Liberia's Johnson-Sirleaf awaits inauguration

Jan 16, 2012, 9:23 GMT

Monrovia - Liberia's Nobel-winning president, Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf, is to be inaugurated Monday morning at a ceremony in the capital, Monrovia.

Johnson-Sirleaf, Africa's first elected female leader, won a second term in office in November, scooping more than 90 per cent of the vote after the main opposition Congress for Democratic Change (CDC) dropped out, citing 'voting irregularities.'

International observers said the poll was largely free and fair.

Monday's ceremony, which is reported to have cost the cash-strapped government 1.2 million dollars, is to be held at the city's Capitol building, a replica of that in Washington.

About 15 heads of state, including those from Senegal and Mali, are on the guest list. US Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton, is also due to attend.

Clinton, who is on a whistle-stop two-day tour of West Africa, will cut the ribbon of a new US embassy in Monrovia after attending the inauguration ceremony. She will then visit Cote d'Ivoire, Togo and Cape Verde.

Inauguration activities began in Monrovia on Sunday, with a women's rights forum at the city's main stadium. Johnson-Sirleaf and peace activist Leymah Gbowee were awarded Nobel prizes in October for peace-building and women's rights activism.

The programme is set to continue until Monday night, when four inauguration balls will be held around the capital.

UN peacekeepers and riot police were deployed on the streets Monday morning after the opposition CDC said it might protest the inauguration. The main thoroughfare between the airport and city was closed, in order to allow high-profile inauguration guests to travel to the ceremony.