At the memorial Mass on 25 September in Monrovia, when it was time for tributes, I crossed the aisle to take pictures, and saw a sobbing mourner in tears. “This is too hard for me,” she whispered, wiping tears from her cheeks. I sat close to her to console her. As I talked to her tears also started welling up in my own eyes. Taking pictures became difficult.  

By John T. Monibah, contributing writer

Earlier, in his sermon, the Vicar General of the Archdiocese of Monrovia, Fr. Ambrose Kromah, described Fr. Joe Brown SDB as a “humble pastor” and educator whose work touched not only the institutions but countless lives also. “Fr. Joe became a mentor, teacher, a humble pastor, and a friend to many, especially the young. His contributions to education and human development remains a lasting part of his legacy in Liberia,” he said.

September 11 or 9/11, as it is known in America, has never been that much of a significant date for some in Liberia. That changed with the passing of an iconic Silesian priest, Fr. Joe Brown, SDB on 9/11, 2026. From now on, this date will be remembered as a day of sorrow in the lives of countless Liberians. It was on this day that the heartbreaking news of Fr. Joe’s home-going struck us deeply.

Liberia has lost a great friend, co-worker, leader, humanitarian, educator, and Priest par excellence. Known affectionately as “2FM” (his amateur radio name) and “Fr. JB,” he brought not only Christ and the Gospel but also love, education, humanitarian service, and development in the lives of our Church, citizens, students, and friends.

Past Pupils of Fr Joe Brown SDB at the Memorial Mass in Monrovia

Ordained September 4, 1950, Fr. Joe came to Liberia in 1980 to join the Salesians of Don Bosco (SDB). He served faithfully for 21 years until April 2001, when he returned to the UK. Even then, he continued working for Liberia as Director of the Missions Office in London, raising funds to support the SDB and the Catholic Church in Liberia.

Upon his arrival in 1980, Fr. Joe immediately immersed himself in the Lord’s vineyard, showing genuine leadership as Principal of the Arthur Barclay Technical Institute (ABTI) in Monrovia. Originally planned as an all-girls school, ABTI became co-educational under his visionary guidance. He also oversaw its transformation into Don Bosco Polytechnic (now Stella Maris Polytechnic University), introducing Liberia to the concept of polytechnic education. His model allowed students to progress from certificate to associate and bachelor’s degrees, while earning income as early as their first certification to support their education going forward.

When Liberia descended into civil war in 1990, Fr Joe remained in Monrovia for a long while, working and assisting the Salesians and the Archdiocese in coordinating vital relief efforts. During the Lutheran Church massacre, when displaced people were sheltered on 8th Street, he risked his life to secure food from the Freeport of Monrovia for the needy. After ceasefire, he worked tirelessly with CRS to deliver urgently needed relief supplies to Monrovia and beyond, often ahead of other agencies.

Fr. Joe was a true ambassador with a mission. Together with fellow Salesians, he helped establish the Don Bosco Programs as a centralized hub managing five institutions: Don Bosco Polytechnic, Don Bosco Homes, Don Bosco Rehab and Skills Training Program, Don Bosco Youth Center, and Don Bosco Technical High School. He was instrumental in reopening Radio Veritas, securing funds and technical expertise from abroad to make it the “Voice of the Voiceless” it became. His support for Sean Devereux’s humanitarian work in Liberia remains a shining example of his commitment.

His impact in Liberia is indelible not only through missionary, educational, and humanitarian work but also through the empowerment of countless Liberian children, youth, men, and women whom he supported in school, regardless of religion, ethnicity or background.

When news of his passing reached us on 9/11, mourning began, tears streamed down our faces and it will continue for generations. Fr. Blamoh Harris SDB, reflected: “Liberia has truly lost a best friend who served to his last strength.” Ms. Laureta Nagbe described his home-going as “a monumental loss to Liberia, especially to us his children whom he loved so much.” Amadu K. Sarnor recalled: “In 1992 at VOA-1 camp, he helped us build the Don Bosco Displaced School. It was a place of learning for children who had lost everything. Through his recommendation to CRS, that school was fed, sustained, and kept alive. When Sean died in 1993, Fr. Joe asked that the school be dedicated to his memory.” John T. Monibah called him “The Missionary Saint of Salesian work in Liberia, who served Liberians as faithfully as the first Joseph, the father of Jesus, served the Holy Family.” Wannie-Toe Derrick recounted: “Father was a real genius. When I worked with him in the Don Bosco Programs central office, I found him to be creative, hardworking, and always ready to teach on the job. He did serve humanity well”.

Fr. Joe departed Liberia after 21 years of good shepherding. His legacy lives on. Go well, 2FM. Rest in peace forever. Liberians remember you now and forever.

BUCHANAN, Grand Bassa County — For Saya Doe Sio, returning to the place where she was born and raised is always deeply personal. But on Monday, October 5, 2026, the return carried an even greater emotional weight.

Standing on the grounds of the Annie T. Doe Memorial Academy in Sugar Cane Farm, Lower Buchanan, Sio joined her husband and co-founder of the Annie T. Doe Memorial Foundation, Francis Sio, members of the family, friends from the United States, grandchildren and great-grandchildren to unveil a bust honoring the woman whose life and values continue to shape the institution.

That woman was her mother, the late Annie T. Doe.

