Monrovia, Oct. 29 -- On a humid January morning in 2018, Ellen Johnson Sirleaf stood at the Samuel Kanyon Doe Sports Stadium in Paynesville and handed the keys of the Liberian state to a former footballer, George Manneh Weah. It was the first time in 74 years that one elected Liberian leader had peacefully passed power to another.

By Rodney D. Sieh

On a continent where presidents often rewrite constitutions to stay, she simply left. Her own party had expelled her weeks earlier. Many in the crowd blamed her for what had not changed. She smiled, waved and went home.

Today, October 29, the woman the world calls Africa's "Iron Lady" turns 88. Her journey from a Monrovia schoolgirl to a Nobel laureate is, in many ways, the story of modern L...