Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf was sworn in this week as President of Liberia. Tajudeen Abdul Raheem wishes her well in what promises to be a stormy voyage, and raises questions about some of the problems that might crop up over the next four years. Will her reign mean better times for all women or only for ruling women? Will she be able to unlearn all her IMF/World Bank doctrines and put social change at the forefront of her agenda?

On Monday 15 January 2006, Mrs Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf was sworn in as President of the Republic of Liberia, Africa's oldest modern republican state, founded by freed slaves largely from the USA in 1847. The search for liberty took them to Liberia, but the reality for the majority of the peoples of the country for most of the 160 years of its existence has been anything but freedom.

The Americo-Liberians, newly arrived from slave plantations in America, over the years established similar exploitative systems over the indigenous peoples of Liberia. The last three decades of Liberia is more widely known for its gruesome rulers, but the previous periods should not be excused their own gruesomeness that created the basis for the post 1980 dictatorships that we are so grimly aware of.

Mrs Johnson-Sirleaf's election and assumption of office is rightly celebrated both for its historical significance and symbolic resonance for the continuing struggle for democracy and fullest participation of African women in the affairs of this continent. Her election has lifted the spirits of all those who believe in gender equality and full recognition for Africa's majority, who are women. It is also another slap in the face of all those Afro pessimists, both African and non Africans who profit from bad mouthing Africa and seeing only doomsday scenarios and catastrophies coming out of Africa.

As we enjoy these positive feelings we should also sober up to the enormous challenges that Johnson-Sirleaf is going to face. How many of those heads of state, prominent politicians, assorted state officials from across the world who were there to shine in the glow of celebrations will still be there for her in a few months time? Would those regional and international leaders who obviously preferred her candidature now be willing to travel the long journey ahead? She will sooner rather than later discover that she needs more than election war chest pledges to realize the hopes and ambitions of millions of war ravaged and traumatised Liberians who will be expecting her to be the "mama fix it' of their misruled and abused country.

Her inauguration speech was uplifting, understandably emotional but also highly measured in a way as not to raise too many hopes. She is too much of a seasoned politician and has a long and varied experience as a banker, donor dispenser and NGO activist at national and international levels to be that extravagant with her promises.

But her cautious disposition will not stop millions of Liberian women and men from looking up to “Mama Ellen” to fix all the various challenges that have confronted them. She is also not coming in with a clean pair of hands, having been part of a previous regime and collaborated with other regimes - including that of the pariah of the moment, disgraced and indicted former dictator, Charles Taylor.

While many may see her as a saviour, others will be suspicious and say “wait and see”. In a continent that has seen too many false prophets before it is not an unreasonable attitude. Many of the sit tight leaders we are moaning about today were once promised messiahs and heroes!

Some of the issues that were raised during the campaigns that may have contributed to her winning the run off against “The Footballer”, George Weah, may actually come back to haunt her. One, the fact of being a woman was an empowering position to be in an election in which women really mattered, not as victims of the wars but also as agents of change through the transformations that sometimes come with dislocations brought about by prolonged conflicts. Old barriers break down and sometimes oppressed groups break out and kick up the ceiling. But would Mama Ellen be able to deliver to the Women of Liberia?

She has been approvingly called “The Iron Lady” comparing her to Britain's former hardline right wing Prime Minister, Margaret Thatcher. I am not sure if many British women and men who were victims of Thatcher's “greed is good” politics will welcome her African reincarnation. If she is past tense in London why should she be a new currency in Monrovia? Would this mean prosperity for poor women beyond gender symbolism? Or is it more likely to be better times for ruling women?

Two, her Harvard University education versus the “Street University” background of her main challenger portrayed the battle as one between the educated against the so called illiterate. It is a battle that resonates across Africa. When it comes to the right to vote we do not have any qualifications but when it comes to being voted for we demand “minimum” qualifications. Does that mean that so called illiterates have no other right than to be voting for those who are educated? In the case of Liberia, Johnson-Sirleaf and her generation of politicians share the responsibility for the mass illiteracy in the country. How can they turn around and condemn the generations they denied the right to education to and look down on them as unworthy? It is very strange that George Weah was cleared to contest the election despite being an illiterate. If he was cleared to stand surely he must have passed some “education threshold”. Or was he cleared with the hope that he would not win? If we do not have a policy of free and compulsory education up to a certain level for all our citizens it is very discriminatory and a violation of their rights to insist that they must possess certain qualifications in order to be voted for.

