Skip to main content

Thousands protest in Liberia against corruption, economic decline.


Thousands of Liberians took to the streets of the capital, Monrovia, on Friday to protest against the corruption and economic decline that many blame on their once hugely popular president, former football star George Weah.

In a stark contrast to the wild celebrations that greeted Weah’s election victory in 2017, throngs of chanting demonstrators bearing signs calling Weah a “traitor” gathered near the president’s official residence.

Among protesters’ main gripes: a stagnant economy in which most still live in deep poverty and a scandal in which the country last year lost $100 million in newly printed bank notes destined for the central bank.

“Weah is not governing our state the right way,” said Ishmael Hassan, who voted for Weah in 2017 but has since become disillusioned. “The economic situation in our country is going down the drain.”

Liberia’s economy was hit hard by a 2014-16 Ebola outbreak that killed thousands, low prices for its chief exports, iron ore and rubber, and declining foreign aid.

The International Monetary Fund in March revised down Liberia’s economic growth forecast for 2019 to 0.4% from 4.7%. Inflation peaked at 28.5% in December, pushing up the price of everyday items.

Many believed Weah, who grew up in a Monrovia slum before becoming a celebrated striker in some of Europe’s biggest football teams, would bring a new dawn. Instead, he faces the same criticisms of corruption that dogged his predecessor Ellen Johnson Sirleaf.

A petition circulated by the protest’s organizers on Friday accused the administration of misusing public funds, violating press freedoms, and failing to adequately fund health and education programs.

The petition accuses Weah himself of constructing “scores of luxury homes” after he declined to publicly declare his assets.

“I supported this government, but the way things are going, we want to save the state,” said protestor Bob Blue.





Source: Reuters

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Instagram Star Brutally Murdered By 4chan Member.

An Instagram star was brutally murdered by a 4chan member who nearly decapitated her then posted gruesome photos of her body online. 17-year-old Bianca Devins from Utica, NY was brutally murdered on Sunday, July 14, by Brandon Clark, 21. He then posted grisly photos of her body to Instagram, 4Chan and the gaming website, Discord. Clark spent time photographing and recording the body. In one image her body is covered with a green tarp. He captioned the photos, "Sorry f----rs, you're gonna have to find some else to orbit," which is a term for men who lurk on a girl's social media page hoping for a hookup. In another photo of her bloody left arm, he wrote, "I'm sorry Bianca.” The bloody knife is seen on the passenger seat next to Devins' body. Instagram followers recognized the teenager from the photos and geolocated Clark using the metadata in the photos. Police received calls around 7:20 a.m., including a call from Clark himself. Police qui...

Say 'Hello' To Armless Bae, The New Queen Of Social Media!

Guyssssss!A new model is trending on social media. Her name is Ashley and in addition to modeling on Instagram, she’s also a student at North Carolina A&T. She's hot gorgeous, no doubt. BUT Ashley has an unusual feature – she was only born with one arm. But instead of that being a HANDICAP . .. it’s actually made her a lot more interesting. Here are her pics . . .

Alexa Bliss Pulled From WWE Evolution, New Tag Team Partner Revealed.

Alexa Bliss will not be competing at Sunday's Evolution pay-per-view. Bliss suffered a concussion or a broken nose at last Saturday's live event and she has been out of action since. Alicia Fox will be replacing Bliss in the match with Mickie James against WWE Hall of Famers Lita and Trish Stratus. Bliss will be in their corner.