![\"Liberia\u2019s](\"https:\/\/i.guim.co.uk\/img\/media\/c859dc9831a109627131b57c7eb8fb64dde7b675\/0_30_3828_2296\/master\/3828.jpg?w=300&q=55&auto=format&usm=12&fit=max&s=c1308f6edc9eccccd6c5e8346e12c10e\")
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Crowds flock to hear new president vow to tackle corruption and help the poor<\/p>\n
It was not the first time George Weah had packed out a football stadium, but perhaps it was the most significant.<\/p>\n
Liberians queued for miles to see the inauguration of the former footballer as their new president, celebrating their country\u2019s first peaceful, democratic transition of power in 47 years by dancing as they waited.<\/p>\n
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Expectations are sky-high for Weah, who grew up kicking a ball about his poor suburb of Monrovia and became an international star and Liberian hero through a distinguished football career at Milan, Chelsea and Paris Saint-Germain, winning the Ballon d\u2019Or and Fifa\u2019s world player of the year.<\/p>\n
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\u201cI have spent many years of my life in stadiums but today is a feeling like no other,\u201d Weah, dressed in white and mopping his forehead with a handkerchief, told an ecstatic crowd at Samuel Doe football stadium in Monrovia. \u201cI have taken an oath before you and before almighty God. Rest assured I will not let you down.\u201d<\/p>\n
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It was a moment Weah had been anticipating for more than a decade: he first ran for president in 2005, but lost to Ellen Johnson Sirleaf<\/a>, a former World Bank executive who became Africa\u2019s first female head of state. In 2011 he ran as Winston Tubman\u2019s vice-presidential candidate but they again lost out to Sirleaf<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cThis victory would not have been possible without the youth of this country, the women of this country who made their living selling in the market,\u201d Weah said. \u201cThis is your government.\u201d<\/p>\n More than half of Liberians live in poverty, and it was these people who filled Weah\u2019s rallies and turned out to vote for him, full of hope that his charmed life might somehow rub off on theirs.<\/p>\n \u201cPeople believe George Weah has the magic wand,\u201d said Ibrahim al-Bakri Nyei, a Liberian political analyst.<\/p>\n Bakri Nyei said Sirleaf had used her \u201cremarkable leadership\u201d to rebuild Liberia\u2019s image and protect free speech and freedom of association, but her weakness in fighting corruption had been the downfall of her Unity party.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cPeople voted against the Unity party because of its failings on the economy and on fighting corruption,\u201d he said. \u201cThe majority of George\u2019s supporters are people living in squalor, in slum conditions. Communities are thinking that everything will be transformed, that they will have equal opportunity, better education, better healthcare. They see in George someone who is close to their life situations as he came from a slum community.\u201d<\/p>\n In his first speech as president, Weah played to the gallery on corruption. \u201cThe way to directly affect the poor is to ensure our resources do not enter in the pockets of government officials. I promise to deliver on this mandate,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n