Another undemocratic side of this illiteracy debate is the shameful fact that the business of government is conducted in many of our countries in languages that the majority of the people do not understand, thereby mystifying the process of governance. When we say someone is an illiterate, in what language are we stating this? I wonder how many of our so-called educated elite will pass an elementary test in their mother tongues?

Three, a lot was made of her experience as a World Bank staffer and UN bureaucrat. This is very odd given the fact that many countries on this continent were destroyed by following the prescriptions of the Washington twin vultures of the IMF/WB through successive failed experiments with the lives of our peoples through SAPs and the current Neo-liberal policies. In Johnson-Sirleaf we are being asked to trust the judgment of a former employee of these same institutions. She cannot solve the problems of Liberia by acting like some bank clerk or repeating the neo-liberal mantra of her former employers or the globalisation fantasies of her friend, George Soros.

Liberia needs an effective, responsible and responsive state that will protect and defend its peoples, create jobs and empower people to transform their lives. It does not need a state that hands off social and economic development, trusting the ghosts of an unfree market. She has to unlearn all her IMF/World Bank doctrines if she wants to succeed as a change agent rather merely acting as an agent of the Bank and the Fund. As for her UN background I have only one question: Is Africa now effectively a UN mandate territory that previous experience of the UN is now required for aspirations of public office? Well, she needs to look no further than her friend next door, Alhaji Tejan Kabah of Sierra-Leone, to ask if working in the UN and acting as UN mandate governor guarantees development or even a free flow of foreign investment and donor funds. No amount of foreign support can be a substituted for the efforts of your own people.

Four, Johnson-Sirleaf has promised to wage war against corruption. She needs to tread carefully here and be serious. She should learn from the credibility gap surrounding similar efforts by her biggest regional patron, Olushegun Obasanjo of Nigeria. One way she can make a difference is not by insisting asset declaration but also liability declaration. Politicians should declare how much they owe those who funded their campaigns and how they propose to pay them back.

Finally, Johnson-Sirleaf has also made one of those rash promises that many Africans have become disdainfully familiar with. She has reportedly promised to serve only one term. I hope she will break the mould by actually honoring that pledge, whether it was made verbally, in public or in private. Out of the many heads of state she will be meeting at her first AU summit in Khartoum there is no high level of redemption of past similar promises.

Congratulations Mama Ellen, it is not going to be easy, but if you do not abandon the people they won’t abandon you too. I wish you well.

* Dr Tajudeen Abdul-Raheem is General-Secretary of the Pan African Movement, Kampala (Uganda) and Co-Director of Justice Africa

* Please send comments to [email]editor@pambazuka.

The inauguration of Mrs Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf has been the focus of a number of African bloggers this week.

writes that he was deeply moved by the inauguration ceremony. He makes a link between the inauguration and the celebration in the US of Martin Luther King, which took place on the same day.

“It was also not lost on me that January 15th is our (USA) national holiday for remembrance of the birthday of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. According to the Reverend Samuel Sumo Payne, a Liberian immigrant to the United States who will be participating in the Martin Luther King Jr. Day celebration activities this year in Ohio, Dr. King’s impact on social justice and civil rights reverberated far beyond the shores of the United States.”
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Jewels comments that President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf is determined, like Dr King, “to heal a nation and move forward and build bridges between former combatants and victims of the brutal conflict”. Although I appreciate what Jewels is saying here, I do think the linkage with Martin Luther King is somewhat tenuous. The Liberian President, for all her qualities which I sincerely admire, has not been involved in a protracted civil rights or liberation struggle. We are all very excited about having a woman leader in Africa and have high expectations. Nonetheless I believe we should wait and see how she proceeds and deals with these issues before likening her to Dr King or other liberationist struggles.

