By JERUSALEM POST STAFF
Election officials on Wednesday confirmed Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf as the winner in Liberia's first postwar elections, making her Africa's first elected female president.
Supporters cheered Johnson-Sirleaf as her motorcade toured the battle-shattered capital, Monrovia, a once-tidy city whose government-supplied electricity, water and sewage systems failed during years of strife that killed tens of thousands.
"I'm excited but I am also humbled by the awesome challenges that we will be facing," Johnson-Sirleaf, 67, told UN radio. "I am thankful to the Liberian people."
The final, certified results showed Johnson-Sirleaf besting her rival, soccer superstar George Weah, 59.4 percent to 40.6 percent in the Nov. 8 run off election, National Elections Commission Chairwoman Frances Johnson-Morris said.