President ellen johnson sirleaf biography of mahatma
Ellen Johnson Sirleaf
President of Liberia from to
Ellen Johnson Sirleaf (born Ellen Eugenia Johnson, 29 October ) is a Liberian politician who served as the 24th president of Liberia from to Sirleaf was the first elected female head of state in Africa.[2][3]
Sirleaf was born in Monrovia to a Gola father and Kru-German mother.
She was educated at the College of West Africa. She completed her education in the United States, where she studied at Madison Business College, the University of Colorado Boulder, and Harvard University. She returned to Liberia to work in William Tolbert's government as Deputy Minister of Finance from to Later, she worked again in the West, for the World Bank in the Caribbean and Latin America.
In , she received a cabinet appointment as Minister of Finance, serving to
After Samuel Doe seized power in in a coup d'état and executed Tolbert, Sirleaf fled to the United States. She worked for Citibank and then the Equator Bank. She returned to Liberia to contest a senatorial seat for Montserrado County in , an election that was disputed.
She was arrested as a result of her open criticism of the military government in and was sentenced to ten years imprisonment, although she was later released.[4] Sirleaf continued to be involved in politics. She finished in second place at the presidential election, which was won by Charles Taylor.
She won the presidential election and took office on 16 January She was re-elected in She was the first woman in Africa elected as president of her country. She won the Nobel Peace Prize in , in recognition of her efforts to bring women into the peacekeeping process. She has received numerous other awards for her leadership.
In June , Sirleaf was elected as the Chair of the Economic Community of West African States, making her the first woman to hold the position since it was created.[5]
Family background
Sirleaf's father was Gola and her mother had mixed Kru and German ancestry.[6][7][8]
While not in fact Americo-Liberian in terms of ancestry, because of her parents' upbringing and her own education in the West, Sirleaf is considered to be culturally Americo-Liberian, or assumed to be Americo-Liberian.
Her parents both grew up in Monrovia, a center of Americo-Liberian influence, after being born in poor rural areas.[9][10][11] Sirleaf does not identify as such.[12]
Sirleaf's father, Jahmale Carney Johnson, was born into a Gola family in an impoverished rural region.[13] He was the son of a minor Gola chief named Jahmale Carney and one of his wives, Jenneh, in Julijuah, Bomi County.[14] Her father was sent to Monrovia for education, where he changed his surname to Johnson due to her father's loyalty to President Hilary R.
W. Johnson, Liberia's first native-born president.[14] Jahmale Johnson grew up in Monrovia, where he was raised by an Americo-Liberian family with the surname McCritty.[14] He later entered politics; he was the first Liberian from an indigenous ethnic group to be elected to the country's national legislature.[7][13]
Sirleaf's mother was also born into poverty, in Greenville.[14] Her grandmother, Juah Sarwee, sent Sirleaf's mother to the capital, Monrovia, when her German husband (Sirleaf's grandfather) had to flee the country after Liberia declared war on Germany during World War I.[13] Cecilia Dunbar, a member of a prominent Americo-Liberian family in the capital, adopted and raised Sirleaf's mother.[14]
Early life and career
Sirleaf was born in Monrovia in [13] She attended the College of West Africa, a preparatory school, from to She married James Sirleaf when she was seventeen years old.
The couple had four sons together, and she was primarily occupied as a homemaker.
Ellen johnson sirleaf book Ellen Johnson Sirleaf (born October 29, , Monrovia, Liberia) is a Liberian politician and economist who was president of Liberia (–18). She was the first woman to be elected head of state of an African country.Early on in their marriage, James worked for the Department of Agriculture, and Sirleaf worked as a bookkeeper for an auto-repair shop.[15]
She traveled with her husband to the United States in to continue her education and earned an associate degree in Accounting at Madison Business College, in Madison, Wisconsin.[16] When they returned to Liberia, James continued his work in the Agriculture Department and Sirleaf pursued a career in the Treasury Department (Ministry of Finance).[15] They divorced in because of James' abuse.[7][17][15]
Sirleaf returned to college to finish her bachelor's degree.
