Liberian election: UN chief sends Obasanjo to Liberia

 

FOLLOWING the successful conduct of Liberia’s presidential runoff election, United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres, has dispatched former President Olusegun Obasanjo to Liberia to support the country in the first peaceful transfer of power from one democratically elected leader to another in more than 70 years.

 

He made the announcement on Wednesday while welcoming the peaceful conduct of the second round of the presidential election in that country.

The UN chief had previously appointed the former Nigerian leader to the Secretary-General’s High-Level Advisory Board on Mediation.

The board made up of 18 global leaders, senior officials and experts was created earlier this year to advise the Secretary-General on mediation and back those efforts around the world.

The high-level board is part of the Secretary-General’s pledge for the UN to embark on a “surge in diplomacy for peace.”

Obasanjo is now expected to be in Liberia from the 28 to 30 December.

UN News reported that Obasanjo was involved in mediation efforts in Angola, Burundi, Mozambique, Namibia and South Africa, among others.

“The Secretary-General hopes that the will of the Liberian electorate will be respected and that a seamless transfer of power will take place within the constitutional timelines,” his spokesperson said in a statement.

Liberians voted in a second round of elections, deciding between Vice-President Joseph Boakai and George Weah, a politician and former football star.

The first round of elections was held in October but the runoff could not hold in November as scheduled because of allegations of voter irregularities by a third candidate.

The winner of the second round will succeed outgoing President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, the first woman elected as head of an African country.