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Article: Liberia's 'Iron Lady': Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf is Africa's first elected female Head of State.
- Article from:
- Current Events, a Weekly Reader publication
- Article date:
- December 16, 2005
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2005 Weekly Reader Corp. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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MONROVIA, Liberia -- As they lined up to cast their ballots, excited women chanted and waved signs that read "Ellen--she's our man." Liberian women came out in throngs to vote for a 67-year-old grandmother running for president of the African nation. And it paid off. At press time, Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf had won almost 60 percent of the vote to become the first elected female head of state on the continent of Africa.
In the runoff election held November 8, Johnson-Sirleaf even beat out Liberia's most famous citizen, George Weah, a millionaire former soccer star. Weah, who got 40 percent of the vote, contested the election results, claiming that the election was ...