Hotel Africa

Hotel Africa
Hotel Africa
	Hotel Africa after the war (2019).
	Location within Liberia
General information
Location	Virginia, Greater Monrovia District, Liberia
Coordinates	6°24′9″N10°48′39″W / 6.40250°N 10.81083°W

Last updated November 09, 2019

Hotel Africa was a hotel on the western coast of Liberia in the northern Monrovia suburb of Virginia.

Liberia, officially the Republic of Liberia, is a country on the West African coast. It is bordered by Sierra Leone to its northwest, Guinea to its north, Ivory Coast to its east, and the Atlantic Ocean to its south-southwest. It covers an area of 111,369 square kilometers and has a population of around 4,900,000. English is the official language, but over 20 indigenous languages are spoken, representing the numerous ethnic groups who make up more than 95% of the population. The country's capital and largest city is Monrovia.

Monrovia is the capital city of the West African country of Liberia. Located on the Atlantic Coast at Cape Mesurado, Monrovia had a population of 1,010,970 as of the 2008 census. With 29% of the total population of Liberia, Monrovia is the country's most populous city.

Virginia is a western suburb of Monrovia, located near the Atlantic Ocean on the northern side of the Saint Paul River in Liberia. It was the birthplace of Angie Brooks, the first African female president of the United Nations General Assembly.

In 1979, the hotel, the largest in Liberia, hosted the Organisation of African Unity conference. The conference was led by President William R. Tolbert, Jr. who was the group's chair at the time, just months before he was overthrown by Samuel Doe.^[1] During the Liberian Civil War, many pilots of Russian and Ukrainian origin stayed at the hotel.^[2] In the 1980s the hotel was owned by British-Liberian businessman Michael Doe.^[3] On 5 August, 1990, the INPFL kidnapped the manager Doe, two Lebanese, and two Liberians at the Hotel Africa, later murdering Michael Doe, throwing him off the 4th floor balcony.^[4]

The Organisation of African Unity was an intergovernmental organization established on 25 May 1963 in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, with 32 signatory governments. One of the main heads for OAU's establishment was Kwame Nkrumah of Ghana. It was disbanded on 9 July 2002 by its last chairperson, South African President Thabo Mbeki, and replaced by the African Union (AU). Some of the key aims of the OAU were to encourage political and economic integration among member states, and to eradicate colonialism and neo-colonialism from the African continent. Although it achieved some success, there were also differences of opinion as to how that was going to be achieved.

Samuel Kanyon Doe was a Liberian politician who served as the Liberian leader from 1980 to 1990, first as a military leader and later as a politician. While a master sergeant in the Armed Forces of Liberia (AFL), Doe staged a violent coup d'etat in April 1980 that left him de facto head of state. During the coup, then president William Tolbert, and much of the True Whig Party leadership were executed. Doe then established the People's Redemption Council, assuming the rank of general.

Michael Doe was a British-Liberian businessman. He was the owner of the Hotel Africa and was murdered on 5 August 1990 by Independent National Patriotic Front of Liberia (INPFL) Field Marshal Prince Johnson and thrown off the balcony of the 4th floor of the hotel.

A South African consortium had plans to invest US$100 million to renovate the historic hotel in time for Liberia's hosting duties of an international women's colloquium in 2009.

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The Armed Forces of Liberia (AFL) are the armed forces of the Republic of Liberia. Tracing its origins to a militia that was formed by the first black colonists in what is now Liberia, it was founded as the Liberian Frontier Force in 1908, and retitled in 1956. For almost all of its history, the AFL has received considerable materiel and training assistance from the United States. For most of the 1941–89 period, training was largely provided by U.S. advisers, though this assistance has not prevented the same generally low levels of effectiveness common to most of the armed forces in the developing world.

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Prince Yormie Johnson is a Liberian politician and the current Senior Senator from Nimba County. A former rebel leader, Johnson played a prominent role in the First Liberian Civil War, in particular capturing, torturing, mutilating and executing President Samuel Doe, who had himself overthrown and murdered the previous president William R. Tolbert Jr.

The People's Redemption Council (PRC) was a governmental body that ruled Liberia during the early 1980s. It was established after the 1980 Liberian coup d'état wherein Samuel Doe seized power on 12 April 1980. The Council, with Doe as its chairman, promised a complete overhaul of Liberia's society, economy, and political system and the replacement of the corruption of previous regimes with respect for the rights of the Liberian people. The PRC had 17 founding members and was later expanded to 28. The PRC initially functioned as the executive and legislative body in Doe's government. However, over time Doe consolidated power as a central executive. In 1984, the PRC was dissolved and replaced by the Interim National Assembly.

