The vote was delayed after an allegation of electoral fraud in the first round earlier this month.

Former military coup leader Julius Maada Bio received the most votes in the first round.

He now faces ruling party candidate Samura Kamara who is an economist by training.

Mr Maada Bio received 43.3% of the vote in the first round.

But in Sierra Leone the president is elected by absolute majority and if no-one gets 55% then it goes to a run-off.

President Ernest Bai Koroma is stepping down as president after serving two five-year terms. He chose Mr Kamara as his successor to run as president for the All People’s Congress (APC).

Mr Maada Bio, who is leading the main opposition Sierra Leone People’s Party (SLPP), lost to Mr Koroma in the last election. But Mr Maada Bio had already ruled the country briefly.

The 53-year-old was part of a group of soldiers who overthrew the government in 1992. Four years later he staged another coup and ruled Sierra Leone between January and March 1996.

Whoever wins this time, one of the greatest challenges for the new leader will be to improve healthcare following the devastating Ebola outbreak in 2014.

It killed nearly 4,000 people yet there are still only 200 doctors serving the country of seven million people.

The run-off was originally due to take place on Tuesday but the High Court ordered a delay after a member of the ruling party alleged there had been electoral fraud in the first round.

But the court rejected a petition by the ruling APC seeking an indefinite suspension of the run-off to allow for a forensic audit of the 7 March vote.

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Source: BBC

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Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, who served two terms as President of Liberia from 2006 to 2017, is the fifth recipient of the Ibrahim Prize, which recognises and celebrates excellence in African leadership.

The Ibrahim Prize aims to distinguish leaders who, during their time in office, have developed their countries, strengthened democracy and human rights for the shared benefit of their people, and advanced sustainable development.

In its citation, the Prize Committee praised her exceptional and transformative leadership, in the face of unprecedented and renewed challenges, to lead Liberia’s recovery following many years of devastating civil war.

Announcing the decision, Dr Salim Ahmed Salim, Chair of the Prize Committee, said:

Ellen Johnson Sirleaf took the helm of Liberia when it was completely destroyed by civil war and led a process of reconciliation that focussed on building a nation and its democratic institutions. Throughout her two terms in office, she worked tirelessly on behalf of the people of Liberia. Such a journey cannot be without some shortcomings and, today, Liberia continues to face many challenges. Nevertheless, during her twelve years in office, Ellen Johnson Sirleaf laid the foundations on which Liberia can now build.

Ellen Johnson Sirleaf became President of Liberia on 16 January 2006, after winning the 2005 national elections. She served her first term 2006-11 and was then successfully re-elected for a second term, serving in office 2012-17. Since 2006, Liberia was the only country out of 54 to improve in every category and sub-category of the Ibrahim Index of African Governance. This led Liberia to move up ten places in the Index’s overall ranking during this period.

On hearing the outcome of the Prize Committee’s deliberations, Mo Ibrahim said:
I’m delighted that the Prize Committee has decided to make Ellen Johnson Sirleaf an Ibrahim Prize Laureate. In very difficult circumstances, she helped guide her nation towards a peaceful and democratic future, paving the way for her successor to follow. I am proud to see the first woman Ibrahim Laureate, and I hope Ellen Johnson Sirleaf will continue to inspire women in Africa and beyond.

Ellen Johnson Sirleaf joins Hifikepunye Pohamba of Namibia (2014), Pedro Pires of Cabo Verde (2011), Festus Mogae of Botswana (2008) and Joaquim Chissano of Mozambique (2007) as an Ibrahim Prize Laureate. Nelson Mandela was made the inaugural Honorary Laureate in 2007.

The Ibrahim Prize is a US$5 million award paid over ten years and US$200,000 annually for life thereafter. The Mo Ibrahim Foundation will consider granting a further US$200,000 per year for ten years towards public interest activities and good causes espoused by the Ibrahim Laureate.

The candidates for the Ibrahim Prize are all former African executive heads of state or government who have left office during the last three calendar years, having been democratically elected and served their constitutionally mandated term.

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By: citifmonline.com/Ghana

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President Nana Addo indicated that Liberia’s newly elected President’s inauguration “is an extremely important development in Liberian history, and in West African history.”