The unveiling brought together generations of the Doe family and members of the wider foundation family, including supporters whose contributions have helped sustain the academy and its mission.

For the students, the occasion was not simply a ceremony. It was an opportunity to welcome the people behind an institution that has become part of their lives.

Melvina Saydee, a Grade 8 student, delivered a warm welcome on behalf of the students, administrators and staff.

“On behalf of our staff, students [and] administrators of this noble and prestigious institution, we wholeheartedly want to welcome you to our school, Annie T. Doe Memorial Academy,” Saydee said.

She told the visiting family and guests that she hoped their presence, conversations and interactions with the students would inspire them.

The students also presented roses as a symbol of “peace and love.”

Sio responded with gratitude, telling the students that whenever she returns to Buchanan, she comes with “good tidings and great joy.”

But the heart of the day belonged to the woman whose name the academy carries.

Remembering a Mother, Reclaiming a Dream
In an emotional reflection before the unveiling, Saya Sio pointed toward the family home where she was born and raised and recalled the humble beginnings that shaped her life.

“This is the house that I was born and raised in,” she said. “Just like Jenneh Peters, Eric Peters, we grew up in this house running around barefooted like all of you as you see today.”

Sio recalled that her mother raised nine children and instilled in them two principles that would ultimately become central to her daughter’s life’s work: faith and education.

“My mother was a missionary,” Sio said. “She believed in community. She believed that every child should have access to quality education.”

But Annie Doe had herself been denied the opportunity to receive a formal education.

According to her daughter, she survived through hard work, selling used clothes and doing whatever was necessary to provide for her family. Sio recalled accompanying her mother’s entrepreneurial efforts from an early age, even selling items after school to help put food on the family table.

Yet, amid hardship, Annie Doe continued to believe in education and the possibilities it could create.

“She believed in the power of education,” Sio recalled.

Then came a prediction that Sio said she did not fully understand at the time.

Her mother once sat on the porch of their home and told her: “I see you one day coming back to this community and rewriting the story for your friends.”

Decades later, that vision has become reality.

Sio’s recollection of her mother’s death was perhaps the most emotional moment of the ceremony.

She recalled that on September 20, 1989, Annie Doe traveled toward Monrovia to obtain used clothing for her business. Sio said she was supposed to accompany her mother but remained in Monrovia.

On her mother’s return journey to Buchanan, tragedy struck.

Sio said Annie Doe and two other people who were traveling with her died in a road crash.

“I came in the car right behind her and I met her lying in the pool of blood with the two individuals that me and my friend could have been in the car,” she recalled.

For the teenage daughter who lost her mother, the tragedy could have become the defining story of her life.

Instead, Sio says, it became the beginning of another story.

“But God always uses your pain to produce purpose,” she said.

That purpose, she explained, became the driving force behind the creation of the Annie T. Doe Memorial Foundation.

“And that’s the reason we are running with the vision for Annie Doe—to make sure what she dreamt of years ago, that every child should have access to quality education,” Sio said.

“That’s the reason the Annie T. Doe Memorial Foundation was formed—to give hope to all of you.”

A Memorial That Speaks to Generations
When the covering was removed from the bust, the inscription offered a concise tribute to the woman being honored:

“The late Annie T. Doe, mother and grandmother to many. A businesswoman, a woman of faith, passion, and dignity. Today we honor her legacy.”

Sio was joined at the unveiling by members of the next generations of the family, including grandchildren and great-grandchildren.

“My other siblings could not be here today,” she said, noting that she is the youngest of nine children. “But I will have her great-grand [children] and her grandchildren also join me to cut this.”

The moment transformed the memorial from a monument to the past into a gathering of generations connected by Annie Doe’s life.

Fifteen Years of Turning Vision Into Opportunity

Francis Sio, the foundation’s co-founder, used the occasion to reflect on the journey that brought the family back to the community.

“It’s been 15 years,” he told the students. “And it is only by the grace of God.”

He recalled seeing some of the students grow from kindergarten and first grade into young people now approaching graduation.

“When I look at the faces, some of you, you were just in the kindergarten or first grade. Now you guys are graduating. You guys have grown,” he said.

The foundation’s own account says the academy opened in 2014 with 75 students and has since expanded substantially. It now serves hundreds of students in Buchanan, with its educational mission centered on providing Christian-based education and opportunities for children whose economic circumstances could otherwise limit their futures.

The foundation has also expanded beyond education into women’s empowerment and basic healthcare, making Annie Doe’s legacy one that extends beyond the classroom.

The work has previously attracted attention in Liberia. FrontPage Africa has reported on the foundation’s efforts in Buchanan, including the construction of additional school facilities and its community outreach programs.

Remembering Those Who Made It Possible
The ceremony also recognized members of the foundation’s board and supporters who believed in the vision.

Sio described some of the supporters as “destiny helpers”—people who, despite not always being physically present in Liberia, invested in the lives and education of the students.

“These are people who also believe in Liberia, who have not even traveled to Liberia,” Sio said. “They are called destiny helpers.”

She recognized supporters who had contributed to the education of the academy’s students, noting that 44 people had contributed to one graduating class.

“Again, they are the ones who made it happen for our class,” she said. “And what a way to memorialize and honor the sacrifice.”

