MONROVIA – Rev. J. Emmanuel Bowier, the fiery former minister in late President Samuel Kanyon Doe’s government has died.
Rev. Bowier succumbed to death after a long battle with diabetes, close family members confirmed to FrontPageAfrica Sunday.
He was pronounced dead at the Fidelity Clinic in Monrovia.
He leaves to mourn his wife, Mrs. Ruth Bowier, and four children – Joyce, Faith, Tayenoh and Willie.
He was 71.
In recent years, Rev. Bowier made his name as one of Liberia’s noted and reliant historians.
He served in recent years as a lecturer at the Foreign Service Institute at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
He was a stern critic of Ellen Johnson Sirleaf and the current Weah-led government and once predicted a fallout between President George Weah and Madam Sirleaf just as the fallout between former Presidents Edwin J. Barclay and William V.S. Tubman in 1955.
Rev. Bowier had often advised officials of the Weah-led government to focus more on building the image of the government rather than back biting each other.
He has often admonished President Weah to seek counsel from people who have had experience in handling issues of government and people have vast knowledge on running a government.
“In short, you have children running the system because they think like children. It is only children who have the behavior of paying debt when someone does something to them. That is the problem with the government today,” he said in an interview with FrontPageAfrica.
Rev. Bowier, who is famous for his history lecture series on many radio stations in the country, often expressed concern about the trending socioeconomic issues of the country.
He is also on record for saying that at age 80, he would become the President of Liberia for which the Liberian people will ask him to rule them.
“Ten years from now, I will still be standing, because I promised to be the President of Liberia between now and when I reach 80 years old. And when I am President, I intend to develop this country, empower the people, and let them enjoy and rejoice in the Lord. Therefore, from now on, we should all work together to make this country a better place so that when I am 80 years old, this country will be much better than what it is now.”