The people of Nimba are gearing up to receive the remains of fallen kinsmen, Senator Prince Yormie Johnson, this week for burial following his death late last year.
By Thomas Domah, Nimba County
Nimba, Liberia, January 13, 2025 –Final preparations are in progress in Nimba County for the final journey of late Senator Prince Yormie Johnson, who reportedly collapsed in his bathroom and died on 28 November 2024.
The leader of the disbanded rebels Independent National Patriotic Front of Liberia (INPFL) was on the path of spending 27 years (2006 to 2024) in the Liberian Senate when he suddenly died at 72.
Dubbed a kingmaker in Liberian politics for successfully helping to bring two former presidents and current President Joseph Boakai to power, the late PYJ was an influential leader in his native Nimba County.
The ex-rebel general-turned-evangelist and politician was prominent on the list of key actors named by the Truth and Reconciliation Commission for persecution for heinous crimes and crimes against humanity committed during the Liberian Civil War.
His death came at a time when the current administration that he helped in winning the election, established an Office of War and Economic Crimes that would eventually lead to the formation of a hybrid tribunal with the help of the international community to make major actors from the civil conflict account for atrocities committed.
A high-powered delegation led by former culture ambassador Juli Endee, Ganta City Mayor Samuel Saye Hardt, alongside Superintendent Kou Meapeh Gono and other Nimbaians late last week embarked on massive preparations ahead of funereal rites for the fallen statesman that begin from January 14 to18 in the politically-charged county.
Remains of the late Senator, who was also revered as the godfather of Nimba politics, are expected to be interred this Saturday, January 18, in Ganta after a tour of major towns and cities in Nimba.
Addressing reporters in Ganta City, former culture ambassador Juli Endee said they are working hard to give the fallen Senator a befitting funeral.
She said works are ongoing in several parts of the country, adding that Nimbaians worldwide and in the country support the exercises, which are intended to give a heroic burial to PYJ.
According to her, the body will tour six cities in Nimba before burial in the premises of the PYJ Polytechnic University that the late senator constructed.
Superintendent Kou Meapeh Gono, who is leading the ongoing process, notes that the late PYJ was the face of Nimba, so they are jointly involved in the preparations.
Superintendent Gono said they will cease the homegoing of the late PJY as an opportunity to unite the people of Nimba.
The Mayor of Ganta, Samuel Saye Hardt, says all is set to receive the body for its final journey.
Mayor Hardt thanks the Joint Security in Ganta, the business community, and residents, among others, for supporting the process. Editing by Jonathan Browne