The foundation’s records similarly emphasize sponsorship as an important part of its model, describing supporters as “destiny helpers” who invest in students’ futures.

A Legacy Measured in Lives
The significance of Annie T. Doe’s memorial may ultimately be measured not in stone or bronze, but in the lives of the children walking through the gates of the academy.

Her daughter grew up in the same community, experienced the loss of her mother as a teenager, left Liberia for the United States and eventually returned with a vision shaped by the values her mother had instilled in her.

Today, children who might otherwise struggle to access quality education are studying on the very land where Annie Doe raised her family.

The symbolism is difficult to miss.

A woman who was denied formal education helped raise a daughter who returned years later to build an institution centered on education.

A mother who believed that children deserved opportunities now has her name carried by a school where hundreds of children are being prepared for their futures.

And a daughter who once mourned her mother’s death now stands before generations of students, family members and supporters, transforming that loss into a legacy of service.

As Saya Sio looked back on her mother’s life, she made clear that the memorial was never intended to be merely about remembering the past.

It is about continuing the work.

Annie T. Doe may be gone, but in Buchanan, her story is still being written—one child, one classroom and one opportunity at a time.

PELELEI, Zota District, Bong County – The women came first, and they came together. Members of the Bong County Women Organization filed into the funeral grounds in Pelelei on Saturday carrying a gratitude that had been years in the making. Behind them came former players, former students, elders, businessmen and young people from Gbarnga, all gathered to bury a man who had asked Bong County for something four times and never received it.

By Selma Lomax, selma.lomax@frontpageafricaonline.com 

Dr. Ranney Banama Jackson Sr. was 74 when he died. He served as Superintendent of Bong County from 2006 until January 28, 2011, a stretch of years when the county was still finding its feet after the long civil war. He then sought the county’s Senate seat in 2005, 2011, 2014 and 2023, and each time the voters sent someone else to Monrovia. On Saturday, in the town where he was born, the same county that had turned him away filled the program with the words it had held back.

The hall that keeps giving

Madam Olivia Weetol, the former head of the Bong County Women Organization, stood before the mourners and spoke about a building. Jackson, she said, built the county’s first Women Center, a place where the women of Bong gather to hold meetings in the interest of the county.

Then she told them what the hall is doing now. Jackson is no longer around, she said, but the women still rent out the center, and the money they collect goes to needy women of the county who are desperately in need. Somewhere in Bong tonight, a woman who never met him may be eating because of a hall he raised. It was one of the quietest moments of the day, and for many people listening it was the hardest to bear. A man was being lowered into the ground, and something he built was still reaching for the hands of strangers.

The night he slept in the camp

Lincoln Gbaindeh did not come to talk about buildings. He came to talk about a night in 2008. Gbaindeh was a player on the Bong County team that reached the final of the National County Meet that year. He told mourners that Jackson did not stay in Gbarnga waiting for news. According to Gbeinteh, the superintendent literally slept in their camp, sitting among the young men and urging them to fight for the county and win it. That moment, Gbaindeh said, inspired them.

Bong won its first National County Meet soccer trophy that year. People who follow the county’s football say no superintendent has led Bong to that feat since. A county that rarely had anything to celebrate suddenly had a trophy, and a young man who had been afraid of the final had a superintendent beside him. Gbaindeh spoke for a few minutes, but he spoke like someone who had carried the memory for fifteen years, waiting for a place to put it down.

Tributes from every corner of Bong

One by one, others came to the podium, and every voice added something new. A Gbarnga resident, Gormah Flomo, said Jackson understood that the office of superintendent was not about sitting in Gbarnga and waiting for instructions from Monrovia. He believed the superintendent had a duty to bring development closer to the people. Flomo remembered improvements to public facilities, the work around the David Kuyon Sports Stadium and the efforts that helped improve electricity in Gbarnga. Those things may sound ordinary today, the resident said, but at the time they represented meaningful change for Bong County.

A resident of Suakoko District, Clyde Saul, spoke about young people. Jackson invested in them, the resident said, supporting education and scholarships so that many young Bongese could keep studying. More than 600 students reportedly benefited from a county scholarship initiative tied to his leadership, according to a biography from the AREPT organization. For families who could not afford school fees, the resident said, that help meant more than politics. It meant hope for their children.

A former student, Foster Peabody, stood up and made it personal. Some public officials are remembered because they held powerful positions, the former student said, and others because something they did touched ordinary people. When a child gets support to stay in school, that child can grow into a professional who contributes to society. That, Forkpah said, is why Jackson’s education work must remain part of Bong’s history.

A young resident, Jonathan McGill, of Gbarnga said Jackson showed that someone from Bong could rise through public service and still stay connected to home. His scholarship efforts, his development work and his later national service proved that his interest in public affairs went beyond one office. The young man hoped today’s leaders would take the lesson and invest more in education and opportunity for the next generation.

Remembering the ruins he inherited

Several speakers asked the crowd to remember the time Jackson served in. A Gbarnga businessman said Jackson arrived when Bong was trying to recover from the destruction and stagnation of the war years. He understood that development needed government facilities, investment and basic services, the businessman said. Whether people backed his politics or not, it is hard to talk about that chapter of Bong’s history without mentioning what happened under his watch.

