The Unity Party (UP) is a political party in Liberia that was started in 1984 by Edward B. Kesselly, also its first standard bearer. Officially founded in Buchanan, Grand Bassa County, the party was established on 27 July 1985. The Unity Party participated in the first elections after the 1980 coup, running against President Samuel Doe in October 1985. The party has remained active in Liberian politics since and is the current ruling party following the 2023 Liberian general election.
Ellen Johnson Sirleaf is a Liberian politician who served as the 24th president of Liberia from 2006 to 2018. Sirleaf was the first elected female head of state in Africa.
Charles Walker Brumskine was a Liberian politician and attorney. He was the leader of the Liberty Party and came third in the 2005 presidential election. He challenged incumbent Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf for the Presidency in 2011. He was also the senior partner of Brumskine & Associates, a leading Liberian law firm.
Joseph Nyumah Boakai is a Liberian politician who is the 26th and current president of Liberia. He previously served as the 29th vice president of Liberia from 2006 to 2018, under President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf and as the minister of agriculture from 1983 to 1985. Boakai ran for president in 2017, losing the election to George Weah. He went on to defeat Weah in the 2023 election.
Dr. Harry Fumba Moniba was a politician from Liberia. He was the 26th vice president of Liberia from 1984 to September 1990, under the banner of the National Democratic Party of Liberia, and ran for president in 1997. He planned to run in the 2005 Liberian presidential election, but died in a two-car accident in Michigan on November 24, 2004.
Jewel Cianeh Taylor is a Liberian politician who served as the 30th vice president of Liberia from 2018 to 2024. She was married to convicted warlord and former president Charles Taylor from 1997 to 2006 and was first lady of Liberia during his presidency. In 2005, Jewel Taylor was elected to the Senate of Liberia for Bong County as a member of the National Patriotic Party. She was Chair of the Senate Health and Social Welfare Committee on Gender, Women and Children.
Education in Liberia was severely affected by the First Liberian Civil War and Second Liberian Civil War, between 1989 and 2003. In 2010, the literacy rate of Liberia was estimated at 60.8%.
The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to Liberia:
General elections were held in Liberia on 11 October 2011, with a second round of the presidential election on 8 November. The presidency, as well as all seats in the House of Representatives and half of the seats in the Senate, were up for election. The election was overseen by the National Elections Commission (NEC).
Augustine Kpehe Ngafuan served from 2012 to 2015 as the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Liberia, in the administration of President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf. Ngafuan was Minister of Finance for Liberia during Johnson-Sirleaf's first term, and was then appointed to his post at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on January 17, 2012. He took office on February 10, 2012, succeeding Toga McIntosh.
Roosevelt Jayjay is a Liberian government administrator.
Benoni Wilfred Urey is an Americo-Liberian businessman and politician, who was formerly the Liberian Commissioner of Maritime Affairs. In 2014 The Economist reported that Urey was Liberia's wealthiest man.
General elections were held in Liberia on 10 October 2017 to elect the President and House of Representatives. No candidate won a majority in the first round of the presidential vote, so the top two finishers – CDC standard-bearer Amb. George Weah and UP standard-bearer Vice President Joseph Boakai – competed in a run-off on 26 December. The second round was originally scheduled for 7 November, but was postponed after LP standard-bearer Cllr. Charles Brumskine, in third place, challenged the result in the Supreme Court. The Supreme Court dismissed the challenge, which would have forced a re-run of the first round had it been successful, and the second round was held on 26 December. Weah emerged victorious with 60% of the vote.
The 1980 Liberian coup d'état happened on April 12, 1980, when President William Tolbert was overthrown and murdered in a violent coup. The coup was staged by an indigenous Liberian faction of the Armed Forces of Liberia (AFL) under the command of Master Sergeant Samuel Doe. Following a period of transition, Doe ruled Liberia throughout the 1980s until his murder in 1990 during the First Liberian Civil War.
Alexander Benedict Cummings Jr. is a Liberian politician, businessman and philanthropist. He is the Standard Bearer of Liberia's Alternative National Congress.
Suah Koko was an indigenous Liberian ruler who lived between the late 19th and early 20th century. She fought several battles against the expansionary Liberia Frontier Force before entering negotiations to grant accession of the territory she ruled over to the Liberian government. She later became a paramount chief and supplied porters to the Harvard Medical African Expedition (1926–1927).
Gbehzohngar Milton Findley is a Liberian politician and businessman. He is a former President Pro Tempore of the Liberian Senate and also the Minister of Foreign Affairs in the administration of President Weah until 28 July 2020.
Edward B. McClain Jr. (18 November 1944, Liberia - 23 July 2016, Pretoria was a Liberian politician. He was the minister of state for presidential affairs and chief of staff to President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf.
Events in the year 2012 in Liberia.
Jeremiah Kpan Koung is a Liberian politician who is the 31st and current vice president of Liberia. He served in the House of Representatives of Liberia from 2012 to 2020. He was elected to the Senate of Liberia in 2020. He became the standard bearer of the Movement for Democracy and Reconstruction in 2022. In 2023, Joseph Boakai selected Koung as his running mate during his presidential run.
