![\"_98234816_mediaitem98234815\"](\"http:\/\/citifmonline.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/10\/98234816_mediaitem98234815.jpg\")
<\/p>\nLiberians are set to go to the polls to choose a successor to Africa’s first elected female president and Nobel Peace laureate Ellen Johnson Sirleaf.<\/p>\n
Ex-football star George Weah and Vice-President Joseph Boakai are the main contenders in the race to succeed her.<\/p>\n
Liberia, founded by freed US slaves in the 19th Century, has not had a smooth transfer of power in 73 years.<\/p>\n
Ms Sirleaf urged people to vote peacefully in a nation still recovering from a 14-year civil war.<\/p>\n
“Your vote is about you and your family – not party, ethnicity,” she said in an address to to the nation.<\/p>\n
A total of 20 presidential candidates are running to succeed Ms Sirleaf.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
They include Alex Cummings, a former Coca-Cola executive, and MacDella Cooper, an ex-model and girlfriend of Mr Weah.<\/p>\n
Ms Sirleaf, 78, is stepping down at the end of her two terms.<\/p>\n
She took office in 2006, after her predecessor, Charles Taylor, was forced out of office by rebels in 2003.<\/p>\n
Taylor is currently serving a 50-year prison sentence in the UK for war crimes related to the conflict in neighbouring Sierra Leone.<\/p>\n
Mr Weah, 51, has chosen Taylor’s ex-wife Jewel Howard Taylor as his running mate.<\/p>\n
This is the former footballer of the year’s third attempt to become president.<\/p>\n
Ms Sirleaf has failed to campaign for Mr Boakai, fuelling speculation that the two have fallen out.<\/p>\n
Supporters of Mr Boakai, 72, are campaigning under the slogan: “Our ma [Ms Sirleaf] spoil it, our pa will fix it.”<\/p>\n
Almost 2.2 million people are registered to vote in the election.<\/p>\n
Parliamentary elections are also due to be held at the same time.<\/p>\n
Campaigning has been dominated by promises to tackle poverty, corruption, and guarantee stability in the West African state.<\/p>\n
Liberia is one of the poorest countries in the world, with more than 50% of people living in poverty.<\/p>\n
It was one of three West African states badly hit by the 2014-15 Ebola outbreak which left more than 11,300 people dead.<\/p>\n
–<\/p>\n
Source: BBC<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Liberians are set to go to the polls to choose a successor to Africa’s first elected female president and Nobel Peace laureate Ellen Johnson Sirleaf. 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 […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":14,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[107],"tags":[725,726,598],"yoast_head":"\n