The former Chiarman of the Bong Legislative Caucus, Attorney George Mulbah, said Liberia was coming out of a devastating civil war and Bong had enormous challenges. Jackson inherited a county that needed rebuilding, the resident said, and worked to restore public confidence and basic government functions. His contribution was not that everything was perfect, the resident said. His contribution was that he became part of the rebuilding.

Published accounts credit his administration with helping bring electricity to parts of Gbarnga and with renovating the presidential compound and rehabilitating the superintendent’s compound there. They also credit him with work at the David Kuyon Sports Stadium, though accounts differ on whether that was fencing or construction. Jackson himself once told a local radio audience in Gbarnga how he got it done. He clashed with members of the then Bong Legislative Caucus, some of whom opposed the idea, and he fenced the stadium anyway. Before that, residents had cut palm branches to ring the field on match days and big occasions.

A 2026 account says Jackson negotiated two multimillion-dollar rubber-processing plants for Gbarnga in 2008 and helped formalize the Sister States relationship linking Maryland in the United States with Liberia’s Bong and Maryland counties.

Those claims rest on that account and have not been independently verified, but they fit the portrait mourners painted of a man who looked beyond the county line.

The wound he carried

The people who loved him did not pretend he had never been hurt. In 2008, President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf suspended Jackson after an audit by the General Auditing Commission examined the management of county funds. Reports said he was accused of irregularities, including the use of US$10,000 of county money for a trip to the United States. He later repaid the money.

Those close to the story say the journey had a purpose. Jackson and then Caucus Chair George Mulbah traveled with money from the Bong Social Development Fund to negotiate the sister-state relationship with Maryland, and one result was a dump truck from the State of Maryland that Bong County kept using. His political rivals, his supporters say, used the trip against him with the president. Sirleaf later explained, at a public forum in Gbarnga reported by FrontPage Africa, that she suspended him because he acted unilaterally, not simply because the money was spent.

A Bong County elder, William Kollie, spoke gently about all of this. Jackson was not perfect, the elder said, and like every public official his administration had controversies. But those controversies, the elder said, should not erase the things he did for the county. He carried Bong with him wherever he went.

Four times he asked

Behind the warmth of Saturday sits a record that is hard to read. In 2005, Jackson ran on the COTOL ticket and received 13,931 votes, or 7.8 percent, finishing fourth. In 2011, running for the Unity Party, he received 29,023 votes, or 25.56 percent, and finished second to Henry Willie Yallah, who received 29,804. The final margin from the National Elections Commission was 781 votes.

Seven hundred and eighty-one. It is a number small enough to fit in a single crowded church. It is the distance between the Senate and a long goodbye.

After that near miss, the support slipped away. In 2014, again as a Unity Party candidate, Jackson received 4,038 votes, or 10.4 percent, and finished third behind Jewel Howard-Taylor, who won with 13,672. In 2023, under the Rainbow Alliance, he received 6,552 votes, or 3.70 percent, and finished fifth in a race won by Johnny K. Kpehe with 78,122 votes. For a man who had once come within a whisper of the Senate, it must have been a lonely thing to watch the numbers shrink.

Bong has always been a difficult county to read. Sirleaf herself once said the people of Bong had been deceitful to her, after the 2011 returns. She received 48,374 votes there in the first round, or 42.9 percent, against 37,787 for Winston Tubman of the Congress for Democratic Change. In the November runoff her support climbed to 52,949 votes, or 83.45 percent, after the CDC declared it would not participate. With 467,561 people according to the 2022 census, Bong is Liberia’s third most populous county, and its voters have never been predictable.

Why gratitude does not always become a vote

Many people at the funeral wondered quietly why the love of Saturday had not appeared on election day. Nobody had a single answer. Elections turn on political alliances, party loyalty, personalities, changing priorities and the arrival of new faces. A politician can oversee projects that serve thousands and still fail to turn that record into votes years later.

But a funeral asks a different question. A ballot asks who should lead next. A funeral asks what a person meant. The woman who sits in the hall Jackson built, the player he encouraged, the student who stayed in school were not choosing between candidates on Saturday. They were answering for a life, and the answers came easily.

What love asks of the living

A community leader said the thing many in Pelelei were thinking. History will eventually judge every public official, the leader said, but Jackson deserves to be remembered for the development work done during his time as superintendent. He helped advance projects that touched public infrastructure, education and basic services. The best way to honor him,

the leader said, is not merely to praise him at his funeral, but to preserve the lessons of his service and keep building a better Bong County.

It is a heavy request, and a fair one. Love that comes late is still love, and the people of Bong showed on Saturday that theirs was real. But a hall that feeds the needy needs hands to keep it open. A scholarship needs someone to remember it. A stadium that no longer needs palm branches needs someone to remember why.

Jackson asked Bong County for a seat four times and did not get it. On Saturday, in the town where he was born, Bong gave him something that no election could: a crowd of people, speaking one after another, telling him that he had mattered. He was 74. He could not hear it. The county, at last, said it anyway.

Monrovia – The leadership and members of the House of Representatives on Thursday paid their final respects to the late Dr. Ranney B. Jackson Sr., a former Bong County lawmaker and veteran public servant, during a State Funeral held at the Capitol Building in Monrovia.

