Biography of Ellen Johnson Sirleaf

Ellen Johnson Sirleaf

Ellen Johnson Sirleaf (born 29 October 1938) is the 24th and current President of Liberia. She served as Minister of Finance under President William Tolbert from 1979 until the 1980 coup d'État, after which she left Liberia and held senior positions at various financial institutions. She placed a very distant second in the 1997 presidential election. Later, she was elected President in the 2005 presidential election and took office on 16 January 2006. She successfully ran for re-election in 2011. Sirleaf is the first elected female head of state in Africa.

Sirleaf was awarded the 2011 Nobel Peace Prize, jointly with Leymah Gbowee of Liberia and Tawakel Karman of Yemen. The women were recognized "for their non-violent struggle for the safety of women and for women’s rights to full participation in peace-building work."for more infiormation and Liberian News video go to www.liberiatube.com

Her ethnic background is 1/2 Gola from her father's side, and 1/4 German (grandfather) and 1/4 Kru (grandmother) from her mother's side. While not Americo-Liberian by ancestry, Sirleaf is considered culturally Americo-Liberian by some observers or assumed to be Americo-Liberian. However, Sirleaf does not identify as such. Sirleaf's father, Jahmale Carney Johnson, was born into a region filled with rural poverty. He was the son of a minor Gola chief named Jahmale and one of his wives, Jenneh, in Julijuah, Bomi County. Her father was sent to Monrovia, where his last name was changed to Johnson because of his father's loyalty to President Hilary R. W. Johnson, Liberia's first Liberian-born president. He grew up in Monrovia, where he was raised by an Americo-Liberian family with the surname McGritty. Sirleaf's father later became the first Liberian from an indigenous ethnic group to sit in the country's national legislature.

Sirleaf's mother was also born into poverty in Greenville, Liberia. Her grandmother Juah Sarwee sent Sirleaf's mother to Monrovia when Sirleaf's German grandfather had to flee the country after Liberia declared war on Germany during World War I. A member of a prominent Americo-Liberian family, Cecilia Dunbar, adopted and raised Sirleaf's mother.

Early life and career

Sirleaf was born in Monrovia and studied economics and accounting from 1948 to 1955 at the College of West Africa in Monrovia. She married James Sirleaf when she was 17 years old,  and then traveled with him to the United States in 1961 to continue her studies and earned an accounting degree at Madison Business College, in Madison, Wisconsin In 1970, she studied at the Economics Institute – an affiliate summer program of the Department of Economics at the University of Colorado Boulder. Sirleaf studied economics and public policy at Harvard's John F. Kennedy School of Government from 1969 to 1971, gaining a Master of Public Administration.] She then returned to her native Liberia to work under the government of William Tolbert, where she became the Assistant Minister of Finance. While 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 overseas their profits. Sirleaf served as assistant minister from 1972 to 1973 under Tolbert's administration. She resigned after getting into a disagreement about spending. Subsequently she was Minister of Finance from 1979 to April 1980. Master Sergeant Samuel Doe, a member of the indigenous Krahn ethnic group, seized power in an 12 April 1980 military coup; Tolbert was assassinated and all but four members of his cabinet were executed by firing squad. The People's Redemption Council took control of the country and led a purge against the former government. Sirleaf initially accepted a post in the new government as President of the Liberian Bank for Development and Investment, though she fled the country in November 1980 after publicly criticizing Doe and the People's Redemption Council for their management of the country.

Sirleaf initially moved to Washington, D.C., to work for the World Bank before moving to Nairobi in 1981 to serve as Vice President of the African Regional Office of Citibank. She resigned from Citibank in 1985 following her involvement in the 1985 election in Liberia and went to work for Equator Bank, a subsidiary of HSBC. In 1992, Sirleaf was appointed as the the Director of the United Nations Development Programme's Regional Bureau for Africa at the rank of Assistant Administrator and Assistant Secretary General (ASG), from which she resigned in 1997 to run for president in Liberia. During her time at the UN, she was one of the seven internationally eminent persons designated in 1999 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 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).

