‘Let’s Reject Bitterness’ – -Pres. Boakai Calls on Liberians at the Reburial and Funeral Service of the Late Does
SOURCE: Liberian Post
Former Pres Doe’s reburial along with Fallen First Lady Nancy Doe’s Burial
ZWEDRU, GRAND GEDEH – President Joseph Nyuma Boakai Sr., has beseeched Liberians including Grand Gedeans, to reject all vices that only adds strife to contentions already existing.
Speaking at the State Funeral Service and Reburial of former President Samuel Kanyon Doe and Burial of former First Lady Nancy Bohn Doe, the President passionately appealed to every Liberian to also reject bitterness and that Liberians should “walk forward with hope, guided by love for our country and faith in our shared destiny.”
He told Liberians to jealously “protect the peace we now have with vigilance and cherish it with patriotism.”
President Joseph Nyuma Boakai calling on Liberians to reject all forms of bitterness
“We gather here today with solemn hearts and a shared sense of reverence to honor and reinter the remains of our former Head of State, President Samuel Kanyon Doe, and his loving wife, the late former First Lady, Mrs. Nancy Bohn Doe.
“This is not just a burial; it is a moment of national reflection, a time to reconcile with our history, to heal from our wounds, and to remember with respect and purpose.”
Among other things, the President reminisced how his former boss—President Doe—led Liberia through a decade of immense challenges, from 1980 to 1990. “He rose to power as a young man with a bold vision to empower ordinary Liberians and uplift the voices of those long marginalized.”
he President didn’t only eulogize the former President, he also spoke highly of the late former First Lady.
“Even as we celebrate the legacy of our late former President, I must pay special tribute to the late Mrs. Nancy B. Doe, whose passing while preparing for this very ceremony, added another layer of sorrow to today’s solemn occasion.
“I had the privilege of knowing Mrs. Nancy B. Doe personally. As First Lady, she was the very embodiment of grace, dignity, and quiet strength. In the face of profound loss, she bore her sorrow with remarkable composure and unwavering devotion to her family and to the Liberian people.”
Read the President’s Full Address Here
Apostle Prophet Amos W. Zor, Founder, Prayer Garden International,
Delivering his funeral discourse, Apostle Prophet Amos W. Zor, Founder, Prayer Garden International, urged the President to go ahead with the establishment of War and Economic Crimes Court. Apostle Zor further stated that the President should not listen to people who say “Everyone in Liberia is related just to defeat the establishment of the court. “When the reconciliation must be successful, the War and Economic Crimes Courts must be established. Let no one tell you, Your Excellency, that we are all related in Liberia.”
Speaking of the late couples, he stated that Madam Doe was brought back to Liberia and one month two weeks later she gave up the ghost.
“At some point, Mama Nancy wasn’t well; she wanted to go for treatment in the UK, and she went to the Foreign Ministry to renew her passport, but it was seized and wasn’t given back. She called and told me. I told her to go and get an ordinary passport to travel. She didn’t want to do so, but I encouraged her. She did. We met in Ghana. We obtained the visa and she travelled to the UK.”
Preaching on the theme: “It is finished,” he asked, “What is finished?” He then eulogized: “Grand Gedeans, it is finished! Back-biting, family hatred, hates against one another is finished!”
He also stated that one day the late Nancy Doe called him and informed him that she wanted to rebury her husband. “I told her, Mama, it is not time. When the right time comes, God will tell you. When it was time, I called and told them that the Lord has told me that it is now time. But I told them to go and where they think he was burial to take some of the earth and keep it home. They did so.”
Also paying tribute, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Mr. Richard Nagbe Koon, thanked the President for initiating the proper burial of the former President. “Mr. President, you have paved the way for true and genuine reconciliation in this nation.
County’s Formal Statement
The County’s formal statement was delivered by its chief elder. Among other things, he told the President and the audience, that indeed the much publicized “Rescue slogan of Unity Party” has now landed in Grand Gedeh County.
Noticeably absent from the ceremony was Senator Zoe Pennue, an antagonist to the Children of the former President and a nephew of the former President.
Legislative Caucus
On behalf of the Grand Gedeh Legislative Caucus, Senator Thomas Yaya Nimely said it had been been 35 years since Doe was murdered by the late Senator Prince Y. Johnson. “I had never thought in my dream that this day would have ever come. What we have experienced over the past two days, is not a news. Grand Gedeh has been looking over the many years for this day. We have been looking forward for the dust to settle. Just as we were looking, pepper went into our eyes. We couldn’t see. Then from blind side, from the North, President Boakai showed up from the blind side and tapped us on our shoulders. He said I am here to comfort you; don’t be afraid. We never believed and never knew that the distance from Central Liberia to Grand Gedeh that someone will come.”
The Senator made Grand Gedeans in the hall to stand and applauded the President for what he had done for them.
Statement of Appreciation
In his Statement of Appreciation, the late former President’s Junion, Samuel Kanyan Doe Jr., thanked President Boakai for doing the reburial of their father’s remains and for giving a State Burial to the remains of their mother, Madam Nancy Bohn Doe.
Doe Jr. also thanked the County’s Legislative Caucus with the exception of Zoe Emmanuel Pennue.
At the Gravesite
The former President was buried alongside his wife. Their caskets were placed in separate holes into the earth, on the Presidential Compound that he was building in Zwedru City, Grand Gedeh County.
The flags covering each coffin were militarily folded by the Armed Forces of Liberia soldiers and handed to the Doe Family. The late former President was honored with military 21-gun salute.