By Gerald C. Koinyeneh, gerald.koinyeneh@frontpageafricaonline.com

The ceremony brought together members of the Legislature, government officials, family members, friends, former colleagues, and well-wishers who gathered to honor Jackson’s decades of service to Liberia.

Speaker of the House Richard Nagbe Koon, speaking on behalf of the leadership and members of the House, extended condolences to the bereaved family and recognized Jackson’s contributions to the Legislature and the Liberian state.

Speaker Koon said the presence of the House leadership and members at the funeral reflected the institution’s respect for those who have served the Liberian people under its mandate.

Members of the House joined the Speaker in a moment of solemn reflection and paid their final respects to their former colleague.

Dr. Jackson’s public service career spanned local government, the Legislature, national administration and public policy.

He served as a member of the National Transitional Legislative Assembly (NTLA) from 2003 to 2005, representing Bong County during a critical period in Liberia’s post-war transition.

During his two-year tenure, Jackson chaired the NTLA’s Post and Telecommunications Committee. His work on the committee included efforts that contributed to reducing the cost of SIM cards from US$65 to US$15 in 2005.

Following his service in the transitional legislature, Jackson remained active in national politics and public administration. He made three unsuccessful bids for the Bong County senatorial seat, contesting the elections in 2005, 2011 and 2014.

He later served as Superintendent of Bong County during the first administration of former President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf. During Sirleaf’s second term, he was appointed Deputy Minister for Operations at the Ministry of Internal Affairs.

Jackson’s public service continued under President Joseph Nyuma Boakai, who in 2024 appointed him Co-Chairman of the Assets Recovery and Property Retrieval Core Team, where he served alongside Chairman Cllr. Edwin Kla Martin.

At the Assets Recovery and Property Retrieval Task Force, Jackson was recognized for his experience in governance, public administration, finance and public policy as the government intensified efforts to trace, recover and safeguard public assets.

Before his death, Jackson had also recently earned a Ph.D. in Public Policy and Administration, specializing in Local Government Management and Sustainable Communities, from Walden University in the United States.

His career reflected a progression through several levels of public service—from county administration and the transitional Legislature to senior positions within the national government and public policy.

Dr. Jackson died at the John F. Kennedy Memorial Hospital in Monrovia on August 22, 2024, at age 74, following a brief illness.

According to the obituary, the body will be taken to Bong County on Friday, October 2, for a night of wake-keeping, followed by the funeral service and burial on Saturday.

Monrovia – William V.S. Tubman Jr., son of former President William V.S. Tubman and son-in-law of President William R. Tolbert Jr., has died at 93.

Mr. Tubman was born in 1933, the son of William V.S. Tubman, who served as Liberia’s president from 1944 until his death in 1971 — the longest tenure of any Liberian head of state. He was also the son-in-law of his father’s successor, President William R. Tolbert Jr., having married Tolbert’s daughter, Wokie.

Known widely as “Shad,” Tubman became a public figure in his own right early in life. In the 1950s, his father’s influence saw him named head of the country’s Congress of Industrial Organizations, and he went on to serve as a senator during both the Tubman and Tolbert administrations.

Though born into one of Liberia’s most powerful families, Mr. Tubman often spoke of his life in terms of struggle rather than privilege, comparing himself to the Biblical Moses — a man born into comfort who endured hardship before leading his people. In earlier years, he had publicly broken with his father’s positions and pressed for greater political inclusion of Liberia’s tribal population, straining his relationship with both his father and his father-in-law.

He survived the bloody coup of April 12, 1980, in which President Tolbert and much of the country’s governing establishment were killed. Mr. Tubman was attending an international conference in Norway and taking a stopover in New York when the coup occurred; he did not return to Liberia and reunite with his family until more than a month later. In the coup’s immediate aftermath, he retained a measure of popularity among ordinary Liberians, and rumors persisted — never substantiated — that he had ties to the ruling military council.

In later years, Mr. Tubman was affiliated with the Reformed United Liberia Party (RULP).

Funeral arrangements have not been announced.

Monrovia-Emmanuel Gilman, the Human Resources Manager of Private Bar, has reportedly died under circumstances that are raising fresh questions amid an ongoing drug investigation that has already placed the establishment and its chief executive officer, Leroy Harris, under intense scrutiny.

By Willie N. Tokpah

Gilman reportedly died Monday night at a clinic along the S.D. Cooper Road after being taken there for medical attention.

The precise circumstances surrounding his death remain unclear.

One source familiar with the development alleged that Gilman had sustained injuries following a fall, but that account has not been independently verified, as to which fall.

Police have reportedly been informed of the death and are expected to respond as authorities begin determining what happened.

The timing of Gilman’s death is likely to attract heightened public attention because of his position at Private Bar and the ongoing criminal case involving his boss, Leroy Harris.

Harris is currently in custody and facing trial in connection with the continuing drug investigation involving Private Bar.

The establishment has reportedly remained closed and under police watch for more than a month as investigators pursue the case.

A Potential Witness Now Dead

Gilman’s death assumes particular significance because of his role within Private Bar.

Sources say investigators and lawyers were aware of Gilman’s position at the establishment and that he could have been called to provide information relevant to the pending proceedings against Harris.

That possibility has now been complicated by his sudden death.

Gilman had also previously testified in the Bill Jallah case, reportedly because of information connected to his professional responsibilities at Private Bar.

