NEWS- The Liberian President George Weah has conceded defeat after provisional results from this week’s runoff elections showed his challenger Joseph Boakai defeating him by just over 1 percentage point.
Elections officials yesterday evening announced that with 99% of ballots counted from Tuesday’s election, Boakai was in the lead, with 51% to Weah’s 49 % which is a dramatic reversal from the election six years ago when Weah easily beat Boakai in the second round.
While addressing the Nation last evening, President Weah said that the Liberian people have spoken, and he will accept the outcome of the elections and added that Boakai was in the lead that his party cannot surpass and urged them to follow his example and accept the result of the elections.
The concession speech given even before official results were announced in Liberia comes at a time when there have been growing concerns about the decline of democracy in the West Africa.
The West Africa region has seen a spate of military coups over the last several years, including one earlier this year in Gabon in the aftermath of a presidential election, but Weah said he had the utmost respect for the democracy process that has defined Liberia over years.
Weah, a former international soccer star won the 2017 election after he promise to fight poverty and generate infrastructure, but his opponents accused him of not living up to key campaign promises that he would fight corruption and ensure justice for victims of conflict.
