\n From Liberia's swampy slums to international football star and then president, George Weah is contesting a second term in a run-off on Tuesday, defending a controversial record and facing determined opposition.\n<\/p>\n
\n Weah won in 2017 with more than 61 percent of the vote, and again faces a second round this time after nearly tying with old rival Joseph Boakai in last month's first round.\n<\/p>\n
\n Weah, 57, led a vigorous campaign for a \"first round victory\" but has had to defend his record in office.\n<\/p>\n
\n Critics have accused his government of corruption and him of failing to keep a promise to improve the lives of the poorest.\n<\/p>\n
\n His victory in 2017 sparked high hopes of change in one of the least developed countries in the world, which is still reeling from civil war and the 2014-2016 Ebola epidemic.\n<\/p>\n
\n Weah had spent the previous decade building political credibility, including three years in the Senate, to match his sporting icon status.\n<\/p>\n
\n \"I can guarantee that the years 2024 and beyond will be better for all Liberians,\" he told his ruling Coalition for Democratic Change (CDC) at their national campaign launch in September.\n<\/p>\n
\n Posters of Weah and his running mate Jewel Howard-Taylor, the ex-wife of jailed former president and warlord Charles Taylor, can be seen in the streets of Monrovia.\n<\/p>\n
\n In the capital's Clara Town, where Weah was born, youngsters still idolise the first African player to win both FIFA's World Player of the Year trophy and the Ballon d'Or.\n<\/p>\n
\n \"I'm 100 percent behind George Weah,\" said Marcally Mulbah, sitting on his motorbike chatting to friends. \"He's a man of peace.\"\n<\/p>\n
\n Twenty-two-year-old student Godgift Pewee sports CDC party bracelets and recalled Weah playing soccer with him at the opening of a sports complex in the area.\n<\/p>\n
\n Pewee said Weah is tolerant and has jailed no one for political reasons.\n<\/p>\n
\n Janga Kowo, a long-time friend of Weah and now Comptroller General of the West African country, told AFP that Liberians still love their president.\n<\/p>\n
\n \"President Weah is the most approachable Liberian leader ever,\" he said.\n<\/p>\n
\n \"Socially, this is a man who connects with the Liberian people, that is why the Liberian people will continue to show love to him.\"\n<\/p>\n
\n - 'Worsening conditions' -\n<\/p>\n
\n But on a nearby street strewn with plastic rubbish, Saturday Gbalah, 42, said the president had lost his \"connection\" to the people.\n<\/p>\n
\n \"I loved George Weah,\" he said, and went to vote for him on crutches. But today \"conditions are worse\", with the price of rice and other basic foods spiralling, Gbalah said.\n<\/p>\n
\n Weah is Liberia's 25th president after taking over from Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, who had maintained a peace desperately needed after a war that killed an estimated quarter of a million people.\n<\/p>\n
\n He was largely absent from Liberia during the 1989-2003 civil wars, playing for a string of top-flight European teams, including Paris Saint-Germain, AC Milan and Chelsea.\n<\/p>\n
\n But as president, Weah has not set up a war crimes tribunal despite international and domestic demand.\n<\/p>\n
\n A member of the Kru ethnic group, Weah was raised by his grandmother in the Gibraltar district, a reclaimed swamp and one of Monrovia's worst slums.\n<\/p>\n
\n He had pledged to govern for the poor, to create employment and invest in education. Critics say he has failed.\n<\/p>\n
\n He came under fire last year for a prolonged absence from Liberia -- 40 days at conferences and summits as well as time at the World Cup, where his son played for the United States.\n<\/p>\n
\n Bad governance is another issue raised by the opposition. Despite the president's pledges to tackle corruption, it has increased on his watch.\n<\/p>\n
\n Liberia sits 142nd out of 180 on Transparency International's 2022 corruption index.\n<\/p>\n
\n \"There is a mismatch between words and action,\" said Ibrahim Al-bakri Nyei, director of the Ducor Institute for Social and Economic Research.\n<\/p>\n
\n Despite legislation introduced in July, opponents accuse Weah of failing to halt drug trafficking.\n<\/p>\n
\n At the campaign launch, Weah said he had built roads and hospitals, paid secondary school students' exam fees and opened parks and sports facilities.\n<\/p>\n
\n \"This will be replicated throughout the 15 counties (of Liberia) after you have given us a new mandate,\" he vowed.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
From Liberia's swampy slums to international football star and then president, George Weah is contesting a second term in a run-off on Tuesday, defending a controversial record and facing determined opposition. Weah won in 2017 with more than 61 percent of the vote, and again faces a second round this time after nearly tying with […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":60,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[553],"tags":[],"ji_location":[],"class_list":["post-124632","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-live-feed"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n