In , she earned a BA in economics from the Economics Institute of the University of Colorado Boulder,[18] where she also spent a summer preparing for graduate studies. Sirleaf studied economics and public policy at Harvard Kennedy School from to , earning a Master of Public Administration.[19] She returned to her native Liberia to work in the administration of William Tolbert, where she was appointed as Assistant Minister of Finance.
Whilst in that position, she attracted attention with a "bombshell" speech to the Liberian Chamber of Commerce that claimed that the country's corporations were harming the economy by hoarding or sending their profits overseas.[20]
Sirleaf served as Assistant Minister from to in the Tolbert administration.
She resigned after a disagreement about government spending. Subsequently, she was appointed as Minister of Finance a few years later, serving from to April [21]
Master Sergeant Samuel Doe, a member of the indigenous Krahn ethnic group, seized power in a military coup on 12 April ; he ordered the assassination of Tolbert and execution by firing squad of all but four members of his Cabinet.
The People's Redemption Council took control of the country and led a purge against the previous government. Sirleaf initially accepted a post in the new government as the President of the Liberian Bank for Development and Investment. She fled the country in November after publicly criticising Doe and the People's Redemption Council for their management of the country.[22]
Sirleaf initially moved to Washington, D.C., and worked for the World Bank.[23] In , she moved to Nairobi, Kenya to serve as Vice President of the African Regional Office of Citibank.
She resigned from Citibank in following her involvement at the general election in Liberia. She went to work for Equator Bank,[24] a subsidiary of HSBC.[citation needed]
In , Sirleaf was appointed as the director of the United Nations Development Programme's Regional Bureau for Africa at the rank of assistant administrator and assistant secretary general (ASG).
She is internationally known as Africa's Iron Lady, due to her political prowess.[25] She resigned from this role in in order to run for the presidency of Liberia. During her time at the UN, she was one of the seven internationally eminent persons designated in by the Organization of African Unity to investigate the Rwandan genocide, one of the five Commission Chairs for the Inter-Congolese Dialogue, and one of the two international experts selected by UNIFEM to investigate and report on the effect of conflict on women and women's roles in peace building.
She was the initial Chairperson of the Open Society Initiative for West Africa (OSIWA) and a visiting Professor of Governance at the Ghana Institute of Management and Public Administration (GIMPA).[26]
Political career
general election
While working at Citibank, Sirleaf returned to Liberia in to run for Vice President under Jackson Doe on the ticket of the Liberian Action Party in the elections.
However, Sirleaf was placed under house arrest in August and soon after sentenced to ten years in prison for sedition, as a consequence of a speech in which she insulted the members of the Samuel Doe regime. Following international calls for her release, Samuel Doe pardoned and released her in September. Due to government pressure, she was removed from the presidential ticket and instead ran for a Senate seat in Montserrado County.
In the elections, Samuel Doe and the National Democratic Party won the presidency and large majorities in both houses. The elections were widely condemned as neither free nor fair.
Sirleaf was declared the winner of her Senate race, but she refused to accept the seat in protest of the election fraud.
After an attempted coup against the Doe government by Thomas Quiwonkpa on 12 November , Sirleaf was arrested and imprisoned again on 13 November by Doe's forces. Despite continuing to refuse to accept her seat in the Senate, she was released in July She secretly fled the country to the United States later that year.[27]
At the beginning of the First Liberian Civil War in , Sirleaf supported Charles Taylor's rebellion against Doe.
She helped raise money for the war and founded the National Patriotic Front of Liberia with Taylor and Tom Woewiyu. Because of this, Doe's government recommended that Sirleaf be banned from politics in Liberia for 30 years.
But, she later opposed Taylor's handling of the war and his treatment of rival opposition leaders such as Jackson Doe. By , the presence of Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) peacekeepers led to a cessation of hostilities.
The nation held the general election, which Sirleaf returned to Liberia to contest. She ran as the presidential candidate for the Unity Party and placed second in a controversial election, getting 25% of the vote to Charles Taylor's 75%. After controversy about the results and being accused of treason, Sirleaf left Liberia and went into exile in Abidjan, Ivory Coast.[27]
After the end of the Second Liberian Civil War and the establishment of a transitional government, Sirleaf was proposed as a possible candidate for chairman of the government.
