Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf: a Citizen of Only One Country- Liberia

Press Release
Ellen for President Campaign

August 9, 2005

Our attention has been drawn by an article in the Daily Observer - online - that has pondered the Citizenship of the front-runner in the Liberian Presidential Race, Mrs. Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf. It is obvious that some people are playing politics with the future of Liberia by using young and inexperienced Liberian journalists to link Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf to American Citizenship. We would like to set the records straight: Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf is not and has never been a citizen of the United States.

Additionally, Mrs. Sirleaf does not own any property in Virginia as claimed by the Daily Observer.
The property that the Observer alleges that Mrs. Sirleaf owns was sold soon after Mrs. Sirleaf Mrs. Sirleaf accepted a position with the United Nations in New York in 1992. In fact, research of the tax records in Virginia shows that the property in question, 6056 Estates Drive in Alexandria Virginia, has been owned by other people since June 1993. Further, Mrs. Sirleaf's brother Carney Johnson has never leased or rented the property at 6056 Estates Drive in Alexandria as also alleged in the Observer article. Mr. Johnson and his family have owned and maintained a home of their own for the past 15 years in Springfield, Virginia. Since selling the Alexandria property when she joined the U.N. in 1992 up until today, the house in question has been occupied by its rightful owners and Mrs. Sirleaf has never bought another house in America. It took Mrs. Sirleaf's team 30 minutes to get this information.

We want to also unequivocally state that Mrs. Sirleaf does not hold a U.S. Permanent Residency Card or Green card. Additionally, we want to inform the Liberian people that upon taking a position with the UNDP in 1992, Mrs. Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf subsequently surrendered her Green Card to the American Government and was immediately issued a UN Travel Document for the length of time she worked with that Institution. After resigning her U.N. position to fully contribute to the recovery and development of Liberia, Mrs. Sirleaf has traveled on a Liberian passport.

As a means of putting to closure the lies about Mrs. Sirleaf having U.S. citizenship and maintaining a U.S. residence, the Ellen for President Campaign encourages every interested and credible Liberian media institution to contact the US State Department and the Bureau of US Citizenship and Naturalization Services (BCIS) to obtain any and all citizenship records of Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf. Additionally, we encourage all credible media institutions to contact the Virginia Tax Office to review the history of ownership of the property at 6045 Estates Drive in Alexandria, Virginia or to contact the Ellen for President Campaign for a copy of the MRIS Full Tax Record for the property in question. We are confident that the record will show Mrs. Sirleaf is not a U.S. citizen and does not own property in Virginia.

The questions we would like to raise on behalf of the Liberian people are: "Why all the lies now?" And "Who is paying who to spread these lies?"

Let us put this falsehood to rest and focus on the business of the Liberian people. We would like to reiterate that the time has come for all candidates participating in and all credible media outlets covering the ensuing Liberian elections to demonstrate their commitment to the Liberian people by focusing on the issues that the Liberian people care most about. Mrs. Sirleaf and the Unity Party are committed to bringing jobs, electricity, pipe-born water, education, and quality healthcare to our people. It is our commitment to these objectives that is winning us the support of the Liberian people.