Opposition Unity Party candidate, Joseph Boakai has been elected as new President of Liberia.
Boakai defeated incumbent, President George Weah in a run-off election conducted on Tuesday. Boakai and Weah had run neck-and-neck in the first round of voting in October but none of them were able to secure the 50% needed for an outright victory, leading to Tuesday’s run-off. In that vote, Weah got the largest share and was just 7,000 votes ahead of Boakai.
Boakai, 78, a former vice president who lost to Weah in the 2017 election, led with 50.9% of the vote over Weah’s 49.1%, with nearly all the votes counted, the country’s elections commission said in Monrovia on Friday.
Already, President Weah on Friday night, called Boakai to concede, and urged supporters to accept the result.
Reuters quoted Weah as saying, “A few moments ago, I spoke with president elect Joseph Boakai to congratulate him on his victory. I urge you to follow my example and accept the results of the elections.”
Interestingly, in 2017, Weah who is a soccer legend Weah, had beaten Boakai with 62 percent of the vote to emerge president.
