The President of the Republic of Liberia, Her Excellency Mrs. Ellen Johnson Sirleaf has by proclamation declared Saturday, March 15, 2014 as the 205^th Birth anniversary of Liberia’s First President Joseph Jenkins Robert and is to be observed throughout the Republic as a NATIONAL HOLIDAY.

The Proclamation is in consonance with an Act of national legislature which was enacted at the third session of the forty-second Legislature, declaring the birth Anniversary of The Late President Joseph Jenkins Roberts, first president of the Republic of Liberia, as a National Holiday.

The observance is in recognition of his invaluable sacrifices rendered as the founding father of this Liberia.

The Proclamation started that the honor accorded the memory of this distinguished Statesman serves as a challenge to all Liberians to aspire to higher and nobler endeavors by emanating his courage, endurance, selflessness and commitment to the principles and deals of democracy, as portrayed in his works and life as Liberia’s first President. 

According to the release, celebration shows a mark of respect and relevance to his memory and for his untiring efforts in organizing the first government of the Republic as well as negotiating and concluding treaties with foreign powers which gave recognition to the foundation of the Liberian Nation.

The Proclamation has therefore ordered and directed all government offices, public buildings and business houses closed during the observance.