Ellen johnson sirleaf When Ellen Johnson Sirleaf was inaugurated president of Liberia in January of , she not only became the first elected female president in Africa, but also the focus of hope for a country that had seen little of it for 26 years.Ultimately, Gyude Bryant, a political neutral, was chosen as chairman, while Sirleaf served as head of the Governance Reform Commission.
Sirleaf stood for president as the candidate of the Unity Party in the general election. She placed second in the first round of voting behind George Weah, a former footballer.[28] In the subsequent run-off election, Sirleaf earned 59% of the vote versus 40% for Weah, though Weah disputed the results.
The announcement of the new leader was postponed until further election investigations were carried out. On 23 November , Sirleaf was declared the winner of the Liberian election and confirmed as the country's next president and the first woman to be elected as president of an African country.[29] Her inauguration took place on 16 January It was attended by many foreign dignitaries, including United States Secretary of StateCondoleezza Rice and First LadyLaura Bush.
In January , Sirleaf announced that she would run for a second term in office in the presidential election while speaking to a joint session of the legislature.[30] Opposition leaders noted that in doing so, she had broken a promise made during her campaign to only serve one term if elected.[31] Sirleaf was renominated as the Unity Party's presidential candidate at the party's national convention on 31 October [32] That same day, Vice President Joseph Boakai was nominated by Sirleaf and confirmed by the delegates as Sirleaf's running mate.[32]
The awarding of the Nobel Peace Prize to Sirleaf four days prior to the election sparked criticism from opposition parties, with Congress for Democratic Change candidate Winston Tubman calling the award "undeserved" and "a political interference in our country's politics."[33] Sirleaf called the timing of the award a coincidence and avoided mentioning the award during the final days of campaigning.[34]
Sirleaf garnered % of the vote in the first round, more than any other candidate but short of the 50% needed to avoid a run-off.
Tubman came in second with %, pitting him against Sirleaf in the second round.[35] Tubman called for a boycott of the run-off, claiming that the results of the first round had been fraudulent.[36] Sirleaf denied the allegations, and international observers reported that the first round election had been free, fair and transparent.[37] As a result of the boycott, Sirleaf won the second round with % of the vote, though voter turnout significantly declined from the first round.[38] Following the election, Sirleaf announced the creation of a "national peace and reconciliation initiative," led by Nobel Peace Prize laureate Leymah Gbowee, to address the country's divisions and begin "a national dialogue that would bring us together."[39] She took the presidential oath for her second presidency on 16 January [40]
Sirleaf crossed party lines to support George Weah in the presidential campaign.[41] In the late evening hours of 13 January , she along with some officials of the Unity Party were expelled[42] by the National Executive Committee of the party, for failing to support Unity Party presidential candidate, and Sirleaf's Vice President, Joseph Boakai.
Domestic policy
A fire broke out at the Executive Mansion on 26 July , seriously damaging the structure. An independent panel formed to investigate the incident ruled out arson, attributing the fire to an electrical malfunction.[43] Sirleaf's government called funding for the repair of the mansion a low priority in the face of more pressing needs, with Sirleaf transferring her office to the nearby Foreign Ministry building and choosing to live at her personal home in Monrovia.[44][45]
On 26 July , Sirleaf celebrated Liberia's th Independence Day under the theme "Liberia at Reclaiming the future." She took an unprecedented and symbolic move by asking year-old Liberian activist Kimmie Weeks to serve as National Orator for the celebrations, where Weeks called for the government to prioritize education and health care.
President ellen johnson sirleaf biography of mahatma Ellen Johnson Sirleaf (born Ellen Eugenia Johnson, 29 October ) is a Liberian politician who served as the 24th president of Liberia from to Sirleaf was the first elected female head of state in Africa. [2][3] Sirleaf was born in Monrovia to a Gola father and Kru -German mother. She was educated at the College of West Africa.A few days later, President Sirleaf issued an Executive Order making education free and compulsory for all elementary school aged children.[46]
On 4 October , Sirleaf signed into law a Freedom of Information bill, the first legislation of its kind in West Africa.[47][48] In recognition of this, she became the first sitting head of state to receive the Friend of the Media in Africa Award from The African Editor's Union.[49]
On 1 April , Sirleaf told reporters that she planned to charge an opposition candidate with sedition for organizing a rally protesting corruption in the government.
