Monrovia, March 14, 2025/ Dagbayonoh Kiah Nyanfore ll, a Liberian and international writer and former schoolmate of President Boakai, has appealed to the president to grant justice to Mrs. Nancy B. Doe, widow of former President Samuel K. Doe. In Nyanfore’s letter delivered to the Executive Mansion in February 2025, he wrote that Mrs. Doe has been denied her human and constitutional rights. He indicated that “past administrations have failed to enforce judgments rendered in her favor by the Liberian Supreme Court and the ECOWA Court.” The letter gives the background of the matter, stating that the case started during former President Ellen Johnson’s administration when in 2011, Mrs. Doe complained to the Liberian court that the administration failed to give her $4,947,830 legally owned by her late husband, Samuel Doe. Accordingly, “while president, Mr. Doe was a silent investor in several businesses, including a diamond and gold enterprise in Liberia. That company earned over $2M annually in net revenue. Doe deposited his money in the Bank of Credit and Commerce International (BCCI) in Liberia. During the civil war, BCCI collapsed. The National Bank of Liberia liquidated BCCI deposits and became the bank agent. The National Bank later became the Central Bank of Liberia (CBL). Neither the bank nor the government claimed the money when they received it. While the Sirleaf administration used part of the money to pay one of its officials, it stopped Mrs. Doe from accessing the fund. Mrs. Doe took the matter to the Supreme Court, which ruled in her favor in 2019, awarding her $5,209,382 in addition to 6% interest. However, the Sirleaf government failed to comply, dragging its feet while Mrs. Doe and her children suffered. Some analysts suggested that Sirleaf did not honor the court ruling for fear that the Doe family would use the money to oppose her government. As known, she and others planned and executed the civil war, which caused Doe’s death and the removal of his government from power. In 2016, Mrs. Doe took the case to ECOWAS Court. In 2019, the court agreed with her complaint of human rights violation and awarded her $18M. Since the decision, the George Weah administration failed to settle Mrs. Doe or negotiate with her. Nyanfore sees Mrs. Doe’s plight as a human rights issue, arguing that besides being the former first lady, she is a Liberian citizen whose rights must be protected and enforced by the constitution. She committed no crime and rightfully is entitled to her money, yet she and her children have suffered immensely. Further, since her husband’s death, the government has neglected to enforce court rulings favoring her regarding her properties. Nyanfore is appealing to President Boakai’s principles to consider Mrs. Doe’s plight. He argues that “Liberians may differ regarding the April 12 coup that brought Doe and the PRC into power. But should Mrs. Doe and her family suffer for the overthrow? Should the rights of those who benefitted from and worked in the Doe regime be denied? Should their children’s rights also be violated? Should the rights of future first ladies be breached once their husbands are no longer in office? We must, by our conscience, answer as a nation.” He further stated that Liberian “history has shown that the violation and denial of human and constitutional rights have led to prolonged injustices. Thus, the victims took drastic action against the violators, resulting in an ugly wound. We must prevent a repeat of that event. Hence, as our national head, President Boakai must take leadership for justice, peace, reconciliation, and unity. Nyanfore complimented the president for establishing the Office of the War and Economic Crime Court in Liberia. He told the president. “I applaud and congratulate you for this effort. It signifies your commitment to the will of the Liberian people for justice to those perished and affected by the civil crisis and for redress regarding economic crime.” In an interview with New Dawn, Nyanfore told the paper that Mrs. Doe’s issue is beyond legal appeal. It calls for human conscience, the inner feeling for rights, justice, fairness, and compassion. Nyanfore added that President Doe was not a saint. However, Doe helped many people. For instance, he saved Ellen Sirleaf from execution after the coup and made her advisor to the new government. He made Joseph Boakai minister of Agriculture in his government. He freed him from arrest after being accused of embezzlement of government funds. He financially helped George Weah in Weah’s football career in Liberia. In fact, a New York Times article states below Doe’s effort in Weah’s soccer profession. “Weah might have remained in Liberia, a talented but unschooled local player, were it not for the personal intervention of President Doe. Doe made Weah the national team captain and invited him to the presidential palace to talk soccer strategy. After victories, he would distribute a briefcase full of cash to Weah and his teammates. At a time when Liberia’s economy was collapsing, Doe sent the national team, including Weah, to Brazil for advanced training. For Weah, at least, Doe’s investment paid off. In 1988, the French club A.S. Monaco signed him [Weah] to a contract”, the Times wrote. Nyanfore told the New Dawn that his appeal is not for the president to give justice to Mrs. Doe because of her husband’s benevolence but because it is the right and just thing to do. Nyanfore also applauded President Boakai for stating in his recent State of the Nation Annual Address to the legislature, expressing the establishment of a committee for the honorable burial of late presidents Tolbert and Doe. But he said the pronouncement would have been much better if politics were removed from the effort. One good way would have been to address settling Mrs. Doe so that she could fund the proper memorialization of her husband. As it stands, the “honorable burial effort” would particularly benefit President Tolbert’s family, because the remains of Doe cannot be located only Tolbert’s can. Nyanfore’s letter is the second public appeal on behalf of Mrs. Doe so far. On April 23, 2024, advocacy journalist Allison Z. T. Dunner wrote to President Joseph Boakai, calling for adherence to and implementation of the ECOWAS Court Judgment in favor of Madam Doe. The GNNLiberia Newspaper covered the letter on April 24, 2024. Dagbayonoh Kiah Nyanfore II is an international columnist, a prolific writer, and a political commentator specializing in elections. He is a former schoolmate of President Boakai. They lived in the Methodist Boys Hostel while attending CWA in the 1960s.