Whenever I learn of the demise of someone, I am often reminded of the saying of Solon, a Greek philosopher, who is recognized as one of the fathers of democracy. According to him, no man should consider himself truly happy until he is dead.
By Gabriel I, H. Williams, contributing writer
The legendary philosopher observed that many are the men and women who lived a prosperous, fulfilling life that ended in regrets, disgrace or disaster, while there are others who struggled along the way but their lives ended in honor and dignity.
Solon believed that it is at the post of a person’s life (upon death) that the verdict comes out as to how well the individual lived with other people, for good or for bad. It is that time when those who knew or interacted with the deceased or were impacted by the actions of the deceased reminiscence.
Accordingly, this is in remembrance of Muriel Enid Best, the matriarch of the Best family, who transitioned from labor to rest at the age of 93 in Monrovia, Liberia, on March 10, 2025. She celebrated her 93rd birthday on February 26, 2025. Bless the Lord that she was able to live for nearly 100 fruitful and fulfilling years.
Ms. Best will be remembered as a major force behind the vision that completely transformed the media landscape not just in Liberia but the West African nation of The Gambia. The eldest of her siblings, she provided strong financial and moral support to her brother Kenneth Y. Best and his wife Mae Gene, for the establishment of the Daily Observer newspaper, which became one of the leading dailies in West Africa. After they relocated to The Gambia following the outbreak of the Liberian civil war, during which the Observer’s offices in Monrovia were destroyed, the Best family was again able to launch the first daily newspaper in the history of The Gambia, also called the Daily Observer. Whether in Liberia, or The Gambia and the United States – where the Best family also resided – Ms Best was the embodiment of a close-knit family.
It was in the late 1980s that I became more acquainted with Ms Best or the “Oldma” (a Liberian title of respect and honor for an elderly woman), as she was commonly known by most of us who worked at the Daily Observer newspaper in Monrovia in the 1980s. She had come on board directly to help manage the Liberian Observer Corporation (LOC) – publisher of the Daily Observer newspaper – before the civil war erupted in December 1989.
I had rejoined the Observer staff as a reporter in the late 1980s, following my return from the United States, where I served as a journalism scholar at the United Nations Headquarters in New York – study about the UN and global affairs. Even though I started my journalism career as a trainee reporter (cub reporter) at the Observer in the early 1980s, I joined the Sun Times newspaper as a reporter after the Observer was arbitrarily banned by Samuel K. Doe’s regime in the mid-80s.
I earned my UN fellowship while I was a reporter for the Sun Times newspaper, which was led by legendary editor Rufus M. Darpoh, while Mr. Sylvester M. Grigsby and his wife were the primary proprietors. Even though he was a senior level official in Doe’s regime, Mr. Grigsby, who is the Minister of State for Presidential Affairs in the current Liberian government, never interfered with the paper’s editorial matters. Eventually, after several arbitrary closures and imprisonment of the editorial staff for alleged anti-government reporting, the Sun Times, which was fiercely independent, was banned for the last time in the late 1980s and it never published again.
This is how, upon my return to Liberia, I ended up again at the Observer, where Ms Best was known to be a very efficient and no-nonsense person. She played a very critical role at the Observer, which operated with efficiency similar to an established American entity. For example, monthly staff salaries and weekly transportation allowances for the editorial staff were paid promptly, at a time when most government employees and others went for months without pay.
When I started at the Observer as a trainee reporter fresh from high school preparing to pursue journalism studies in Ghana in the early 1980s, my monthly salary was US $150. Compare that to the salaries of many adults with families in Liberia today, not to mention staff medical benefits in those days. Among educational opportunities, the Observer editorial staff also benefited from regular in-service training programs (including from the London-based Thompson Foundation, which was globally famous for journalism training), as there was no journalism program at any of the universities in Liberia.
