Liberia’s New President

ELLEN JOHNSON-SIRLEAF:

I want your commitment, your commitment to work, your commitment to peace, let me here it.

SUE TURTON:

Liberia's new president pulling her youth into line. It's the weekend before the electoral commission announces that the woman has been elected to govern African country, a huge breakthrough for women's standing in society here.

Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf has come to the village of Kroma, north of Monrovia to pay her respects at the graves of her father and grandfather — and to check the money she's provided has been invested wisely. She may have secured the presidency but she still has to win over those who voted for the man who nearly beat her, the former footballer George Weah. Weah's supporters are angry, the demonstrations earlier this month, a violent reaction to him being so far ahead in the first round of voting, and to his claims that the ballot was rigged.

A temporary government ban on street demonstrations have quieted things down over the past week. The test will come this Friday when it's lifted.

In spite of being polar opposite to the old political hand, Weah appealing to the youth with his unblemished record, she is considering offering him a job, possibly as sports minister.

ELLEN JOHNSON-SIRLEAF:

What I did was to give him an olive branch and I responded to questions, you know, where will you put him, and I said, well, you know, that is a possibility; obviously it depends upon what Mr. Weah, himself, wants.

SUE TURTON:

Two hundred thousand people died during the 14 years of civil war here that had children killing children. It destabilized the whole West African region and left deep divisions amongst its people. Liberia became a byword for anarchy in Africa. The peace right now is only down to the presence of 15,000 U.N. soldiers.

If Mrs. Johnson-Sirleaf is to build a new order here, she must sort out the basics and fast. With one of the highest illiteracy rates in the world, no main electricity and an infrastructure in meltdown, she needs to convince the international community that it is a country safe to invest in.

ELLEN JOHNSON-SIRLEAF:

We move quickly because the expectations will be high.

SUE TURTON:

She is the first woman president to join the big boys club: The African Union of Leaders, sitting around the table with men like Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe, and Col. Gaddafi of Libya.

But it is the leaders of the neighboring nations here in West Africa that she's most got to convince that she is no pushover and Liberia will not be manipulated.

SUE TURTON:

Are there individuals that will be tougher to deal with than others?

ELLEN JOHNSON-SIRLEAF:

Definitely, we still have world leaders, African leaders in keeping with their religion, do not think, you know, that men should be leaders over men, rulers over men.

SUE TURTON:

You are thinking of —

ELLEN JOHNSON-SIRLEAF:

Well, I think we have many Islamic states that they have a little bit anxiety about, you know, what a woman brings to this. Should she really be among us?

SUE TURTON:

Mrs. Johnson-Sirleaf's back garden turned in a camp for U.N. Special Forces, she needs round-the-clock protection if she is to stay alive to deliver what she promised.

ELLEN JOHNSON-SIRLEAF:

The next six years will probably be the hardest along this long road, I believe, present included, I think. But I asked for it, I fought for it. I've been to prison it. Liberians will find it right. Now you have it. Get on with the job, you know.

MARGARET WARNER:

Liberia's new president takes office in January.