Liberian president, George Weah has forged alliances with local leaders, including former warlord and Senator Prince Johnson, who isinfluential in the northern province of Nimba as he battle it out with Joseph Boakai in Tuesday presidential run-off.
Weah, 57, beat Boakai, 78, by just 7,126 votes out of almost two million Liberians, who voted in the first round in October.
The two also contested the election 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 expectations prompted by his promise to fight poverty and create infrastructure development. He noted his goal was to push Liberia from a low-income country to a middle-income one.
Meanwhile, Weah has been alleged that he had not fulfill campaign promises and ensure justice for victims of the country’s civil wars.
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.