Her press secretary later clarified that the remark had been an April Fools' prank.[50]
Debt relief
From the beginning of her presidency, Sirleaf vowed to make reduction of the national debt, which stood at approximately US$&#;billion in , a top priority for her administration. The United States became the first country to grant debt relief to Liberia, waiving the full $&#;million owed to it by Liberia in early [51] In September of that year, the G-8 headed by German ChancellorAngela Merkel provided $&#;million to paying off 60% of Liberia's debt to the International Monetary Fund, crediting their decision to the macroeconomic policies pursued by the Sirleaf administration.[52]
In April , the government successfully wrote off an additional $&#;billion in foreign commercial debt in a deal that saw the government buy back the debt at a 97% discounted rate through financing provided by the International Development Association, Germany, Norway, the United States, and the United Kingdom.[53] The discounted rate was the largest ever for a developing country.[53]
The country was deemed eligible to participate in the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries initiative in [54] In June , the country reached the completion point of the HIPC initiative, qualifying it for relief from its entire external debt.[55] That same month, the World Bank and IMF agreed to fund $&#;billion in writing off the Liberia's multilateral debt.[56] On 16 September, the Paris Club agreed to cancel $&#;billion, with independent bilateral creditors canceling an additional $&#;million, essentially writing off Liberia's remaining external debt.[57] Sirleaf vowed to prevent unsustainable borrowing in the future by restricting annual borrowing to 3% of GDP and limiting expenditure of all borrowed funds to one-off infrastructure projects.[58]
Truth and Reconciliation Commission
In , the Truth and Reconciliation Commission began work with a mandate to "promote national peace, security, unity and reconciliation" by investigating more than 20 years of civil conflict in the country.
The TRC was formed through a legislation in under the Interim government headed by C. Gyude Bryant.
In their final report, issued in June , the TRC included Sirleaf in a list of 50 names of people that should be "specifically barred from holding public offices; elected or appointed for a period of thirty (30) years" for "being associated with former warring factions."[59] The proposed ban stemmed from her financial support of former President Taylor in the early years of the First Liberian Civil War.
On 26 July , Sirleaf apologized to Liberia for supporting Charles Taylor, saying: "When the true nature of Mr. Taylor's intentions became known, there was no more impassioned critic or strong opponent to him in a democratic process" than she.[60] On 28 August, the legislature announced they must "consult our constituents for about a year" before deciding whether or not to implement the Commission's recommendations.[61]
During an appearance at the Council on Foreign Relations in , Sirleaf argued that the implementation of the TRC's recommended ban would unconstitutionally violate her right to due process.[62] In October , the chairman of Sirleaf's Unity Party, Varney Sherman, argued that implementation of the recommendation would be unconstitutional, as Article 21(a) of the Constitution prohibits ex post facto laws, and Sirleaf had broken no law by financially supporting Taylor that imposed a ban from public office as a penalty.[63]
In January , the Supreme Court ruled in Williams v.
Tah, a case brought by another person recommended for being banned from public office in the TRC report, that the TRC's recommendation was an unconstitutional violation of the listed individuals' right to procedural due process, and that it would be unconstitutional for the government to implement the proposed bans.[64]
Gay rights
Following a speech made by United States Secretary of StateHillary Clinton in December that America's foreign aid would be used to promote the protection of gay rights,[65] the issue of LGBT rights became a significant political topic in Liberia.
According to The Guardian, "Since Clinton's remarks, Liberian newspapers have published numerous articles and editorials describing homosexuality as 'desecrating', 'abusive' and an 'abomination'."[65] Liberian law made "voluntary sodomy" punishable by up to one year in prison, although it has not been used to prosecute anyone in several years.[66]
In February , Bong County Senator Jewel Taylor proposed a bill that would carry a term of ten years in prison for homosexual activity, while a similar bill was introduced in the House of Representatives.[65] On 19 March, Sirleaf addressed the issue, saying that she would not repeal the current law but would also not sign into law either of the two proposed bills.
