“WE ARE SORRY”--Pres. Boakai Issues Historic National Apology

In a deeply emotional and historic address, President Joseph Nyuma Boakai offered a formal national apology on behalf of the Liberian State to the victims and survivors of Liberia’s civil conflict. Speaking before a national healing and reconciliation and unity gathering of Liberians from all walks of life, the President delivered a powerful message centered on reconciliation, justice, and the shared responsibility to heal and rebuild the nation. The program on Saturday, July 5, 2025 at the EJS Ministerial Complex, open to the public, served as a platform for national reflection and unity. President Boakai’s speech marked a significant moment in Liberia’s ongoing journey toward peace and accountability. “We gather here to reflect deeply on the soul of our country,” the President said. “Not only to remember, but to recommit to reconciliation, to healing, and to a Liberia where unity, dignity, and justice are not just ideals, but lived realities.” Recognizing the pain of the past and the silence endured by many victims for years, President Boakai emphasized that the day’s event was meant to create space for remembrance, acknowledgment, and honest dialogue about Liberia’s difficult history. “For too long, many of our fellow citizens have carried their pain in silence. This event creates that space to remember, to speak, and to begin to heal,” he said. The President paid tribute to the late Presidents William R. Tolbert Jr. and Samuel K. Doe, acknowledging their tragic deaths as symbols of a broader national trauma that continues to shape Liberian society. “It was not just about two men. It is about a nation that lost its way and is still fighting to find its soul,” he said. The President called on the nation to remember the sons and daughters who never returned home, the families still searching for closure, and the children who grew up in refugee camps and conflict zones. In the most powerful moment of the address, President Boakai said: “As your President, and as a fellow Liberian, today, on this historic occasion, I offer a formal apology on behalf of the State. To every victim of our civil conflict, to every family broken, to every dream shattered, we say: WE ARE SORRY.
The State could have done better but was used as an agency of harm. But we are here now, and we must do everything we can to make sure that it never fails you again.” President Boakai outlined several concrete steps his administration will take to give meaning to the apology and to advance reconciliation and justice: Implementation of key recommendations from the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC); Revival of the National History Project to create a comprehensive and inclusive account of Liberia’s past; Establishment of a National Memorial to honor the over 250,000 victims of the conflict; Preservation of the TRC archives as a national conscience and educational tool. “We must make reconciliation not just a slogan, but a standard by which we govern and live,” the President declared. President Boakai reminded the nation of the 2012 Strategic Roadmap for National Healing, Peacebuilding, and Reconciliation, an 18-year vision for transformation ending in 2030. He called on ministries, agencies, civil society, and development partners to urgently align their efforts with the roadmap’s three pillars: transforming mindsets, rebuilding relationships, and strengthening institutions. “We are five years away from fulfilling a generational promise. We can no longer hesitate. The time for bold, coordinated action is now,” he urged. Quoting Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., the President reminded Liberians that “peace is not just the absence of war. It is the presence of justice.” As the nation reflected on its past and recommitted to a future of unity and progress, the President’s apology stood as both a solemn recognition of wrongs and a hopeful call to national transformation. “We owe it to those we lost. We owe it to those who survived. We owe it to our children. Above all, we owe it to ourselves.”