Monrovia – Award-winning Liberian film director and cinematographer Gerald K. Barclay is preparing to release a powerful new documentary examining the assassination of President William Richard Tolbert Jr., Liberia’s 19th president, and the historic events that reshaped the country’s political destiny. Forty-five years later, the Government of Liberia, led by President Joseph Boakai, in July 2025, dedicated a Memorial Site in honor of the late President William Richard Tolbert, Jr. and the 13 government officials. Tolbert assumed the presidency in 1971 following the death of President William V. S. Tubman. These tensions ultimately culminated in the 1980 military coup, which dramatically altered Liberia’s political landscape. Among those appearing in the trailer are former Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, who served as Minister of Finance at the time of the coup, Dr. Elwood Dunn, former Minister of State for Presidential Affairs during the Tolbert administration, Ambassador Neh-Dukuly Tolbert, widow of Steve Tolbert, and Richard V. Tolbert, nephew of President Tolbert.

Source: Front Page Africa March 06, 2026 05:58 UTC