Sirleaf added, "We like ourselves just the way we are [] We've got certain traditional values in our society that we would like to preserve."[65] According to Tiawan Gongloe, Liberia's former Solicitor General, "If she tried to decriminalise the [current anti-gay] law it would be political suicide."[65]
In a letter to The Guardian, Sirleaf's press secretary challenged the portrayal of her remarks in the media saying that: "There currently exists no law referencing homosexuality in Liberia, and as such the President could not be defending a law on homosexuality.
The President is on record as saying [] that any law brought before her regarding homosexuality will be vetoed. This statement also applies to an initial attempt by two members of the Liberian legislature to introduce tougher laws targeting homosexuality." The letter added "the status quo in Liberia has been one of tolerance and no one has ever been prosecuted under that [current] law," and went on to hint at future possible liberalization stating that "the President thinks that with the unprecedented freedom of speech and expression Liberia enjoys today, our budding democracy will be strong enough to accommodate new ideas and debate both their value and Liberia's laws with openness, respect and independence."[67]The Guardian published a correction to its story: "'Nobel peace prize winner defends law criminalising homosexuality in Liberia' was updated to restore material cut in the editing process.
The restored material clarifies the stance that President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf is taking on laws concerning homosexuality in Liberia. That is: she refuses to dismantle the existing anti-sodomy law, while also saying she will refuse to sign two new bills that would toughen laws on homosexuality." The comments, letter, and clarification suggest that she considered the status quo for gay rights in Liberia to be one of de facto tolerance until the recent controversy, and did not support decriminalization of homosexuality, but also refused to support further criminalisation of homosexual acts which was being attempted in Liberia.
She reaffirmed this view during an interview with Tony Blair.[68]
Foreign policy
Upon her election to office, Sirleaf made her first foreign trip as President to neighboring Ivory Coast, meeting with Ivorian President Laurent Gbagbo in an attempt to repair relations between the two countries following Côte d'Ivoire's support of the Movement for Democracy in Liberia during the Second Liberian Civil War.[69] During the – Ivorian crisis, Sirleaf, as chairperson of the Mano River Union, supported ECOWAS's recognition of Gbagbo's opponent, Alassane Ouattara, as the winner of the disputed presidential election, but rejected calls for a military solution to the crisis.[70]
Sirleaf also forged close relations with the United States, Liberia's traditional ally.
Following the establishment of United States Africa Command (AFRICOM) by the United States military, Sirleaf offered to allow the US to headquarter the new command in Liberia, the only African leader to do so.[71] The command was eventually headquartered in Stuttgart, Germany. On 15 March , President Sirleaf addressed a joint meeting of the United States Congress, asking for American support to help her country "become a brilliant beacon, an example to Africa and the world of what love of liberty can achieve."[72]
Sirleaf has also strengthened relations with the People's Republic of China, reaffirming Liberia's commitment to the One-China policy.[73] In return, China has contributed to Liberia's reconstruction, building several transmitters to extend the Liberia Broadcasting System nationwide and constructing a new campus for the University of Liberia.[74][75]
Sirleaf is a member of the Council of Women World Leaders, an international network of current and former women presidents and prime ministers whose mission is to mobilize the highest-level women leaders globally for collective action on issues of critical importance to women and equitable development.[76]
During the Libyan civil war, Sirleaf added her voice to the international community who asked the previous Libyan leader Muammar al-Gaddafi to cease the use of violence and tactics of political repression.[77] However, she criticized the international military intervention in Libya, declaring that "violence does not help the process whichever way it comes".[78] Her government later severed diplomatic ties with Libya, stating that "The Government took the decision after a careful review of the situation in Libya and determined that the Government of Colonel Gaddafi has lost the legitimacy to govern Libya."[79]
On 27 February , President Sirleaf was expected to make a visit to U.S.
President Barack Obama at the White House in Washington, D.C., according to an official online statement from the Office of the White House Press Secretary.
Leymah gbowee biography: Ellen Johnson Sirleaf (born Ellen Eugenia Johnson, 29 October ) is a Liberian politician who served as the 24th president of Liberia from to Sirleaf was the first elected female head of state in Africa.
