The President of Liberia, George Weah, will tomorrow (Tuesday) go head-to-head with political veteran Joseph Boakai in a presidential election run-off that is set to define the fate of the West African country.
The 57 year old Weah has forged alliances with local leaders, including former warlord and Senator Prince Johnson, who remains influential in the northern province of Nimba.
Weah defeated Boakai by just 7,126 votes out of almost two million Liberians, who voted in the first round in October:
The two also battled it out in 2017, when Weah won with over 61%. But now they’re neck and neck in the last main election at 43% each.
Weah won the election in 2017 amid high hopes brought about by his promise to fight poverty and generate infrastructure development. His goal, he had said, was to push Liberia from a low-income country to a middle-income one.
Read Also: Liberians Grow Wary Of Weah As Economic Woes Deepen
But Weah has been accused of not living up to key campaign and ensure justice for victims of the country’s civil wars.
Africa Today News, New York reports that at 57, Weah, an ex-international football star, remains popular with younger people as Boakai is a much older 78.
Boakai is a political veteran who from 2006 to 2018 was the vice-president of Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, who was Africa’s first elected female head of state.
He’s held many positions within the state and the oil industry.
But there are fears that violence could break out. It’s been 20 years since two civil wars came to an end that killed a quarter of a million Liberians.
The electoral commission has up to 15 days to publish the results.
Meanwhile, a top EU observer has accused lawmakers who are already in office for overspending on their election campaigns and utilising government resources for them as Liberians wait for the results of Tuesday’s general election.
Africa Today News, New York reports that neither President George Weah nor other incumbent politicians have commented on the claim.