On Tuesday, October 17, 2023, at the Haitian National Pantheon Museum (MUPANAH), in observance of the 217th anniversary of Emperor Jean-Jacques Dessalines’ assassination at Pont-Rouge, Prime Minister a.i. Ariel Henry, along with members of the Government, including Ministers of Culture and Defense Enol Joseph and Ms. Emmelie Prophète Milcé, paid tribute to the memory of the General in Chief of the Indigenous Army, Father founder of the Nation, in a brief but elegant ceremony that lasted less than fifteen minutes.
Following this formality, the Head of Government placed a floral wreath at the base of the bust of Dessalines, who was honored as a military genius and the leader of Bonaparte’s army, at the MUPANAH. Henry performed a verse from La Dessalinienne without giving the customary speech.
Regarding this event, Ariel Henry wrote on his “X” account (formerly known as Twitter) “This strong gesture, imbued with humility and greatness of soul, reflects the eternal gratitude of an entire people to the emancipator Jean-Jacques Dessalines to whom they owe their pride and dignity of being the first free Negroes who challenged the inhuman slave fortress. Glory and honor to the visionary, the immortal Jean-Jacques Dessalines.”