Among other issues, they planned to discuss the hope to expeditiously close the recent – Ebola virus epidemic, which heavily affected Liberia, Sierra Leone, and Guinea, and other areas in West Africa (and beyond in other countries due to importation of cases for treatment and some new infections), down to an ideal of zero reported cases in Liberia and nearby areas in the near future, with continuing monitoring and reporting, care, support, and fiscal and professional assistance.
They also planned to discuss how to sustain and rebuild the healthcare infrastructure and the country's other difficulties in the wake of the massive outbreak's morbidity and mortality toll and impact on the area, as well as review progress that had been made and efforts to continue it.[80]
Administration and Cabinet
Following her victory in the election, Sirleaf pledged to promote national reconciliation by bringing in opposition leaders into her administration.[81] Opposition politicians who joined her initial administration included Minister of Transport Jeremiah Sulunteh, Minister of Education Joseph Korto, and Ambassador to the United Nations Nathaniel Barnes.
Sirleaf also appointed several women to high-level posts in her administration, with female ministers initially leading the Ministries of Finance, Law, Commerce and Industry, Gender and Development, and Youth and Sports.[82] Sirleaf said that while she had planned on appointing an all-female cabinet, she had been unable to find qualified female candidates for every position.[62]
Upon her inauguration, Sirleaf promised that she would impose a "zero tolerance" policy on corruption within the government.[83] Despite this, critics have argued that corruption remains rampant within Sirleaf's administration; Information Minister Lawrence Bropleh was sacked in over allegations that he had stolen more than $, in state funds, while Internal Affairs Minister Ambullai Johnson, Sirleaf's brother, was dismissed in after the disappearance of funds for county development.[84][85] Sirleaf herself has acknowledged that corruption in government remains, noting that her zero tolerance policy was hampered by the need to pass major economic reforms through the legislature, a goal that would have been impeded by significant anti-corruption legislation and prosecutions.[84] However, Sirleaf has rejected claims that she has failed to fight corruption, pointing to the establishment of the Liberian Anti-Corruption Commission and the restructuring of the General Auditing Commission.[86]
Sirleaf dismissed her entire cabinet from office on 3 November , promising to reassemble the cabinet in as short a time as possible.[87] She argued that the move was taken to give her administration a "clean slate" in preparation for the final year of her term, though critics argued that the move was aimed to bolster her chances at reelection by confronting corruption in her administration.[87] By early December , Sirleaf had reconstituted her entire cabinet, replacing seven of her nineteen ministers.[88][89]
First Cabinet
| The First Sirleaf Cabinet | ||
|---|---|---|
| Office | Name | Term |
| President | Ellen Johnson Sirleaf | – |
| Vice President | Joseph Boakai | – |
| Minister of Foreign Affairs | George Wallace Olubanke King Akerele Toga McIntosh | – – – |
| Minister of Finance | Antoinette Sayeh Augustine Kpehe Ngafuan | – – |
| Minister of Justice and Attorney General | Frances Johnson-Morris Philip A. Z. Banks | – – – |
| Minister of National Defense | Brownie Samukai | – |
| Minister of Internal Affairs | Ambullai Johnson Harrison Kahnweah | – – |
| Minister of Education | Joseph Korto E. Othello Gongar | – – |
| Minister of Posts and Telecommunications | Jackson E.
Doe | – – – |
| Minister of Public Works | Willis Knuckles Luseni Donzo Samuel Kofi Woods | – – |
| Minister of Agriculture | Christopher Toe Florence Chenoweth | – – |
| Minister of Health and Social Welfare | Walter Gwenigale | – |
| Minister of Information, Culture and Tourism | Johnny McClain Lawrence Bropleh | – |
| Minister of Planning and Economic Affairs | Toga McIntosh Amara Mohamed Konneh | – – |
| Minister of Lands, Mines and Energy | Eugene Shannon Roosevelt Jayjay | – – |
| Minister of Commerce and Industry | Olubanke King Akerele Frances Johnson-Morris Miatta Beysolow | – – – |
| Minister of Gender, Children and Social Protection | Vabah Gayflor | – |
| Minister of Labor | Samuel Kofi Woods Tiawon Gongloe Vabah Gayflor | – – – |
| Minister of Youth and Sports | Jamesetta Howard Wolokollie Etmonia Tarpeh | – – |
| Minister of Transport | Jeremiah Sulunteh Jackson E. Doe | – – – – |
| Minister of State for Presidential Affairs | Morris Dukuly Willis Knuckles Edward B. McClain Jr. | – – |
Second Cabinet
| The Second Sirleaf Cabinet | ||
|---|---|---|
| Office | Name | Term |
| President | Ellen Johnson Sirleaf | – |
| Vice President | Joseph Boakai | – |
| Minister of Foreign Affairs | Augustine Kpehe Ngafuan Marjon Kamara | – – |
| Minister of Finance | Amara Mohamed Konneh Boima Kamara | – – |
| Minister of Justice and Attorney General | Christiana Tah Benedict F. Sannoh | – – – |
| Minister of National Defense | Brownie Samukai | – |
| Minister of Internal Affairs | Blamo Nelson Morris Dukuly Henrique Tokpa | – – – |
| Minister of Education | Etmonia David Tarpeh George Werner | – – |
| Minister of Posts and Telecommunications | Frederick B.
