Liberia went to the polls for the presidential and parliamentary elections yesterday in with 20 presidential candidates, including incumbent George Weah, who seeking to lead the country of five million for second term in office.
Hundreds of people had gathered at polling stations in the capital, Monrovia, early yesterday morning ahead of the start of voting at 08:00 GMT.
George Weah, a former international football star, rode to victory on a wave of optimism in 2017, bringing hope to a country that had been devastated by two back-to-back civil wars between 1989 and 2003, and the Ebola epidemic of 2014-2016.
Nearly five years after he took office in 2018, the former Ballon d’Or winner remains popular in some parts of the country, but anger is growing over persistently high levels of corruption and the cost of living.
The main political parties have pledged that the presidential and legislative elections in the West African country would pass off peacefully.
The former athlete is the favourite among 20 candidates but could face a second-round run-off if he does not secure an absolute majority in the first round of voting.
The European Union, the African Union, the West African bloc ECOWAS and the United States have deployed observers to oversee the vote.
Some 2.4 million Liberians were eligible to vote in the elections, with polling stations closing at 18:00 GMT.