“For us, in West Africa, I think the democratic consolidation that so many of us are seeking is taking place, and, that democracy is gradually being entrenched stronger and stronger in the body politic of our different states,” he added.

President Akufo-Addo made this comment when he interacted with journalists, after attending the swearing in ceremony of President George Oppong Weah, at the Samuel Kanyon Doe Sports Complex, in Monrovia.

The swearing-in ceremony saw West African Presidents such as, President Allasane Ouattara of Cote d’Ivoire; Togolese President; Faure Gnassingbe, President of Niger; Mahamadou Issoufou, Senegalese President; Macky Sall, Guinean President; Alpha Conde, and the President of Mali; Ibrahim Boubacar Keita, among others.

President Nana Addo also urged Mr. Weah to build on the legacy bequeathed to him by his predecessor, President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, saying “President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf was preoccupied with establishing the basic things after the civil war. She’s been able to that. Now it is a question of building on them to grow the Liberian economy, so that all of these young people who voted for him, who are out of work, can find work to do in the very near future.”

In his inaugural address, President George Oppong Weah pledged to build on the foundation his predecessor laid.

Ghana’s two former Presidents, John Dramani Mahama and Jerry John Rawlings, were among the dignitaries who attended the event.

Who is George Weah?

Mr. Weah, who was raised in a slum in Liberia’s capital Monrovia, starred at top-flight European football clubs Paris St-Germain (PSG) and AC Milan, before ending his career in England with brief stays at Chelsea and Manchester City.

He is the only African footballer to have won both Fifa World Player of the Year and the prestigious Ballon D’Or.

He entered politics after his retirement from the game in 2002, and had served as a senator in Liberia’s Parliament before becoming President.

His former club, PSG, congratulated him on Twitter.

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By: Marian Ansah/citifmonline.com/Ghana

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Ellen Johnson Sirleaf is accused of encouraging people to vote against her vice-president, Joseph Boakai.

Former footballer George Weah won the presidential elections in December, defeating Mr Boakai.

Ms Sirleaf, who is a Nobel Peace Prize winner and Africa’s first elected woman president, could not stand again.

A spokesman for the governing Unity Party said Ms Sirleaf had violated the party’s constitution as she was seen campaigning with Mr Weah, who was running under the Coalition for Democratic Change banner.

Ms Sirleaf has not yet commented.

Mr Weah will be sworn in later this month. It will be the first smooth transfer of power since 1944 in Liberia, which was founded by freed US slaves in the 19th Century.

Ms Sirleaf gained popularity at home and abroad for helping to bring stability to her country after years of civil war.

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Source: BBC

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The West African country went to the polls on Tuesday to elect a new president following Ellen Johnson Sirleaf’s 12-year reign as Africa’s first female President.

[contextly_sidebar id=”fLfhXQTCzpE3cpnLNIBd9tSzE7PUCXAn”]Voters are also picking new lawmakers in the West African Nation’s third post-civil war polls.

On Wednesday, several persons on Twitter and Facebook, without any official or provisional results, started congratulating football legend George Oppong Weah as the winner of the polls.

Twenty persons contested the presidency for which reason the election commission has indicated possibilities of a run-off.

They include former footballer Senator George Weah, Sirleaf’s Vice President Joseph Boakai, former rebel leader Prince Johnson, and the only woman in the race, former model Macdella Cooper.

There are 986 aspirants for the 73 seats in the House of representatives. 2,183,683 people registered to vote, and the elections body reports of a high turnout, although Liberia has a population of about five million.

However, the commission says its attention was drawn to the wave of public radio announcement of unofficial results of the 2017 elections, a situation it says it finds problematic.

The NEC has thus cautioned the general public, political parties and media persons alike, that per Section 2.9(g) of the New Election Law of 1986, only its outfit has the legal mandate to conduct elections and declare results thereof, adding that, when it begins to release provisional results (hopefully Thursday October 12), the process will be done at the NEC MEDIA CENTER, in the full glare of national and international media practitioners, as well as national and international partners and observers.

It said the NEC provisional results will also be posted on its official website:www.necliberia.org, and on its official facebook and twitter accounts.

Meanwhile, the NEC is requesting political parties and independent candidates to send representatives to the Montserrado Tally Center at the SKD Sports Complex in Paynesville, where results of the Tuesday elections are being tallied.

