Liberians weigh Sirleaf’s Nobel prize win ahead of key election

Liberians yesterday weighed the potential impact of President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf’s Nobel Peace Prize victory, which has been slammed as an unfair boost just three days before she seeks re-election.

Campaigning, due to wrap up today, infected the capital Monrovia, as small groups of supporters chasing trucks blaring music or handing out T-shirts took to the streets between thunder and bursts of rain from heavy black clouds.

Last Friday, some 200,000 supporters of the main opposition Congress for Democratic Change (CDC) brought the city to a standstill, with leader Winston Tubman, 70, urging them not to be swayed by his rival’s Peace Prize win.

“Now, many of you don’t know the significance of this prestigious award of honour but we can see nothing in the record about Ellen Sirleaf that tells us that she has been promoting peace,” the Harvard-trained lawyer told the crowd.

Opposition parties have used the prize to shine the light on some of the more controversial aspects of Sirleaf’s career, as she briefly supported warlord-turned-president Charles Taylor when he ousted dictator Samuel Doe.

She has defended her actions, saying she became a fierce opponent as soon as the atrocities of Taylor’s war became apparent, but the stain on her reputation has been seized upon by angry opposition parties.

“What we know of her is that she brought war and that having now taken power, she hasn’t brought unity...”

Tubman’s crowd-pleasing running partner, football star George Weah, added: “Is it a Nobel Peace Prize for corruption? Whether or not a Nobel Peace Prize, on October 11, she is going to leave.”

Liberians seem to be wondering whether the prestigious prize so close to the country’s closely watched second post-war polls was merited.

“The Nobel Peace Prize is timely, it is worth mentioning this is Africa’s first female leader, who has struggled, who has gone to jail, who has been an advocate for women’s rights,” said 55-year-old retiree Bob James.