Political careerFor more info and Liberian News Video go to http://www.liberiatube.com/

While working at Citibank, Sirleaf returned to Liberia in 1985 to run for Vice President on the ticket of the Liberian Action Party in the 1985 elections. However, Sirleaf was placed under house arrest in August of that year 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 Doe regime. Following international calls for her release, 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.

Though the elections, which saw Doe and the National Democratic Party win the presidency and large majorities in both houses, were widely condemned as neither free nor fair, Sirleaf was declared the winner of her Senate race. Sirleaf 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 1986 and secretly fled the country to the United States later that year.

President of Liberia

president of Liberia

No.	President		Took office	Left office	Party	Term (Election)	Vice President
1		Joseph Jenkins Roberts (1809–1876)	01848-01-03January 3, 1848	01856-01-07January 7, 1856	Nonpartisan	1. (1847)		Nathaniel Brander
						2. (1849)		Anthony D. Williams
						3. (1851)
						4. (1853)		Stephen Allen Benson
2		Stephen Allen Benson (1816-1865)	01856-01-07January 7, 1856	01864-01-04January 4, 1864	Nonpartisan	5. (1855)		Beverly Page Yates
						6. (1857)
						7. (1859)		Daniel Bashiel Warner
						8. (1861)
3		Daniel Bashiel Warner (1815-1880)	01864-01-04January 4, 1864	01868-01-06January 6, 1868	Republican	9. (1863)		James M. Priest
						10. (1865)
4		James Spriggs Payne (1819–1882)	01868-01-06January 6, 1868	01870-01-03January 3, 1870	Republican	11. (1867)		Joseph Gibson
5		Edward James Roye (1815-1872)	01870-01-03January 3, 1870	01871-10-26October 26, 1871	True Whig	12. (1869)		James Skivring Smith
6		James Skivring Smith (1825-1892)	01871-10-26October 26, 1871	01872-01-01January 1, 1872	True Whig		Vacant (October 26, 1871 - January 1, 1872)
7		Joseph Jenkins Roberts (1809–1876)	01872-01-01January 1, 1872	01876-01-03January 3, 1876	Republican	13. (1871)		Anthony W. Gardiner
						14. (1873)
8		James Spriggs Payne (1819–1882)	01876-01-03January 3, 1876	01878-01-07January 7, 1878	Republican	15. (1875)		Charles Harmon
9		Anthony W. Gardiner (1820-1885)	01878-01-07January 7, 1878	01883-01-20January 20, 1883	True Whig	16. (1877)		Alfred Francis Russell
						17. (1879)
						18. (1881)
10		Alfred Francis Russell (1817-1884)	01883-01-20January 20, 1883	01884-01-07January 7, 1884	True Whig		Vacant (January 20, 1883 - January 7, 1884)
11		Hilary R. W. Johnson (1837-1901)	01884-01-07January 7, 1884	01892-01-04January 4, 1892	True Whig	19. (1883)		James Thompson
						20. (1885)
						21. (1887)
						22. (1889)
12		Joseph James Cheeseman (1843-1896)	01892-01-04January 4, 1892	01896-11-12November 12, 1896	True Whig	23. (1891)		[William D. Coleman
						24. (1893)
						25. (1895)
13		William D. Coleman (1842-1908)	01896-11-12November 12, 1896	01900-12-11December 11, 1900	True Whig		Vacant (November 12, 1896 - January 3, 1898)
						26. (1897)		Joseph J. Ross
						27. (1899)
							Vacant (1900 - January 3, 1902)
14		Garretson W. Gibson (1832-1910)	01900-12-11December 11, 1900	01904-01-04January 4, 1904	True Whig
						28. (1901)		Joseph D. Summerville
15		Arthur Barclay (1854-1938)	01904-01-04January 4, 1904	01912-01-01January 1, 1912	True Whig	29. (1903)
							Vacant (July 27, 1905 - January 1, 1906)
						30. (1905)		J. J. Dossen
						31. (1907)
16		Daniel Edward Howard (1861-1935)	01912-01-01January 1, 1912	01920-01-05January 5, 1920	True Whig	32. (1911)		Samuel George Harmon
						33. (1915)
17		Charles D. B. King (1875-1961)	01920-01-05January 5, 1920	01930-12-03December 3, 1930	True Whig	34. (1919)		Samuel Alfred Ross
						35. (1923)		Henry Too Wesley
						36. (1927)		Samuel Alfred Ross
18		Edwin Barclay (1882-1955)	01930-12-03December 3, 1930	01944-01-03January 3, 1944	True Whig			James Skivring Smith, Jr.
						37. (1931)
						38. (1939)
19		William Tubman (1895-1971)	01944-01-03January 3, 1944	01971-07-23July 23, 1971	True Whig	39. (1943)		Clarence Lorenzo Simpson
						40. (1951)		William R. Tolbert, Jr.
						41. (1955)
						42. (1959)
						43. (1963)
						44. (1967)
20		William R. Tolbert, Jr. (1913-1980)	01971-07-23July 23, 1971	01980-04-12April 12, 1980	True Whig		Vacant (July 23, 1971 - April 1972)
						45. (1971)
								James Edward Greene
						46. (1975)
							Vacant (July 22, 1977 - October 31, 1977)
								Bennie Dee Warner
Vacant			01980-04-12April 12, 1980	01986-01-06January 6, 1986
21		Samuel Doe (1951–1990)	01986-01-06January 6, 1986	01990-09-09September 9, 1990	National Democratic	47. (1985)		Harry Moniba
Vacant			01990-09-09September 9, 1990	01997-08-02August 2, 1997
22		Charles Taylor (1948-)	01997-08-02August 2, 1997	02003-08-11August 11, 2003	National Patriotic	48. (1997)		Enoch Dogolea
							Vacant (June 24, 2000 - July 24, 2000)
								Moses Blah
23		Moses Blah (1947-)	02003-08-11August 11, 2003	02003-10-24October 24, 2003	National Patriotic		Vacant (August 11, 2003 - October 24, 2003)
Vacant			02003-10-24October 24, 2003	02006-01-16January 16, 2006
24