In remembering Ms Best, I fully concur with her cousin, John H.T. Stewart – former member of Liberia’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) – who described her as a woman of few words but immense wisdom. Among other accomplishments, she was a consummate diplomat, who served at the Liberian Embassy in the United States, among other services to the country. Also regarded as a visionary entrepreneur and a skilled administrator, she was the co-founder of Auriole Enterprises, Inc., which rapidly grew to become the leading supplier of school uniforms across the country, as Auriole uniforms were generally regarded to be the best on the local market.
It is important to note that the Daily Observer newspaper, which became a beacon of press freedom and democratic advocacy in Liberia, was established in February 1981, during an unprecedented period of instability and bloodshed in the history of Liberia. The Observer was birthed following the 1980 military coup, during which President William R. Tolbert was assassinated, and 13 senior officials of the deposed government were executed.
Liberia was plunged into a state of instability, as hundreds of individuals were imprisoned, many people, including foreign investors, fled the country. There were reports of huge capital flight that led to a nose-dive of Liberia’s economy – from which the country has never recovered.
As Liberia was internationally regarded to be very risky and dangerous in the aftermath of the bloody military takeover, it didn’t seem to make sense to many that someone would leave the safety of where they lived abroad to relocate to such a country to invest. It was in the face of such a bleak and uncertain situation in Liberia that Mr. and Mrs Kenneth Best, with the strong backing of Ms Best and a few others, including their uncle Albert Porte – the legendary pamphleteer and activist – decided to literally brave the storm to return home and establish an independent newspaper. Mr. and Mrs. Best returned to Liberia from Kenya, where Mr. Best worked with an international entity.
Over the years of the Observer’s existence, the newspaper was arbitrarily shut down several times, while many of its staff, including Mr. and Mrs. Best, were arrested or detained by the government for alleged anti-government reporting.
Following the outbreak of the Liberian civil war, during which the Observer’s offices were destroyed, the Best family settled in The Gambia, where they founded yet another Daily Observer in the early 1990s, which became the first daily newspaper in the history of that West African country. Again, Ms Best played a pivotal role in that pioneering endeavor. Like the Liberian Observer, the Gambian Observer was also a training ground for many young people, some of whom are reported to have become prominent media leaders in The Gambia.
Despite the challenges, the Observer was a beacon of hope for the Liberian people during the era of military rule, heralding the call for a just and equitable Liberian society, where the government or public leaders would be accountable to the people.
I bless the Lord for the late Ms Best and that of the entire Best family, for the lives of many young people, including me, they touched and transformed by providing us with career opportunities at the Daily Observer both in Liberia and The Gambia.
As an example of the impacts of the Best family and the Daily Observer in transforming the respective media landscapes in Liberia and The Gambia, there are three leading newspapers in both countries that are offsprings of the Liberian Observer. Besides the Gambian Observer, one of the offsprings is The Inquirer newspaper, Liberia’s leading daily during the civil war, of which I was the founding Managing Editor. The Inquirer was launched during the early years of the civil war by former Observer staff, which included now late editor -in-chief T. Max Teah, and Attorney Philip N. Wesseh, who became the longest serving managing editor of the paper. The other is Frontpage Africa, currently one of Liberia’s most prominent daily publications, founded by Rodney D. Sieh, a nephew of Mr. Best. Rodney cut his teeth in journalism mostly in The Gambia, where he resided with his uncle and his family during Liberia’s civil war.
Following the end of the bloody 14-year civil war in Liberia, the Liberian Observer newspaper resumed publication and has remained one of the country’s most reliable sources of information. The current Managing Director of the LOC, Bai Best, has made strides especially in having the publication accessible to a wider readership online through technological innovations.
As she transitions from labor to eternal rest, we join in saying to Ms Best: Well done thou good and faithful servant!
And finally, this is to express appreciation to Ms Mauren Sieh, niece of Ms Best, who also cut her teeth as a journalist at the Observer, for taking good care of the Oldma during her latter days. Kudos to you, Lil Girl! For those who might be wondering, Maureen and I share nick-names going back to our Observer days where I call her “Lil Girl” and she refers to me as “Lil Boy.” It is, indeed, a blessing to be a part of the extended Best family or Observer family!
