Monrovia – The funeral of former First Girl Nancy B. Doe, widow of slain President Samuel Kanyon Doe, has taken an sudden flip, erupting into an issue that has shaken the Doe household.
By Selma Lomax [email protected]
On the heart of the controversy is Nancy Doe’s daughter, Veronica “Mamie” Doe, whose agency stance towards accepting a funeral donation from former President George Weah has sparked outrage each inside her household and throughout Liberia.
The donation — consisting of two cows, 50 baggage of rice, and various funeral gadgets — was despatched to the Doe household compound in Monrovia after Weah personally visited the grieving household following the previous First Girl’s passing on Might 21.
His go to was reportedly emotional and supportive. A video circulating on-line reveals members of the family pleading for help, particularly requesting a cow from the previous President. Weah obliged, and the next day, the donation was delivered as a conventional condolence gesture.
Nevertheless, the donation was turned away below the orders of Mamie Doe. “I don’t need these items. Allow them to take it again to CDC,” she reportedly advised aides and members of the family, referencing Weah’s political get together, the Congress for Democratic Change. The gadgets have been loaded again onto the automobile and despatched away, solely to be returned a second time and rejected once more by Mamie.
This act of refusal, thought-about culturally taboo in Liberian society, shortly went viral and drew heavy criticism. Movies taken on the household’s compound captured visibly indignant kinfolk berating Mamie Doe for her choice. One elder lady was heard shouting, “If she needs to behave like she alone personal Ma Nancy, then your one will bury your ma!”
The backlash prolonged past the family. Conventional elders from Tuzon, Grand Gedeh County — house of the Doe household — swiftly intervened to comprise the fallout. Led by former Grand Gedeh Senator and present diplomat Isaac Nyenebo, a delegation traveled to fulfill with former President Weah. On the assembly, the elders reportedly expressed regret on behalf of the household and Grand Gedeh group, apologizing for what they described as a “disrespectful act” by Mamie Doe.
“We’ve got include humility to apologize to former President Weah for what transpired,” Nyenebo advised reporters. “The conduct of Madam Veronica Doe doesn’t replicate who we’re as a folks.” They formally accepted the donation on behalf of the folks of Grand Gedeh and introduced that it could be used appropriately to assist the funeral course of.
This diplomatic gesture, nevertheless, didn’t ease tensions on the household compound. Many members of the family expressed their deep disappointment, accusing Mamie Doe of utilizing her mom’s loss of life to settle political scores.
Some kinfolk, talking on situation of anonymity, claimed that Mamie Doe had all the time been outspoken about how her mom had been handled by successive Liberian governments. Nancy Doe, they stated, had lengthy felt uncared for — left with out full entry to her late husband’s properties or state advantages that ought to have been on account of her as a former First Girl.
Actually, Nancy Doe had gone public in earlier years, lamenting how each the administrations of Ellen Johnson Sirleaf and George Weah had failed to offer her the popularity and compensation she believed she was owed. In keeping with household insiders, these unresolved grievances weighed closely on Mamie Doe, who watched her mom wrestle in silence for many years.
A detailed pal of the household advised the media, “Mamie Doe shouldn’t be doing this simply to be rebellious. She’s carrying years of harm — watching her mom endure, watching the household’s legacy be ignored and erased. To her, this isn’t a present. It’s a mockery.”
However for a lot of Liberians and members of the Doe household, Mamie Doe’s motion was seen much less as an act of justice and extra as a severe breach of cultural custom.
In Liberia, funeral donations — particularly from nationwide figures — are thought-about symbols of respect, group, and peace. Rejecting such a donation, particularly twice, is considered by many as a grave insult and a rejection of collective mourning customs which have lengthy ruled Liberian society.
To additional defuse tensions, Ambassador Nyenebo returned to the Doe compound shortly after the second rejection and intervened once more because the cow and rice have been being reloaded for return. He instructed that the gadgets be offloaded and declared that the ladies of Grand Gedeh would settle for the donation on behalf of the folks.
Regardless of Mamie Doe’s seen frustration, he maintained that the donation shouldn’t be wasted, and that Nancy Doe’s reminiscence deserved honor with out being tainted by ongoing household discord.
The federal government has additionally stepped in to precise solidarity. Vice President Jeremiah Koung and President Joseph Boakai each visited the Doe household to pay their respects. President Boakai even proposed that slain President Samuel Ok. Doe be reburied alongside his spouse, Nancy, as a gesture of nationwide reconciliation and historic respect.
Nevertheless, the household has not but formally responded to this proposal, and it stays unclear whether or not Mamie and her siblings will agree.
Because the nation prepares for what needs to be a nationwide farewell to one in all its former First Women, the occasions surrounding Nancy Doe’s funeral have was a cautionary story about how historical past, politics, and private ache can erupt into public battle.