Duties of the president of Liberia

The presidency of Liberia is largely modeled on the presidency of the United States.
to see videos go to www.liberiatube.com

 Executive functions

The 1986 Constitution gives the president the power to appoint all cabinet ministers, judges, ambassadors, sheriffs, county officials and military officers with the advice and consent of the Senate. Additionally, the president has the power to dismiss all appointees from office at his or her discretion. The president may also grant pardons or revoke sentences and fines. The president conducts all matters of foreign policy, though any treaties or international agreements must be ratified by both houses of the Legislature. Furthermore, the president serves as the commander-in-chief of the Armed Forces of Liberia.
The Constitution also grants the president the power to declare a state of emergency during times of war or civil unrest and suspend civil liberties during the emergency as necessary, with the exception of habea corpus. Within seven days of the declaration, the president must state to the Legislature the reasons for the declaration, which both houses must then approve by a two-thirds majority. Otherwise, the president must repeal the state of emergency.

Legislative functions (to see video news go to www.liberiatube.com)

The president must sign all legislation passed by the House of Representatives and Senate. The president may choose to veto any legislation, which may be overturned by a two-thirds majority in both houses. Additionally, the president may exercise a pocket veto by refusing to sign legislation when the end of the twenty-day deadline for signing the bill falls during a recess of the legislature. The president may extend a legislative session past its adjournment date or call a special extraordinary session when he or she deems it necessary in the national interest.
The president delivers the oath of office to all senators and representatives following his or her own swearing in before a joint session of both houses. The president must also give an annual report to the Legislature on the state of the country.

Eligibility to be president of Liberia
To be eligible for office under the current Constitution, a presidential candidate must:

• be a natural born citizen of Liberia;
• be at least thirty-five years old;
• own real property valued at least $25,000;
• have resided in Liberia for at least ten years.

