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Liberia's Premier Iron Lady -- Ellen Johnson Sirleaf
worldpress.org, January 18, 2006 by Roland Bankole Marke
Liberians went to the polls in October 2005 to let off political steam that had been building since the dawn of the presidential campaign in that war-torn nation. In a highly contested election between Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, an erudite politician who adopted the popular moniker "The Iron Lady," and George Weah, a world soccer star turned politician, Sirleaf triumphed.
Weah led in the polls initially, but fell short of the 51 percent needed to win the election, necessitating a runoff election a month later. In the runoff, Sirleaf won a 60 percent majority to secure for herself a place in the Guinness Book of World Records as the first female president in Africa.
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