Gamal Nkrumah wonders why Liberia needs a Weah victory Liberia's first post-war presidential elections offer a unique chance for renewal. This election matters because it offers Liberians the option of genuine change of direction in their country's national reconciliation policy. But it matters for the rest of Africa just as much -- mainly because Liberia is a country that has suffered 14 years of civil war. Liberia has been paralysed by war for far too long. It has, through many years, been treated as a pariah state by the international community. The Liberian presidential elections campaign has been the only noteworthy political event since the ouster of the country's former strongman Charles Taylor, currently in exile in Nigeria. Former United States President Jimmy Carter blamed Taylor for the country's woes. "The woes of the people of Liberia were never caused by America," Carter who is in Liberia to monitor Tuesday's elections said. The US, formerly Liberia's chief trading partner, imposed sanctions on Liberia during Taylor's second term in office. The country is still suffering the consequences, exacerbating the impact of the civil war. The Liberian civil war was among Africa's bloodiest. Liberia must face up to this bloody chapter in its history. The country cannot continue to slide ad infinitum without serious socio-economic ramifications. Liberia's political establishment must show it has overcome its authoritarian political instincts. Liberia was lulled into a false sense of calm after a peace accord was signed in 2003 to end the war. Some 15,000 United Nations peace-keepers patrolled the streets of the country. But internecine fighting continued in different parts of Liberia. Former international soccer star Charles Weah presents a new face in the Liberian political scene, one that is not smeared by the blood and treachery of the past. Liberians are yearning for change, and Weah represents the radical departure from the past. A Weah victory will not by itself solve any of Liberia's problems. But at a time of crisis, it would offer a chance for the economic and political renewal without which the country cannot make further significant advances. An estimated 1.3 million Liberian voters went to the polls and the youthful electorate seemed to want Weah. There are 22 presidential contestants, and with 90 per cent of the vote counted as Al-Ahram Weekly went to press, the ballot proved inconclusive. A run-off election is almost certain. Amid predictable jostle and dissent, the Liberian onetime AC Milan and Chelsea striker's lack of formal education and political experience doesn't seem to put the electorate off Weah. In sharp contrast, Weah's main rival, Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf, has held several ministerial posts. Johnson-Sirleaf is gunning to become Africa's first elected female president. She lost her presidential bid against Taylor in the last presidential elections, but she continues to press for that niche in Liberian politics. Former finance minister Johnson-Sirleaf has previously worked for the World Bank and the United Nations Development Programme. Johnson-Sirleaf will naturally go out of her way to pay lip service to revamping the Liberian economy. In many respects, Johnson-Sirleaf and Weah are very different in terms of their social backgrounds and political outlooks. Johnson-Sirleaf hails from the elite African-American community which has traditionally had an unshakeable hold over Liberian politics and society. The descendants of freed slaves, they comprise a mere five per cent of the population, but their control over the country has basically gone unchallenged ever since it was founded in 1847. Weah, on the other hand, belongs to the indigenous African people of Liberia and was raised in the slums of Monrovia, the Liberian capital. Ironically, their politics are in some ways similar even though their backgrounds
