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Hundreds of protesters clashed with police on Wednesday in Monrovia, Liberia's capital, during a protest against corruption and economic mismanagement under former US football president George Weah.
Police used tear gas to prevent protesters from approaching parliament in Monrovia, an AFP reporter said on the spot, while protesters threw stones and bottles at the agents.
Protesters – at the second big rally since thousands of people gathered on June 7 – called on the government to improve living conditions in a context of rampant inflation.
Police arrested at least five protesters.
Later, other clashes erupted when it appeared that an opposition candidate was about to win a senatorial by – election in Montserrado County, which includes Monrovia.
According to the results of half of the polls, Darius Dillon, Liberty opposition party candidate, garnered nearly 54% of the votes, while Paulita Wie, candidate of the Congress for Democratic Change (CDC) of the president George Weah, got only 37 percent.
Scuffs erupted between supporters on both sides, objects were thrown and police fired tear gas, an AFP journalist said.
Four people – two opposition supporters and two from the CDC – were injured, the reporter said.
Saving economy
The larger protest involved dozens of civil society badociations, including young activists called the Patriots Council (COP) who helped Weah, 52, gain access to power.
"The Patriots Council has announced a renewed protest and continues from Wednesday, July 31 until all our demands are met," said Henry Costa, President of the COP.
Since Weah became president of the impoverished West African state in January 2018, inflation has risen sharply and growth has contracted, according to the IMF.
Football icon, Weah is striving to revive the economy of a country still traumatized by consecutive civil wars between 1989 and 2003, which claimed the lives of a quarter of a million people.
He pointed out that his government had inherited an economy in crisis.
Last month, the Conference of the Parties sent Weah a series of demands, particularly with regard to the improvement of human rights and the elimination of corruption.
The group also called for the prosecution of people for financial problems at the Central Bank of Liberia (CBL).
Last October, rumors circulated that newly printed Liberian dollars, worth US $ 102 million, destined for the CBL reserves had disappeared shortly after their arrival from abroad.
Charles Sirleaf – the son of former president and Nobel Laureate Ellen Johnson Sirleaf – was arrested in March along with two other CBL personalities.
An independent investigation revealed that he was not short of money, but indicated "concerns regarding the overall accuracy and comprehensiveness of the CBL's internal registrations".
Other irregularities were uncovered, related to a $ 25 million cash injection that Weah ordered in July 2018 to mop up the Liberian dollar surplus and control inflation.
Weah says that he is aware of the burden of ordinary people and that improving health, education and roads remains his priority.
The call for COP protests also follows the acquittal of eight former politicians, including former Speaker of the Lower House, Alex Tyler.
The police have investigated allegations that he perceived a bribe worth $ 75,000 to facilitate the pbadage of a law favorable to a British mining company. But the judge said that the state had not proved the charges.
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