The Government of the Republic of Liberia, on Wednesday, December 10, held a National Memorial and Reflection Service in honor of the late Former South African President and Freedom Fighter, Nelson Mandela.

The Memorial  Service which  was characterized by  brilliant political  speeches and  tributes  to  the late former  President Mandela, who  many refer to  as Africa’s greatest freedom fighter in  the twenty first century,  was held  at the Centennial Memorial Pavilion on the Ashmun  Street  in Monrovia, and was being organized under the aegis of the ministry of Foreign .

 While paying tribute to the fallen freedom fighter and advocate of social justice on behalf of President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf who is out for Mandela‘s, State Funeral,    Liberia’s Foreign Minister Augustine Kpehe Ngafuan read President Sirleaf’s Condolence Message to the Government and People of the Republic of South Africa. 

While reflecting Mandela’s legacy, Minister Ngafuan who read the message quoted President Sirleaf as saying at the late freedom fighter’s 90th birth anniversary, the Liberian leader was awed stricken by former President Mandela’s spirit of generosity and commitment to the cause of humanity, his dedicated pursuit of peace, democracy and equality for the People of South Africa and for mankind everywhere which the message stated has awarded the late Mandela, the Nobel Peace Prize.  

He said  as the first black President of South Africa, his courage and unwavering dedication to the ideals of justice, freedom and equality contributed to the reordering  of South Africa into a truly rainbow nation.

The Minister added that the Government and People of Liberia join the President in extending to the bereaved family and the People of South Africa deepest condolences for the irreparable loss of their former President which is also a loss to the whole of Africa and the entire world.  

 “In expressing our enormous grieve and as a mark of respect for this fallen hero, I have ordered that the flag of the Republic of Liberia be flown at half mask for three days across the Length and breadth of the entire Republic, and we pray that the Almighty God will grant solace and cancelation to members of the Madeba’s grieve stricken family and the Government and People of South Africa on this hour of National Grieve”, Minister Ngafuan Noted.  

Also paying  tribute to the fallen hero was veteran historian, Dr. Elwood Dunn, who thanked the Foreign Ministry for organizing the event which he said accorded him the opportunity to say a few words to the memory of Africa’s freedom Icon described Mandela as an extraordinary individual who lived an exemplary life.

He added “we must appreciate well the meaning of this occasion and the man at the center of it; we must join the applause for a life of exemplary. We must introspect; we must retrospect and must say to ourselves what this all means to me, to Liberia, to today’s Liberia especially the upcoming generation, Dr. Dunn mentioned.

  He named two lessons to be learned from the late Mandela including the lesson of liberation in general and the African Liberation Struggle and the Lesson of Post Conflict Truth and Reconciliation.

Also making remark during the Memorial Service, Finance Minister Amara Konneh who currently chairs the Cabinet remarked that the late Nelson Mandela liberated his country from a system of violence prejudice and worked unite the whites and the blacks or the oppressor and the oppressed in a way that has never been done before.

 According to him, Mandela was a man over throw the Apartheid regime and created a non racial South Africa knowing exactly when and how to transition between them, Minister Konneh remarked.  

Making his reflection on the life sketch of Nelson Mandela, a distinguished Liberian Diplomat, Amb. Lafell Diggs said he had known   Mandela before he became a house hold name at a special role Liberia was playing during the fight for freedom against colonialism in Africa, adding Liberia and Ethiopia were the only independent nations of Africa.

Ambassador Diggs further expressed gratitude to the Honorable Vice President Boakia for giving him the opportunity to speak at the event and added that Liberians brought remarkable reputation to Africa, and brought to the international forum a selfless order, a dedication, a sense of awareness and a certain kind of arrogance.

For his part, Dr. Togba Nah Tepoteh, who is the founding Director of the Movement for Justice in Africa (MOJA)   remarked  that he met with  Madeba  or Nelson Mandela  for the  first time  in February 1992  when he paid a visit  to South Africa  the saying “ late Mandela came to the conference room and forget that he did not lock his door and he went straight back to do so, he was never the man who will allow someone to do for him what he can do for himself, so he went

Making remarks event, the Cameroonian Ambassador to Liberia and Acting Doyen of the Diplomatic Corps, H.E.   Bang Della Augustine Gang   paid tributes on behalf of the Diplomatic Corps noting that he took the flow of humanity to join South Africa, Liberia, Africa, and the rest of the world in honoring a universal memorial service for a unique character, and a man who defined his role without guidance or any disturbance of any kind.  

He then extended his deepest condolences to the South African Ambassador and his Government and people especially the bereaved family for the loss of a man who he said was a steadfast political figure, adding   “Mandela has left for heaven”