Additionally, the president may not reside in the same county as the Vice President of Liberia.

Biography of Charles Taylor

Early life

Charles McArthur Taylor was born in Arthington, a town near Monrovia liberia, on 28 January 1948 to Nelson and Bernice Taylor. He took the name 'Ghankay' later on, possibly to please and gain favor with the indigenous people. His mother was a member of the Gola ethnic group. According to most reports, his father worked as a teacher, sharecropper, lawyer and judge and was an Americo-Liberian.

visit www.liberiatube.com to see videos about charles Taylor

Government, imprisonment and escape

Taylor supported the 12 April 1980 coup led by Samuel Doe, which saw the murder of President William R. Tolbert, Jr. and seizure of power by Doe. Taylor was appointed to a high position in Doe’s government in the General Services Agency of Liberia, a position that left him in charge of purchasing for the Liberian government. However, he was sacked in May 1983 for embezzling almost $1,000,000 and sending the funds to an American bank account.
Taylor fled to the United States but was arrested on 24 May 1984 by two US Deputy Marshals in Somerville, Massachusetts, on a warrant for extradition to face charges of embezzling $922,000 of government funds intended for machinery parts. Citing a fear of assassination by Liberian agents, Taylor sought to fight extradition from the safety of jail with the help of his attorney, former US Attorney General Ramsey Clark. He was detained in a House of Corrections in Plymouth, Massachusetts.
On 15 September 1985, Taylor and four other inmates allegedly escaped from the Plymouth facility, a minimum security prison, by sawing through a bar covering a window in an unused laundry room. After dropping 12 feet to the ground by means of a knotted sheet, the five inmates climbed a fence. Shortly thereafter, Taylor and two other escapees were met at nearby Jordan Hospital by Taylor's wife, Enid, and Taylor's sister-in-law, Lucia Holmes Toweh. A getaway car was driven to Staten Island, where Taylor then disappeared. All four of Taylor's fellow escapees, as well as Enif and Toweh, were later apprehended.

Charles Taylor Liberian President

After the official end of the civil war in 1996, Taylor ran for president in the 1997 general election. He famously campaigned on the slogan "He killed my ma, he killed my pa, but I will vote for him."The elections were overseen by the United Nations' peacekeeping mission, United Nations Observer Mission in Liberia, along with a contingent from the Economic Community of West African States. Taylor won the election in a landslide, garnering 75 percent of the vote. Taylor's toughest competitor, Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, collected only 10 percent of the vote. Taylor's victory has been widely attributed to the belief that he would resume the war if he lost.  During his time in office, Taylor ran down the Armed Forces of Liberia, dismissing 2,400–2,600 former personnel, many of whom were ethnic Krahn brought in by former President Doe. In its place, he installed the Anti-Terrorist Unit, the Special Operations Division of the Liberian National Police (LNP), which he used as his own private army.
Numerous allegations were leveled at Taylor during his presidency, particularly regarding his involvement in the Sierra Leone Civil War. He was accused of aiding the rebel Revolutionary United Front (RUF) through weapon sales in exchange for blood diamonds. Due to a UN embargo against arms sales to Liberia at the time, these weapons were largely purchased on the black market through arms smugglers such as Viktor Bout. Furthermore, he was charged with aiding and abetting RUF atrocities against civilians that left many thousands dead or mutilated, with unknown numbers of people abducted and tortured. Moreover, he was accused of assisting the RUF in the recruitment of child soldiers. In addition to aiding the RUF in these acts, Taylor reportedly personally directed RUF operations in Sierra Leone.
Taylor obtained spiritual and other advice from the evangelist Kilari Anand Paul As president, he was known for his flamboyant style. Upon being charged by the UN of being a gunrunner and diamond smuggler during his presidency, he publicly appeared in all white robes and begged God for forgiveness, while at the same time denying the charges. He was also reported to have said that “Jesus Christ was accused of being a murderer in his time.

