Monrovia – Few weeks ago, social media pages in Liberia became buzzed with a purported prophecy from a very powerful woman of God, Mother Wilhelmina Bryant Dukuly. It is believed that Mother Dukuly, under the direction of God, had prophesied that now Liberia President, Mr. George M. Weah, would have one day become President.
Report Mae Azango, [email protected]
It’s not really clear exactly when this so-called prophecy, which was allegedly made on July 3, 1983, became to make rounds on facebook.
Purported Prophecy on Facebook
Here is what circulating on facebook: “Mother Dukuly’s prophecy, President Weah is really the chosen one. ‘Doe will be overthrown and there will be bloodshed. A tyrannical leader will come from the north but will be booted out. There will be bloodshed and massive destruction again more than the first one. A woman will succeed him, there will be hardship during her reign, after her a leader will emerge from the south, he will be overlooked and condemned, but will be loved by the ordinary people. It is under him that the country will prosper. People will wonder whether there has ever been a civil war in Liberia. The generation that will witness his presidency will prosper; they will enjoy the land. He will be God’s choice and after him there will be no more war. Liberia will forever be prosperous. I may not be around to see it, but God has told me and his words never fail.’” Mother Dukuly July 3, 1983
But did she, at any point being led by the Spirit of God, actually give this prophecy? It’s hard to give a definite “yes” or “no.”
FrontPage Africa Went to Find Out
However, this newspaper decided to speak with some of those who were there with the late Prophetess from the beginning of her Faith Healing Temple Church of Jesus of Christ, which is located on UN Drive, just around the Freeport of Monrovia, in the very early 1970s.
“Mother Dukuly never called any special person name during her prophecies, or talked about any young person ruling, so let people stop lying on the woman of God name, before God’s wrath come upon us again,” Oretha L. Flomo, a woman who used to visit the Faith Health Temple in the early 1980s, said.
This so-called prophecy on facebook continues to spark debates with some Liberians wondering whether the Prophetess ever said it.
Mother Dukuly, as she was commonly called, once had a very strong voice in Liberia when she established the Faith Healing Temple in 1971.
Our reporter also visited the Church and spoke with others who can still remember some of the late Mother’s prophecies, as the church’s compound was looted and vandalized during the civil war.
“Mother Dukuly gave many prophecies; I can’t remember all, but a few. In one of her prophecies, she told [William V. S.] Tubman, ‘When you go to the London clinic, do not allow them to operate on you, when you do that, you won’t return alive. She also once told President William R. Tolbert that he was not going to be succeeded by a vice president, but was going to be killed. She also spoke about a ship coming to Liberia and it was flying a white flag. That ship was ECOMOG when they came in 1990. She spoke about the old bridge collapsing on a Thursday, and it happened,” said Rev. Henry M. Seway of the Faith Healing Temple Church of Jesus Christ.
The bridge, which crosses directly from UN Drive, Waterside to the Bushrod Island, used to be referred to as the “old bridge,” until it collapsed in 2007. It was rebuilt and renamed the Zulu Domah Bridge.
Rev. Seway recorded that once Cllr. Charles Brumskine ran to Mother Dukuly for help when soldiers were after him. According to him, Cllr. Brumskine was then the Grand Master of the Masonic Temple.
“She ordered the soldiers to put their guns down so that she could pray for them and they did as they were told.” He further narrated that Mother Dukuly got ill and died in 1986.
Another eyewitness, Mother Betty Jackson Seway, wife of Rev. Seway, said she started attending the church in 1977 and officially joined in 1985 when she graduated from Cuttington University College now Cuttington University.
“During the [General Thomas] Quiwonkpa invasion in 1985, Mother Dukuly gave a prophecy that was broadcasted on ELBC later. The message said ‘Doe, you promised the Liberian people a civilian president, so if you wanted to be President, why did you not resign from the army and run? But since you forced yourself to become President as a military man, I God, I am no longer with you.’ We were having our anniversary at the Ducor Palace Hotel just when the invasion happened. Doe sent soldiers during our anniversary and they destroyed everything we had set up at the Hotel.”
According to the Pastor’s wife, an old journalist, who used to work at the Liberia Broadcasting System (LBS) back in the early 1980s, Ms. Olivia Shannon, had aired Mother Dukuly’s prophecy against the President and because of that she got suspended for a period of time.
She stated that since the civil war ended few years ago, they have been trying to compile the recordings, they can lay their hands on, of the late woman of God; adding: “It is not easy to get everything as our church was completely destroyed and looted.”
Oretha L. Flomo, quoted earlier above, recalled that when she didn’t go to church on a Sunday, she would turn on her radio set by 4:p.m. just to hear Mother Dukuly preach. This was between 1982 and 1985. According to her, the late Mother had prophesied that there would have been a civil war in Liberia.
“Mother Dukuly said that there was going to be a heavy rainfall and if the rain had touched anyone, that person would die. When the war came, the ‘rains’ became the bullets,” said Flomo.