Fire Angel writes on how excited she was:

“When I first heard about it, I jumped up and down like a little school-girl…At the same time I'm trying not to turn my excitement into wishful thinking, because Sister Ellen has one heck of a job in front of her. Besides having the enormous task of bringing Liberia ‘back to life’, she ultimately represents the African woman and her role in today’s African society.”

Black Looks looks at the impact on African women of Mrs Sirleaf-Johnson’s Presidency. She writes:

“We should not underestimate the significance of this Presidency to all African women. The only event that comes close was the awarding of the Nobel Prize to Wangari Maathai. Just as the Nobel Prize was for Kenya and for Africa, so too is the election of Johnson-Sirleaf for Liberia and Africa. It is not just Liberia's future at stake. The stability of the whole region very much depends on the success of Liberia.”

Continuing with the subject of women in government, Mental Acrobatics writes on the appointment of two women by the newly elected Tanzanian President to two of the most important ministries -

Zakia Meghji, the Minister of Finance, and Asha-Rose Migiro, the Minister for Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation.

However it is not all good.

“Of the 29 ministers and 31 deputies in his new Government, only five women were appointed cabinet ministers while 10 others were made assistant ministers. That is better than Kenya. Kibaki’s government has 34 ministers and 49 assistants. Only two women are ministers, Martha Karua of Justice and Constitutional Affairs and Charity Ngilu of Health and five women are assistant ministers. This is a drop from pre-referendum levels.”

On a completely different note, Africa Unchained points to an article by Stella Orakwue, “Not in Black or White” who calls on Africans to return home.

"What are Africans doing in Europe? Can someone tell me, please? I was brought here as a four-year-old child. If you are reading this and you are an African in Europe, I ask you this: Why are you here? Why did you come? Why did you stay? What are you doing?”

With considerable bitterness she goes on to say:

“I know everything I need to know about Europe: everything that 40 years of hard-won knowledge can bestow about European cultures, English people, British attitudes. And I know this: Europeans do not deserve Africans. We’re too good for them. But hear this, get this: Without us they would be unable, incapable, of running their own countries! How’s that for you. We work, they play. But they treat us like we are nothing, nobodies, dirt. And now they want to destroy our minds so that we can continue to ‘work’ for them like 21st century plantation slaves. Were we ever supposed to live among them?”

Chippla's Weblog also focuses on Europe, this time the myth of Egalité France. He refers to an article in the Washington Post:

“…that calls into question the fabulous concept of egalité in modern France. Yes, egalité does exist but to enjoy its fruits you must be lily white. A golden, brown or dark brown skin is enough to shut you off from certain jobs especially in the service industry. Having the requisite skills is simply not sufficient, one must also have the right skin colour.”

He concludes that racism in Europe is no less than the US and may in fact be worse.

Finally AFrican Bullets and Honey comments on the latest “save an African from poverty” scheme. This one is advertised at Lastminute.com under their “Feel Good Gifts” section called Farm Africa. Here you can “Buy a sheep, a goat or some chickens”.

“So you’re not Gordon Brown and you can’t cancel the debt of the Third World. But with lastminute.com and Farm Friends you have the chance to do something amazing, just by buying a gift for a friend (or even for yourself). You can choose a sheep, a goat or a brood of chickens. Of course, they won't be delivered to you or the person you're buying the gift for. Instead, they'll get a really cute model of the chosen animal, while Farm Africa will give the real animal to a poor African farmer, who is struggling to feed his family. Just a few pounds buys the greatest gift of all - a happier, healthier future. A goat, for example, provides milk to fight-off malnutrition and any excess can be sold to pay for medicine or schoolbooks.”

Bullets & Honey comments: “Imagine how good you will feel when you add a good deed to your vacation. Not only will you be helping a worthy cause like poor African farmers or abandoned kitties, but your lucky recipient will receive a gift pack with information about the charity and a unique gift to open on their special day.”

You could of course change the name from “Farm Africa” to “Do good and be guilt free”!

