Liberia on Friday held a state funeral for former President Samuel Doe, 35 years after his assassination—a symbolic act aimed at promoting national healing after years of violent conflict that devastated the country.
Hundreds gathered in Grand Gedeh County, Doe’s home region in southeastern Liberia, to pay their respects. The ceremony also honored his widow, Nancy Doe, who passed away in May and is being laid to rest at the family estate. The former president’s coffin was symbolic, as the fate of his remains remains uncertain.
The event drew large crowds, with mourners lining the streets of Zwedru as the couple’s caskets—one carrying Nancy Doe’s body, the other draped in national colors—were paraded through the town. President Joseph Boakai attended the ceremony and declared a national period of mourning from Tuesday to Friday, with flags flown at half-mast.
Doe ruled Liberia from 1980 to 1990 after seizing power in a military coup that ousted and killed President William Tolbert. His rule is remembered both for its brutality and for certain social reforms. He was elected in a widely disputed 1985 election and later became increasingly unpopular due to ethnic favoritism, human rights abuses, and a crumbling economy.
His death in 1990, at the hands of rebel forces led by now-notorious warlord Prince Johnson, was a grim turning point in Liberia’s history. A video showing Johnson watching Doe being tortured while sipping beer became one of the most infamous symbols of the nation’s descent into civil war. The conflict, which lasted from 1989 to 2003, claimed an estimated 250,000 lives.
The funeral is part of a broader effort under President Boakai’s administration to reckon with Liberia’s turbulent past and move toward lasting national reconciliation.