Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf

Information about Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf

Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf

Vice President(s)Joseph Boakai
Preceded by
Succeeded by
NationalityLiberian
Political partyUnity
ReligionMethodist

Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf (born October 29, 1938) is the current president of Liberia, Africa's first elected female head of state and Liberia's first elected female president.The Liberian elections commission announced her victory on November 23, 2005, following the 2005 election. She is the second elected black woman head of state in the world and also second female leader of Liberia after Ruth Perry (who assumed leadership after an overthrow), and the third such head of government after Eugenia Charles of Dominica and Sylvie Kinigi of Burundi. She is often referred to as the "Iron Lady".

Biography

Two of Johnson-Sirleaf's grandparents were indigenous Liberians. Her father, the son of the Gola Chief Jahmale and Jenneh, one of his many wives, was born in Julejuah, Bomi County. As a result of her grandfather's friendship and loyalty to President Hilary Richard Wright Johnson and on the advice of the President, her father was brought to , his name changed to Johnson and he was given to the settler family, McCritty.

Johnson-Sirleaf graduated from the College of West Africa (Monrovia), a United Methodist high school. She received a Bsc in Accounting at Madison Business College in Madison, Wisconsin, U.S. in 1964, an economics diploma from the University of Colorado in 1970, and a Master of Public Administration from Harvard University in 1971. She is a member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Incorporated[1], a social action organization and the first collegiate sorority founded by and for Black women (1908).

Returning to Liberia after Harvard, Johnson-Sirleaf became Assistant Minister of Finance in President William Tolbert's administration. In 1980, Tolbert was overthrown and killed by army sergeant Samuel Doe, ending decades of relative stability. Doe represented the Krahn ethnic group and was the first Liberian president not to be descended from the elite ex-American slave community. For the next ten years, Doe allowed the Krahn people to dominate public life.

After the overthrow of Tolbert, Johnson-Sirleaf went into exile in Nairobi, Kenya, where she worked for Citibank. She returned to run for Senate in 1985, but when she spoke out against Doe's military regime, she was sentenced to ten years in prison. Released after a short period, she moved to Washington, D.C.. She returned to Liberia again in 1997 in the capacity of an economist, working for the World Bank, and Citibank in Africa.

Initially supporting Charles Taylor's bloody rebellion against President Samuel Doe in 1990, she later went on to oppose him, and ran against him in the 1997 presidential elections. She managed only 10% of the votes, as opposed to Taylor's 75%. Taylor charged her with treason. She campaigned for the removal of President Taylor from office, playing an active and supportive role in the transitional government, as the country prepared itself for the 2005 elections. With Taylor's departure, she returned to take over the leadership of the Unity Party.

Presidency

In the first round of 2005 voting, she came second with 175,520 votes, putting her through to the runoff vote on November 8 against former footballer George Weah. On November 11, the National Elections Commission of Liberia declared Johnson-Sirleaf to be president-elect of Liberia. On November 23, they confirmed their decision saying that Johnson-Sirleaf had won with a margin of almost 20% of the vote. Independent, international, regional, and domestic observers declared the vote to be free, fair, and transparent. Her inauguration took place on January 16, 2006; foreign attendees of the ceremony included Condoleezza Rice, Laura Bush and Michaëlle Jean.
Enlarge picture
US Ambassador Donald E. Booth and Liberia's then–president-elect Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf.
On March 15, 2006, President Johnson-Sirleaf addressed a joint meeting of the United States Congress, asking for American support to help her country “become a brilliant beacon, an example to Africa and the world of what love of liberty can achieve.” [2]

Uncomfortably for Johnson-Sirleaf, former President Charles Taylor's followers remain in large numbers in Liberia's government. Taylor's estranged wife, Jewel Howard Taylor, is in the Senate. So is Prince Johnson, whose gruesome torture and murder of President Samuel Doe in 1990 was captured on a widely-distributed videotape.

