Liberia: Minister invokes the Bible to defend lavish burial

A Liberian minister has reacted to mounting public criticism, following his decision last month to bury his mother in an expensive mausoleum while the country battles economic hardship and the COVID pandemic. The burial figured large in news reports across Liberia last week.

Nathaniel McGill’s critics called it a show of extravagance and wasteful spending. But in a Facebook post, the influential minister of presidential affairs defended his decision.

He said there was nothing wrong with giving his mother a befitting burial because, as number five of the Bible’s Ten Commandments commands, one must “honour thy mother and father”,

Pyramid style

Last month social media in Liberia was awash again with criticism of politicians after the most senior minister in the office of President George Weah buried his mother in an expensive mausoleum.

The structure resembles a house. It has a pyramid-style roof, columns and all the attributes of a modern royal home.

The specially designed tomb is placed in the middle.

The talk show host Henry Costa – a vocal critic of President Weah in Liberia – shared a video of the mausoleum under construction on his Facebook page.

The general response to the burial in Liberia was not sympathetic to the move by the presidential affairs minister.

Source: BBC