Liberian presidential candidate and ex-football international George
Weah (L) speaks flanked by his wife Clar (R) outside their house in
Monrovia on December 23, 2017. AFP PHOTO | SEYLLOU
George Weah emerged from Liberia's slums to become a superstar
footballer in the 1990s, and has leveraged his status as a revered
figure among the country's young and poor in his second run for the
presidency.
Mr Weah will face Vice-President Joseph
Boakai on Tuesday in a presidential run-off, the culmination of 12 years
spent building political credibility to match his huge popularity.
"You
know I've been in competitions — tough ones too and I came out
victorious. So I know Boakai cannot defeat me," Mr Weah said ahead of
the vote.
"I have the people on my side."
Civil war period
The first African player to win both Fifa's World Player of the Year trophy and the Ballon d'Or,
Mr Weah was largely absent from Liberia during the 1989-2003 civil war
period, playing for a string of top-flight European teams including
Paris Saint-Germain and AC Milan.
After running unsuccessfully for the presidency in 2005, when he
was defeated by President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, Mr Weah says he has
"gained experience" since becoming a senator in 2014.
Another
fruitless run for the vice-presidency on the ticket of presidential
candidate Winston Tubman in 2011 brought him to further prominence among
the nation's voters, many of whom say this time it is "Weah's turn".
Mr
Weah, 51, has put education, job creation and infrastructure at the
centre of his platform — in line with Mr Boakai — and won 38.4 per cent
of votes in the first round election on October 10, while Mr Boakai came
second with 28.8 per cent.
Younger voters overwhelmingly favour Mr Weah, who is idolised in his country as "Mister George".
A
member of the Kru ethnic group, Mr Weah was raised by his grandmother
on a reclaimed swamp in one of the worst slums of the capital Monrovia.
"Grassroots
citizens identify with George Weah, considering that he is close to
their day-to-day experience," explained Mr Ibrahim Al-Bakri Nyei, a
Liberian political analyst at London's School of Oriental and African
Studies (SOAS).
His critics say the high school dropout, who later completed a degree, is unprepared to lead a country.
"Evil hand"
"George
Weah is a good, humble and respectful person that should not be given
the Liberian presidency, because he is being controlled by an evil
hand," said Mr Benoni Urey, a losing presidential candidate who switched
his allegiance to Mr Boakai.
Mr Urey and others say Mr
Weah is being manipulated by President Sirleaf so she can continue to
push an agenda when she steps down after 12 years in power.
But many voters see a poor boy from the slums who made good against the odds.
"I
believe that whenever we give him a chance, he will be able to give a
better Liberia to the youth and the homeless," Mr Andrew Janjay Johnson,
a shoeshiner in a Monrovia market, told AFP.
Long absences
Critics
also accuse Mr Weah's Coalition for Democratic Change (CDC) of having
too vague a political platform, and have challenged his long absences
from the senate since being elected in a race he won over President
Sirleaf's son.
Mr Weah has also fended off barbs over
his vice-presidential pick, Jewel Howard-Taylor, the ex-wife of jailed
former president and warlord Charles Taylor.
Ms
Howard-Taylor, however, is also a respected senator in her own right,
bringing him important votes in the key county of Bong, and along with
President Sirleaf is one of few powerful women in Liberian public life.
Mr Weah is married to Clar Weah, and his son, Timothy, signed a professional football contract with Paris Saint-Germain in July.
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