Thousands of Liberians on Monday lined the road from airport to the seaside capital, Monrovia, to welcome their leader back from a donors’ conference where she secured a massive debt-relief deal.
Villagers and residents of small towns along the 50km road from Roberts International Airport came out to praise President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf for a “job well done” as her convoy drove past.
“We have come here to welcome our president who went to America to do a very good job for our country,” said 46-year-old villager Elizabeth Bartuah, singing with others near the airport, south-east of Monrovia.
“She has succeeded in getting cancellation of part of our debt, something that is very important for the economy of our country,” she said.
On arrival from a week-long donor conference trip in the United States, a traditional ally which, along with Germany, cancelled more than $600-million in bilateral debt, Johnson-Sirleaf said: “I can assure you, my fellow Liberians, that our country is back on course.”
The US last Tuesday scrapped all of Liberia’s outstanding bilateral debt of $391-million to help the West African nation recover from a devastating 1989 to 2003 civil war.
A day later Germany announced that it would forgive Monrovia’s $230-million debt to Berlin.
Liberia reels under a $3,7-billionr debt run up under previous leaders, chief among them ex-warlord Charles Taylor, who is now on trial for war crimes at the United Nations-backed court sitting at The Hague.
The debt burden comes to 800% of its meagre economic output.
The diamond-rich country went through a savage 14-year civil war that killed an estimated 270Â 000 people and devastated its infrastructure until Taylor went into exile in 2003. — AFP