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By Gabriel Gworlekaju

Yes! everyone is awakened with the dawning of a new day in Africa's oldest independent republic, and it does not come any better and any sooner when the world can see the newest face of political consciousness emerging from within the "dark continent" as the beacon of hope, aspiration, and perseverance.

In this case, it is a 67-year old grandmother of six, mother of four, a well-educated and experienced international banker and economist, advocate of political, social, economic and academic freedom, as well as a victim of repressive, brutal and barbaric leaderships. Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf is now making history as the first democratically elected leader of an African nation - more so, the oldest independent republic of them all.

Comes next January, she will be taking over a country that has been at war with itself for more than a decade and a half - a war that has left the country bleeding profusely. The nation is shattered and its people left completely cursed and demoralized. Basic services are no where to be found, infrastructure destroyed and natural resources depleted. Mrs. Johnson-Sirleaf will take over the leadership of a country in which there still exist men and women who mercilessly and greedily put the country in ruins; men and women who cold-heartedly murdered their very own brothers and sisters; men and women who purposely and willfully extracted and extorted the country's resources to satisfy their disdained and barbaric campaigns. She will also be taking over a country in which people are sick and tired of the hatred, greed and lust for power.

But not only that, she will be expected to lead a new political order characterized by those democratic values peace loving people have always yearned for the world over. It is going to be her duty and responsibility to lead. So then, the question is asked: "Who really is Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf and what does she really have to offer"?

All throughout the 2005 campaign, a lot was said about Ellen's share of calculating events which led to the destruction of the country thus making it doubtful to some Liberians that she was the best person to take on the enormous task of reconstruction, reconciliation and rehabilitation. They believe she was a strong preponderant of the civil war and could not be the person to turn things around. They also believe she is guilty as equally as those who took up arms against the nation. Her opponents even attributed to comments she made in the past that would seem to suggest her complete and absolute disregard for the total destruction of human life and property. Of course, those allegations were troubling to voters, and they even put Ellen at risk of losing the election. What really put her through was perseverance, courage, determination and the will to make things happen. In the middle of the campaign, Ellen admitted her mistakes to the Liberian people, and asked for their votes to enable her turn things around. She seemed to be very determined to make amends - very anxious to deliver the best and not the worst.

With the showing in the October 11 poll in which Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf came second to soccer icon George Weah, followed by the November 23rd announcement by the National Elections Commission declaring her winner of the election and president-elect of the republic, we can now say amongst all Liberian politicians who have been incredibly discredited by the masses of the Liberian people, Madam Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf has come up on top. She has been vindicated by the Liberian people - like the biblical phrase: "go and sin no more". Ellen knows she could have lost the election. She knows and understands the Liberian people's true emotions and dislike of the political elite. Regardless of how much education they have, they are generally believed to have taken the nation in the wrong direction, not only by fueling the civil war, but also by running failed and corrupt governments. She knows that her credibility was tinted because of her past involvement with the war machines and their elements. Yet, the Liberian people voted her into office as their new leader. That's what happens to a born again politician. You get vindicated from your past and given the chance to serve again. Those who have yet to realize their dirty past and transgression against the people, will spent many days, months, years protesting and contesting. They will continue to fall short of what it takes to be born again. Remember! courage, determination and the will to make things happen. They should be included in the rehabilitation process, and maybe - just maybe, some one will be born again.

But if the 67 year-old grandmother who supported and funded a Liberian civil war and admitted making reckless comments during such war, in total disregard for human life, can, after all, be elected with nearly 60 percent of the vote, she can certainly be seen as a born again Liberian politician; a born again politician who has been given another chance to be a great Liberian leader.  She has now emerged as the finest and fairest of them all; a  politician who is now expected to spearhead social change the nation so dearly needs. She will be expected to change the lives of war weary and war fashioned youths, keep corrupt elements out of the government, stop those who may still try to resist the change, give hope to generations in waiting, welcome those who still have love for country, help the helpless and work with the honest and dutiful. She will be changing the minds of the youths from war to peace and education, changing despair to hope, from greed to honesty and from desperation to inspiration.

This now gives us the chance to turn to the good, and not the bad of Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf. What is she bringing with her to the new job? Education and past experiences:   Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf served in the government of the late William R. Tolbert, Jr. as Finance Minister from 1976 to 1980, but resigned from the government because of her disagreement with Tolbert over public spending. Mrs. Sirleaf also served in the United Nations as Director of the UNDP regional bureau for Africa, a position which, in the UN, is on same rank with an assistant Secretary General. She served from 1992 to 1997. Other past international positions:
Vice President of the Africa Regional office of Citibank in Nairobi, Kenya
Vice President and member of the Executive Board of Equator Bank in Washington D.C.

Liberia's President-elect is a 1971 graduate of Harvard University, one of the world's prestigious universities, where she earned a Masters Degree in Public Administration. She earned Bachelors in economics from Colorado University in the mid 60s.

Liberians should now see that their country needs Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf more than ever before. She has served her country and the world in very important capacities. It couldn't get any sooner for her to come home and give to her country - not Nairobi - not Washington D.C. - not in Sudan or in Bosnia or in some place else in Europe. The new politician and new president will seek ways to get funding, be it in grant, loan or charity, to reconstruct the country. This new politician and new president will reach out for help from individuals and countries she is all familiar with. Financial transactions abroad will not be a strange task, but rather a familiar terrain in which she will use all her skill and knowledge to get the best results - results that will not put the nation in future trouble, be it financial or political. This new president and new politician does need the full support of her people including the few good technocrats if there is any honest one available.

It will require not just Ellen, but every Liberian to turn over  new leaf with new attitude towards the love for country and the will to fetch out the good, not the bad that has come out of 15 years of civil war.