After presidency

In November 2003, the United States Congress passed a bill that included a reward offer of two million dollars for Taylor's capture. While the peace agreement had guaranteed Taylor safe exile in Nigeria, it also required that he not attempt to influence Liberian politics, a requirement that his critics claimed he disregarded. On 4 December, Interpol issued a red notice regarding Taylor, suggesting that countries had a duty to arrest him. Taylor was placed on Interpol's Most Wanted list, declaring him wanted for crimes against humanity and breaches of the 1949 Geneva Convention, and noting that he should be considered dangerous. Nigeria stated it would not submit to Interpol's demands, agreeing only to deliver Taylor to Liberia in the event that the President of Liberia requested his return.
On 17 March 2006, Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, the newly elected President of Liberia, submitted an official request to Nigeria for Taylor's extradition. This request was granted on 25 March, whereby Nigeria agreed to release Taylor to stand trial in the Special Court for Sierra Leone. Nigeria agreed only to release Taylor and not to extradite him, as no extradition treaty existed between the two countries.

Charles Taylor Verdict

go to www.liberiatube.com to see video at the time his verdict
The SCSL prosecutor originally indicted Taylor on 3 March 2003 on a 17 count indictment for war crimes and crimes against humanity committed during the conflict in Sierra Leone. On 16 March 2006, a SCSL judge gave leave to amend the indictment against Taylor. Under the amended indictment, Taylor was charged with 11 counts. At Taylor's initial appearance before the court on 3 April 2006, he entered a plea of not guilty.
In early June 2006, the decision on whether to hold Taylor's trial in Freetown or in The Hague had not yet been made by the new SCSL president, George Gelaga King. King's predecessor had pushed for the trial to be held abroad because of fear that a local trial would be politically destabilizing in an area where Taylor still had influence. The Appeals Chamber of the Special Court dismissed a motion by Taylor's defense team, who argued that their client could not get a fair trial there and also wanted the Special Court to withdraw the request to move the trial to The Hague.
On 15 June 2006, the British government agreed to jail Taylor in the United Kingdom in the event that he is convicted by the SCSL. This fulfilled a condition laid down by the Dutch government, who had stated they were willing to host the trial but would not jail him if convicted. British Foreign Minister Margaret Beckett stated that new legislation would be required to accommodate this arrangement. While awaiting his extradition to the Netherlands, Taylor was held in a UN jail in Freetown.
On 16 June 2006, the United Nations Security Council agreed unanimously to allow Taylor to be sent to The Hague for trial; on 20 June 2006, Taylor was extradited and flown to Rotterdam Airport in the Netherlands. He was taken into custody and held in the detention centre of the International Criminal Court, located in the Scheveningen section of The Hague. The Association for the Legal Defense of Charles G. Taylor was established in June 2006 to assist in his legal defense.
When Taylor's trial opened 4 June 2007, Taylor boycotted the proceeding and was not present. Through a letter which was read by his attorney to the court, he justified his absence by alleging that at that moment he was not ensured a fair and impartial trial.
On 20 August 2007, Taylor's defense now led by Courtenay Griffiths obtained a postponement of the trial until 7 January 2008. During the trial, the chief prosecutor alleged that a key insider witness who testified against Taylor went into hiding after being threatened for giving evidence against Taylor. Furthermore, Joseph "Zigzag" Marzah, a former military commander, testified that Charles Taylor celebrated his new-found status during the civil war by ordering human sacrifice, including the killings of Taylor's opponents and allies that were perceived to have betrayed Taylor, and by having a pregnant woman buried alive in sand.Marzah also accused Taylor of forcing cannibalism on his soldiers in order to terrorize their enemies.
In January 2009, the prosecution finished presenting its evidence against Taylor and closed its case on 27 February 2009. On 4 May 2009, a defense motion for a judgment on acquittal was dismissed, and arguments for Taylor's defense began in July 2009. Taylor testified in his own defense from July through November 2009. The defense rested its case on 12 November 2010, with closing arguments set for early February 2011.
On 8 February 2011, the trial court ruled in a 2–1 decision that it would not accept Taylor's trial summary, as the summary had not been submitted by 14 January deadline. In response, Taylor and his counsel boycotted the trial and refused an order by the court to begin closing arguments. This boycott came soon after the 2010 leak of American diplomatic cables by WikiLeaks, in which the United States discussed the possibility of extraditing Taylor for prosecution in the United States in the event of his acquittal by the SCSL. Taylor's counsel cited the leaked cable and the court's decision as evidence of an international conspiracy against Taylor.
On 3 March, the appeals court of the SCSL overturned the trial court's decision, ruling that as the trial court had not established that Taylor had been counseled by the court and personally indicated his intent to waive his right to a trial summary, Taylor's due process rights would be violated by preventing him from submitting a trial summary. The appeals court ordered the trial court to accept the summary and set a date for the beginning of closing arguments. On 11 March, the closing arguments ended and it was announced that the court would begin the process to reach a verdict.

