MONROVIA, Liberia
The announcement comes amid mounting criticism of Weah, who is accused of being out of touch with the population who are reeling under rising prices and food shortages.
“My fellow citizens, I will be
coming to you shortly to ask you to renew (...) for a second time the mandate
that you gave me six years ago,” Weah said in his annual State of the Nation
address.
The election is slated for
October 10.
Weah, who is also a former
international football star, came to power in 2018 after winning an October
2017 election. The 56-year-old was absent from the West African nation for more
than a month late last year, prompting criticisms.
He went abroad at the end of
October for a string of political gatherings in several countries, including a
chance to watch his footballer son, Timothy Weah represent the United States at
the World Cup in Qatar.
Until Dec. 18 last year, Weah
was not seen in his homeland, where people have been battling soaring prices
and shortages of basic goods.
On Dec. 17, several hundred
Liberians had held peaceful protests at the invitation of the opposition to
denounce what they term “the incompetence” and Weah's indifference to the
plight of ordinary Liberians.
Fighting corruption had been
one of Weah's major campaign promises, but in September he accepted the
resignations of three close allies after the U.S. accused them of corruption.
Weah had initially suspended
the men from their roles after Washington imposed sanctions on them over
allegations tied to multi-million-dollar contracts and at least $1.5 million in
diverted public funds.
Graft remains endemic, with
watchdog Transparency International ranking Liberia 136th of 180 countries in
its 2021 corruption perceptions index.
Founded as a colony in 1822 by
former U.S. slaves, Liberia became a republic 25 years later — Africa's first.
The country's first female President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf ruled between 2006
and 2018.
It is still recovering from
back-to-back civil wars that left 250,000 people dead.
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