By Redaction ARPS Media with Agencies
Liberia’s former president, William Tolbert, was symbolically reburied 45 years after his assassination during a coup, alongside 13 executed cabinet members.
A state funeral, attended by current President Joseph Boakai, took place on June 1 2025, with an empty grave dug for potential remains. Tolbert’s overthrow in 1980 ended Americo-Liberian political control, leading to Samuel Doe becoming the first indigenous leader, who was later also killed.
The coup initiated a prolonged period of unrest, including two civil wars that resulted in a quarter of a million deaths. A peace agreement in 2003 led to democratic elections, which elected Ellen Johnson Sirleaf as Africa’s first female head of state and established a Truth and Reconciliation Commission for victims of the civil war.