The verdict was announced in The Hague on 26 April 2012. The SCSL unanimously ruled that he was guilty of all 11 counts of aiding and abetting war crimes and crimes against humanity. Sentencing hearings would commence on 3 May and be announced on 30 May. Taylor was indicted on the 11 charges: visit www.liberiatube.com to see news videos of his verdict

Count	Crime	Type*	Ruling
Terrorising the civilian population and collective punishments
1	Acts of terrorism	WC	Guilty
Unlawful killings
2	Murder	CAH	Guilty
3	Violence to life, health and physical or mental well-being of persons, in particular murder	WC	Guilty
Sexual violence
4	Rape	CAH	Guilty
5	Sexual slavery and any other form of sexual violence	CAH	Guilty
6	Outrages upon personal dignity	WC	Guilty
Physical violence
7	Violence to life, health and physical or mental well-being of persons, in particular cruel treatment	WC	Guilty
8	Other inhumane acts	CAH	Guilty
Use of child soldiers
9	Conscripting or enlisting children under the age of 15 years into armed forces or groups, or using them to participate actively in hostilities	VIHL	Guilty
Abductions and forced labor
10	Enslavement	CAH	Guilty
Looting
11	Pillage	WC	Guilty

Liberia News
 
There are plenty of Liberian news websites in Liberia and outside Liberia. Among them liberiatube.com is a news video sharing websites for Liberians in Liberia and abroad. It has news videos from all over the world about Liberians, music, sports, films and entertainment.
 
www.liberiatube.com (recommended)
Liberian news video sharing website
1847 Post, The
Current events, business and lifestyle from Liberia and Africa.
AllAfrica.com - Liberia
Regular news reports on Liberia from various sources.
Analyst, The
Analytical newspaper aiming to identify the problems of society and to set the pace for positive change by sensitizing policymakers and the public.
BBC Country Profile: Liberia
Features news, country overview, key facts and events, timelines and leader profiles.
Cocorioko
USA-based newspaper providing analyses of Siera Leone and Liberian news.
Front Page Africa
Newspaper providing Liberian political, social, business, sport and lifestyle news on a daily basis.
In Profile Daily
Daily newspaper.
Inquirer
Major daily.
Heritage
Weekly newspaper.
IRIN News - Liberia
Regular news on relief, social, economic and political affairs in Liberia by UN Integrated Regional Information Network (IRIN).
Liberian Broadcasting System
State broadcaster. Site offers daily news and features.
Liberian Connection
US-based news portal. Provides info on travel documents and visas.
Liberian Dialogue
Non-partisan, issue-oriented online magazine.
Liberian Forum
Contains a vast array of information, news, and more on Liberia.
Liberian Journal
Journal of Liberians across the Diaspora - emphasizing their contributions to communities, organizations, and to the world at large.
Liberian Observer
Major independent daily.
News Pinnacle, The
News source for the Mano River Union States (Liberia, Guinea, Sierra Leone and Ivory Coast).
Online Liberia
Daily political, social and business news, discussions and videos.
Perspective
US-based news magazine from the Liberian Democratic Future (LDF).
Sea Breeze
Journal of contemporary Liberian writings.http://www.liberiatube.com/