Liberian President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf says the upcoming presidential and legislative elections will mark the first peaceful, democratic handover of a head of state to a successor since 1944, signaling an irreversible course for the post-war nation she has ruled for the past twelve years.
Said President Sirleaf: “The election will signal the irreversible course that Liberia has embarked upon to sustain its peace and consolidate its young democracy. Indeed, the march of democracy is unstoppable, in Liberia and on the African continent.”
“The election will signal the irreversible course that Liberia has embarked upon to sustain its peace and consolidate its young democracy. Indeed, the march of democracy is unstoppable, in Liberia and on the African continent” – President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf
Speaking at the U.S. Institute of Peace, the International Republican Institute, the International Foundation for Electoral Systems, the National Democratic Institute, and the National Endowment for Democracy Monday, the President paid homage to US support for Liberia under her administration, in aiding struggles such as the country’s transition from civil war and the 2014 Ebola epidemic.
Liberia is scheduled to hold elections on October 10, paving the way for President Sirleaf to step down in January, after serving two six-year terms in office.
She will visit Washington this month as she travels to New York for the annual opening of the United Nations General Assembly.
Monday’s program was hosted by Senator Chris Coons (D-DE) with the participation of Representative Ed Royce (R-CA) Chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee.
“It is your organizations that have helped to build our democratic character and institutions, and I hope that many of you will be with us next month to witness our historic political transition,” the President said.
President Sirleaf said Liberia’s transformation was powered by a world community that made a shared commitment to deliver peace to a country and a sub-region beset by civil conflict and cross border destabilization.
The UN and its partner nations were of one mind, and from that global unity, a new Liberian democratic state was born.
Nevertheless she added, it was the United States of America, through the leadership of the United States Congress, bipartisan, and bicameral, and with the support of successive US administrations, that guided the international effort.
“If I could, I would walk door-to-door, to all 535 Congressional offices, to say thank you. But I cannot. I have run out of time, and I am mindful of my age. So this speech, kindly my dear friends, will have to do.”
President Sirleaf said when she took office on January 26, 2006, Liberia was a failed state where citizens suffered under the total collapse of services and physical infrastructure.
“The streetlights and the water pipes in Monrovia were stripped bare, robbed for their raw materials, and our roads were impassable.”
Over time she said, her administration managed to rebuild.
“We brought Liberia back into the community of nations, reactivated relationships with the Bretton Woods’ institutions, and renegotiated relief from a $4.7 billion debt burden. We returned fiscal discipline to government, rationalized our bureaucracy, and put in place new laws and regulations that helped open the economy to foreign direct investment.”
Pres. Sirleaf said her administration returned children to school, started to re-build our healthcare infrastructure, focusing on maternal and child health and welfare.
“We established mechanisms to coordinate the generous assistance from NGOs and private donors"
". We reformed our civil service, improving a system that was overburdened and under resourced, and invested in the next generation of leaders. We innovated in education, capacity building, public-private partnerships, and regional integration.”
She recalled a major setback for her administration in 2014, when Liberia was struck by a terrifying virus, an unseen enemy more fearsome than war.
“Over four thousand Liberians lost their lives. Thousands of children were orphaned. Livelihoods were destroyed. Our healthcare infrastructure collapsed.
"Concurrently, global commodity prices declined sharply. These twin shocks knocked us off our feet. Our growth rate, which had reached 8.7% in 2013, plummeted to zero.”
The President added that Liberians are a strong and resilient people and the nation’s recovery is on course.
“The economic growth rate is now at 3% and climbing. Some 1.5 million children are in school, and new programs have been put in place to accelerate quality education.
The lights are coming back on. Electricity has reached several communities in the capital city, and is being expanded to rural areas. A record 872 kilometers of roads have been paved, improving farmers’ access to markets."
"Our healthcare system is being rebuilt, focusing on training community healthcare workers. Young people, powered by new technology, are embracing a culture of entrepreneurship.”
She said her administration has left its mark.
“We have maintained the peace. We have built a foundation for democracy, economic development, and the rule of law. We have given a voice and hope to the market women, the girl child, and to civil society. The next president will inherit an empowered people. Africa now knows what a women president can do.”
She paid homage to US Ambassadors, Don Booth, Linda Thomas Greenfield, Deborah Malac and Christine Elder who played major roles in helping with the transformation of Liberia.
She said the US has been heavily involved in supporting the rebuilding of the Armed Forces of Liberia (AFL), the training of police, of immigration and coast guard. You provided technical assistance to strengthen our rule of law, and the integrity institutions to fight corruption.
“You supported education and capacity building, and invested in healthcare delivery and sustainable agriculture practices. You helped us to rebuild our infrastructure. And you returned the US Peace Corps to Liberia.”
The Liberian leader also recalled the October 5th, 2015, signing of the bilateral relationship between Liberia and the US that led to the signing of a compact with the US Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC).
“It is through the MCC, in collaboration with other development partners, that the Mt. Coffee Hydro-Electric Power Plant came alive, a facility that was dormant for over a decade. It was the US Congress, with your “power of the purse,” which singled Liberia out to be one of the largest recipients per capita of foreign assistance on the African continent.”
The President trumpeted the role President George W. Bush played in ending the carnage in Liberia.
“It was President George W. Bush who in August 2003, told the world, “Enough is enough” and demanded that war lord Charles Taylor leave Liberia, so peace could be reclaimed. He sent in the United States Marines to support an African peacekeeping force to stop the killing. He enabled the peace and created the space for democracy. It was in this opening which permitted my candidacy and, ultimately, my presidency.”
The President also paid homage to the leadership in the Congress of Chairman Ed Royce and his senior staff, Tom Sheehy and US President Barack Obama, who, at the height of the Ebola outbreak in September 2014 took the bold decision, in the face of fierce domestic opposition, to deploy the men and women of the United States military to build a logistical bridge which helped Liberia to fight and contain the disease.
“With the support of the international community, brave healthcare workers, and resilient Liberian communities our global health security was protected.”
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