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Tag: George Weah

  • Liberia Polls: Weah in early lead

    Liberia Polls: Weah in early lead

    Football icon, George Weah, is in early lead, according to the official provisional results of Tuesday presidential elections in Liberia.

    The results were released by Mr Jerome Korkoya, Chairman of the National Elections Commission (NEC) at the commission’s headquarters in Monrovia.

    The results of 1,232 polling units or 22.9 per cent of the total 5,390 polling units across the country were announced.

    Weah of the Congress for Democratic Change (CDC) led other candidates in 11 out of the 15 counties that constitute Liberia in the results released so far.

    He won in Bomi county with 3,763 votes, while Vice President Joseph Boakai got 2807 votes. In Bong, Weah got 28,233 votes, while Boakai got 24,367.

    Weah also beat Boakai in Grand Bassa with 6950 votes.  Boakai got 1786.

    The county was won by Charles Walker Brumskine, the opposition leader and candidate of Liberty Party with 10,350 votes. He also won Rivercess county with 2970 votes. Weah came second here with 2873, while Boakai got 1089.

    At Grand Cape Mount, Weah  beat rival Boakai, with 2,663 votes to 2,152. Grand Gedeh also cast their lot with the ex-footballer, giving him 4462 votes to Boakai’s 704. A similar result emerged in Grand Kru, where Weah polled 3983 to Boakai’s 742 votes.

    In Gbarpolu, Weah won 3075 votes, narrowly beating  Boakai, who got 2768.

    Vice President Joseph Boakai of the ruling Unity Party (UP) led in Lofa County, where he got a massive endorsement, winning 27,614 votes to Weah’s 2036 votes.

    Former warlord and presidential torch bearer of the National Union for Democratic Progress, Prince  Yormie Johnson, defeated others  Nimba county. He polled 13786 votes. Weah won 1848 votes here and Boakai came out stronger here, with 4744 votes.

    Weah won his highest vote of 38285 votes in Montserrado. His opponent, Boakai got 20,211 votes. Weah also led Boakai in Margibi with 13,270, Maryland, 3892, Rivercess 2873 and Sinoe 9391

    While results of the remaining 4,158 polling units are being awaited, the NEC boss was quick to note that no winner has been declared yet.

    “It is important to point out that results published by the National Elections Commission are the only official results.

    “The Commission asks all other organisations to refrain from announcing anything other than the official results released.

    “Candidates and political parties should also be patient and await the official results and not rush to premature conclusions.

    “The Commission is committed to the timely release of the results, but this cannot be done at the expense of accuracy.

    He advised the media against reporting results that have not been verified by the commission.

    “This can lead to problems and expectations that cannot be met. It is important for all to be responsible at this point. This includes the media.

    “The National Elections Commission also calls on any person or party that has a complaint to use the established legal channels.

    “Our complaints process will investigate thoroughly any complaints and we ask aggrieved parties to submit evidence to support their claims.

    “We also call on all parties to be responsible in any allegations they make,’’ he said.

  • Wenger Congratulates George Weah as President Elect

    Wenger Congratulates George Weah as President Elect

    Though the official result of the presidential election has not been announced- at press time- but Arsenal’s manager Arsene Wenger has reportedly congratulated former football star and politician George Weah, as the president elect.

    On Thursday evening www.bbc.com reported that Wenger must have been misled by unofficial reports circulating online that the former professional footballer has won the Liberia Presidential Election.

    Mr Wenger said: “I would like to congratulate one of my former players, who became president of Liberia.”

    Recall that Wenger coached Mr Weah at French club Monaco between 1988 and 1992.  The former Fifa World Footballer of the Year has long turned a politician with aspiration to be Liberia’s President.

    Mr. Weah who is among 20 presidential candidates seeking to replace President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf in Tuesday’s election had contested the race two times in history.

    False reports of Mr Weah’s victory have been circulating on social media but it is not clear why Wenger thought he had won.

