Journalist groups, admirers, mourn death of top editor who successfully ran Liberia’s 1st post-war indep. daily 

By James Kokulo Fasuekoi|Editor-Publisher

Liberian journalist organizations at home and abroad have entered a third-week of mourning the loss of the country’s top editors, Philip N. Wesseh, who died in Liberia last month following a protracted period of illness .

Prior to his death, Wesseh, with the help of a group of colleagues, successfully edited and published the country’s first post-war independent daily, The Inquirer Newspaper for several decades.

Wesseh’s paper became the most credible newspaper in the country and foreign reporters, major news agencies, as well as NGO workers arriving in the country at the time relied on the paper’s reportage in order to safely carry out their works.

He was a Christian and a member of Trinity United Methodist Church (UMC) in New Kru Town, Bushrod Island, according to some of his colleagues. He’s said to have been an active participant in the church’s Men’s Department. 

Nicknamed “PNW”, Wesseh was well admired by his colleagues for his charming jokes and long years of professional work. They cherished him so much that they even named him “Gina,” a Liberian idiom that portrayed him as a genius or “miracle worker.”

A moving cartoon by national cartoonist, Saye Dahn, posted in The Inquirer’s chat room, depicts the late Wesseh losing grip to his pen and microphone, apparently after a long and tedious journey, closing with the writer’s most favorite saying: “I rest my case!”   

Also, most of the nation’s leading independent newspapers, among them the “Women Voices”, all ran lead frontpage stories on the editor’s death.   

An experienced newspaper journalist, the publisher also went to law school, becoming a lawyer. But he soon reverted to his beloved career, journalism, and continued publishing The Inquirer he had successfully run amid two civil wars. 

Wesseh had initially worked for most of Liberia’s leading independent dailies, starting as cup reporter at Daily Observer (1981), then News Editor for Daily Star (1985-87) and finally, Inquirer’s Managing Editor/Publisher.

His paper’s aggressive reporting during the war era made its offices a fair target in the chaotic April 6, Monrovia War when rebel factions killed civilians, looted private homes, businesses, including The Inquirer offices which they set ablaze.   

Similarly, the newspaper’s staff, especially editors, reporters and news photographers, also came under death threats from key actors of some major warring factions. One such incident of “threat” forced Gabriel I. H. Williams, the paper’s first publisher to immediately flee the country.

By mid 1992, the publication that began early 1991 amid rubbles, became so powerful that every newsmaker in the country, including former warlords, stormed its Carey Street offices, seeking to be published or be allowed to air some sort of reservation. 

Perhaps the most famous of all of the visits came from former INPFL warlord Gen. Prince Y. Johnson (now a senator). Accompanied by his ECOMOG escort backed by rebel soldiers, Johnson stormed the paper’s office one morning in early 1992 and threatened to kill the entire staff of The Inquirer, in the event of another war.  

Gen. Johnson’s threat, however, didn’t change the paper’s stance on the war and the brutalities that characterized it; rather, the threat only strengthened the work of the paper’s staff. 

By the time the battle for Monrovia dubbed “Operation Octopus” (led by Major Taylor) broke out October 15, 1992, Gen. Johnson found himself battling for his survival and had to flee his military with a handful of rebel soldiers to seek ECOMOG’s protection.

According to information gathered so far, funeral rites over the deceased will start October 15, in New Jersey, USA, with a special memorial ceremony to be led by Wesseh’s wife, Teplah Toe Wesseh and other relatives. 

The funeral is set to take place October 28, in the Republic of Liberia and Mrs. Wesseh along with their children abroad are expected to arrive in Liberia for the burial.

Editor’s Note: Banner photograph shows Editor Wesseh with a child standing next to him during the publication anniversary program in Liberia. Photo courtesy of Peter Quaqua