His death therefore raises a crucial concern for investigators and the public, as to what exactly happened to a senior employee of a business at the center of a major drug investigation, at a time when his employer is behind bars awaiting trial

That question, however, remains unanswered.

There is currently no established evidence publicly linking Gilman’s death to the drug investigation or to Harris.

Any such connection would have to be determined through a proper police investigation, including examination of the circumstances preceding his death, his medical condition, the nature of any reported injuries and accounts from persons who were with him before he was taken to the clinic.

Drug Saga Takes Another Troubling Turn

The development comes as the Private Bar controversy continues to unfold.
Harris, the establishment’s CEO, is currently in custody as the State pursues its case in the broader drug-related investigation.

Private Bar itself has remained shut under police watch, placing the business at the center of an investigation with potentially far-reaching consequences.

Now, with Gilman reportedly dead, questions are likely to intensify about what information he possessed, whether he had been contacted by investigators or lawyers, and whether he was expected to play any role in the pending proceedings.

Concerns have mounted over the need for the circumstances of Gilman’s death to be independently established, and authorities should determine whether his death was natural, accidental or the result of any criminal act.

For now, the most troubling fact is the timing: a key employee of a business embroiled in a major drug investigation is dead, while the company’s boss remains incarcerated and prepares to face trial.

Whether the two events are completely unrelated or whether investigators will uncover a connection remains to be determined.

When contacted by FrontPageAfrica on Tuesday, September 15, Sam Collins, Police Spokesman, said he is unaware of any information concerning the cause of Gilman’s death, as only the Gilman Family can do so.

At the same time, when questioned as to whether Gilman was one of those called in by Joint Security Investigators during the investigation of his boss, Leroy Harris, Collins refused to comment on the matter, noting that only Joint Security can speak to that.

Monrovia – Guus Kouwenhoven, the Dutch entrepreneur whose timber empire made him one of Liberia’s most powerful foreign businessmen — and whose alleged arms-trafficking ties to former President Charles Taylor made him one of its most notorious — died Sunday evening, September 6, surrounded by family, according to a statement released by his relatives. He was 84.

“The Kouwenhoven family lost our father, husband and leader,” the family wrote, adding that he “was surrounded by family and at peace” and asking for prayers and continued kindness “during this time.”

Kouwenhoven, born February 15, 1942, in ‘s-Hertogenbosch, Netherlands, first arrived in Liberia in the late 1980s, taking over management of the Africa Hotel outside Monrovia. He went on to build one of the country’s largest logging operations, heading the Oriental Timber Corporation and later the Royal Timber Corporation, and by the late 1990s was widely regarded as Liberia’s most influential foreign timber trader.

Ties to Charles Taylor

Kouwenhoven’s business rise coincided with the ascent of Charles Taylor, whose 1997–2003 presidency plunged Liberia into renewed civil war. A United Nations Panel of Experts report on Sierra Leone in 2000 placed Kouwenhoven within Taylor’s inner circle, alleging he handled logistics for arms shipments that reached Taylor’s forces and allied militias — weapons investigators linked to atrocities against civilians during the conflict. Kouwenhoven’s timber concessions, according to UN investigators, doubled as cover for weapons imports routed through associates including Soviet-era arms dealer Viktor Bout.

The Sanctions and Legal Saga

The UN placed Kouwenhoven on an international travel ban list in 2001, and in 2003 the Security Council imposed sanctions on Liberian timber exports specifically because revenue from the trade — much of it tied to Kouwenhoven’s companies — was believed to be funding the war.

He was arrested in the Netherlands in March 2005 and tried in The Hague on charges of arms smuggling and complicity in war crimes. A 2006 verdict convicted him of arms smuggling, sentencing him to eight years, though judges stopped short of a war-crimes conviction. An appeals court fully acquitted him in 2008, only for the Dutch Supreme Court to order a retrial in 2010, citing errors in how witness testimony had been handled.

The case dragged on for years amid difficulty securing witnesses. Kouwenhoven fled to South Africa in December 2016 citing medical grounds, but was arrested there within the year. In 2017, Dutch courts convicted him on both arms-smuggling and war-crimes counts, sentencing him to 19 years — a ruling rights group Global Witness called a landmark precedent for holding conflict-resource traders accountable. Taylor himself was convicted separately in 2012 by the Special Court for Sierra Leone and sentenced to 50 years, a sentence he is still serving.

Legacy

To supporters and business associates in Liberia, Kouwenhoven — known widely as “Mr. Gus” — was remembered as a formidable dealmaker who built one of the country’s largest private enterprises. To human rights investigators, he remained emblematic of the “blood timber” trade that helped sustain one of West Africa’s bloodiest conflicts.

He is survived by his wife and children. Funeral arrangements have not yet been announced.

The passing of Flight Captain Moses K. “Johnny” Weefur has left us with a profound sense of loss. For those privileged to know him closely, his departure is not simply the loss of an accomplished Liberian aviator and public servant. It is the loss of a brother, mentor, teacher, patriot, devoted family man, trusted friend, and a remarkable human being whose quiet influence enriched countless lives.

A Memorial Tribute by Frank Tolbert and AlHassan Conteh, Ph.D.

