MONROVIA: President George Weah on Tuesday, March 29, 2022, led an array of government officials including House Speaker, Dr. Bhofal Chambers, to the Centennial Pavilion to sign the book of condolence for fallen statesman, and former Interim President, Dr. Amos C. Sawyer.
Dr. Sawyer, former interim President of Liberia died on February 16, 2022, at the John Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore, Maryland, United States of America.
He died at the age of 76. The casket bearing his mortal remains arrived in the country on Friday, March 25, 2022.
Dr. Sawyer is one of the last icons of Liberia’s progressive era and former President of the Interim Government of National Unity (IGNU).
Since his death, many Liberians hold the view that the academic history of Liberia will be incomplete without mentioning the name of Dr. Amos Claudius Sawyer.
Following his death, President Weah described Dr. Sawyer as a pillar of strength for Liberia’s pro-democracy movement who contributed immensely to the peace that the country now enjoys.
An Executive Mansion release quoted President Weah as saying: “I fondly recall the opportunity he gave me to be an inspiration to many of Liberia’s youth during the civil war when he appointed me as Sports Ambassador.” The Liberian Leader said Dr. Sawyer was a motivation to leaders in different spheres of life.
President Weah said he remained a friend of the Sawyer family over the years since his assignment to the crucial national post.
Dr. Sawyer was a founding member of the Movement for Justice in Africa (MOJA), a social justice organization, which was very active in the 1970s, and which is credited for raising the political consciousness of the Liberian population. Other contemporaries of MOJA included Dr. H. Boima Fahnbulleh and Dr. Togba Nah Tipoteh.
Dr. Sawyer also served Liberia in many other capacities before his demise. He helped organize many peace missions in and out of the country which led to some cessation of hostilities during the country’s back-back civil war.
He was a renowned professor of political science at the University of Liberia, and ran for Monrovia City Mayor position in 1979 during the era of the Grand Old True Whig Party regime that spanned more than a Century. His candidacy for the City Mayor post was heavily backed by his progressive comrades, the students’ community and intellectuals.
Dr. Sawyer served as Chairperson of the Governance Commission during the administration of former President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, who once occupied said post during Liberia’s transitional era.
The GC was established following the 2003 Comprehensive Peace Accord, to recommend policies for reform of the public and security sectors, as well as the management of land in the aftermath of the civil war in Liberia.
President Weah has said Dr. Sawyer’s footprints will remain etched in the history of the country for generations to come.
He, then, extended his sympathy to the bereaved family, particularly the widow of the late statesman, Mrs. Thelma E. Duncan Sawyer, who he regarded as a mother, urging them to take solace in the Lord.