Norkeh | – |
| Minister of Public Works | Samuel Kofi Woods Antoinette Weeks Gyude Moore | – – – |
| Minister of Agriculture | Florence Chenoweth Moses Zinnah | – – |
| Minister of Health and Social Welfare | Walter Gwenigale Bernice Dahn | – – |
| Minister of Information, Culture and Tourism | Lewis Brown Lenn Eugene Nagbe | – – |
| Minister of Lands, Mines and Energy | Patrick Sendolo | – |
| Minister of Commerce and Industry | Miatta Beysolow Axel Addy | – – |
| Minister of Gender, Children and Social Protection | Julia Duncan-Cassell | – |
| Minister of Labor | Juah Lawson Neto Z. Lighe | – – |
| Minister of Youth and Sports | Tornorlah Vapilah Lenn Eugene Nagbe Saah N'tow | – – – |
| Minister of Transport | Lenn Eugene Nagbe Angela Cassell Bush | – – |
| Minister of State for Presidential Affairs | Edward B.
McClain Jr. | – |
Judicial appointments
Upon the inauguration of Sirleaf, the entire Supreme Court bench, which had been selected as part of the transitional government in , stepped down, leaving Sirleaf to fill all five seats on the Court. Sirleaf nominated Johnnie Lewis, a Yale Law School graduate and former Circuit Court judge, for the office of Chief Justice.[90] Lewis and three of Sirleaf's Associate Justice nominees, J.
Emmanuel Wureh, Francis Korkpor and Gladys Johnson, were confirmed by the Senate on 2 March [91] Sirleaf's nomination of Kabineh Ja'neh, a former leader in the rebel LURD movement, as Associate Justice received criticism from the opposition Congress for Democratic Change due to concerns over Ja'neh's human rights record during the civil war, and Ja'neh was not confirmed until 9 May.[82][92]
Following the death of Justice Wureh in July , Sirleaf nominated Christiana Tah, a deputy minister at the Justice Ministry, to fill his seat.[93] However, the Senate later rejected Tah's nomination, leading Sirleaf to nominate her Minister of Youth and Sports, Jamesetta Howard Wolokollie, who was confirmed.[93] Justice Johnson retired from the Court on 26 March after reaching the constitutionally mandated retirement age of seventy.[93] Sirleaf nominated Phillip A.
Z. Banks, her former Minister of Justice and Chairman of the Law Reform Commission, to replace Johnson in August [94] Banks was confirmed by the Senate on 20 August [95]
International image
Forbes magazine named Sirleaf as the 51st most powerful woman in the world in [96] In , Newsweek listed her as one of the ten best leaders in the world, while Time counted her among the top ten female leaders.[97][98] That same year, The Economist called her "arguably the best president the country has ever had."[99] In , Sirleaf released her first book, This Child Will Be Great: Memoir of a Remarkable Life by Africa's First Woman President.[]
Life after politics
In , Sirleaf founded the Ellen Johnson Sirleaf Presidential Center for Women and Development, which aims "to be a catalyst for change across Africa, by helping unleash its most abundant untapped power – its women".[] In , Director-General of the World Health OrganizationTedros Adhanom appointed Sirleaf as the WHO Goodwill Ambassador for the health workforce.[] Amid the COVID pandemic in , she stepped down from this post to serve as co-chair (alongside Helen Clark) of the WHO's Independent Panel for Pandemic Preparedness and Response (IPPR).[][] Also in , she was appointed to the Development Advisory Council of the U.S.