The First Liberian Civil War was an internal conflict in Liberia from 1989 until 1997. The conflict killed about 250,000 people and eventually led to the involvement of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) and of the United Nations. The peace did not last long, and in 1999 the Second Liberian Civil War broke out.

Thomas Gankama-Quiwonkpa, a Gio from Nimba County, was a Commanding General of the Armed Forces of Liberia (AFL) and founder of the National Patriotic Front of Liberia (NPFL).

General elections were held in Liberia on 15 October 1985. These were the first elections since the 12 April 1980 military coup that brought Samuel Doe to power. During 1984, a new draft Constitutional referendum was approved, which allowed a 58 member civilian and military combined Interim National Assembly, headed by President Samuel Doe. The ban on political parties were lifted and four parties, namely, the President's National Democratic Party of Liberia, Liberian Action Party, Unity Party and Liberia Unification Party were in fray.

Winston A. Tubman is a Liberian diplomat and politician of Americo-Liberian descent. He is a former justice minister and diplomat for the nation, as well as having been the standard bearer of the Congress for Democratic Change (CDC).

The Ducor Palace Hotel is a building in Monrovia, Liberia. The building overlooks the Atlantic Ocean, as well as the Saint Paul River and Monrovia's West Point district. Established in 1960 as a luxury hotel, it had 106 rooms on eight stories at the highest point of the city. It is located on Ducor Hill, at the end of Broad Street across from United Nations Boulevard in Monrovia's main business district. The building has fallen into extensive disrepair and was occupied by squatters who were removed before a failed effort at a Libyan-funded renovation.

Kenneth Yakpawolo Best is a Liberian journalist who founded the Liberian newspaper The Daily Observer and a paper of the same name in The Gambia.

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The 1980 Liberian coup d'état happened on April 12, 1980, when President William Tolbert was overthrown and murdered in a violent coup. The coup was staged by an indigenous Liberian faction of the Armed Forces of Liberia (AFL) under the command of Master Sergeant Samuel Doe. Following a period of transition Doe ruled the country throughout the 1980s until his murder on 9 September 1990 during the First Liberian Civil War.

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Liberia–Soviet relations were the bilateral relations between Liberia and Soviet Union. Contacts between the two countries were sporadic during the 1950s and 1960s, improved during the 1970s but became frosty in the 1980s.

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References

↑ Huband, Mark (30 June 1998). The Liberian Civil War. Psychology Press. p. 180. ISBN 978-0-7146-4785-2 . Retrieved 28 April 2012.
↑ Williams, Gabriel I. H. (2002). Liberia: The Heart of Darkness : Accounts of Liberia's Civil War and Its Destabilizing Effects in West Africa. Trafford Publishing. p. 416. ISBN 978-1-55369-294-2 . Retrieved 28 April 2012.
↑ Sherman, Frank (31 January 2010). Liberia: The Land, Its People, History and Culture. Godfrey Mwakikagile. p. 297. ISBN 978-9987-16-025-9 . Retrieved 28 April 2012.
↑ United States, Bureau of Diplomatic Security, Dept. of State. Significant Incidents of Political Violence Against Americans 1990. DIANE Publishing. p. 16. ISBN 978-1-4289-6571-3 . Retrieved 28 April 2012.CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)

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[Huband1998-1] Huband, Mark (30 June 1998). The Liberian Civil War. Psychology Press. p. 180. ISBN 978-0-7146-4785-2 . Retrieved 28 April 2012.

[Williams2002-2] Williams, Gabriel I. H. (2002). Liberia: The Heart of Darkness : Accounts of Liberia's Civil War and Its Destabilizing Effects in West Africa. Trafford Publishing. p. 416. ISBN 978-1-55369-294-2 . Retrieved 28 April 2012.

[Sherman2010-3] Sherman, Frank (31 January 2010). Liberia: The Land, Its People, History and Culture. Godfrey Mwakikagile. p. 297. ISBN 978-9987-16-025-9 . Retrieved 28 April 2012.

[State-4] United States, Bureau of Diplomatic Security, Dept. of State. Significant Incidents of Political Violence Against Americans 1990. DIANE Publishing. p. 16. ISBN 978-1-4289-6571-3 . Retrieved 28 April 2012.CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)