(no subject)
For newspaper, read it if you want though,
Woman president in Liberia
by Zach Dugan
On Monday, January 16, 2006 Africa and Liberia beat the United States to a first. The people of Liberia inaugurated Ellen Johnson Sirleaf as the continents first female president.
Sirleaf has inherited a country torn apart by 25 years of war. She knows this and told the people, “We know that your vote was a vote for change, a vote for peace, security and we have heard you loudly.” Thousands of Liberians attended the inauguration along with many foreign dignitaries, including Laura Bush and Condoleezza Rice. To this crowd she stated, “we recognize this change no as a change for change’s sake, but a fundamental break with the past, therefore requiring that we take bold and decisive steps to address the problems that have for decades stunted our progress.”
The past Sirleaf speaks of is one of coups, wars, and corruption. Liberia has a rich history. It is the oldest African republic and was founded by freed slaves from the Americas. In 1980 Samuel Doe led a coup against the government. In 1989 a civil war started, and Doe was ousted in 1990. The civil war lasted until 1996, in 1997 Charles Taylor become president of Liberia. He ruled autocratically, crippling his country and assassinating opposition leaders. Taylor was ousted in 2003 and exiled to Nigeria, where is currently resides.
Sirleaf must deal with Taylor, who is wanted on war crimes charges by a U.N.-backed court in Sierra Leone, according to msnbc.com. Sirleaf has said that Taylor always wanted his day in court to defend himself, and that he will have that privilege when the time is right. Sirleaf must also strengthen Liberia’s utilities. Much of the country is without electricity, including the capital city of Monrovia. The country also lacks running water, a nationwide telephone network and most of its roads are unusable. By tapping into the country’s many natural resources such as diamonds, rubber, and timber Sirleaf may be able to raise the GDP (gross domestic product) above its current mark of $80 million. Her top priorities for her six year term as president are stamping out corruption, getting electricity in Monrovia and around the country, and assuring a future for 100,000 ex-combatants, many of which are currently unemployed.
NBC’s Ann Curry held an interview with Sirleaf about the challenges of her past and those of her future. It turns out that Sirleaf waited tables in Madison, WI to help pay for college and that Sirleaf believes “even if I have to make the ultimate sacrifice, my life, it will be worth it. We need only now to put our country on the course of renewal, I hope I’ll have enough time to get it started, and if I don’t, other’s will carry it on.”