November 23rd

On this day - 23th November 2005 - The first female president elected in Africa

Ellen Johnson Sirleat was declared the winner of the presidential election in Liberia on the 23th of November 2005. This made her the first female to be elected as president in any African country. She was inaugurated on the 16^th of January 2006. Sirleat had been involved in politics long before she won the election. She had worked as the financial minister of Liberia from 1997 to 1980 and she placed second the president election in 1997. In 2005 won she the election and she became the 24^th president of Liberia. In 2011 she won the Nobel peace award jointly with Gbowee from Liberia and Karman from Yemen for their non-violent struggle for women’s rights. She also won the re-election for the role as president in 2011, a positions she still holds.