President Akufo-Addo has left Ghana for Liberia to witness the swearing-in of the West African country’s new president, George Weah, following an invitation by outgoing leader, Ellen Johnson Sirleaf.<\/p>\n
Nana Addo departed on Sunday afternoon and is expected to return on Tuesday, January 23, 2018.<\/p>\n
The inauguration of George Weah is scheduled to take place on Monday, 22nd January 2018, in Monrovia, Liberia.<\/p>\n
President\u00a0Akufo-Addo left the country in the company of the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Shirley Ayorkor Botchway; the Minister for Finance, Ken Ofori-Atta; Minister for National Security, Albert Kan Dapaah; and officials from the Presidency.<\/p>\n
The Director of Communications at the Presidency, Eugene Arhin said in a statement issued on Sunday that “given the absence from the jurisdiction of the Vice President, Alhaji Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia, the Speaker of Parliament, Rt. Hon. Aaron Mike Oquaye, in accordance with Article 60(11) of the Constitution, will act in his stead.”<\/p>\n
The President has duly informed the Speaker of Parliament of his absence from the country.<\/p>\n
‘Peaceful Transition’<\/strong><\/p>\n Former footballer George Weah was elected President of Liberia after he beat his opponent Joseph Boakai with more than 60% of the votes in a run-off election<\/p>\n Mr. Weah, who was raised in a slum in Liberia\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n He is the only African footballer to have won both Fifa World Player of the Year and the prestigious Ballon D\u2019Or.<\/p>\n He entered politics after his retirement from the game in 2002 and is currently a senator in Liberia\u2019s parliament.<\/p>\n His former club, PSG, congratulated him on Twitter.<\/p>\n Liberia, founded by freed US slaves in the 19th Century, has not had a smooth transfer of power from one elected president to another since 1944.<\/p>\n Mrs Sirleaf defeated Mr Weah in the presidential election run-off in 2005 and took office a year later, after the end of a brutal civil war that saw President Charles Taylor forced out by rebels.<\/p>\n Taylor is now serving a 50-year prison sentence in the UK for war crimes related to the conflict in neighbouring Sierra Leone.<\/p>\n This time Mr Weah\u2019s campaign \u2013 under the Coalition for Democratic Change banner \u2013 appealed to the youth vote, while incumbent Vice-President Boakai was seen as old and out of touch.<\/p>\n But Mr Weah\u2019s election is not without controversy, as his running mate was Jewel Taylor, former wife of the jailed president.<\/p>\n –<\/p>\n By: citifmonline.com\/Ghana<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" President Akufo-Addo has left Ghana for Liberia to witness the swearing-in of the West African country’s new president, George Weah, following an invitation by outgoing leader, Ellen Johnson Sirleaf. Nana Addo departed on Sunday afternoon and is expected to return on Tuesday, January 23, 2018. The inauguration of George Weah is scheduled to take place […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":387219,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[10,11],"tags":[8,726,3],"yoast_head":"\n