Liberians are voting today in high-stakes presidential and parliamentary elections – the first since the 2018 exit of a UN mission that kept the peace for more than a decade in a country scarred by two devastating civil wars.
As well as the 14-year civil war that had claimed 250,000 lives by the time it ended in 2003, Liberia has grappled with epidemics, including the Covid pandemic and a deadly Ebola outbreak that killed more than 4,000 people in 2014.
Incumbent President George Weah, a decorated former football star, is seeking reelection for a second six-year term after a tumultuous first tenure tainted by corruption scandals and allegations of mismanagement.
Nineteen candidates are seeking to unseat Weah, who belongs to the Coalition for Democratic Change, CDC party, but he faces a contentious rematch with former Vice President Joseph Boakai of the main opposition Unity Party.
