Hopes high as Liberians flock to the polls

LIBERIAN voters waited in snaking queues, hoping yesterday’s presidential balloting would mark an end to a quarter century of coups, despotic rule and fighting that killed tens of thousands.

The heavy turnout - some voters arrived hours before polling began - was a sign of the burden of expectation placed on the voting. Vying for the West African nation’s top job are 22 candidates - including former international football phenomenon George Weah, Harvard-educated politician Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf and two ex-rebel leaders. “I’m voting for a better life, a better leader that can bring peace,” said Willie Miller. “Years ago, the country was good ... it was beautiful. Now we’re bad off, barely able to feed ourselves.”

Founded by freed American slaves in the mid-1800s, Africa’s first republic was once among its richest countries, with vast fields of gems and valuable groves of hardwood trees and rubber plants.