Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf re-elected as president of Liberia

Africa's first female president Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf has been re-elected as Liberia's president following a landslide victory on Thursday.

Johnson-Sirleaf picked up 90.2 percent of the votes though there have been claims her government was not legitimate because the opposition boycotted the poll.

Opposition leader Winston Tubman had called on his supporters to avoid the presidential runoff on Tuesday and stated he would not accept the outcome of the vote.

Tubman made allegations of fraud which were refuted by Johnson-Sirleaf as well as thousands of election observers. The Carter Centre's election observer mission said there was "no evidence of significant irregularities or systematic fraud". However, thousands of CDC supporters did as their leader commanded and stayed at home.

Johnson-Sirleaf originally stated she would only run for one term after beating off former footballer George Weah to the Presidency in 2005. But the 72-year-old, who is the first and so far only democratically elected female President, said she wanted to complete the job she had started in rebuilding Liberia following years of civil wars which devastated the country.

Johnson-Sirleaf, a Harvard-trained economist, was honoured alongside compatriot Leymah Gbowee and Yemeni human rights activist Tawakkul Karman by the Nobel Peace Prize committee for their fight for women's rights last month.

Picture: Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf