Was Former Pres. Sirleaf Correct About Number of Female Lawmakers in Rwanda and Liberia

In Summary:

• Former President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf stated on March 5 that Rwanda has the highest number of female parliamentarians in Africa and the world, while highlighting the low representation of women in Liberia’s legislature.
  
• She said only nine of the House’s members and two of the 30 senators are women
  
• A review of global data from the Inter-Parliamentary Union shows that Rwanda indeed ranks first globally, with about 63% of the 80 members of its lower house being women. 
  
• However, the data also show that Liberia has eight female representatives and three female senators, meaning part of Sirleaf’s statement about Liberia’s numbers was incorrect.

On March 5, former President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf claimed that Rwanda has the highest number of female parliamentarians in Africa and the world. The former president made the claim in the House of Representatives while addressing members of that august body about the low number of women in the Liberian legislature.

She noted that out of the 72 representatives in the House, only nine are women, while in the Senate, two of the 30 senators are women – describing the situation as embarrassing.

Claim #1

Said former President Sirleaf: “We have nine women out of a total of 73 in your House of Representatives. Similarly, we have two women out of 30 in the Senate. This embarrasses me, it embarrasses women in Liberia, it embarrasses women in Africa, and it embarrasses women worldwide.”

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Rating Justification

To verify this claim, we contacted Roberts Haynes, Director of Press at the House of Representatives.

According to Haynes, there are eight women in the House of Representatives, with three in the Senate.

These figures were also confirmed through a review of global data from the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) on women in national parliaments. The IPU is a global organization of national parliaments established in 1889 to promote democracy, peace, and cooperation through parliamentary diplomacy.

The table below includes a list of all current female lawmakers in the House of Representatives in the 55^th National Legislature

No	Names	County	District #
1.	Moima Briggs‑Mensah	Bong	6
2.	Julie Fatorma Wiah	Lofa	2
3.	Rugie Barry	Montserrado	1
4.	Prescilla Cooper	Montserrado	5
5.	Gbessie Sonii‑Feika	Grand Capemount	3
6.	Marie Johnson	Grand Gedeh	2
7.	Bintu Massalay	Grand Capemount	1
8	Ellen Attoh‑Wreh	Margibi	3

For the Liberian Senate, there are three women: Senators Nyonblee Karnga-Lawrence of Grand Bassa County, Botoe Kanneh of Gbarpolu County, and Dabah Varpilah of Grand Cape Mount County

Conclusion

Based on our findings, we conclude that the claim made by former President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf that nine of the 73 members of the House of Representatives and two of the 30 members of the Senate are women is incorrect.

In the House of Representatives, there are eight females, while three of the 30 senators are also females, totaling 11 female legislators.

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Claim #2

“In African Countries, Rwanda has the largest number of women parliamentarians in that country’s parliament and in the entire world.”

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Rating Justification

To verify whether Rwanda has the highest number of female parliamentarians globally, we reviewed global data from the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) on women in national parliaments.

According to the IPU’s global rankings as of January 2026, Rwanda has the highest proportion of female parliamentarians in the world, with about 63% of the 80 members of its lower house being women.

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Conclusion

Based on these findings, we conclude that former President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf’s claim that Rwanda has the highest number of female parliamentarians in the world is correct.

A review of global data on women in parliament shows that Rwanda leads globally, with women holding about 63% of the 80 seats in the lower house of parliament.