The NEWS (Monrovia)
3 September 2008
Monrovia — Relatives of the late Liberian President Samuel Kanyon Doe, led by Mr. Jackson E. Doe, Minister of Transport and Nimba County Senator Prince Y. Johnson have ended what appears to be a tribal feud with a handshake.
The two groups shook hands, embraced one another and promised to promote peace and reconciliation.
The Doe family and Sen. Johnson ended sharp exchanges at the Foreign Ministry following the intervention of President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf on Monday.
The President met the two sides to calm recent bitter exchanges between the two families following testimonies before the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) by the Nimba County Senator on his role in the death of the former Liberian President.
According to an Executive Mansion release, President Johnson-Sirleaf told the parties that all Liberians were affected by the conflict which engulfed the country and spoke about the need to put behind the bitter past and move forward in the spirit of national reconciliation.
She thanked Senator Johnson and Minister Doe for accepting an invitation to discuss the recent misunderstanding between the two sides.
The Liberian leader urged both men to exercise leadership and take the lead in promoting peace and reconciliation as the country recovers from its bitter past as their people look up to them for direction.
"We all have a responsibility to ensure that the events of the past are never repeated in this country," the President reminded Minister Doe and Senator Johnson, adding, 'we have a responsibility to spare our children of what we have gone through so that they don't carry with them the resentment."
President Johnson-Sirleaf welcomed suggestions for a meeting between the people of Nimba and Grand Gedeh to celebrate the peace which Liberia now enjoys.
The President said such a meeting would provide an opportunity to thank the people of both counties for their decision to allow peace to prevail in the country. However, it was suggested that the venue for the proposed meeting could be held at a border town between the two counties at the end of the year.
The Liberian leader reiterated her government's plans to accord appropriate burial to former leaders who died while in office. The exercise, the President said, was necessary as part of the healing process as the nation puts to rest the pains of the past.
In separate remarks, Minister Doe and Senator Johnson welcomed the decision by the Liberian leader to convene the meeting, which they described as timely.
They agreed that all Liberians have a responsibility to promote peace because without peace there can be no progress; they promised to work toward the achievement of total peace between the people of Grand Gedeh and Nimba as well among all Liberians.
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