Former President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf is mourning the death of one of her longtime professional partners and friends.
Madam Dr. Florence Alletta Chenoweth died on Monday, June 26, 2023, in Monrovia after a prolonged illness. Dr. Chenoweth, who was the first female Minister of Agriculture in Liberia and Africa, also served as the Minister of Agriculture during the regime of the first democratically elected female President on the African continent — Ellen Johnson Sirleaf. Ellen’s longtime friend passed away at the age of 78.
It is arguable that Agriculture Minister Chenoweth’s ministerial career height came in 1977 when she assumed the role under President William Richard Tolbert as the first female Agriculture Minister on the continent.
But the main thing happened on April 14, 1979 following the Progressive Alliance of Liberia’s (PAL) call for a peaceful demonstration in Monrovia to protest the proposed price increase. On April 14, 1979, about 2,000 activists began what was planned as a peaceful march on the Executive Mansion.
Dr. Chenoweth is being blamed for ill-advising President Tolbert, who few weeks earlier, had increased the price of Liberia’s staple food — rice by a few dollars.
“It started with the government’s intended increase in the price of rice, Liberian staple food, from US$9.50 to US$15.00 per 100-pound bag. Then Minister of Agriculture Florence Chenoweth propounded the price rise. PAL argued that the move would heighten hardship for the Liberian masses. For instance, some Liberians, including the soldiers, earned $22.00 monthly. However, the government viewed that rice importers and sellers needed to profit from their investments.
“Further, the administration felt the increase would force Liberians to engage in rice production and stop rice importation dependency. But Matthews and his followers alleged that the Tolbert family and other officials were rice importers and the price rise was meant to benefit them. PAL also claimed that it could sell rice cheaper if allowed to bring in rice. The group vowed to stage a street demonstration in opposition to the increase,” as excerpts from Dagbayonoh Kiah Nyanfore II’s article on the Rice Riot.
So, Dr. Chenoweth’s tenure was cut short by a coup d’état in 1980, which forced her to seek refuge in the United States of America. She was one of the lucky ones. The coup plotters arrested and executed President Tolbert along with 13 of his senior government officials.
Reacting to the news of her friend’s passing, former President Sirleaf posted on her twitter handle on Tuesday, June 27, morning: “It is with deep sadness that I note the passing of Florence Chenoweth, a longtime professional partner & friend who served as Minister of Agriculture in my administration. She shattered glass ceilings & inspired the next generation of women leaders in agriculture & food security.”
Two years into her Administration, in 2008, President Sirleaf asked her friend, Chenoweth, to join her serve the Liberian by becoming her Minister of Agriculture.
Dr. Chenoweth During her second term in the government, Minister Chenoweth directed the Ministry’s transformational initiatives after years of dormancy as a result of the 15 years senseless civil war. Her transformational efforts were aimed at improving food security and expansion, particularly for smallholder farmers.
To promote self-sufficiency and sustainable agricultural practices, she was one of the strong proponents of the slogan “GROW WHAT YOU EAT; EAT WHAT YOU GROW.”
President Sirleaf and Dr. Chenoweth’s friendship became a bit frosty when in January 2013, she suspended her Agriculture Minister for one month from her office due to her alleged involvement in a scandal related to the corrupt issuance of forestry permits.
At least a little over two years later, in August 2015, Dr. Chenoweth resigned from her friend’s administration, but it didn’t break their friendship as can be seen in the picture that the former President posted on her twitter feed as she mourns the loss of a dear longtime professional partner.
