Thousands gather in Liberia to protest against corruption

Thousands of people have gathered in Liberia’s capital to protest against failures to tackle corruption, economic mismanagement and injustice under the former footballer turned president George Weah.

Riot police lined the streets of Monrovia where more than 5,000 people turned out despite the rain for one of the city’s biggest protests in living memory, according to witnesses. The protesters walked to Capitol Hill to present the government with a list of demands.

Weah, a football hero in Liberia, has been in power for less than 18 months. He took over from Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, a Nobel peace prize laureate who won great acclaim but was accused of nepotism.

Since Weah became president, inflation has soared and growth has shrunk, according to the IMF, which said in a recent report that the government’s wage bill was too high. The rising cost of living has had a devastating effect on many in a country where 64% of the population live below the poverty line.

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.

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.

Before Friday’s protest the government blocked social media and messaging services, according to the civil society group NetBlocks and many users in Monrovia.

On Thursday Weah said: “If you think you can insult this president and walk in the street freely, it will not happen. And I defy you.”