Former international footballer, George Weah has been sworn in as the 25th president of Liberia. The former Ballon d’Or winner took his oath of office
Former international footballer, George Weah has been sworn in as the 25th president of Liberia. The former Ballon d’Or winner took his oath of office inside the Samuel Kanyon Doe Sports Complex in Monrovia, in an event that had several African Head of States and football stars present. Weah won Liberia’s presidential election in December, after securing 12 of the 15 counties thus, succeeding Nobel Laureate, Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, the first democratically elected president of Liberia who spent 12 years in office. Weah succeeds Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, who is the first elected female head of state in Africa. This peaceful democratic transition of power represents the country’s first in 47 years.
The three-time African Player of the Year defeated 73-year-old Joseph Boakai to become the country’s 24th president. George Weah became involved in politics in Liberia following his retirement from football. He formed the Congress for Democratic Change and ran unsuccessfully for President in the 2005 election, losing to Ellen Johnson Sirleaf in the second round of voting. In the 2011 election, he ran unsuccessfully as Vice President alongside Winston Tubman. Weah was subsequently elected to the Liberian Senate for Montserrado County in the 2014 elections.