* Sokari Ekine produces the blog Black Looks, [email protected]

Newly sworn-in Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf has backed efforts to get tens of thousands of people driven into exile by years of civil war to come home, the UN refugee agency said. Sirleaf, who formally took office on Monday and is Africa's first elected woman head of state, recorded a video for the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) urging Liberian exiles to consider returning to help rebuild their homeland.

This Monday, January 16 2006, has seen the inauguration of Africa’s first democratically elected female president. Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf has been officially inaugurated as President of Liberia, Africa’s oldest republic. The ceremony was attended by several African leaders as well as numerous foreign dignitaries. This historical moment has received mixed responses. Many have welcomed Johnson-Sirleaf as a role model for the potential of women in politics. Others criticize her support of Charles Taylor, and question her ability to address social issues given her professional background with economic and financial institutions.

Relevant reading:

Africa’s first female president vows to deliver a better future
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=5 1146

African first for Liberian leader
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/africa/46157 64.stm

Madam President: The changing gender dynamics of African politics -
http://zeleza.com/blog/index.php?p=34

The Education Program Coordinator will be based in Monrovia 40% and in the field 60% of the time and will be supervised by the IRC Liberia Deputy Director, Programs. The EPC will receive technical support from the Education Technical Advisor based in IRC New York. Responsibilities include program development and management, staff supervision, resource management, and representation.

159 years after the first modern nation in Africa was established by freed American slaves, Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf will be inaugurated as its first woman president (January 6). She will also be the continent's first female elected head of state. The challenges she will face are immense. Liberia has just emerged from 15 years of civil war, in which its people have been butchered and demoralised; there is no electricity in parts of the capital, Monrovia; water-supply systems have been almost universally destroyed, and schools looted or burned down; and hospitals and clinics exist in name only.

Last month marked a turning point in the country's turbulent history with the election of Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf as president. But politicians, aid workers, security experts and diplomats agree that the challenges are immense. And many Liberians living in exile have decided to wait and see. One particular concern is the continued presence of jobless ex-combatants throughout Liberia. The refugees are also worried about a lack of assistance upon returning home and a lack of job opportunities in Liberia.

Police in Liberia have clashed with supporters of George Weah, who was defeated in last month's election. Police fired tear gas at the protesters in a suburb of the capital, Monrovia. Violence began after Mr Weah addressed several hundred supporters, alleging the election had been rigged and saying his rival would not be sworn in. Ex-football star Mr Weah lost to economist Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf in the polls, judged fair by most observers. Mr Weah told hundreds of supporters at a rally on Sunday (December 11) that he would block January's inauguration of Mrs Johnson-Sirleaf as president.

Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf, who will be Africa’s first female president when she takes office in Liberia next month, on Monday (December 5) promised no rapist would go unpunished during her tenure. New legislation making rape illegal for the first time in Liberia was passed by parliament amid a flurry of rape cases and accusations that have flooded the local media. “Nobody will abuse our girls and women and get away with it; any law on rape especially the rape bill just passed into law will be totally implemented under our government,” Sirleaf said in a live radio interview.

ZOA is an international NGO operating in more than 10 countries worldwide. ZOA supports refugees, internally displaced persons, returnees and others affected by conflict or natural disasters. ZOA is funded largely by the Dutch protestant church community, so having an active involvement within the Protestant community is an //important requirement for all ZOA senior staff, although ZOA gives aid irrespective of faith, race or nationality. Follow the link for the posting of Country Director in Liberia.

The United Nations Security Council has urged all governments to freeze the assets and travel of two persons linked to past arms sales to Liberia. The two individuals -- a Syrian-born accountant from Texas and a Ukrainian-born businessman with an address in the United Arab Emirates -- are said to have ties with an international gunrunner linked to former Liberian leader Charles Taylor, who is wanted on war crimes charges in Sierra Leone.

