After 14 years of conflict, Liberia finally had peace. Then came the job of putting the country back together.
In 2005, Ellen Johnson Sirleaf defeated George Weah to become Liberia’s first post-war president – and Africa’s first elected female head of state.
For Aaron, this was the first election in which he voted, and the beginning of his own professional life working on Liberia’s post-war reconstruction.
We talk about the excitement surrounding Ellen’s election; the international reputation she brought to the presidency; her ability to speak to Liberians in both formal speeches and Liberian English; and the promise that there would be “no business as usual”.
We also look at what happened once the expectations of 2005 met the reality of governing a country emerging from war.
What did Ellen actually rebuild? Why did some Liberians feel that 12 years should have produced more? And how much of the stability Liberia has enjoyed since the war can be traced back to those first post-war years?
Aaron also remembers seeing the newly elected Ellen on the streets of Monrovia – and Gerry remembers a rather different assessment of her presidency from a Liberian colleague, involving a road that she failed to build.
And we begin to reach the issue that leads into our next episode: Ellen Johnson Sirleaf’s difficult relationship with Liberia’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission.
Liberia: Remembering the Future — the conversation shaping the understanding of Liberia’s history.
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