Former international soccer star George Weah maintained an early lead in Liberia’s election on Friday as the West African nation released a second round of provisional results of the vote to succeed Africa’s first female president. National Election Commission Chairperson Jerome Korkoya has warned candidates’ supporters against declaring victory until final results are announced, which must be done by October 25. Based on about 33% of the votes cast at more than 5 300 polling stations, Weah had 39.6% of the ballots counted. He held a slight lead over Vice President Joseph Boakai, who received 31.1%, according to election commission data. Boakai, who has been vice president for nearly 12 years, is running for the ruling Unity Party.

Source: GNN Liberia October 14, 2017 12:00 UTC