-And victim’s family
By Jerromie S. Walters
President Joseph Nyuma Boakai is expected to visit the survivors of the tragic presidential motorcade accident that occurred on Wednesday, July 24, 2024, resulting in one fatality and multiple injuries.
According to Presidential Press Secretary Kula Fofana, the President will be visiting the survivors of the accident and the family of the deceased individual in the next few hours. Fofana revealed that the accident occurred when the motorcade collided with a tricycle (kehkeh) after the rider made a U-turn, with only three vehicles from the President’s convoy having departed at the time. The collision involved the fourth vehicle in the convoy.
Fofana confirmed that one person has lost their life in the accident, while three others sustained injuries and are currently receiving treatment at the John F. Kennedy Memorial Hospital. The Presidential Press Secretary also disclosed that the Executive Protection Service (EPS) has initiated an investigation into the incident.
Earlier today, an accident involving a presidential motorcade occurred along the Robertfield highway, leading to severe injuries and fatality. The President was en route to the dedication of an orphanage home initiated by his wife when the accident took place.
Not a new story
The occurrence of the presidential motorcade being involved in an accident is not a one-of-a-kind story in the history of Liberia. In 2019, two persons were confirmed dead and several journalists seriously wounded in a car crash involving former President George Manneh Weah’s official motorcade when former Associate Justice Wilkins Wrights’ vehicle intruded into the presidential convoy Sunday, 10 February along the Monrovia- Gbarnga highway.
Weah and his entourage were returning from Gbarnga, Bong County following a Church Service when the intruding van collided with the Executive Mansion Press jeep (Toyota Land Cruiser Jeep) in the Presidential convoy, killing two persons instantly and seriously injuring the driver and all occupants of the press car.
The dead include Mr. Gabriel Nyanti Wilson, alias “Executive Horn”, an employee of the Ministry of State, was well known for blowing a traditional horn at presidential occasions held inside the country.
The late Wilson notably served four Liberian Presidents, beginning with slain President Samuel Kanyon Doe, jailed former President Charles Ghankay Taylor, former President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, and Weah, up to his demise. The second deceased was a female occupant of the intruding vehicle of Justice Wrights’ identified as Victoria Wlue.
