Tuesday, January 17, 2006
Africa's first elected female head of state
New leader's pledge: Unite Liberia
Inauguration for Africa's first elected female head of state
Monday, January 16, 2006; Posted: 8:27 a.m. EST (13:27 GMT)
MONROVIA, Liberia -- Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf has been sworn in as Liberia's new president, becoming Africa's first elected female head of state.
Sirleaf took the oath of office Monday at an inauguration ceremony in the capital of Monrovia attended by dignitaries and leaders from around the world.
The 67-year-old grandmother, who was elected in a run-off vote in November, has promised unite Liberia by ending political corruption and rebuilding her country after civil war between 1989 and 2003 left some 200,000 dead.
CNN correspondent Jeff Koinange, reporting from Monrovia, said Monday's high-profile ceremony would have been unthinkable just two years ago.
"This was literally a war zone. All that has changed," he said.
Taken from CNN.com. For full article: http://www.cnn.com/2006/WORLD/africa/01/16/liberia/index.html
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Brief Biography
ELLEN JOHNSON SIRLEAF
AGE: 67.
Born October 29, 1938 in Monrovia, Liberia.
EDUCATION: M.P.A., Harvard University, 1971. She also earned an economics diploma from the University of Colorado in 1970, and a B.B.A. in accounting from Madison Business College in 1964.
CAREER: A long-standing member of Liberia's political elite, Sirleaf served as finance minister under ex-President William Tolbert before he was toppled and killed in 1980 coup. She fled the country shortly afterward, taking up top jobs at Citibank, the United Nations and the World Bank.
RETURN TO POLITICS: In 1997, she made a failed bid for the presidency, losing to ex-president-turned-warlord Charles Taylor in a vote he won amid a climate of fear. After Taylor was forced into exile as part of a deal to end Liberia's civil war in 2003, Sirleaf returned to make a successful run for the presidency in late 2005.
FAMILY: Sirleaf is a widowed mother of four, and has eight grandchildren.
SOURCE: The Associated Press
Inauguration for Africa's first elected female head of state
Monday, January 16, 2006; Posted: 8:27 a.m. EST (13:27 GMT)
MONROVIA, Liberia -- Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf has been sworn in as Liberia's new president, becoming Africa's first elected female head of state.
Sirleaf took the oath of office Monday at an inauguration ceremony in the capital of Monrovia attended by dignitaries and leaders from around the world.
The 67-year-old grandmother, who was elected in a run-off vote in November, has promised unite Liberia by ending political corruption and rebuilding her country after civil war between 1989 and 2003 left some 200,000 dead.
CNN correspondent Jeff Koinange, reporting from Monrovia, said Monday's high-profile ceremony would have been unthinkable just two years ago.
"This was literally a war zone. All that has changed," he said.
Taken from CNN.com. For full article: http://www.cnn.com/2006/WORLD/africa/01/16/liberia/index.html
* * * * *
Brief Biography
ELLEN JOHNSON SIRLEAF
AGE: 67.
Born October 29, 1938 in Monrovia, Liberia.
EDUCATION: M.P.A., Harvard University, 1971. She also earned an economics diploma from the University of Colorado in 1970, and a B.B.A. in accounting from Madison Business College in 1964.
CAREER: A long-standing member of Liberia's political elite, Sirleaf served as finance minister under ex-President William Tolbert before he was toppled and killed in 1980 coup. She fled the country shortly afterward, taking up top jobs at Citibank, the United Nations and the World Bank.
RETURN TO POLITICS: In 1997, she made a failed bid for the presidency, losing to ex-president-turned-warlord Charles Taylor in a vote he won amid a climate of fear. After Taylor was forced into exile as part of a deal to end Liberia's civil war in 2003, Sirleaf returned to make a successful run for the presidency in late 2005.
FAMILY: Sirleaf is a widowed mother of four, and has eight grandchildren.
SOURCE: The Associated Press
