April 25 – Liberia’s George Weah, regarded as one of the greatest African players of all time and the first African to win FIFA’s player of the year award, is to make a second bid to become president of his troubled nation – 11 years after losing a bitter campaign.
Weah, who played for Monaco, Paris Saint-Germain, AC Milan and Chelsea, leads Liberia’s main opposition, the Party Congress for Democratic Change (CDC), and wants to make the ultimate transition from award-winning footballer to national president.
Weah says sitting president Ellen Johnson Sirleaf has done little for the country in terms of improving democracy. “I can form cooperation and collaborations for my people to work and I am ready to work. I have done so much for Africa and I think in the governance process I can bring more on the table,” he said.
Liberia goes to the polls in October 2017 and Weah’s application cannot be deemed official until April 28 when his party validates it.
Weah, 49, was voted FIFA World Player in 1995 and was chosen as African Footballer of the Year in 1989 and 1994.
Liberia is one of the poorest countries in the world, and Weah claims Sirleaf has let the Liberian people down. “Today, half of the country still doesn’t have electricity,” he said, adding that the election must be allowed to be a fair fight. “We came by the ballot box, not by guns,” he said.
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