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Tag: George Weah

  • Liberia: George Weah postpones victory speech

    An overwhelming crowd of supporters and sound-system malfunctioning forced Liberia’s President-elect, George Weah, to postpone his victory speech on Friday night.

    Weah was billed to formally accept his election at his Coalition for Democratic Change (CDC) headquarters in Monrovia at 6.30 p.m., an hour after his declaration as President-elect.

    Immediately after the National Elections Commission (NEC) announced the final results of the presidential runoff polls and pronounced him elected, the city erupted in jubilation again.

    Thousands of young people poured out from different parts of Monrovia and adjoining towns, and headed to the CDC headquarters located on the only road linking the capital.

    Soon, a mammoth crowd of ecstatic supporters filled the expansive premises where they sang and danced to music supplied by a disc jockey.

    It was a carnival of sort outside as an overspill of supporters sang and danced along the road, resulting in a heavy gridlock on both sides.

    Similar scenes played out in other parts of the city. Monrovia, was literally on standstill for Weah, a man of the people.

    When the president-elect finally arrived at 8.42 p.m. in company with his wife, Clar, and the Vice President-elect, Jewel Howard-Taylor, the crowd went out of control.

    Efforts by the CDC youth leader, Jefferson Koijee, and security men to manage the situation proved abortive as the sea of heads pressed towards the stage where the dignitaries sat.

    Two women fainted due to suffocation, and were lifted on to the stage where they later got revived.

    “We are thirsty, we want water,’’ a section of the crowd chorused, interrupting the National Chairman of CDC Campaign, Mr Toga McIntosh, who was delivering his speech.

    The sound system was not helping matters either, as it kept malfunctioning probably due to suffocation too.

    When the president-elect rose from his seat to calm the situation, the crowd went wilder in euphoria, chanting “George Weah, George Weah’’.

    At this stage, Weah made a hand gesture to announce the postponement of the event till Saturday.

    “What you are witnessing here today is a demonstration of the love and hope that the long-suffering people of Liberia have in Ambassador Weah.

    “We can’t help celebrating like this,’’ said Peter Konty, a supporter, who returned home on foot like this reporter following the gridlock.

  • ‘Change is on!’, Liberia’s president-elect, George Weah assures Liberians

    Former World Footballer of the Year, George Weah, on Thursday thanked the electorates for the confidence reposed in him to lead the nation forward.

    That country’s National Elections Commission on Thursday evening declared the former footballer and candidate of the opposition Congress for Democratic Change (CDC) as scoring 720,023 votes, which is 61.5 percent of 98 percent total votes cast at the election.

    That effectively made him the president-elect of the small West African nation.

    The incumbent vice president and candidate of the ruling Unity Party, Joseph Boakai, scored 451,088, which is 38.5 percent of the vote cast.

    Reacting to the development via a post on his Facebook Page shortly after the announcement, Mr. Weah said, “My fellow Liberians, I deeply feel the emotion of all the nation. I measure the importance and the responsibility of the immense task which I embrace today.

    “Change is on.”

    The footballer-turned-politician is expected to make a detailed statement after his official declaration as president-elect.

    But the CDC candidate has been addressing Liberians in the past days, albeit in few words, with the confidence of a winner.

    On Wednesday, a day after the run-off, Mr. Weah reacted to the UP’s premature claim of victory by simply underlining how confident he is of emerging victorious in the election.

    “The Liberian people clearly made their choice yesterday and all together we are very confident in the result of the electoral process,” he said shortly after a spokesperson for the UP claimed the ruling party had won four of six counties purportedly declared by the elections commission.

    Hours after polls closed on Tuesday, Mr. Weah brimmed with confidence, telling his country people, “It is with deep emotion that I want to thank you, the Liberian people, for honouring me with your vote today. It is a great hope.”

    Even on the eve of the election, the ex-footballer thumped his chest, telling whoever cared to listen that he was on the cusp of history.

    “I am deeply grateful to my family, my friends, and my loyal supporters who contributed to our campaign during this extremely long election season,” he said hours before the run-off. “We are on the verge of making history for our people.”

    Liberia, a country ravaged by war for years and which now suffers serious infrastructural deficit, is in dire need of a leader that can consolidate on the gains of outgoing leader, Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, who is stepping down in January, analysts say.

    Mr. Weah believes he fits that bill, making many promises in the run-up to his election – pledging to give his country the kind of leadership it needs.

    “I will put all my strength, my energy, my sincerity and my influence at the service of the Liberian people,” he said on December 11, shortly after the New African Magazine named him among 100 Most Influential Africans of 2017.

  • JUST IN: Former world footballer of the year, George Weah elected Liberia’s president

    The 1995 winner of the FIFA player of the year and Former Monaco player, George Weah, has emerged winner of the Presidential rerun elections in Liberia after winning 12 of the 15 counties in the west African country.

    The elated former footballer took to his Twitter account to announce his win thanking his supporters.

    The striker-turned politician becomes the 25th president of the country.

    “I am deeply grateful to my family, my friends, and my loyal supporters who contributed to our campaign during this extremely long election season,” Weah said on Twitter before the results were announced.

    However, the nation’s electoral umpire is yet to confirm/announce the overall winner of the election.

    Details later…

  • Photos: George Weah in Nigeria, visits TB Joshua for prayers ahead of Liberia rerun

    The presidential candidate in Liberia and football legend, George Weah on Sunday, worshipped at the Sunday Church service of the The Synagogue, Church Of All Nations (SCOAN) in Lagos, Nigeria.

    Weah was said to have come to the Church service to “seek God’s face” for his country. During the sermon by Pastor T.B. Joshua which was broadcast live on popular Christian channel Emmanuel TV, Joshua warmly welcomed Weah and spoke directly to him.

    “My brother is here today because he loves his country and wants God’s choice for his country,” Joshua stated. “He is not here to impose himself. What does God say about his country, Liberia? What is God’s opinion? That is why he is here.”

    The cleric went further to reiterate that he was not favoring any particular side of the political spectrum but his own role was to pray for “the will of God” to be done in the nation of Liberia “We are not herbalists or witch-doctors; we are people of God.

    God’s choice is our choice. We cannot pray against God’s will,” Joshua stressed, with Weah nodding firmly in agreement.

    “Without God’s corresponding power, we cannot pray to Him. For every step we take – every movement and action – intimation comes first,” Joshua further expounded. “There must be suggestion from the Spirit to move before we move.

    If truly I am a man of God, I must hear from God – move or don’t move.” Joshua, who is known for political neutrality, noted that Liberia’s incumbent Vice President and Weah’s contender in the upcoming presidential run-off, Joseph Boakai had also contacted him to request a meeting.

    “God’s opinion is what we should seek in our country – simple! God is the Answer, the Final,” the influential Nigerian pastor added.

    Also present in the service was Senator Yormie Johnson, a former Liberian war lord and also one of the nation’s prominent presidential candidates. Joshua was instrumental in Johnson’s conversion to Christianity and mediated his reconciliation with the family of the late Liberian President, Samuel Doe.

    “You cannot twist or bribe God; He is not a man… The best place to go is to meet people God has given the grace to be a communicator between visible and invisible,” Joshua concluded. “Meet them and let them tell you what is the way out – the next thing to do.”

    The presidential run-off elections between Weah and Boakai is scheduled to hold on November 7, 2017.

    Other prominent visitors to The SCOAN in the past have included Tanzania’s President, John Magufuli, the late President of Ghana, John Atta Mills, Zimbabwean Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangarai and Julius Malema, South Africa’s fiery opposition leader.