Thousands of women from all over the continent travelled to celebrate not only the inauguration on Monday of Liberia’s 23rd president, but also, more importantly, to witness the installation of Africa’s first-ever elected female leader, Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf.
Johnson-Sirleaf’s inauguration ends a two-year transitional period that saw an interim government led by Gyude Bryant take over in October 2003 after former president Charles Taylor was forced into exile in neighbouring Nigeria in August of the same year.
The 67-year-old economist and former top United Nations official defeated former football star George Weah in a surprisingly orderly and peaceful election campaign last November to win the presidency in a country that is only starting to emerge from 15 years of a brutal civil war that left the mineral-rich nation’s economy in tatters.
But the ranks of the more than 85% of Liberians who are unemployed have now also been swollen by thousands of former combatants, many of them illiterate children who have committed atrocities against their own villagers.
While Liberians are impatient for quick and visible changes to their daily lives, reintegrating the indisciplined former fighters back into their traumatised society remains a hard but necessary task for the new government.
Expected to announce her Cabinet later this week, Johnson-Sirleaf is almost certain to include former warlords to help her negotiate the dismantling of the remaining militias. It will take all her formidable political experience to stop the plunder of the country’s mineral resources, a process that is believed to be led by former rebels turned politicians.
Donors will also want assurance that the new president will curb rampant government corruption in order to disburse crucial aid to help Liberia rebuild basic services where electricity, running water and hospitals remain a luxury.
Yet despite the immense task ahead, the atmosphere in Monrovia on Monday was festive and the main street newly spruced up by former combatants paid $10 a day for their efforts to welcome a host of international dignitaries.
No less than five African presidents and UN Deputy Secretary General Louise Frechette were present at the inauguration ceremony. United States First Lady Laura Bush and US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice were also among the many high-level visitors in Monrovia.
Security was tight, with US Secret Service officers protecting the US delegation and Johnson-Sirleaf being driven around and guarded by US marines.
Two American warships were deployed off the Liberian coast in an impressive show of strength by the historical ally of Africa’s first independent nation.
Analysts say apart from the many expectations of Johnson-Sirleaf’s new and as-yet-untested government, Liberians also expect concrete and enduring assistance from the US to keep the fragile peace in Liberia, on which many states in the West African sub-region rely for their own stability.
A clear change of guard was under way on Monday as the pounding of drums replaced the traditional 21-gun salute during the open-air inauguration ceremony. Liberians dearly hope they never have to hear the sounds of gunfire in their country again. — Sapa-dpa