    “It is not often that you have a former player who becomes a president of a country,” Wenger was quoted on the online platform.

    “Well done George and I would say just for him to keep his enthusiasm and his desire to learn and to win,” he added.

    Official results have still not been announced even though the head of the National Elections Commission (NEC), Jerome Kokoya, had told the BBC that he expected the first results to be announced by 23:00 GMT on election night.

    One of Liberia’s leading political parties, the Liberty Party, has called for a halt in announcing results, citing alleged irregularities.

  • Liberia set to elect new president

    Liberia set to elect new president

    Voters in the West African nation of Liberia are set to elect a new head of state, as President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf prepares to step down after 12 years in power, an official poll has said on Tuesday.

    Report says Tuesday’s polls are expected to mark the first time in 73 years that a democratically elected president is peacefully handing over power to a successor chosen by the people.

    Twenty candidates are in the race for president, with 72-year-old Johnson Sirleaf, a Nobel Peace Prize-winner often dubbed the “Iron Lady,” retiring after two six-year terms in office.

    The official report said that there are only three contenders who analysts believe have a real chance of winning.

    They are Vice President Joseph Boakai of the ruling Unity Party ( UP ), former international football star George Weah, who leads the main opposition Coalition for Democratic Change ( CDC ) and Charles Brumskine, the head of the Liberty Party ( LP ).

    Boosting the economy, creating jobs and fighting corruption are high on the agenda of all candidates’ campaigns.

    The last peaceful transfer of power between two democratically elected presidents took place in Liberia in 1944 when former President Edwin Barclay handed over to William Tubman.

    Liberia remains one of the poorest countries in the world and continues to struggle with the aftermath of the 2013-15 Ebola crisis, which killed over 4,000 people nationwide.

    As well as a brutal 14-year civil war that ended in 2003 after having claimed over 250,000 lives and displaced about a million people.

    The roughly 2.2 million registered voters in the country of 4.1 million are also set to elect 73 members of the House of Representatives on Tuesday.

    NAN

  • Weah to run for Liberia president in 2017

    Weah to run for Liberia president in 2017

    Former Liberia international footballer, George Weah, has announced he will run for president of the West African country for a second time.

    Weah had an illustrious playing career, starring for Paris Saint-Germain, AS Monaco, AC Milan and Chelsea among others.

    The two- time African Footballer of the Year is the only player from the continent to be named the FIFA World Footballer of the Year, winning the accolade in 1995, africanFootball.com reports.

    Weah, 49, previously ran for president in 2005, but was defeated by current president Ellen Johnson Sirleaf.

    Sirleaf’s second term in office will end next year and under the country’s constitution she cannot run for the top political post again.

     

     

  • George Weah wins Liberia Senate seat

    George Weah wins Liberia Senate seat

    Former football star, George Weah, has won a landslide victory in Liberia’s senate elections, in polls disrupted by the Ebola outbreak.

    Mr. Weah got 78 per cent of the vote for the Montserrado county seat, which includes the capital Monrovia.

    He beat Robert Sirleaf, the son of President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, who took nearly 11 per cent, the BBC reports.

    Low turnout in the poll, which was first planned for October, was blamed on concerns about Ebola.

    Strict health controls were in place to try to prevent the spread of the disease.

    Those who came to polling stations had their temperature taken, were told to stand a metre (3ft) apart and wash their hands before and after voting.

    Liberia has been one of the countries worst affected by Ebola, with almost 3,400 deaths, the United Nations said.

    Other winners in the senate elections include Jewel Howard-Taylor, the ex-wife of the jailed former president, Charles Taylor, and the former rebel leader, Prince Johnson. Both retained their seats.

    The National Elections Commission chairman, Jerome Korkoya, called the conclusion of the vote “the end of a crucial journey.”

    Mr. Weah won the first round of the 2005 presidential election, losing the runoff to Ms Johnson-Sirleaf.

    He is the only African to be named FIFA’s world player of the year, winning in 1995.