Ellen Johnson Sirleaf: The First Female Head of State in Africa
Ellen Johnson was born in 1938 in Monrovia, Liberia. When she was 17, she married Don Sirleaf, becoming Ellen Johnson Sirleaf. She obtained a mater’s degree in public administration from Harvard University and returned to Liberia to work in public service.
Liberia originated in 1822 as a settlement of freed American slaves in Africa. A republic was started in 1847. Monrovia is the capitol of this coastal state. Liberia rests in western Africa between Sierra Leone and Cote d’Ivoire. Spatially, it is slightly larger than Tennessee, with a population of 4,689,021. The country is majority (85%) Christian.
She was a minister of finance under President Tolbert (1972–1973) and later was finance minister under Samuel Doe’s military dictatorship (1980–1985). She had great financial integrity and clashed with both men. She was almost executed and was imprisoned for 10 years before being exiled because of how she spoke out against the military government. She lived in Kenya and the United States during her exile, working for World Bank, Citibank and other financial institutions. From 1992 to 1997 she was the director of the Regional Bureau for Africa of the United Nations Development Programme. During this time, Liberia broke out into civil war. In 1997, Johnson Sirleaf ran for president but came up second to Charles Taylor, who had her exiled again for treason; Liberia broke out into their second civil war.
She returned to Liberia to chair efforts preparing the state for democratic elections. In 2005 she ran for president against former soccer star George Weah and won. She was known as Liberia’s “iron lady”.
She erased $5 billion in foreign debt during the first 3 years in office and encouraged foreign investment, pushing the national budget from $80 million to $516 million by 2011.
In 2011, Johnson Sirleaf received the Nobel Peace Prize (as well as Leymah Gbowee and Tawakkul Karman) for “their non-violent struggle for the safety of women and for women’s rights to full participation in peace-building work”.
She ran for women’s rights, which was a key issue after the violence and epidemic rapes during Liberia’s conflict. She initially instituted strict rape laws, but eventually they were weakened.
When Johnson Sirleaf had established Liberia as a country with promise, tragedy struck. In 2013, the Ebola virus announced as an international emergency. “11,000 people in Liberia alone [were infected with Ebola], killing more than 4,800 of them, 192 of whom were doctors, nurses and health practitioners.” The health system and infrastructure nearly collapsed. Liberia responded quickly and effectively (much more so than infected, neighboring countries) to slow and end the spread of disease. The country is ready for expected flareups.
She’s been charged with claims of nepotism after providing government jobs to 3 of her sons.
In the fall of 2017, Johnson Sirleaf did not run again for presidency, showing that the government she set up was democratic, unlike the previous two. George Weah won the election and has received the presidency in a peaceful, democratic transition of power.
In 2018, Johnson Sirleaf received the Mo Ibrahim Prize for “demonstrat[ing] exceptional leadership in the face of unprecedented challenges during her two terms at the helm of Liberia”.
