Liberia: 'Save Bai T. Moore's Legacy!'

What the report says

A Liberian literary advocate is urging the country’s tourism authorities to protect the legacy of Bai T. Moore, the novelist and former minister whose hometown of Dimeh in Bomi County also holds his residence and burial site. The appeal, reported by the Liberian Observer and distributed by AllAfrica, says the landmarks tied to Moore’s life and work are deteriorating and no longer reflect his importance to Liberia’s cultural history.

The advocate, Abraham Soko Sheriff, who leads the Teens Poetry Foundation, is calling on the Liberia National Tourism Authority to restore Moore’s home, tomb, public school and related memorabilia. He also wants the government to create an annual Literary Tourism Day, arguing that literary heritage could become a stronger part of Liberia’s tourism sector and support local jobs, cultural preservation and rural development.

Moore is widely known for Murder in the Cassava Patch, a novel long used in Liberian classrooms, and for serving as minister of cultural affairs and tourism in the 1980s. Sheriff said the condition of the sites contrasts sharply with Moore’s significance and with the regular visits the area reportedly receives from students, researchers and other visitors.

The article notes that Sheriff praised recent reforms at the tourism authority while pressing for broader action to preserve literary and cultural landmarks across Liberia. More generally, the proposal reflects a wider debate about how countries can use heritage tourism to protect national memory and attract visitors.