Liberian President George Weah had on Friday, November 17, admitted election defeat to opposition leader Joseph Boakai after a very close race that ended a presidency tarnished by graft allegations but helping to ensure a smooth transition of power in the once volatile African nation.
Boakai, aged 78, is a former vice president who had lost to Weah in the 2017 election. However in this recent election, Boakai had led with 50.9% of the vote over Weah’s 49.1%, with almost all the votes tallied, the country’s elections commission had said on Friday, November 17.
The result marks a sharp turnaround from 2017, when global soccer legend Weah, invigorated by a wave of hope, defeated Boakai with 62 percent of the vote.
This turnaround may be due to the fact that citizens have since grown disillusioned with the lack of progress in the country, especially as poverty, unemployment, food insecurity and poor electricity supply persist.
Meanwhile, Boakai supporters in the capital city, Monrovia had danced, shouted and honked car horns in the rain after the final results were announced.
At present, Liberia is battling to recover from two civil wars that killed over 250,000 people between 1989 and 2003, and from a 2013-16 Ebola epidemic that killed thousands.