It said the tally begins from 9:00am to 6:00pm daily.

Parliamentarians, as well as members of the House of Representatives, are also expected to be elected.

Liberia Elections 2017

• 20 presidential candidates vying to be new president

• 986 parliamentary aspirants vying for 73 House of Representatives seats

• 2,183,683 registered voters out of 4.6 million population

• 5,390 voting centers, 2080 voting precincts

• Polls open October 10 at 0800 GMT and close at 1800 GMT

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By: Marie-Franz Fordjoe/citifmonline.com/Ghana

The post No winner of presidential polls yet – Liberia’s EC appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.

Ex-football star George Weah and Vice-President Joseph Boakai are the main contenders in the race to succeed her.

Liberia, founded by freed US slaves in the 19th Century, has not had a smooth transfer of power in 73 years.

Ms Sirleaf urged people to vote peacefully in a nation still recovering from a 14-year civil war.

“Your vote is about you and your family – not party, ethnicity,” she said in an address to to the nation.

A total of 20 presidential candidates are running to succeed Ms Sirleaf.

They include Alex Cummings, a former Coca-Cola executive, and MacDella Cooper, an ex-model and girlfriend of Mr Weah.

Ms Sirleaf, 78, is stepping down at the end of her two terms.

She took office in 2006, after her predecessor, Charles Taylor, was forced out of office by rebels in 2003.

Taylor is currently serving a 50-year prison sentence in the UK for war crimes related to the conflict in neighbouring Sierra Leone.

Mr Weah, 51, has chosen Taylor’s ex-wife Jewel Howard Taylor as his running mate.

This is the former footballer of the year’s third attempt to become president.

Ms Sirleaf has failed to campaign for Mr Boakai, fuelling speculation that the two have fallen out.

Supporters of Mr Boakai, 72, are campaigning under the slogan: “Our ma [Ms Sirleaf] spoil it, our pa will fix it.”

Almost 2.2 million people are registered to vote in the election.

Parliamentary elections are also due to be held at the same time.

Campaigning has been dominated by promises to tackle poverty, corruption, and guarantee stability in the West African state.

Liberia is one of the poorest countries in the world, with more than 50% of people living in poverty.

It was one of three West African states badly hit by the 2014-15 Ebola outbreak which left more than 11,300 people dead.

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Source: BBC

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According to her, the former President ensured a free, fair and transparent electoral process in the recent general elections.

“On behalf of ECOWAS Heads of State and in my name, we extend our greatest salutation to his excellency John Dramani Mahama for his leadership in organising a free, fair and transparent electoral process. Giving the people the freedom and the space to choose their own fate is the greatest act of leadership. We are proud of Ghana today, but this is not unexpected. Ghana has been the bastion of democracy for many decades.”

Speaking at the inauguration of the new President Nana Akufo Addo, President Sirleaf further reminded Mr. Mahama of the daunting task ahead, despite losing the general election.

She believes Mr. Mahama has some relevant roles to play in the future as far as the development of the African continent is concerned.

“John as you leave state house, please remember and cherish the fact that you have many roles to play in the future in Ghana, in Africa and the world.”

She further extended her gratitude to the former President, saying “…Thank you for demonstrating to all that indeed there is life after the pinnacle of power. I look forward to joining you in that track when I turn over to a new administration in a year from now.”

I’ll help strengthen Ghana’s relations with Cote D’lvoire – Alassane Ouattara

President of Cote D’lvoire, Alassane Ouattara, on his part, said the successful election has reinforced the credentials of Africa to the world.

He also assured the newly sworn in President of his commitment to strengthening Ghana’s relations with Cote D’lvoire.

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By: Marian Ansah/citifmonline.com/Ghana
Follow @EfeAnsah

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President Sirleaf, who is also the Chair of Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), said: “If there is violence during the elections and it spills over into the communities, there is likely to be a lot of people that would get hurt, some people can die, properties could be destroyed and once that starts, people take advantage of that situation and it spreads beyond control.”

[contextly_sidebar id=”2R00GJnVOVoCUImz4EDr9wFs200qxSLZ”]She was speaking to the Ghana News Agency on the sidelines of a “Cocktail Time with the Champion of Women Situation Room (WSR) and the Chair of ECOWAS”, organised by the WSR in Accra, on Thursday, with the aim of providing an update documentary on the WSR-Ghana.

