By Socrates Smythe Saywon
MONROVIA – The family of late President Samuel Kanyon Doe has issued an urgent appeal to President Joseph Nyuma Boakai, calling for the enforcement of a 2019 ECOWAS Court ruling in their favor and the settlement of benefits owed to the late First Lady Nancy Bohn Doe.
In a letter dated August 10, 2025, Veronica Mamie Doe, Administrator of the Doe Estate, accused successive Liberian governments of deliberately neglecting the family’s legal rights and entitlements for over three decades. She said despite numerous letters and assurances, including promises made by President Boakai, the Doe family continues to face what she described as “systematic exclusion and rejection.”
The letter highlights two key demands: the full enforcement of the ECOWAS Court judgment delivered on February 28, 2019, and the payment of Nancy Doe’s pension and state benefits, which have remained unresolved for more than 35 years. Veronica Doe lamented that while other judgments have been honored by Liberia, her family’s case has been left “to gather dust,” which she described as an act of selective justice.
The appeal also drew attention to the deteriorating health of Samuel K. Doe Jr., son of the late president, who urgently requires a kidney transplant. According to the family, the financial resources tied up in legal limbo are desperately needed to save his life. Veronica Doe warned that without a formal payment plan by the end of August, the family would have no choice but to engage international human rights organizations, the European Union, and the United States to press for enforcement.
The letter further criticized what the family views as political manipulation, pointing to past demands that they reconcile with Senator Zoe Emmanuel Pennue before their case could move forward, a condition they argue has no legal basis under the ECOWAS judgment.
Veronica Doe underscored the irony that while former First Lady Clar Weah, a foreign national, has received full benefits, her mother, Nancy Bohn Doe, endured decades of neglect and humiliation. “This is not merely neglect, it is selective justice. And selective justice is no justice at all,” she wrote.
The Doe family maintains that their father, President Samuel Kanyon Doe, despite his controversial legacy, ensured that former First Lady Victoria Tolbert received her entitlements and properties after the death of President William R. Tolbert. They argue that the same fairness should be extended to their mother.
The letter closes with a direct appeal to President Boakai’s conscience, warning that inaction could cost the life of Samuel Doe Jr. and perpetuate what they call a historic injustice. “If by then there is no formal payment plan enabling us to secure Sam’s admission into a reputable medical facility by this August, it will be as if you have placed your signature on his death certificate,” Veronica Doe stated.
The Boakai administration has not yet responded publicly to the Doe family’s latest appeal.
