By By: Staff Writer
Monrovia, Liberia — A heated public exchange has erupted between descendants of two of Liberia’s most prominent civil war figures, after Veronica Mamie Doe, daughter of slain President Samuel K. Doe, recounted a wartime story involving former President Charles Taylor’s mother.
In a weekend post, Doe recalled asking her father during the war: “Papa, is it true that Charles Taylor’s mother is staying in the Mansion with you. I just heard that she is staying in mama’s room?” She asserted.
She said Doe responded: “Mamie, a mother gives life, but she does not sit inside the mind of a grown man.” She noted. When she protested: “But why are you protecting someone whose son is killing other people’s entire families, including their mothers?” She recalled. He explained: “Ma Taylor was innocent and I could not allow anything to happen to her,” fearing “angry soldiers or angry citizens might kill her because of her son’s atrocities and then place the blame on him.” She added.
Doe claimed: “My father housed Ma Louise Yassa Zoe Taylor on the 6th Floor in the apartment that my mother lived in, gave her her own staff to care for her, and later personally financed her relocation and continued upkeep to Bentol with a security detail.” She stated. She said: “The soldiers stayed with her right up until the September 9 deadly ambush that killed my father.” She noted.
Doe tied the story to post-war politics, stating: “Because of the extraordinary humanity my father showed toward his mother during the war, President Taylor became the only Liberian President to wholeheartedly welcome my mother and restore full First Lady privileges, which were immediately withdrawn under Ellen Sirleaf’s administration.” She asserted. She accused Sirleaf: “She governed with bitterness, political vengeance, division, confusion and selective justice.” She charged.
Taylor Family Member Fires Back: “You Have Selective Amnesia”
Christiana Taylor, identifying herself as Charles Taylor’s granddaughter, responded in a video, disputing Doe’s account and accusing her of rewriting history.
“You have selective amnesia. You have selective memory. You remember what you want. We will not allow you to rewrite history, to give account of things that never happened.” She declared.
On the claim that her grandmother was sheltered at the Executive Mansion, Taylor said: “No, my grandmother was never given refuge by Doe.” She asserted. She recalled: “We got up one morning and we saw our grandmother who lived in Artington. Your daddy DOE had sent soldiers up there. And they had taken my grandmother and put her on national TV to read a pre-registered memorandum: ‘I’m appealing to my son Charles Taylor to come out of the bushes and turn yourself over to DOE.’” She recounted.
Taylor also cited the Lutheran Church massacre, saying: “The reason why a lot of people lost their lives in the Lutheran Church is because there was one target. That target was my grandfather, Charles Taylor’s father. He was a judge, Nielsen Taylor. He was the target. And because of him, they slaughtered a lot of other people. So my grandfather died at the hands of daddy’s soldiers too.” She stated.
“Have Some Respect for the Dead”
Taylor criticized Doe’s public commentary: “You have absolutely no respect for the dead. And you lack empathy. You have zero empathy.” She said.
She added: “Why are you only the loud ones? You act as though you are from the lineage of royal blood, and you are entitled. You should be glad that daddy has a grave.” She noted.
Taylor called for restraint: “Let’s just be grateful that Liberian people don’t do transfer aggression. What you should be doing is saying, I want to apologize to the Liberian people that have been hurt directly or indirectly by this senseless war.” She asserted.
Unresolved History, Fresh Wounds
The exchange highlights how Liberia’s civil war history remains deeply personal and contested among families of key actors. Both Doe and Taylor invoked the deaths of relatives, questioned each other’s motives, and framed their narratives around humanity, memory, and accountability.
“Ma Louise Yassa Zoe Taylor lived long enough to see her son again and died 25th June 2003,” Doe wrote. Doe’s father was killed on September 9, 1990.
No official records have been released to verify either family’s version of the events surrounding Taylor’s mother during the war.
