MONROVIA – Officials of a local non-governmental organization, the Liberia Reformation Network (LRN) want Liberians to put the past behind and strive for peace, unity and reconciliation.
Report by Gerald C. Koinyeneh 00231880881540/ 00231777769531 [email protected]
LRN comprise individuals including Cecil Dennis III, Winston Tolbert and Samuel Kanyon Doe, Jr. whose relatives were either political nemesis or allies and key figures in Liberia’s modern history.
Addressing a team of reporters during the distribution of assorted school materials to over 300 students in Monrovia and its environs recently, the co-founder of the organization, Samuel K. Doe Jr, who is the son of former President Samuel Kanyon Doe indicated that the organization was founded by Cecil Dennis III, a son of the late Liberia’s Foreign Minister, Cecil Dennis, Jr. in the United States to promote genuine reconciliation for the restoration of Liberia.
The group’s other executive officer, Winston Tolbert is a son of the late President William R. Tolbert Jr. who was overthrown and assassinated in the April 12, 1980 coup d’état that was led by former President Samuel Kanyon Doe (then a Master Sergeant) and a group of low-ranking officers of the Armed Forces of Liberia.
Cecil Dennis III father who was Liberia’s Foreign Affairs Minister at that time was among the 13 members of Tolbert’s cabinet that were promptly put on trial and executed by firing squad ten days after the coup.
Many historians and political observers believed that the coup was the root cause of the 14- years long civil war in which as many as 250,000 Liberians including President Doe himself perished and thousands more fled into exile.
Samuel K. Doe Jr., however, asserted that as children whose parents and relatives were once political enemies, it was important to come together and take the lead towards promoting genuine reconciliation so that others would follow.
Said Mr. Doe: “We are all from diverse backgrounds. Unfortunately, Mr. Tolbert is not here, and we all know the story between the Does, Tolberts and the Dennises. Two years ago, Mr. Dennis reached out to me and asked me if I was interested and I think that was a brilliant idea. It helps us keep in touch with our history; it helps us to be at peace with ourselves and exercise that sense of forgiveness.”
He continued: “Once you feel that you and somebody are on the same level, then you feel progress, but if there are issues that are not discussed, and people still have that mindset, then we will not move forward as a people and nation. I think we in LRN strive for peace, strive to do humanitarian work and to help less fortunate kids. We all have the same idea and we want to see Liberia move forward.”
Going forward with the reconciliation drive, he cautioned that Liberians should exercise the courage to confront their past and find a common ground; adding “it would be great for Liberians to bring the topic forward. It should not be swept under the rug as if it is a taboo to talk about it. I think we as Liberians, we should be true with ourselves. Once we are truthful and genuine with ourselves and the things that we do, then reconciliation can take place.”
Outlining the organization’s vision and mission, he mentioned that it is aimed at rendering humanitarian gestures as means to restoring hope and establishing a non-governmental dialogue which would promote reunification.
He furthered that the organization is geared towards advocating for human dignity and socioeconomic transformation as well as promoting social identity inclusiveness and cultural diversity acceptance for the redevelopment of Liberia and is based on ethical integrity, mutual respect, transparency, accountability, community empowerment, and excellent innovation.
Meanwhile, Mr. Doe was joined by two local officials of LRN including Jacquelene M. Sogbandi and Eva Bailey Reed who reiterated his call and urged Liberians embrace one another and move forward.
“If Samuel K. Doe [Jr.], Winston Tolbert, Roseline Tweh, and Cecil Dennis [III] can hold hands together and unite and forget about what has happened in the past, I believe others can do the same for true reconciliation to happen, and for Liberia to move forward. I am from a Gio background, my mother is a Gio woman, his father was a Krahn man. This should no longer matter. We all belong to a big tribe and that is Liberia,” intoned Ms. Sogbandi.
Mrs. Reed added: “If you think about those things that happened in the past, you get disturbed. Let us appreciate each other and forget about this Congua-country thing and move our country forward.”
Meanwhile over three hundred school children from the Children Against Forced Labor and the Glory of God School System in Sinkor and Paynesville respectively received school materials including copybooks, pencils, sharpeners and rulers worth over US$3,000.
The principal of the Glory of God School System, Madam Lischen F. Shannon thanked LRN for the gesture and called on other organizations to identified with grassroot schools in Liberia