Liberia:At the height of Liberia's civil war a decade ago, as archetypal African strongmen tore the country to pieces, few could have imagined a woman taking over as president.
But a year since Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf was sworn in as Africa's first elected female head of state, many Liberians say they are impressed by the progress the woman dubbed the "Iron Lady" has made in getting the country back on its feet.
The Harvard-trained economist pledged to restore electricity to the ramshackle coastal capital Monrovia, fight rampant corruption and break with the country's history of violence when she took office last January.
It was always going to be an uphill struggle for Africa's oldest independent republic, once one of the region's more prosperous states with reserves of iron ore and rubber but which has seen average annual income fall to just $130 (€100) since the war.
Squatters live in the burned out concrete shells of government buildings in Monrovia years after the guns fell silent and most of the city is still without piped water after looters ripped up its infrastructure during the violence.
But in July, Ms Johnson-Sirleaf flicked a switch draped in a Liberian flag, turning on mains power in parts of the city for the first time in 15 years, a symbolic step in the nation's emergence from the ravages of its 1989-2003 civil war.
"She has done well in most of the campaign promises. We have light in some parts of the city in less than a year," said Hawa Kameh (22) a hairdresser in Monrovia's largest commercial market, Waterside, who lost both parents in the war.
"This is what Charles Taylor could not do in all the years he ruled for," Kameh said, referring to the country's former president and warlord, now facing trial for crimes against humanity at the International Criminal Court in The Hague.
"Ma Ellen is my mother and my father. The fact that I am alive and can see her deliver her campaign promises, I am just happy," Ms Kameh said, clapping her hands.
Living up to her tough image, the 68-year-old has administered some bitter medicine.
She has fired corrupt and incompetent officials: at the finance ministry she sacked all staff appointed by an interim government after the war - and made many of those kept on submit their curriculum vitaes to justify their posts.
The government is prosecuting several members of the transitional administration, which received a damning audit from west African regional bloc Ecowas.
Ms Johnson-Sirleaf has also made steps towards mending her country's shattered economy, pulling off a coup in late December to mark a year in office by successfully renegotiating a billion dollar iron ore mining concession with the world's biggest steel company, Arcelor Mittal.
"Mittal Steel is one of those big success stories. We went back on the drawing board and renegotiated what the transitional government did," information minister Lawrence Bropleh said.
But Ms Johnson-Sirleaf's political opponents say a surge in violent crime and delays paying salary arrears to state employees detract from her successes.
And change simply cannot come quickly enough for Liberia's poor majority - or even the lucky minority who have jobs.
"The president has not done much for us at this company. Look, my take-home pay is not more than $200 [ a month]," said Sylvester Sumo, a rubber tapper at a Firestone plantation.
"We do not have a factory to produce slippers or sandals for our children to see hand work. They send the rubber outside the country and bring it back for us to buy," said Mr Sumo, smeared in white, pungent latex as he took a break from the back-breaking work of slashing trees and collecting the precious sap.
- (Reuters)