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 the first elected female President of an African country. Her Vice President is Joseph Boakai. She is often referred to as the “Iron Lady”.
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 1914.
Johnson-Sirleaf graduated from the College of West Africa, 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’s degree in public administration from Harvard University in 1971.
Returning to Liberia, Johnson-Sirleaf became involved in government when she became Assistant Minister of Finance in President William Tolbert’s administration in 1979. While running for Senate in 1985, she spoke out against the military regime, and was sentenced to ten years in prison. Released after a short period, she left for exile to Nairobi, Kenya and returned in 1997 in the capacity of an economist, working for the World Bank, and Citibank in Africa.
Initially supporting Charles Taylor’s rebellion against Sergeant Samuel Doe, 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.
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 and Laura Bush.
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.”
On 17 March 2006, President Johnson-Sirleaf submitted an official request to Nigeria for the extradition of former president Charles Taylor.
Johnson-Sirleaf is the mother of four sons and has six grandchildren, some of which live in Atlanta, Georgia.
Source: Wikipedia
