African Leaders Hail Liberia's Election of a Woman President

[Jacuma]

MONROVIA, Liberia 24 November 2005 Sapa-AP

AFRICAN LEADERS HAIL LIBERIA'S ELECTION OF A FEMALE PRESIDENT

African leaders on Thursday hailed the election of the
continent's first-ever female president, calling the victory
of Liberia's Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf a watershed for African
women.

Johnson-Sirleaf's victory in Liberia's first postwar vote,
confirmed Wednesday, "is indeed a victory not only for
Liberian women in particular but also represents a beacon of
hope for women in Africa and the world in general. It most
eloquently makes the unequivocal statement that, indeed, a
new dawn has arrived for African women," South Africa's
President Thabo Mbeki said in a statement.

"Accordingly, as Africans we stand proud to be associated with
this historic victory in the struggle for gender parity,
women's emancipation and empowerment."

Johnson-Sirleaf's election "signals a new dawn in the
geopolitics not only in our subregion but also on the African
continent as a whole," said the government of Sierra Leone,
where a brutal decade-long conflict linked to Liberia's war
left that country all-but ruined.

The final, certified results of the Nov. 8 runoff showed
Johnson-Sirleaf, 67, beating her rival, soccer superstar
George Weah, 59.4 percent to 40.6 percent, National Elections
Commission Chairwoman Frances Johnson-Morris said.

International observers said the vote was largely clean.

Weah's representatives, however, said he still refused to
concede defeat, maintaining allegations of ballot-box
stuffing and vowing to keep fighting the results in court.

Sierra Leone called on 39-year old Weah "to cooperate fully"
with Johnson-Sirleaf "and lend her support so that we all in
Liberia, Guinea and Sierra Leone, and the rest of the
subregion, can enjoy peace and stability.

"As a young man with indefatigable energy and charisma, we
believe (Weah) has a future and he should employ all his
energy through the democratic process which he has already
begun so well by abiding by the rule of law and the tenets of
democracy," the country said in a communique.

Supporters cheered Johnson-Sirleaf's motorcade Wednesday as it
toured Liberia's battle-scarred capital, Monrovia, a once-
tidy city whose government-supplied electricity, water and
sewage systems failed during years of strife that killed tens
of thousands.

"We have shattered the glass ceiling theory, and I hope women
will seize the moment to become active in civil and political
affairs here at home and abroad," she said later at an
acceptance speech.

When she takes up her duties after a January inauguration,
Johnson-Sirleaf will lead Africa's oldest republic, founded
in 1847 by freed American slaves.

The former finance minister and veteran of Citibank and the
United Nations faces stiff challenges.

Unemployment runs at 80 percent. Many of Liberia's 3 million
people are illiterate. Hundreds of thousands live in relief
camps and many of the most educated are living overseas.

With the nation still reeling from a 1989-2003 civil war that
killed 200,000 people, some 15,000 U.N. peacekeepers are
working to ensure calm. A strong central government that can
produce jobs, while turning on water and electrical systems
is seen as crucial for long-term Liberian peace.