“I will respect the constitutional term limits”

President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf has expressed her commitment to respecting Liberia’s Presidential two-term limits, as constitutionally required. “I will respect the constitutional term limits,” she said.

According to a dispatch from New York Wednesday, 21 September President Sirleaf made the assertion on Tuesday evening, September 20, when she opened the 2016 Annual Gala Awards of the African-American Institute (AAI) in New York City, the United States.

The Liberian leader also reflected on the history and interventions of Chevron in Liberia, describing the company as a true partner that has executed over 80 social development projects here for the people.

The President announced that Chevron in partnership with USAID has agreed to construct and equip Liberia’s first infectious disease center at the John F. Kennedy Medical Center in memory of Drs. Samuel Brisbane and Abraham Borbor, who both died during the Ebola crisis in the country.

“Ali Moshiri and Chevron are indeed Liberia’s dependable partners,” she pointed out, adding, “He has provided the leadership that is impacting development and progress in Africa.” “When others left Liberia during the Ebola crisis, Chevron remained with us and showed us a true example of public-private partnership in fighting Ebola and providing for the people,” President Sirleaf acknowledged.

As the continent’s first democratically elected female President, she urged all women on the African continent to rise up and take their rightful place.  Presenting the award to the President of Chevron Africa and Latin America Exploration and Production Company, Mr. Ali Moshiri, she recognized the team and the organizers of the 2016 AAI Annual Awards for the wonderful work and organization of the event.

In a related development, President Sirleaf joined former Malawian President Joyce Banda as panelists at the Concordia 2016 Summit, speaking to empowering women political leaders in Africa. They noted that some level of progress has been made in empowering women, but the progress is not enough and women are not there yet.

Former President Banda shared her personal experience about the treatment she has received since she turned over the presidency to her successor. She particularly called on women political actors to learn to set goals, plan properly, build self-confidence, and stay the course.

She acknowledged that men have come a long way, stressing that it is important to keep men as a part of the dialogue on women’s empowerment issues. “I believe that the world has changed on gender issues and that people are judged by what they can do and not the gender they belong to,” the ex-Malawian leader noted. Dispatch