Ghost of Liberia's Vice President Visits; Wants Justice

Dearest Mama,

It has been quite a long time. I received some of your communications, but have been unable to respond due to circumstances beyond my control.Thanks for your patience and support. Well, Mama, before I can briefly discuss the visit of the late Vice President, Enoch Dogolea on U.S Memorial day, let us briefly look at the U.S holiday; this reflection may hopefully explain why a Ghost from our part of the world will choose this day to speak on an incident that occurred few years ago.

In the U.S, Memorial Day for the kwee people is a holiday similar to what we call Decoration Day back home. Like Decoration Day in our home, Memorial Day here is a day of remembrance for those who died while servicing their country. In our clan, our people also remember family members on Decoration Day.

Mama, let me explain some of the similarities I have observed between Memorial Day in the Kwee people’s place, and Decoration Day in our clan. Did you know that U.S Memorial Day was originally called Decoration Day, and freed blacks are said to have been among the first to celebrate it as a way of honoring the Union dead after the Civil War? So it is possible that the freed slaves, who settled in our country long ago, took with them this traditional practice of remembering the dead.

Memorial Day, (formerly Decoration Day), a federal holiday is observed on the last Monday of May; in Liberia, Decoration Day is held the 2nd Wednesday in March.

Today, the kwee president, George W. Bush laid a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknowns - which contains the unidentified remains of members of the U.S. military killed in major conflicts. He was accompanied by several families of the fallen. At the cemetery here, the Arlington National Cemetery in the capital city of this country, thousands of motorcycle riders from across this big country came to this place to pay their annual tribute to military veterans. The Arlington Cemetery is very large, with over 300,000 graves of members of the military services from conflicts dating back nearly 150 years. President John F. Kennedy is among the prominent Americans also buried at the Arlington Cemetery. Recently, a new section of the cemetery was included to hold the nearly 350 men and women killed in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Memorial Day here is almost solemn: the obscure weather – not sunny, and not cloudy, adds some flavors to the occasion today. At the graves, people are busy laying flowers on graves of beloved ones in a somewhat formal and earnest manner.

Mama, while I watched live broadcasts of some of the Memorial Day activities, I fell asleep. It is while I was sleeping that the ghost of the late Vice President Enoch Dogolea visited. Unlike the visit from the late Police Director where I almost hit the ceiling of my apartment, I was not very frightened when Dogolea appeared. The ghost of late Vice President Dogolea was wrapped in a carpet. Except his head and neck, the carpet covered Dogolea’s feet and his entire body.

Dogolea was deputy to Charles Taylor during the civil war. Following Taylor's election as president, Dogolea served as Vice President from 1997 until he died abruptly after a short illness in 2000. Many believed that Dogolea death was a result of foul play.

Mama, when Dogolea’s Ghost visited , I was reading a book by Catherine Ponders. In reality, I am reading one of Catherine Ponder’s books. So that aspect of the dream adds some reality to the dream.

The late Vice President stood before me quietly. When I look up, he asked, “Do you still have some of my pictures?” I responded, “Yes,” and added, “I also have some pictures of you when you were in the casket.” Even though I was not in Liberia when Dogolea died, the man did not ask me how I succeeded in acquiring pictures of his corpse. Rather, he tilted his head and shifted before looking at me again. “Aren’t you going to ask why I am rolled up in a carpet?” My response, “I guess the carpet has something to do with your death.” The Ghost looked at my book shelve and saw the series of albums, “You have some of my pictures in those albums – pictures of me in the coffin, pictures of me with President Taylor at the Executive Mansion, etc.” His words sounded more like a confirmation, so I just said, “Of course, I have a lot of pictures including some from the 1997 inauguration.”

Dogolea then said that he was very disappointed that the truth about his death has not been told. He said, “I really want to get rid of this carpet. It makes it difficult for me to move around, but I can not remove the carpet until the truth about my death is unraveled. This carpet has something to do with the night I was abruptly rushed to the hospital, the night that led to my death,” Dogolea said to me while tears welled his eyes. “I am so tired of carrying this heavy carpet around,” the ghost of the VP said leaving me in almost tears.

I then mustered the courage to ask why he chose to visit on U.S Memorial day and not our Clan’s decoration day. The late Dogolea looked me with such hard stare that I almost melted in the sofa. He said, “You call Liberia the clan. I will follow suit to explain myself. In our clan, people have forgotten to voluntarily and informally observe the moment of remembrance and respect, pausing from whatever they are doing for a moment of silence or listening to the dead. All of us who died want to communicate but we are not given the opportunity – too much noise, people brandishing the skulls of human beings on Decoration Day.”

Dogolea added, “Look at what happened this Decoration day in our clan, people danced on graves and tombs to ear-splitting music, while others were tipping back bottles of beer and other liquor.”

I felt the man’s concerns and wonder what I would do if I saw someone desecrating any of my family’s graves. Well, let me not dwell on that. I am only writing to illustrate an encounter with the Ghost of the late Vice President, Enoch Dogolea.

I was about to ask Dogolea what specific message I could use to persuade people about his message when I heard instrumental music-Beethoven to be specific. I shuddered and jolted. My companion was playing one of our favorite music used for meditation. My eyes fluttered, and I immediately reached for my laptop to send this message to you.

Mama, I hope the message is clear in this letter. I hope that people will be reminded about the true meaning of Decoration Day. I guess the moment of remembrance upon which Decoration Day was establish is a step in the right direction to returning the meaning back to the day where people will reflect and honor those who have given their service to their people, their country and friends and families.

Regarding circumstances surrounding Dogolea's death, do you know what the status of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission is so far.

Glad to be writing you again, Mama

always,
musue

Copyright © Musue N. Haddad