International Development Finance Corporation.[]
In addition, Ellen Johnson Sirleaf holds a number of paid and unpaid positions, including the following:
Personal life
In , Ellen Johnson married James Sirleaf. They had four sons together before their divorce.[16] She grew up as a Presbyterian, but later joined her husband's Methodist faith.[] Through her sons she has ten grandchildren.
This child will be great
Ellen Johnson Sirleaf is a Liberian politician and an accomplished economist who was president of Liberia from to ; she was the first woman to be elected head of state of an African country. Sirleaf won a share of the Nobel Prize for Peace for her efforts to further women’s rights.While attending college in the United States, Sirleaf became a member of the Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority and she is an honorary member of the Links, Incorporated. She is the aunt to American actress/comic Retta (born Marietta Sirleaf),[] best known for her role as Donna Meagle on the NBCcomedyParks and Recreation.[]
Several of her children served in the Liberian government.
Her son Robert Sirleaf served as head of the National Oil Company of Liberia, Charles Sirleaf holds a senior position at the Central Bank of Liberia, and stepson Fombah Sirleaf heads the Liberian National Security Agency, with responsibility for internal security. Other members of the Sirleaf family are serving in other positions in government.[][]
In December , James Sirleaf, one of the sons of Ellen Sirleaf, died in his residence in Liberia under unknown circumstances.[citation needed]
Criticism
Sirleaf was accused in of interfering with a criminal investigation involving her stepson Fombah Sirleaf and the security agency.[][] Her Minister of Justice Christiana Tah resigned in October , accusing President Sirleaf of interference with the criminal investigation into the illegal seizure of money from Korean businessmen by the NSA in a warrantless hotel raid in July []
In , her son, Charles Sirleaf, was charged with economic sabotage through the unlawful printing of local currency to the value of US$75 million.
The investigation was carried out by investigative auditing firm Kroll.[]
Paradise Papers
See also: Paradise Papers
In November , an investigation conducted by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalism cited Sirleaf among the list of politicians named in "Paradise Papers" allegations.[]
Honours and awards
- Recipient of the Roosevelt Institute Freedom of Speech Award[]
- Ralph Bunche International Leadership Award
- Chief of Order of the Golden Heart of Kenya highest in Kenya
- Grand commander Star of Africa Redemption of Liberia
- Commander of the Order of Mono[]
- Common Ground Award recipient, Search for Common Ground[]
- Laureate of the Africa Prize for Leadership for the Sustainable End of Hunger, The Hunger Project[]
- Distinguished Fellow, Claus M.
Halle Institute for Global Learning, Emory University[]
- Awarded Honorary Doctor of Laws from Marquette University[]
- David Rockefeller Bridging Leadership Award from Synergos[]
- Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest civilian award given by the United States, awarded to Sirleaf by U.S.
President George W. Bush on 5 November []
- Golden Plate Award of the American Academy of Achievement[]
- Awarded Honorary Doctor of Laws degree from Indiana University,[]Dartmouth College;[] and Brown University.[]
- Awarded the EITI Award for "the rapid progress the country has made towards implementation of the EITI"[]
- Awarded Honorary Doctor of Humane Letters degree from the University of Tampa[]
- Awarded Honorary Doctor of Laws degree from Yale University[] and Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey[]
- Friend of the Media in Africa Award from The African Editor's Union[]
- Awarded Honorary Doctor of Laws degree from Harvard University[]
- African Gender Award[]
- Nobel Peace Prize[]
- Indira Gandhi Prize for Peace, Disarmament and Development[]
- As of , she is listed as the 70th most powerful woman in the world by Forbes.[]
- In , she was awarded a title in the Nigerian chieftaincy system by Eze Samuel Ohiri of Imo, Nigeria.
As a result, she is now the Ada di Ohanma of Igboland.[]
- - She was recognized as one of the BBC's Women of []
- Won the version of the Ibrahim Prize for Achievement in African Leadership[]