Johnny belonged to a generation of Liberians whose lives were shaped by service, discipline, adversity, and an abiding belief in their country. His professional journey was deeply intertwined with the development of civil aviation in Liberia. Over many years, he brought to that sector not only the technical knowledge and discipline of a professional aviator, but also a commitment to institution-building, aviation safety, professional standards, and the training and encouragement of younger Liberians.

His public service eventually placed him among the senior leadership of the Liberia Civil Aviation Authority (LCAA). He became Deputy Director General of the Liberia Civil Aviation Authority, and Deputy Director General for Technical Affairs. His responsibilities placed him at the canter of Liberia’s continuing efforts to strengthen aviation safety, regulatory oversight, technical competence, and compliance with international civil aviation standards.

Captain Weefur’s contribution extended beyond administration. He believed deeply in preparing another generation of Liberians for aviation careers. When addressing young people interested in the field, he emphasized that aviation offered opportunities far beyond the cockpit and encouraged students to recognize the many technical and professional disciplines that sustain a modern aviation industry. It was characteristic of Johnny: knowledge acquired over a lifetime was something to be shared, not guarded.

In the later chapter of his public service, he continued contributing his formidable experience to aviation safety and accident investigation. As recently as June 2024, he became Commissioner of the Liberia’s Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB). He participated in the Basic Accident Investigation Training Course conducted in cooperation with the Banjul Accord Group Accident Investigation Agency. His presence in such a position reflected the confidence placed in his experience and judgment and demonstrated the continuity of a life devoted to aviation and public service.But official titles tell only a small part of Johnny Weefur’s story.

We admired Johnny not merely because he flew aircraft or occupied positions of responsibility. We admired him because of the man behind the uniform.

Our relationships with him developed through different circumstances and across different periods of our lives, but we came to know the same essential qualities: discipline, loyalty, compassion, courage, discretion, perseverance, and an extraordinary willingness to stand beside people when circumstances became difficult.

Johnny brought to his work the discipline of the cockpit: assess the situation, remain calm, understand the instruments, protect those entrusted to you, and never surrender responsibility simply because conditions become difficult. Those principles also governed his friendships.

His classroom was rarely formal. It consisted of countless conversations, recollections of youth, professional experiences, lessons from hardship, and practical explanations of aviation. Through those conversations, he taught lessons no textbook could fully convey.

Johnny was measured and selective in his friendships, but extraordinarily loyal once he gave someone his confidence. During difficult professional moments, he did not disappear. He remained present, offered counsel, restored perspective, and reminded his friends that temporary humiliation or disappointment should never determine the course of an entire life.

The quintessential Johnny Weefur did not teach people to flee adversity; he taught them to master it with dignity.

Captain Weefur possessed a rare ability to correct without humiliating, to advise without patronizing, and to disagree without destroying friendship. Even when someone was mistaken, he could gently guide that person toward the truth while preserving his or her dignity.

That quality distinguished him both as a leader and as a human being.

He was disciplined in his personal habits and intensely devoted to his profession. Aviation was more than employment for Johnny; it was a vocation. The discipline, preparedness, responsibility and calm judgment demanded of a pilot became characteristics of his life.

He understood that aviation is ultimately about trust. Passengers entrust their lives to a crew. Governments entrust regulators with public safety. Younger professionals entrust mentors with their development. Friends entrust one another with vulnerabilities they reveal to few others.

His service to Liberia therefore cannot be measured solely by the aircraft he flew, the offices he occupied, or the aviation institutions he helped administer. It must also be measured by the professionals he encouraged, the colleagues he advised, the friends he sustained, and the younger Liberians whom he inspired to see a future for themselves in aviation.

For us, Flight Captain Moses K. “Johnny” Weefur will always represent something larger than professional accomplishment.

He represented service without ostentation, discipline without arrogance, friendship without calculation, and patriotism expressed through work.

Our deepest regret is that his final departure came so abruptly that those who loved him could not all stand beside him and return, in equal measure, the encouragement he had so generously given throughout his life. Yet perhaps Johnny would have preferred it that way.

He was, after all, always the captain—the steady presence during turbulence, the person expected to reassure others that the aircraft would pass safely through the storm. He possessed an extraordinary capacity to carry his own burdens quietly while helping others carry theirs.

The sacrifices he made for friends, colleagues, family and country were his way of giving something back for the blessings life had bestowed upon him.

And so, as painful as this farewell is, we choose gratitude alongside grief.

To his beloved wife, Agnes, and the children; to his brothers Richard and Cecil and the rest of the Weefur family; to his dear friend Joe, (President Joseph N. Boakai), whose friendship with Johnny reached back to their school days; to his classmates and fellow aviators; especially RTD Captain Prince Page, who mentored him into becoming one of the greatest pilots in the history of Liberia and his friend Jehu Richardson; to his colleagues in Liberia’s civil aviation community; and to the many people whose lives he touched, we extend our profound sympathy and solidarity.

We should certainly mourn Johnny, because love makes mourning inevitable. But even in our sorrow, we should give thanks to Almighty God for permitting such a man to dwell among us.

The most enduring memorial we can offer him is to emulate the virtues by which he lived: discipline, professional excellence, loyalty, compassion, perseverance, integrity, friendship, and devotion to country.

There was tremendous goodness in this man.

