African leaders hail Liberia's female president

African leaders today hailed the election of the continent’s first-ever female president, calling the victory of Liberia’s Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf a watershed for African women.

Johnson-Sirleaf’s victory in Liberia’s first post-war vote, confirmed yesterday, “is indeed a victory not only for Liberian women in particular, but also represents a beacon of hope for women in Africa and the world in general.

It most eloquently makes the unequivocal statement that, indeed, a new dawn has arrived for African women,” South Africa’s President Thabo Mbeki said in a statement.

Johnson-Sirleaf’s election “signals a new dawn in the geopolitics not only in our subregion but also on the African continent as a whole,” said the government of Sierra Leone.

The final, certified results of the November 8 runoff showed Johnson-Sirleaf, 67, beating her rival, soccer superstar George Weah, 59.4 per cent to 40.6 per cent, said National Elections Commission Chairwoman Frances Johnson-Morris.