President Sirleaf, who is the Champion of WSR, said the situation in Liberia was not the best in memories, “and that is why we want to make sure that Ghana maintains its good reputation of violence-free elections so that the country will continue to grow.”

Dr. Mohamed Ibn Chambas, the Special Representative of the UN Secretary General and Head of the United Nations Office of West Africa and the Sahel, said they were pleased that all the seven candidates had pledged to work to achieve peaceful elections in Ghana earlier in the day– a programme put together by the National Peace Council.

The WSR was initiated by ABIC with the support of Liberian women and youth organisations.

The Goal of the WSR is to ensure that in accordance with United Nations Security Council Resolution 1325 and the Gender Is My Agenda Campaign of the African Union, women in collaboration with youth, play active and substantive roles in ensuring and sustaining peaceful elections.

The WSR is set to deploy an all women observers team to observe the general election in various polling stations across the country.

–

Source: GNA

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While not mentioning specific institutions and names, the chairman of the commission, Justice Senyo Dzamefe was emphatic about their independence.

“This morning we received a letter from the [Ghana Football Association] addressed to the Minister of Youth and Sports, Honorable  Mahama Ayariga  and copied to us,” he said on Monday at the first sitting at the Accra Sports Stadium.

The letter, Justice Dzamefe said, was dated August 7 and signed by Fifa Deputy Secretary General Markus Kattner.

The world football governing body’s letter sent last Thursday addressed its unease at the insistence on the government of Ghana to look into the Black Stars performance at the World Cup – but the Commission would not admit that their comments were aimed at Fifa.

“I want to state categorically that we are not intimidated by anybody,” Justice Dzamefe insisted.

Postponement

Meanwhile the commission has postponed its sittings  to Wednesday August 13.

The two other members of the commission are lawyer and veteran sports broadcaster Moses  Foh-Amoaning  and  Kofi   Anokye Owusu Darko, rescheduled to allow the institutions subpoenaed ample time to prepare before taking  their turns before the commission.

Four state-institutions were to be present at Monday’s sittings but only three showed up. The Bank of Ghana failed to show up for reasons that remain unclear but the Finance, Foreign Affairs and Sports ministries sent representatives.

Citi News’ Pearl Akanya Ofori reports that the atmosphere at the venue was expectant, but ultimately disappointing as no hearings came off.

Background

In the wake of Ghana’s poor show at the recent World Cup, the Sports Ministry set up a three-member committee to investigate matters of player indiscipline and some poor decisions by the management team, as well as general poor performance in the tournament.

However, President John Mahama later upgraded the setup from a committee to a Commission of Inquiry.

Article 279 of Ghana’s constitution says such a commission “shall have the powers, rights and privileges of the High Court or a Justice of the High Court at a trial.”

In the eyes of Fifa, this simply means the GFA could be on trial from a High Court, which may go contrary to their rules of engagement with member associations.

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By: Pearl Akanya Ofori/Citifmonline.com/Ghana

Follow @pearlakanya

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The President made the call when he sworn in 11 appointees to various ministerial and deputy ministerial positions.

According to the President, Ghana’s current challenges require creativity and hard work thus he expects to foster good relations with workers in their various ministries to ensure efficient delivery.

“I expect you to do so [Lead your ministries] diligently, efficiently, with humility and with modesty; you must learn to follow due process but also learn to cut through bureaucracy and technocracy,’’ he charge his new officers.

He also asked the new appointees to protect the fundamental human rights and freedoms of all Ghanaians.  “I charge you to avoid any divisive, corrupt and disgraceful tendencies and practices,’’ he added.

“There are urgent needs that have to be met; I therefore call on each of you to hit the grounds running with no time to waste and conduct all your duties responsibly with best interest of the nation’s tax payer’s at heart,’’ he stressed.

Speaking on behalf of his colleagues Minister for Health, Dr Kwaku Agyemang Manu promised diligence in their work.

According to him, he and his colleagues will work ‘’assiduously’’ to ensure the full realization of the better Ghana vision.

By: Evans Effah/citifmonline.com/Ghana

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