Tributes pour in for top Liberian historian

Liberians have been eulogising acclaimed historian and writer Joseph Saye Guannu who died on Monday aged 81.

He has been hailed for living a simple, exemplary lifestyle.

Former Defence Minister Brownie Samukai wrote on Facebook that Dr Guannu was the finest of his generation.

Mr Samukai said the late author "will be remembered as the remarkable professor... who wrote actual facts of Liberian history... and empirically challenged and corrected several myths".

Veteran politician Togba-Nah Tipoteh said Dr Guannu’s work “remains the sharing of the truth about the people who occupy the public space called Liberia”.

He added that “the truth from the knowledge of Prof Dr Guannu became most important because working with this truth is the best way to solve Liberia's problems”.

Dr Guannu was a former ambassador to the US.

He was the author of many history books including: The Liberian History Before and up to 1847, The Inaugural Addresses of Liberian Presidents, Introduction to the Liberian government, and The Perennial Problems of Liberian History.

He was born in the north-eastern city of Sanniquellie in the mountainous county of Nimba. As a young boy, he witnessed the historic 1959 meeting of the presidents of Liberia, Guinea and Ghana to begin discussions on the formation of the then Organisation of African Unity, now African Union.

This article originally appeared on BBC News

Photo: Face2Face Africa/Twitter