Football star Weah vies for presidency in Liberian poll

LIBERIANS head to the polls today for a run-off presidential election between former Premier League footballer George Weah and Liberia’s current vice-president.

For the first time in more than 70 years, the west African nation will see one democratically elected government hand power to another.

The run-off was contested twice in court, with its original November 7 date delayed after the third-place Liberty Party filed a complaint of fraud that was dismissed.

Nearly 2.2million voters have the choice between Weah, a 51-year-old former soccer star and senator, and 73-year-old Joseph Boakai who has served as vice-president of the impoverished nation for 12 years.

Liberians showed up in large numbers for the first-round election on October 10.

Economist and Nobel Peace Prize winner Ellen Johnson Sirleaf – Africa’s first female head of state – is stepping down after two terms in office that brought the country out of back-to-back civil wars and grappled with the ebola outbreak that killed nearly 5,000 Liberians in 2014-2015.

National Elections Commission lead lawyer Musa Dean said everything was ready for today’s vote to go ahead.

Weah – who played for Monaco, AC Milan and Chelsea among others – draws his support from the younger generation. This is his third time running for the presidency, and 60% of Liberia’s population is under 30.