Fire

On July 26th, 2006, the Liberian Executive Mansion caught fire while Johnson-Sirleaf hosted the leaders of Côte d'Ivoire, Ghana, and Sierra Leone. Police did not rule out sabotage and Johnson-Sirleaf subsequently said that some of her closest aides would be screened before they could return to work.[3]

Personal life

Johnson-Sirleaf is the mother of four sons (two live in the United States and two live in Liberia) and has six grandchildren, some of whom live in Atlanta, Georgia. Two of her grandsons attend the Fenster School in Arizona.

Positions

  • 1972–circa 1978: Assistant minister of finance of the government of Liberia
  • 1979–1980: Minister of finance of the government of Liberia
  • 1982–1985: Vice president of the Africa Regional Office of Citibank, Nairobi
  • 1986–1992: Vice president and member of the executive board of Equator Bank, Washington, D.C.
  • 1988–1999: Member of board of directors of The Synergos Institute
  • 1992–1997: Director of the UN Development Programme Regional Bureau for Africa
  • 1997: Standard bearer of Unity Party
  • 2004–2005: Chairman of the Commission on Good Governance (Liberia)
  • 2005: Standard bearer of the Unity Party; Candidate for President
  • 2006: President of Liberia
Other previous positions:
  • Founding member of the International Institute for Women in Political Leadership
  • Member of the advisory board of the Modern Africa Growth and Investment Company
  • Member of the finance committee of the Modern Africa Fund Managers
  • President of the Liberian Bank for Development and Investment
  • President of the Kormah Development and Investment Corporation
  • Senior loan officer of World Bank
  • Vice president of Citibank

Miscellaneous information

Publications

  • From Disaster to Development (1991)
  • The Outlook for Commercial Bank Lending to Sub-Saharan Africa (1992)
  • Co-author: Women, War and Peace: The Independent Experts’ Assessment on the Impact of Armed Conflict on Women and Women’s Role in Peace-building (2002), a project of UNIFEM (the United Nations Development Fund for Women)

Awards

References

External links

Preceded by
Gyude Bryant		President of Liberia
2006–present		Succeeded by
Incumbent


 •  • [ e]
Presidents of Liberia
Joseph J. Roberts • Stephen Allen Benson • Daniel Bashiel Warner • James Spriggs Payne • Edward J. Roye • James Skivring Smith • Joseph J. Roberts • James Spriggs Payne • Anthony W. Gardiner • Alfred Francis Russell • Hilary R. W. Johnson • Joseph James Cheeseman • William D. Coleman • Garretson W. Gibson • Arthur Barclay • Daniel Edward Howard • Charles D. B. King • Edwin Barclay • William Tubman • William R. Tolbert, Jr. • Samuel Doe • Amos Sawyer† • David D. Kpormakpor† • Wilton G. S. Sankawulo† • Ruth Perry† • Charles G. Taylor • Moses Blah • Gyude Bryant† • Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf 
† denotes non-presidential head of state
Joseph Nyumah Boakai (born November 30, 1944) is the Vice-President of Liberia. He is Vice-President to fellow Unity Party member Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf. The son of illiterates,[1] Boakai is a graduate of the College of West Africa,[1]
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The Unity Party (UP) is a political party in Liberia, that was started in 1984 by the late Dr. Edward B. Kesselly, also its first Standard Bearer. The Unity Party participated the first post-1980 coup "Democratic" Elections, against former Tyrant and then Dictator, Samuel Doe, in
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    Motto
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    Liberia

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    • Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf
    • Vice-President
    • Joseph Boakai
    • Cabinet

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    Ruth Sando Fahnbulleh Perry (born 1939) was leader of Liberia from 3 September 1996 until 2 August 1997 as chairwoman of the Council of State, which governed Liberia following the overthrow and murder of former head of state Samuel K.
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    coup d'état (IPA: [kuːdeɪˈtɑː] or AHD: [ko͞o"dā tä]), or simply coup, is the sudden overthrow of a government, often through illegal means by a part of the state establishment —
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    Hilary Richard Wright Johnson (1837-1901) served as the 11th President of Liberia from 1884 to 1892. He was elected four times. He served as Secretary of State before his presidency.

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    William Richard Tolbert, Jr. (May 13, 1913 – April 12, 1980) was president of Liberia from 1971 to 1980.

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