Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf
Image:Ellen Johnson.jpg <small/>
24th President of Liberia
Incumbent
Assumed office January 16 2006
Vice President(s)	Joseph Boakai
Preceded by	Moses Blah
Succeeded by	Incumbent

Born	October 29 1938 Monrovia, Liberia
Political party	Unity

Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf (born October 29, 1938) is the current president of Liberia. Her election victory was formally announced by the Liberian elections commission on November 23, 2005, following the 2005 election. She is Africa's first elected female head of state. She is only the 2nd black woman head of state in the world following Eugenia Charles of Dominica. Her vice president is Joseph Boakai. She is often referred to as the "Iron Lady

1 Biography
- 1.1 Presidency
  - 1.1.1 Fire
2 Positions
3 Miscellaneous information
4 Publications
5 Awards
6 References
7 External links

[edit] Biography

Three of Johnson-Sirleaf's grandparents were indigenous Liberians; the fourth was a German who married a rural market woman. That grandfather was forced to leave the country when Liberia — in loyalty to the United States — declared war on Germany in 1917.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 Monrovia, 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 B.B.A. in Accounting at Madison Business College in Madison, Wisconsin, USA in 1964, an economics diploma from the University of Colorado in 1970, and a Master of Public Administration from Harvard University in 1971.

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.

[edit] 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 Michaelle Jean.

Image:Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf2.JPG

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.” [1]

Uncomfortably for Johnson-Sirleaf, former President Charles Taylor's followers remain in large numbers in Liberia's government. Edwin Snowe, the current Speaker of the House (third in the government), is Taylor's son-in-law and was prominent in his government. Taylor's estranged wife, Jewel Howard Taylor, is in the Legislature. So is Prince Johnson, whose gruesome torture and murder of President Samuel Doe in 1990 was captured on a widely-distributed videotape. Nevertheless, on 17 March 2006, President Johnson-Sirleaf submitted an official request to Nigeria for Taylor's extradition.

[edit] 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.[2]

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.

[edit] 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

Johnson-Sirleaf has also been

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

[edit] Miscellaneous information

In 2006, Forbes magazine named her the 51st in the most powerful women in the world. [3]

[edit] 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)

[edit] Awards

Recipient of the 1988 Franklin Delano Roosevelt Freedom of Speech Award
Ralph Bunche International Leadership Award
Grand commander Star of Africa Redemption of Liberia
Commandeur de l'Ordre du Togo (commander of the Order of Mono(Togo))
2006 Common Ground Award [4]recipient
2006 Laureate of the Africa Prize for Leadership for the Sustainable End of Hunger [5]
2006 Distinguished Fellow, Claus M. Halle Institute for Global Learning, Emory University [6]