President Weah!

[rowan]

Liberia's new president George Weah, arguably the best footballer never to play at a World Cup. Can't say I ever saw much of his playing career, but let's hope he can be as successful in politics. Liberia has an interesting (and troubled) history, founded almost two centuries ago by freed slaves under a sort of US protectorate, it was intended to introduce a Western society and democratic values to the continent, but the new arrivals were unable to integrate with the local tribes (who naturally saw them as no more than colonizers), and by 1847 the new state was bankrupt. Not until the 1960s, in line with a global trend of migration from the provinces to the big cities, did the locals began to move into the urban centers, obtain jobs and participate in civil matters. But the inequalities created tension and in 1980 Samuel Doe led a coup which effectively ended American control. Civil war soon followed, during which Doe himself was murdered by one of the warlords (on live TV, apparently), before Charles Taylor came to power in 1997. He survived until 2003 when increasing pressure over war crimes forced him to seek exile in Nigeria. Captured and sent to the Hague, he was sentenced to 50 years imprisonment. Ellen Sirleaf took over in 2006, thus becoming the continent's first elected female leader.

[rowan]

I guess one thing that worked in Weah's favor was that he could in no way be implicated in the civil war, as he was playing football in Europe at the time! In 1995 he became the first African to be named World Footballer of the Year - and is still the only African to have done so. It's great that he's made this decision to go back and help his country, rather than just retire in the Bahamas or something. Will be interesting to see how he goes in politics, coming from humble origins without connections to the political elite.

[SerjeantWildgoose]

Ellen beat Weah in the 2006 election, so this wasn't his first time of trying.

Doe wasn't killed on live TV, but his treatment at the hands of Prince Johnson's militia was videoed and a copy is in the hands of the ICRC. I have seen a copy and you can probably find it online if you look hard enough. In it, Doe is seen and heard asking Johnson to to tell his men to back off; Johnson is heard telling them to 'cut him.' While Johnson sips his can of Budweiser, one of his men cuts Doe's ear off and passes it round so that everyone can take a little nibble.

Johnson was the chairman of the senate committee for defence when I was the military adviser to the Liberian Ministry of Defence in 2008-9. As far as I am aware he is still around. Ellen was protected by powerful forces, not least by the Americans. George is not and Johnson has already gone on the record saying that Weah's election will result in a return to civil war. If I were Liberian, I'd be shitting myself over what the future might hold.

[rowan]

Thanks for the clarification and extra information. I'll give the ear-munching fest a miss, if you don't mind. Reading about it was close enough for me. Yes, I remember Ellen winning the election, becoming the first female head of state in Africa and getting the symbolic Nobel Prize and all. Africa's 'Obama,' sort of. But she failed to deliver on her promise and quickly fell out of favor with the majority of Liberians. Weah has a tough job ahead of him, that's for sure.

[onlynameleft]

I remember when he played at Old Trafford and every time he ran past, Beckham would put his finger to him lips and go 'ssshhhhh'. Paul Scholes asked him what he was doing, Beckham whispered in his ear and Scholes said, "No, David, he's a LiBERian".

[morepork]

Badum-Tish!