General News of Monday, 25 December 2017

Source: starrfmonline.com

Mahama back in Liberia for election rerun Tuesday

Former President John Dramani Mahama Former President John Dramani Mahama

Former President John Mahama is back in Monrovia, Liberia, to monitor the rerun of the elections there.

The election comes off tomorrow, Tuesday December 26 between current Vice President of the country, John Boakai of the Unity Party, and former footballer George Weah of the Coalition for Democratic Change (CDC).

Mahama who is the Head of the ECOWAS Election Observation Team earlier today held a briefing session ahead of the polls.

The briefing including a presentation by the ECOWAS Technical Support Team that was deployed to assist the Liberian National Election Commission evaluate their voter register and technical capacity.

The Technical Support Team, which was led by the former Chairperson of the Electoral Commission of Ghana, Dr. Kwadwo Afari Gyan, assisted the Liberian NEC to update their systems.

Background

The October 10 first round vote was held to replace President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, a Nobel Peace Laureate and Africa’s first elected female leader who is stepping down after a constitutional maximum of two six-year terms.

Boakai was due to face the top-placing candidate – former international footballer George Weah – in a runoff on November 7, but the Supreme Court put a temporary stay on the poll while the National Elections Commission (NEC) heard the complaints of the parties that came in second and third.

The NEC found the parties’ allegations either unfounded or exaggerated and ruled last week it had not carried out a fraudulent election, a decision maintained upon appeal.