Monrovia – President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf has laid wreath on the tomb bearing the remains of Liberia’s 18th President – William Vacanarat Shadrach Tubman. She performed the wreath-laying ceremony on the occasion of the late Statesman’s 119th birth anniversary.
According to an Executive Mansion release, the Liberian leader was joined by family members of the late President William V.S. Tubman’s on Thursday, November 29, 2017 at the Centennial Memorial Pavilion on Ashmum Street in Monrovia.
President Sirleaf said “We have come to memorialize President Tubman for starting the country on the path development, democracy, and freedom, the fight against colonialism, sustained peace and stability.”
She described the late Liberian leader as one loved by the people – who steered the country through an era of sustained peace, cohesion and stability for nearly three decades of our history. She said in spite of the criticism.
The Liberian Chief Executive said she was pleased and blessed to fulfill such humbled obligation of wreath-laying since her ascendancy and noted that her administration has been able to solidify the peace during its 12 years reign by embarking on and scrupulously implementing critical national agenda.
Speaking briefly on behalf of the family, the son of the late President William V.S. Tubman – Mr. John Tubman thanked President Sirleaf and the government for according respect to the memories of their late father and Statesman.
Meanwhile, Liberia’s Foreign Minister Olubanke King-Akerele read a historical letter written on May 7, 1971 – to the late President Tubman by the Federation of Women in Sierra Leone.
The letter paid tribute to President Tubman for his heroic determination and fortitude for a legislating enactment – granting women adult suffrage and the right to vote.
The letter further passionately recognized scores of Liberian women who made history include Mae Padmore, Elizabeth Collins, Angie Brooks-Randolph, among others. Interestingly, the letter also predicted the election of a female President to unmask the jinx of “Mr. President versus Madam President.”
The letter is available to the public at the National Museum on Broad Street.