Boakai Sworn In As Liberian President 

Joseph Boakai has been sworn in Monday as Liberia’s president after his election victory over former football star George Weah, with the challenge of tackling poverty and corruption. The 79-year-old narrowly beat former Ballon d’Or winner Weah in November’s run-off poll with 50.64 percent of the votes to 49.36 percent. The inauguration ceremony in parliament was attended by Ghanaian President Nana Akufo-Addo and US ambassador to the United Nations Linda Thomas-Greenfield. Boakai has 40 years of political experience already behind him. He was vice-president from 2006 to 2018 under Liberia’s first woman president Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, before being soundly beaten by Weah in the 2017 election. November’s poll in the West African country was peaceful in a region that has seen a succession of military coups in recent years in Mali, Burkina Faso, Guinea and Niger. But the small nation of five million has been plagued with corruption, high levels of poverty and a weak justice system, after years of civil war and an Ebola outbreak. Impunity related to crimes committed during those civil wars is another unresolved issue.

Joseph Boakai Officially Declared Liberia’s New President

Joseph Boakai, the former Vice President of Liberia and Unity Party candidate, has been officially declared the winner of the 2023 presidential election. The announcement was made by Davidetta Lansannah, chairperson of Liberia’s National Election Commission (NEC) on Monday evening. After counting 100 percent of the votes from the country’s 5,890 polling places, Mr. Boakai secured 814,481 votes out of the available 1,625,684, surpassing incumbent President George Weah of the ruling Coalition for Democratic Change, who received 793,914 votes. Mr. Boakai’s vote share represented 50.64 percent of the total votes cast, while Mr. Weah received 49.36 percent. The first round of voting on October 10 did not produce a clear winner among the 20 presidential candidates, leading to a runoff between Weah and Boakai, the top two contenders. Unlike the first round, where a winner needed over 50 percent of the votes, a simple majority sufficed in the second round. Weah graciously accepted defeat and congratulated President-elect Boakai, urging his supporters to do the same when about 99 percent of the votes were counted. Foreign leaders, including Nigeria’s President Bola Tinubu, extended congratulations to Mr. Boakai, commending the statesmanship displayed by both candidates. The United States Government also praised Mr. Weah for peacefully accepting the outcome of the closely contested election, emphasizing the need for national unity and healing post-election divisions. The victory of Joseph Boakai as Liberia’s new president signifies a historic moment, fostering hopes for unity and progress in the nation’s governance and development.