As she prepares to take office on January 16, 2006, President-in-waiting Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf says officials wishing to work in her government will have to abide by a code of conduct that will guide them against corruption, dishonesty, inefficiency and human rights abuses. "Anybody who will work for the government will have to abide by that code of conduct," she told reporters Saturday in the village of Korma, her ancestral home, over 15 kilometers northwest of Monrovia, where she had traveled to thank the people "for standing behind me" in her quest for the presidency. "If they (officials) violate public trust through dishonesty, inefficiency and human rights abuse, they will be penalized in accordance with the law as prescribed by the code of conduct."

Africa won its first female president on Tuesday when counting ended in Liberia’s historic presidential poll, with former World Bank economist Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf garnering 59.4 percent against former soccer star George Weah. "Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf has received 4778,526 votes corresponding to 59.4 percent and George Weah has received 327,046 votes corresponding to 40.6 percent,” said the head of the election commission, Frances Johnson-Morris.

Former finance minister Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf took an early lead November 9 in the race for the Liberian presidency, as her soccer star rival George Weah said that the run-off vote had not been free and fair. With results in from a third of polling stations across the West African nation, the National Elections Commission said that Sirleaf had won 60.4 percent of the ballots cast in Tuesday’s second-round vote and Weah had captured 39.6 percent. As the first preliminary and partial votes were being announced, the former AC Milan striker was declaring that the ballot had been fixed.

What started as a trickle of refugees to Ghana after the outbreak of the civil war in Liberia in 1989 became a flood of thousands which led to the creation of the Buduburam settlement, now one of West Africa's largest refugee camps. While the world watches the election race in Monrovia, the question in Buduburam is how many refugees will return. About 2,500 people have already returned under a voluntary repatriation agreement signed in October 2004 by Ghana, Liberia and the UNHCR. However, many are reluctant, recalling a previous 1997 repatriation which saw 4,000 refugees leave Buduburam only to return when hostilities broke out again. This time, the refugees want to see how the new president, whoever is elected, settles in before they make a move.

Presidential candidate Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf has rounded on her rival George Weah for shunning a live public debate with just a week to go until the run-off vote that will determine the next president of war-battered Liberia. Weah, the soccer millionaire and political novice who won the most votes in the first round in October, is set to go head-to-head with Harvard-educated economist and veteran politician Sirleaf at the ballot box on 8 November. But he has declined to take part in a face-to-face debate in Monrovia, scheduled for this week in front of a live audience of 700 people and due to be broadcast on local radio.

First the good news. Young Liberians know about AIDS, how they might contract the disease and what they can do to protect themselves. Now the bad news. They are not putting that knowledge into practice. A study commissioned by the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) found while nine out of 10 respondents knew HIV could spread through sexual intercourse, and six out of 10 knew a condom would protect them, only one in 10 used it the first time they had sex.

In anticipation of renewed fighting with rebel forces, the Ivorian government is recruiting Liberian children alongside hundreds of other former combatants in Liberia’s civil war, Human Rights Watch says. Since September, Ivorian army officers and Liberian former commanders have been conducting a recruitment drive seeking ex-combatants in Liberian towns and villages bordering Côte d’Ivoire. “The Ivorian government is bolstering its military manpower by recruiting children who fought in Liberia’s brutal civil war,” said Peter Takirambudde, executive director of the Africa division of Human Rights Watch. “The international community must do all it can to ensure that these children are demobilized and that their recruiters are prosecuted.”

With less than two weeks to go before a presidential run-off, soccer legend George Weah and former finance minister Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf are vying for the backing of the 20 candidates eliminated in the first round. And their supporters. Under the watchful eye of UN peacekeepers and Liberian police, electoral officials on Wednesday announced the final results of the 11 October ballot and confirmed that no-one had won the required absolute majority.

Liberians will vote again in a second round of presidential elections after last week's ballot proved inconclusive, the country's election commission said. Former soccer star George Weah has won almost 29% of the vote, with ballots from 90% of polling stations counted. However, this will be short of the 51% he needed for an outright win. Mr Weah is now set to face nearest rival Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf in November to decide who becomes Liberia's first elected head since the civil war ended. Ms Johnson-Sirleaf, a former finance minister and veteran opposition politician, has secured nearly 20% of the votes counted so far - a fair way ahead of the third-placed candidate Charles Brumskine.