African countries should guard democracy: Liberian President

AFRICAN states should guard the democratic processes in their countries and regions, because if they went in the wrong direction, the region would be affected, visiting Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf said in Parliament yesterday.

“The experience of civil wars in Liberia, my country, tells that hardships endured in one country cross borders, threaten peace and will spread into the relevant region,” President Johnson Sirleaf told a joint session of the National Assembly and the National Council yesterday. “We must be cognisant of the region we find ourselves in and especially of our neighbours,” she emphasised.”Unfortunately recent developments in a few African countries have not been very good; they reversed the processes of democratisation,” she said, without naming any country.”National policies must take into account what happens in other countries and regions.”Johnson Sirleaf, who is Africa’s first female head of state, gave an account of what her government had accomplished in the two and a half years since the December 2005 elections, which brought an end to 15 years of civil war.The rehabilitation of destroyed infrastructure, rural schools and health facilities had progressed, rule of law was prevailing, the economy was getting back on track and a truth and reconciliation commission was operational, she said.The Speaker of the National Assembly, Theo- Ben Gurirab, hailed Africa’s first woman president as ‘Mother Africa’.According to Johnson Sirleaf, it is “time that strong African women take their rightful place” in decision-making processes.The Liberian head of state returned to her country yesterday afternoon after a three-day state visit, which also took her to Walvis Bay, where she toured the harbour and viewed a fishing factory.”We must be cognisant of the region we find ourselves in and especially of our neighbours,” she emphasised.”Unfortunately recent developments in a few African countries have not been very good; they reversed the processes of democratisation,” she said, without naming any country.”National policies must take into account what happens in other countries and regions.”Johnson Sirleaf, who is Africa’s first female head of state, gave an account of what her government had accomplished in the two and a half years since the December 2005 elections, which brought an end to 15 years of civil war.The rehabilitation of destroyed infrastructure, rural schools and health facilities had progressed, rule of law was prevailing, the economy was getting back on track and a truth and reconciliation commission was operational, she said.The Speaker of the National Assembly, Theo- Ben Gurirab, hailed Africa’s first woman president as ‘Mother Africa’.According to Johnson Sirleaf, it is “time that strong African women take their rightful place” in decision-making processes.The Liberian head of state returned to her country yesterday afternoon after a three-day state visit, which also took her to Walvis Bay, where she toured the harbour and viewed a fishing factory.