“She spoke about a man coming and holding a Holy Bible in his hands, but was going to be killed and then she spoke about a second man with an Albino (jatto) colored hair, who was coming with a sword in his hands, and that sword was going to kill Liberians and later rule them. That man was Charles Taylor, who brought guns to kill us and later ruled us. She said countries were going to turn their backs on Liberia, but after all of our struggle, Liberia was going to rise up again and be sweet like honey and sugar. I am waiting to taste that honey and sugar before I die. She never called any special person name, or talked about any young person ruling, so let people stop lying on the woman of God name, before God’s wrath comes upon us again,” Ms. Flomo retorted. She stated that the man holding the Bible in his hand was the late General Thomas Quiwonkpa.
Following the late Prophetess’ death in 1986, Mother Mai Roberts, who is now a nonagenarian, succeeded her and became head of the church.
As Mother Roberts isn’t physically capable to steer the affairs of the church because of her advanced age, her son, Rev. Charles B. Roberts is now one of the persons, who lead the church.
Rev. Roberts told this newspaper that they are now researching the library to find some of the recordings of Mother Dukuly. They believe that many of her prophecies are still somewhere out there.
“I am hoping that some of Mother Dukuly’s prophecies were documented, but we are doing some research in the library to see what is left of those documents. She had the gift of healing and prophecy. I encountered her in 1975; she told me ‘Charles, you will work in the ministry and when I said that I was already working at the Ministry of Finance, she said she was not talking about that kind of ministry but the ‘ministry of preaching.’ I dismissed it because I did not see myself being a preacher or a man of God; but six years later, I was consecrated as a deacon and as deacon, I was allowed to preach, so that prophecy came to pass. Twenty years later, I became ordained as a Minister of Gospel at the church,” said Rev. Roberts.
“I know of many of Mother Dukuly’s prophecies. I like to point to the record, I do remember that one time we were sitting with her, it was in 1985. She said ‘I see Ellen Johnson Sirleaf being installed as President of Liberia, but she is looking older.’ We saw that President Sirleaf became President after so many years and she was older.”
According to Rev. Roberts, Mother Dukuly also prophesied the civil war which broke out on December 24, 1989.
However, he stated that while he cannot out rightly dismiss what is circulating on social media as being one of Mother Dukuly’s prophesies, he was, nevertheless approaching it with caution.
“Some of what circulating on the Internet could be true but I cannot say. Mother Dukuly would not have called names or placed a time frame to her prophecies but what I see on the internet, said a person would come from the north and there would be a woman and another would come from the southeast. She gave prophecies like that, but she did not normally call names. As for President Sirleaf, she really called her full name, Ellen Johnson Sirleaf being installed as president, but she is looking much older. I do know that Mother Dukuly was someone with great respect when it came to national issues.”
When asked as to whether his mother, Bishop Mai Roberts, could remember some of Mother Dukuly’s prophecies since she was with her from the very beginning, he said his Mother, who is 96 and will be 97 this year, cannot remember Mother Dukuly’s prophecies, but she can still remember some Bible verses.
Politics About the Prophecy
The purported prophecy has taken a political twist. Supporters of President George Weah see it as a “clear sign” that his presidency was since ordained by God many years ago before it became a reality on January 22, 2018.
On the other hand, however, some of those who opposed Mr. Weah’s Presidency, dismissed it and termed it as mere posturing only intended to unnecessarily boost the President’s ego. They even go as far as saying that Mother Dukuly didn’t give such prophecy.
A Counter Prophecy
Some of those in the opposing camp have even gone further to also circulate on facebook a counter prophecy. This forewarning, which is purported to have come from another revered servant of God, Catholic Archbishop Michael K. Francis, speaks damningly of this regime, which according to the prophecy, would have come about after Charles Taylor’s presidency.
According to the Unity Party deputy spokesman, Mr. Mo Ali, who posted the counter prophecy on his facebook page on January 29, at 9:48a.m., Archbishop Francis’ prophecy, which was contained in a report he was making to his bosses in the Vatican, Rome, Italy, was made in 1999.
“Pope, Archbishops from around the world and other leaders I bring you greetings from Liberia. The days ahead in the West African nation look rocky but we are hopeful it will get better. Advocacy and social justice as well as freedom of speech have all been doomed but that’s not what is important. A new generation of young people are gearing up for change after [Charles] Taylor and that’s what should worry us more. They will have a leader of their own from the grassroots who will be the worst the nation will ever see. Many of them uneducated will come to government and they will hail him as a KING, he will never be wrong and politicians of the old order will bow to him…ALL HAIL THE KING they will say. He will rule with iron fist and Liberia’s economy under him will be the worst the nation ever experienced. Though around the world his celebrity status will swell but home will be a nightmare. The worst is not under Taylor, it is yet to come when mayhem will take the land and a dictator will rise but no one who celebrates him will see by then, they will all be blind and will end up as blind leading blind. At the end of that realm an astute statesman will rise and the nation will prosper forever.”