George Weah has been on the campaign trail for weeks, and the retired footballer who would be president of war-ravaged Liberia looks exhausted.
The convoy of four-wheel-drive cars tells the story of the journey. After setting out from the capital Monrovia last Friday with 32 vehicles, his campaign team bumped back towards the city yesterday in just five mud-spattered cars.
At a rest stop in the town of Ganta, Weah clambered down from his car and walked wearily to a wooden bench in the shade. ”I’m very optimistic,” he said. ”I want to bring the basic necessities. Light, water and education. And I can see there’s a need for roads.”
With a small population — 3,3-million — and an abundance of resources, Liberia ought to be an African gem. But decades of bad government and a protracted civil war have left it one of the poorest countries in the world.
After sunset, the heart of Liberia’s capital is shrouded in darkness. In the dazzle of car headlights, prostitutes dance on street corners to lure customers and United Nations armoured cars gleam ghostly white.
The man who promises to bring light to this darkness, Weah (39) is a former world footballer of the year who grew up in a hut on reclaimed swampland in Monrovia. He is favourite to win Tuesday’s presidential vote.
”Liberians are ready to move the country forward,” Weah told The Guardian, flanked by security men in camouflage gear. ”We need stability, to reassure the world that we are ready to move forward.
”My career does not make much difference. I’m a human being that has contributed to my society.”
The super-rich sports star had witnessed extreme poverty on his journey through Liberia’s rainforest-clad interior. He had seen first hand the dirt roads where treacherous orange mud sucks at car tyres. On Thursday night, he slept in his car because the convoy had been unable to reach the nearest town.
”We live in Monrovia and think everything is OK, but our people in the hinterland are catching a hard time. I experienced that myself in the 1970s. Our people are still living in huts, in a country that has the resources. At least, we can get low-cost housing for our people.”
Football was the springboard out of poverty for Weah, who was brought up by his grandmother. He started with local teams like Young Survivor and Invincible XI, then moved to Cameroon where the national squad’s coach recommended him to Arsène Wenger, then coach of Monaco.
Weah became a star, playing for a string of Europe’s most prestigious clubs, including AC Milan and Chelsea.
But he was more than just a sportsman. He personally funded the Liberia team through an African Nations Cup campaign and became a goodwill ambassador for Unicef, returning to Liberia to encourage child soldiers to lay down their arms.
Two former presidents of Liberia have been murdered and a third lives in exile. Weah is conscious of the danger he faces. ”When it comes to African politics, everyone that runs for the highest office faces danger,” he said. ”Life is a risk, and I’m taking a risk for my people. Anybody would be afraid. I have a beautiful life, and I’m putting it on the line for my people.”
The retired footballer lives in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, with his American wife and three children. He also has a four-bedroom house in Monrovia, where he keeps a silver Porsche Boxster.
His wealth provokes admiration rather than jealousy. Dayton Sei Boe (32) an official with his Congress for Democratic Change party, said fondly: ”The young man is a star, and stars love big cars.”
Some believe his wealth and celebrity make him immune from the corruption which was rampant under Liberia’s past leaders. In Ganta’s marketplace, Madison Morpue (21) a trader, said: ”I will vote for George Weah because he has money of his own, and our money will be safe.”
Liberia’s election is a contest of the Yanna-boys and the book-men. The Yanna-boys are street traders, who overwhelmingly back Weah. The book-men, the educated class, prefer Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf (66) a former World Bank economist. If elected, she will be Africa’s first female head of state.
The contrast between the two candidates points to the divide in Liberian society, between a distrusted elite and the hungry, largely illiterate masses.
Liberia was founded in 1847 by freed slaves from America’s cotton plantations, It was Africa’s first independent republic, but the settler elite denied civil rights to the indigenous people, creating a system of forced labour.
The turning point came in 1980, when President William Tolbert was killed in a coup led by Samuel Doe, an army sergeant who claimed to represent the frustrations of the indigenous people.
A 1989 revolt against Doe turned into a vicious civil war which lasted until 1996. Fighting broke out again after rebel leader Charles Taylor won a dubious election, and he was forced into exile in Nigeria two years ago.
Now 15 000 UN troops keep the peace, and Liberia’s hopes of resurrection turn on the outcome of this vote.
The country’s decline is most evident in the interior. At Yekepa, once the country’s biggest iron ore mine, the 192km railway line that carried minerals to the sea is overgrown by creepers. The only way to ship out the ore is by a grinding journey along a dirt track where the orange mud has the consistency of sponge cake. At the mine, which once extracted some of the world’s highest quality ore, the machinery has been looted.
Many of the former workers still live nearby, in neat company-built bungalows around a marketplace, shopping arcade and derelict basketball court. A former mechanical supervisor, James Jallah (60) said: ”Life was beautiful here. When the mine closed, it was a disaster for Yekepa. I’m just surviving by the grace of God.”
Jallah will vote for ”the lady”, Ms Johnson-Sirleaf. Weah’s supporters are ”irresponsible children”.
”I don’t want for my children to suffer,” he said. ”But the young men just want women, and want the drink.”
There are 22 candidates in the presidential race, which is running alongside a general election for the two-chamber legislature. The winning presidential candidate must gain 51% of the vote. Without that mandate, there will be a run-off between the two closest contenders.
The three front-runners
George Weah
Weah (39) (Congress for Democratic Change) is a former world footballer of the year. He has strong grassroots support among a football-crazy electorate, more than half of whom are under 32, but opponents criticise his lack of experience and qualifications
Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf
Harvard-educated Johnson-Sirleaf (66) (Unity party) is a former World Bank economist. She was imprisoned twice for criticising former president Samuel Doe. She supported rebel-turned-president Charles Taylor, though later became a staunch opponent
Charles Walker Brumskine
Brumskine (54) (Liberty party) a former law professor at the University of Liberia, served as a senator during the Charles Taylor regime. He left for the US, but returned in 2003 to challenge Taylor in an election. It was not held and Taylor was forced into exile – Guardian Unlimited Â