Liberia's next president is former soccer star George Weah

(Image credit: AP Photo/Abbas Dulleh)

last updated 29 December 2017

Having received 61.5 percent of the vote, former soccer star George Weah is the winner of Liberia's presidential run-off election.

Weah, who grew up in a slum in Monrovia, will be sworn in next month. He was up against Vice President Joseph Boakai, and will succeed incumbent Ellen Johnson Sirleaf. Weah first ran for president in 2005, winning the first round but losing in the second to Johnson Sirleaf. This time, his running mate was a surprising choice: Jewel Howard-Taylor, whose ex-husband is former Liberian President Charles Taylor, now serving time in prison for war crimes in Sierra Leone.

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Explore More

Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.

Subscribe to The Week

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox