A PROCLAMATION ISSUED by President Joseph Nyuma Boakai and released by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs declared Saturday, July 5, 2025 as “National Healing, Reconciliation and Unity Day”
THE PRESIDENT’S OFFICIAL proclamation that declared Saturday, July 5, 2025, as “National Healing, Reconciliation and Unity Day” called for it to be observed as a working holiday across the country.
ACCORDING TO A release from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the proclamation calls on all citizens and families to participate in the commemorative events organized by the Presidential Reburial and Reconciliation Committee, which has been tasked with coordinating the day’s observance.
THE PROCLAMATION FOLLOWS President Boakai’s announcement earlier this year, on January 27, 2025, regarding the official reburial of former Presidents Rev. Dr. William R. Tolbert Jr. and Dr. Samuel Kanyon Doe. A Special Presidential Committee was subsequently established to oversee a dignified reburial process for the former leaders.
IN ADDITION TO honoring the former presidents, the Committee also recognized the need to remember other victims of Liberia’s tragic past, including those who lost their lives during the 1980 coup d’état, the civil wars, and the Ebola and COVID-19 pandemics. Many of these individuals were never properly buried, and their families have not had the opportunity for closure.
THE PROCLAMATION EMPHASIZED that “National Healing, Reconciliation and Unity Day” is intended to provide a space for national mourning, reflection, and healing, while also renewing Liberia’s shared commitment to peace, unity, and reconciliation.
“THIS DAY IS not only to honor the memory of prominent national figures,” the proclamation reads, “but also to recognize the thousands of unnamed ordinary Liberians who suffered and perished during the country’s darkest hours. It is meant to give their families a sense of closure and to affirm the resilience of our democracy and national identity.”
THE DAY’S OFFICIAL program was held Saturday, July 5, 2025, at the Ellen Johnson Sirleaf Ministerial Complex in Congo Town, Montserrado County, and was led by the Presidential Reburial Committee. The keynote address was delivered by Rev. Dr. Antoine Rutayisire, a globally-recognized expert in post-conflict healing and reconciliation.
THE RELEASE FURTHER highlights that in light of Liberia’s painful history of civil unrest and its lingering impact, embracing national healing and reconciliation remains critical to fostering long-lasting peace, unity, and nation-building. All citizens are urged to observe the day in a spirit of solemn reflection and national solidarity.
THE LIBERIAN POST applauds President Boakai for taking such a pivotal decision on national healing, reconciliation and unity. For so long, Liberia and Liberians have been divided since the 1980 military coup d’état that toppled President William R. Tolbert, Jr government, thus ending the First Republic after 133 years of existence. The disunity got compounded when the military remained in power and changed to a civilian government which eventually led to an outbreak of deadly civil war in 1989 that last for 14 years before ending in 2003.
ABOUT A FORTNIGHT ago, TLP cautioned Liberians that the plead of President Boakai to Liberians during the reburial rites of the two former slain Presidents, the 13 former government officials and former First Lady Nancy B. Doe, should serve as the basis for genuine reconciliation in Liberia. Reconciliation is a bitter pill to swallow especially if a former leader of a particular leadership hurts their own people during their rule.
BUT FORGIVENNESS IS required of every one God created; so, despite what each and every Liberian went through during the dark days of the civil war, the country’s needs for genuine reconciliation cannot be overstated. Liberians must reconcile, forgive and unite. Now is the time for national healing of the body, spirit and soul.
THE LIBERIAN POST joins President Boakai in urging Liberians to forgive, forget and move on for a new chapter to begin that will set a new path and foundation for genuine reconciliation for the next generation of Liberians. It is acknowledged that it is a bitter pill to swallow but for the sake of the future of the children of Liberia genuine healing, reconciliation and unity have to take place.
THE LIBERIAN POST is glad that the President heeded its plead and set a day aside for a memorial of the more than 250,000 people who lost their lives during the 14-year Liberian civil war. Families were torn apart by the war and TLP believes a memorial to eulogize them will also help to heal the wounds of the civil war. And so on Saturday, July 5, 2025, being set aside as “National Healing, Reconciliation and Unity Day” by President Boakai, is a clear manifestation that he wants to truly reconcile Liberians after years of bitterness, division, disunity and hate.
GENUINE RECONCILIATION IN Liberia should and must be the way to reunite each and every Liberian in this new dispensation. The hate and bitterness are beyond bounds among Liberians and now is the time for Liberians to bury their respective hatches and reconcile in truth, love and spirit for the better of the future of Liberian children and generations unborn.
MR. PRESIDENT, TO climax the National Healing, Reconciliation and Unity among Liberians, we plead with you and your Administration to see the need to construct National Memorial Monuments in each of the 15 counties of Liberia for remembrance of loved ones who lost their lives during those turbulent years in Liberia. Never again, should Liberia return to such an ugly past.
THANK YOU, MR. President for heeding THE LIBERIAN POST’s plead to set aside a day for “National Healing, Reconciliation and Unity.”
