ellen Johnson Sirleaf Ministerial Complex in Congo Town, brought together former President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, senior women leaders, students, and civil society actors under the theme: “Bridging Generations: Preserving the Past, Empowering the Present, Shaping the Future.”
The Movement for One Liberia, founded in 2019 by MacDella Cooper, now political adviser to President Boakai, was created to push for more inclusive representation in government, especially for women, young people, and people with disabilities. The party was one of two just political parties that met a 30 percent gender threshold that all parties had committed to ahead of the 2023 elections.
The message from many of the older speakers was clear: young people must understand the country’s painful political history — including prison, exile, coups, and war — before they can fully lead it.
“We need to know from where we have come, so we understand where we are going,” said Madam Cooper, leader of the Movement for One Liberia, the party that organized the event.
But some young people also used the event to press their own message: it is not the time for history lessons. They want a real place in national decision-making,” Ansumana F. Munya said.
Participants at the dialogue have the opportunity to engage with the panelists in a question-and-answer segment where some of their concerns were addressed.
Cooper told the audience Liberia has a demographic reality it has never faced before: young people make up the overwhelming majority – three out of every four people are under 35. But power and political memory still largely sit with older generations. Many young people were born after the country’s most defining crises, including the 1980 coup and the civil wars. That means they often inherit today’s politics without fully knowing how the country got here.
She said that the gap can deepen mistrust between generations. Older leaders may see young people as unprepared. Young people may see older leaders as unwilling to let go. The dialogue was an attempt to bridge that divide — by giving young Liberians direct access to the people who lived the history and still shape public life.
The day’s biggest draw was Sirleaf, who spoke about her long journey through Liberian politics — from government service to prison and exile, to eventually becoming Africa’s first democratically elected female president.
She told the audience that leadership is built over time, not won through shortcuts.
“It’s got to be steps,” Sirleaf said. “It’s got to be stages. You’ve got to have a record.”
Sirleaf also reflected on the sacrifices behind that journey. She spoke about serving in government, speaking out during difficult times, going to prison, living in exile, and then returning to help lead the country.
Some of the senior women leaders and public officials looked on as the panelists shared their stories and contributions.
She recalled the 1985 elections held by President Samuel Doe to legitimize his rule after he seized power in a 1980 coup. Sirleaf won a Senate seat but refused to take it because she and her party believed the results were false.
“We said this would be condoning a false act,” she said. “May that be a lesson to others.”
Sirleaf said courage matters, but it must be guided by discipline and purpose.
Her message to the young people in the room was that leadership requires service, patience, and a record people can judge.
Women’s Stories Leave a Mark
The event also featured an all-women panel with some of Liberia’s best-known female leaders, including former Chief Justice Gloria Musu Scott, Mary Lorraine Brown, former Foreign Minister Olubanke King-Akerele, and activist Lucia Massalee Yallah.
Some of the strongest moments came from stories of sacrifice and abuse during Liberia’s troubled years. Yallah’s testimony deeply moved the audience. As an activist and student leader, Yallah was beaten in Bella Yalla — 25 lashes on her bare back, and she is still fighting for a better Liberia. Activist Lucia Massalee Yallah said she was arrested in December 1984 under Samuel Doe’s regime for pro-democracy activism, held first at a military detention site and later sent to the notorious Belle Yalla prison camp, where political prisoners faced brutal treatment. Her imprisonment was part of the crackdown before Liberia’s civil war.
A senior student from Tubman High posed a question to the panelists while friends looked on.
For many young people in the room, these were not distant stories from a book. They were hearing directly from women who had lived through the country’s darkest periods and were still speaking out.
Students did not only listen. They also asked questions and shared what they learned from the day.
A female student posing questions to Madam Sirleaf following her lecture.
“As a young woman, whatever I want to do in this life, I can make it,” said Zainab Sesay, a 12th-grade student. She said the program gave her courage. And listening to Sirleaf’s story taught her resilience.
“Whatever step I’m about to take, I shouldn’t be afraid, no matter the challenges.”
Asatu Sharif, also a student at the University of Liberia, said the discussion helped her connect Liberia’s troubled history to later peaceful progress.
“The past mistakes — the Rice Riots, the coup — the next president, Madam Sirleaf, got to turn power over peacefully,” she said. “That really means a whole lot for Liberia and me.”
For Ansumana F. Munya, also a student at the University of Liberia, the lesson was clear: resilience.
“No matter what you face in life, you shouldn’t give up,” he said. “They can take you to prison, but if you stand for the right cause, you will still come out.”
He said hearing directly from leaders like Sirleaf made the experience meaningful. But he also felt students were overlooked during parts of the program. He said more attention should be given to high school participants.
“We should all learn together,” he said. “It shouldn’t be one-sided. Everybody came to learn.”
His comment reflected a broader concern among some young attendees: several told FrontPage Africa that even in spaces designed for inclusion, not all voices are equally heard.
Cooper promised that the dialogue is only the beginning. She said more events are planned to bring other political figures and witnesses of Liberia’s history into conversation with the country’s youth. But she said all generations have a responsibility.
Young people, she said, must respect those who struggled before them. Older leaders, she said, must also be willing to step aside when the time comes.
“There will be a time when they need to turn over the mantle of authority to us,” she said.
This story was produced in collaboration with New Narratives as part of the Investigating Liberia project. Funding was provided by a private donor and the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency. The donors had no say in the story’s content.
