wfn.org | [PCUSANEWS] Woman becomes Liberia's president

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Note #9069 from PCUSA NEWS to PRESBYNEWS:

06017
Jan. 17, 2006

Woman becomes Liberia's president

Ellen Johnson Sirleaf is first elected female head of state of an African
country

by Toya Richards Hill

MONROVIA, LIBERIA - Heads of state from around the world were on hand Monday
as the Republic of Liberia inaugurated Africa's first female president, but
God was in control.

	"This is the day that the Lord has made," said the Rev. Darlington
Johnson, bishop of Bethel World Outreach Ministries. "We will rejoice and be
glad in it."

	And rejoice the people did, as Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, 67, became
Liberia's 23rd president. Her inauguration marks the official start of the
rebuilding of this West African nation, which has been scarred by 14 years of
war.

	Sirleaf's installation also signals a new status for women of the
African Diaspora.

	Joy and anticipation filled the air as thousands of invited guests
witnessed the historic day on the capitol grounds. 
 
	"We sought the Lord, and he heard us," Bishop Johnson told the crowd.
"Oh taste and see that the Lord is good."

	Liberia, a Christian country founded by freed American slaves in
1847, has had little but faith to sustain it in recent years. Thousands of
its citizens were killed during civil war from 1989 to 2003, and thousands of
women were brutally raped.

	With that as a backdrop, it seemed especially fitting to celebrate
the rise to power of Johnson Sirleaf, a Harvard-educated mother of four sons
and six grandchildren.
  
	"Let us first praise almighty God, whose omnipotent hand guides and
steers our nation," Johnson Sirleaf said in her inaugural address. "We are a
God-fearing people."

	Johnson Sirleaf, known as the "Iron Lady," was elected in a November
2005 run-off election against former soccer star George Weah. Observer teams
from around the world came to Liberia to monitor the election process,
including those from various Christian denominations and ecumenical partners
of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.).

	A distinguished-looking woman with a broad smile, Johnson Sirleaf is
an economist whose resume includes positions with the United Nations and the
World Bank.

	A former Liberian finance minister, she also has been active in her
homeland's struggles. She was imprisoned twice, once by onetime Liberian
dictator Samuel Doe, and again by Doe's successor, ousted president Charles
Taylor.

	"I know the struggles because I've been a part of it," she said.

	Since Taylor's departure from the country in 2003, United Nations
troops have been permanently based in Liberia. Presbyterian Disaster
Assistance (PDA) also has maintained a steady presence, working with local
partners such as the Concerned Christian Community (CCC) and the YMCA of
Liberia.
 
	To all those who went to the polls to vote for her not once, but
twice, Johnson Sirleaf said, "We know that your vote was a vote for change."
Speaking to thousands of Liberians by radio and television, she said her
election was "a vote for healing and leadership."

	No one can deny the destruction caused by the war, she said: "The
individual sense of deprivation is immense, but we are a strong and resilient
people ... able to survive."

	The challenge now, she added, is to "transform adversity into
opportunity."

	Although Johnson Sirleaf offered no concrete outline of how that
transformation might take place, she said her priorities include helping
refugees return home, rooting out "the debilitating cancer of corruption,"
and rebuilding the economy.

	Liberia's capital city, Monrovia, has been without electricity since
1990, and running water is considered a luxury. The shimmering waters of the
Atlantic Ocean, visible from downtown Monrovia, are a jarring background for
its bombed-out buildings.

	Peace can only be sustained, the new president said, "if we bring
development to our people."

	"The best days are coming," she said. "The future belongs to us
because we have taken charge of it."

	That was good news to Liberian resident Wadei Powell, who was on hand
to see her new president inaugurated. Powell moved back to Liberia
permanently three months ago after living for more than a decade in the
United States.

	Powell said she joined many other women in working for Johnson
Sirleaf's election.

	"I really feel hopeful about the new government," she said,
expressing a belief that Johnson Sirleaf is going to make a difference.

	"I'd like to be a part of that difference," she said.

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