His earthly flight has ended, but his influence has not. It lives in Liberia’s aviation community. It lives in the institutions he served. It lives in the professionals he mentored. It lives in the family he loved. And it lives permanently in the hearts and memories of those fortunate enough to call him colleague, mentor, teacher, friend and brother.

In aviation, every flight has a point of departure and a final destination. Between them lies the journey—the storms weathered, the lives entrusted to one’s care, the destinations reached, and the people carried safely along the way.

And now, as our brother and captain makes his final flight, we bid him farewell with sorrow, gratitude and abiding respect.

Farewell, Captain. Farewell, our brother, our colleague and our friend. May your final flight be peaceful, and may Almighty God grant you eternal rest. Flight Captain Moses K. “Johnny” Weefur, we salute you.

Buchanan – The port city of Buchanan, Grand Bassa County and other parts of the county are in the moment of deep sorrow as they morn the passing of their immediate for Superintendent, Janjay Baikpeh.

By Emmanuel Weedee-Conway

The cause of death has not been established, but the former Grand Bassa County chief administrator died at a hospital in Accra, Ghana, where he had gone to seek medical attention.

Initial Health Report

In earlier years, reports circulated that Supt. Baikpeh was hit with an “unknown illness” and had been transferred for treatment. At that time, a family source clarified he was “gradually recovering” and did not suffer a stroke.

CDC Eulogizes Baikpeh

The former ruling Congress for Democratic Change (CDC) released a statement of eulogy moments following the confirmation of his death.

The party, in a statetement signed by National Chairman Atty. Janga Augustus Kowo, the party said it received the news “With profound grief and a deep sense of revolutionary loss.”

The CDC described Baikpeh as “Our compatriot, comrade, and leader” whose passing represents a major loss to the party and Grand Bassa County.

The CDC recalled Baikpeh’s years of service to the party, noting he was a tested servant of the people, a disciplined revolutionary, and a steadfast son of the Mighty Congress.

“His passing has robbed the CDC of an erudite comrade, a courageous political soldier, and a leader whose loyalty to the cause remained firm through the most difficult seasons,” the statement added.

In honor of the late chairman, the CDC directedthe immediate hanging of a symbolic black cloth at the CDC Temporary National Headquarters as a visible expression of mourning and revolutionary solidarity.

The party extended condolences to the bereaved family and Grand Bassa County.

“The Political Leader, National Executive Committee, and entire membership of the CDC stand in grief and solidarity with the Baikpeh family, our comrades in Grand Bassa County, and the people of Grand Bassa County during this painful hour,” added the CDC statement.

Janjay’s Life With The CDC

During his time with the CDC, the late Baikpeh served as Vice Chairman for Operations of the Revolutionary National Youth League (RNYL), and was the CDC’s senatorial candidate for Grand Bassa County in the 2023 elections.

Until his death, the former Grand Bassa County Superintendent served as Chairman of the CDC Grand Bassa County Chapter.

In Loving Memory of
Hon. Sylvester Mondubue “Greg” Grigsby
October 15, 1950  – August 9, 2025
One year later, from his wife and daughters

One year ago today, we said goodbye to our husband and father, Sylvester Mondubue “Greg” Grigsby.
The world knew him as a statesman – a diplomat, a Minister of State, a proud son of Sinoe County who gave more than forty years of his life to the service of Liberia. We knew him as the man who came home. The one who carried cash in his pocket just so he could tip an Uber driver. The one who loved game shows and corrected the history in our television shows. The one whose laugh you could hear from the next room and never mistake for anyone else’s.

For fifty-one years, he was a husband. For all of our lives, he was our father. He crossed oceans and boarded late trains for us. He washed dishes, organized closets, and cooked corned beef and rice when one of us was unwell. He played monopoly with his grandchildren. He believed in showing up to show his love, and he showed up.

He lived by the wisdom of Gye Nyame – “Except for God.” However high he rose, he walked humbly. When he felt something was the right thing but it cost him something, he paid it in full and said, “Except for God, only God knows how this ends.” That was his faith and his guiding star, and it is the inheritance he left us.

A year has taught us that grief does not end; it simply learns to sit beside the love. We still reach for the phone. We still tell his stories, and we still laugh at them – because he would have insisted on the laughing. He hated tears.
He lives on in his friends, im his family, in the way he changed the lives of those who knew him. He lives on in family group chats, his old journals, the shirts we wear to remember him, letters and voicemails. He lives on in our dreams. He lives on in our hearts. He’s never far away.

We see him in the peace lily we keep watering; in the cactus plant growing and protecting the plants in the front yard; in the jewelry and perfume he gifted; in the fingerprint and pictures on the lockets we had made in his memory but it is not enough – we miss him. We miss his wit and intellect, his ability to talk about Greek classics and Liberian cultural treasures like Malawala Balawala in the same conversation, his voracious knowledge of geopolitics and pop culture but mostly his love.

To everyone who signed a book of condolence, wrote a tribute, sent a prayer, made a call, traveled a distance, continues to check in, or gave to the scholarship that now carries his name: thank you. You helped carry us through a year we could not have carried alone.
Daddy. Greg. Mister G. Papa G. Your presence has not left us, and it never will.

Forever proud to be yours,
Cleopatra Dudley Grigsby
Diana Grigsby
Scheagbe Mayumi “Umi” Grigsby