Jewel Taylor

Jewel Cianeh Taylor (née Howard; born January 17, 1963) is a Liberian politician and the current Vice President of Liberia. She was married to convicted war criminal and former president Charles Taylor (whom she married in 1997, but later divorced in 2006) and was First Lady of Liberia during his presidency.[2] In 2005, Jewel Taylor was elected to the Senate of Liberia in Bong County as a member of the National Patriotic Party. She served as the Chairperson of the Senate Health and Social Welfare Committee on Gender, Women and Children.[3]

Jewel Taylor
Taylor in 2018
30th Vice President of Liberia
Incumbent
Assumed office 22 January 2018
President	George Weah
Preceded by	Joseph Boakai
Member of the Senate of Liberia for Bong County
In office 13 January 2006 – 22 January 2018
Preceded by	NTLA
Succeeded by	Henrique Tokpa[1]
First Lady of Liberia
In role 2 August 1997 – 11 August 2003
President	Charles Taylor
Preceded by	Nancy Doe
Succeeded by	Nettie Blah
Personal details
Born	Jewel Cianeh Howard 17 January 1963 Zorzor, Lofa, Liberia
Political party	Coalition for Democratic Change
Other political affiliations	National Patriotic Party
Spouse(s)	Charles Taylor ​ ​ (m. 1997; div. 2006)​
Children	2
Alma mater	University of Liberia Cuttington University

Life and career

While her husband was president, Taylor held a number of official posts in the Liberian government, including Deputy Governor of the National Bank of Liberia (forerunner to the current Central Bank of Liberia), President of the Agriculture Cooperative and Development Bank (ACDB) and Mortgage Financing Underwriter of the First Union National Bank. In addition, she focused on educational, health and social projects.

Taylor holds a graduate degree in banking and two bachelors' in banking and economics. She is currently enrolled in the MBA program at Cuttington University in Liberia. On December 21, 2011, she graduated from the Louise Arthur Grimes School of Law of the state-owned University of Liberia.[4] Two days later, a public dispute arose in Bong County regarding honors allegedly given her; she was announced to be the new holder of the title "Madam Suakoko",[5] an honorary Bong County title memorializing the namesake of the Suakoko District, but members of the group that had supposedly awarded her the title soon began denying that the award had been given by their group, saying that the meeting at which she was awarded the title was actually a meeting to help county residents overcome political differences.[6]

In February 2012, Taylor attempted to introduce legislation into the Liberian parliament that would have made homosexual activity a first degree felony carrying the death penalty as the maximum punishment. The legislation was not passed after President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf made it clear she would not sign any such bill.[7]

In 2017, Jewel was chosen by George Weah as his running mate on the newly formed Coalition (CDC) ticket. Following a run up in late 2017, she became the first female Vice President of Liberia when her party won the elections.

In 2020, she was infected with COVID-19 and flown to Ghana for treatment. [8]

References

1. Menjor, David S. (6 August 2018). "Election: Joseph, Tokpa Replace Weah, Taylor at Senate". Liberian Observer.
2. "Jewel Howard-Taylor on war, Weah and her agenda". www.aljazeera.com. Retrieved 2020-02-28.
3. A Profile of Members of the 52nd Legislature of Liberia
4. "Alumni – Louis Arthur Grimes School of Law". webcache.googleusercontent.com. Retrieved 2020-08-25.
5. "Madam Suakoko! Sen. Taylor Receives Traditional Honor". The Analyst 2011-12-29: 1, 2.
6. "Sen. Taylor's Traditional Honor Backfires", The New Republic, 2012-01-20. Accessed 2013-01-13.
7. "Liberia ex-first lady proposes anti-gay bill". Africa Review. Retrieved 2017-12-20.
8. "Liberia VP Jewel Howard-Taylor flown to Ghana for Covid-19 treatment". ca.news.yahoo.com. Retrieved 2020-08-20.