Votes were still being counted in Liberia yesterday after Tuesday’s election with President George Weah in early lead.

His challenger, former Vice-President Joseph Boakai, was claimed to be in contention yesterday.

Local and regional election observers said polling was peaceful, despite clashes between rival political camps in the final days of the campaign.

Voter turnout was reported to be high in a campaign dominated by the economic crisis and corruption allegations.

The election commission said the first results would be announced later yesterday.

Weah is the favourite to win, with his main challenger seen as former Vice-President Joseph Boakai.

But a run-off will be held if no candidate secures more than 50% of the votes cast.

Parliamentary elections were held alongside the presidential election, with about 2.4 million people registered to cast their ballots.

The delivery of election materials to some remote areas in south-east Liberia was delayed by floods and muddy roads.

‘Our expectations from Liberia polls’

Some canoes that were transporting electoral staff and materials capsized, leading to the loss of the election materials, but the National Elections Commission (NEC) said that voting was extended in those areas.

This is the first time that a generation of young voters, born in peace-time Liberia, voted in national elections.

A brutal civil war, which killed an estimated 250,000 people, ended two decades ago.

“I vote for the good of my country. I expect peace and development,” Agostina Momo, 18, who was voting for the first time, told the AFP news agency in the capital Monrovia.

The electoral commission is due to begin releasing initial results, but the final announcement will be done within 15 days.

Weah, who was 1995 Fifa World Player of the Year, entered politics following his retirement from football. He won his first term in 2017 after securing 61% of the vote in a run-off, defeating Boakai.

Analysts said this might be the 78-year-old’s last attempt at the presidency. (The Nation)

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