Profile: Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf |
"I cannot afford to be impatient. I must keep my head above water and keep pushing.”
-Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf
Ellen Johnson was born in 1938, in Liberian capital Monrovia. Her parents were Americo-Liberians (descendents of African-American slaves). Ellen married at a young age. She studied economics at the College of West Africa, then moved to the United States with her husband in 1961. While in the U.S., she graduated first from the University of Colorado, then earned a master’s degree in public administration from Harvard. Ellen also had four children.
Ellen’s political career began in 1971, when she returned to Liberia to work for the True Whig Party. From 1972 to 1973 she served as Finance Minister, but she left the position amidst a disagreement over public spending. Throughout the 1970s, Liberian politics became progressively more single-party and contentious. Finally, in 1980, indigenous leader Master Sergeant Samuel Kayon Doe came to power via a military coup.
As a member of the former government, Ellen’s life was in danger, so she expatriated to Kenya, where she served as president of Nairobi’s Citibank for several years. Then, in 1985, when democratic rule ostensibly returned to Liberia and Doe ran for president, Ellen returned to her home country to campaign against him.
Ellen was sentenced to ten years in prison for her work against Doe, but spent only a short time in jail before returning to exile. She spent the rest of the decade working for international banks in both Africa and the United States. For the first half of the 1990s, she worked as an Assistant Secretary General of the United Nations, specifically in the UN Development Program Regional Bureau for Africa.
In 1997, Ellen returned to Liberia and made her first run for president. She received 10% of the vote to 75% by her opponent, Charles Taylor, in what was declared a free and fair election (even though Ellen was later charged with treason for campaigning against Taylor). By 1999, Liberia was in civil war, largely due to Taylor’s leadership.
In 2003, Taylor finally stepped down as president of Liberia. Though Ellen’s name was mentioned as his appointed predecessor, she was not appointed and rather was asked to serve as head of the Governance Reform Commission. In 2005, elections were held once again, and although the elections and the outcome were very contentious, on January 16, 2006, Ellen was inaugurated as Liberia’s first female president, the first female leader of state in Africa, and one of only a handful around the world.
Ellen’s plan for her country during her six-year presidential term focuses on building peaceful relationships with Liberia’s neighbors, repairing the economy, and rebuilding the infrastructure. Ellen says that she is committed to improving the quality of life for Liberia’s citizens, who have suffered under corrupt leadership, civil war, and poverty for too long.
Sources:
http://www.joinafrica.com/africa_of_the_week/ellenjohnsonliberia.htm
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/world/africa/4395978.stm
http://womennewsnetwork.net/2007/04/19/from-learning-to-legislation-afell-empowers-liberias-women/
http://africanhistory.about.com/od/liberia/p/Sirleaf.htm
http://www.worldpress.org/Africa/2222.cfm
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=10227728
|
Grace Mitchell |
| About the author: |
| Grace Mitchell lives in Austin, Texas with her partner, dogs, and cats. She is heavily involved in dog rescue. She is a university number cruncher, nearly-finished graduate student, and intermittent junk seller. |
| Read More >> |
|
|
|
