AFP/Freetown


Liberia yesterday kicked off campaigning for the October 11 presidential and legislative elections, with incumbent President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf (pictured) facing criticism over her plan to seek re-election.
Sirleaf, who was elected Africa’s first female president in 2005, said she wanted a second term to continue her work in rebuilding the west African nation which was devastated by the 1989-2003 civil war.
In a statement released yesterday, she said she wished to reaffirm her government’s “commitment to free expression and debate on all issues.”
Her main rival will be economist Winston Tubman, a nephew of former president William Tubman of the Congress for Democratic Change whose candidate lost to Sirleaf in a run-off vote in 2005.
Another key contender is Charles Brumskine, leader of the Liberty Party, will also be taking another shot at the top job.
And Liberia’s ex-warlord Prince Johnson will be a candidate for his newly formed party, the National Union for Democratic Progress.
Johnson, who was elected senator of Nimba county in the 2005 elections, was in 1990 filmed drinking beer as his men tortured ousted president Samuel Doe, cutting off his ears and eventually killing him. He is listed alongside former president Charles Taylor in a Truth and Reconciliation Commission report as a warlord who should be brought to justice for war crimes.
The final list of presidential candidates will be published on September 10.
Despite her popularity abroad, Sirleaf has been criticised at home for her decision to run, after initially promising she would serve only one term.
“We still have a long way to go, but we have succeeded in restoring a good amount of basic infrastructure,” she told the Jeune Afrique magazine, pointing to roads linking the capital with main towns and electricity now available in most Monrovia suburbs.
The 72-year-old grandmother has also been criticised at home as she has yet to implement recommendations by the country’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission.
The panel named her among a list of people who should not hold public office for 30 years for backing warlord-turned-president Taylor.