Voting starts  in Liberia as George Weah and Joseph Boakai lockhorns  presidential run-off 

Voting has started Liberia’s run-off presidential election after the two leading candidates in the October votes could not be clearly separated in the first round.

Voters will be selecting between incumbent and one of Africa’s football icons, George Weah and former Vice-President Joseph Boakai.

The run-off became necessary as the president narrowly won the first round with about 7,000 ballots but failed to get more than 50% of the vote as required by the constitution.

Cases of fraud and violence were reported in the first election, according to reports.

Liberia’s electoral umpire said nine of its casual staff had been arrested over alleged ballot-tampering.

Meanwhile, former President of Nigeria, Goodluck Jonathan, has again urged Liberians to give peace a chance to prevail ahead of the presidential run-off election in the country.

In an arrival statement issued in Monrovia, the West Africa Elders Forum Election Mission to Liberia,appealed to Liberians to conduct themselves peacefully and shun acts of violence during the second round of voting to avoid a potential breakdown of law and order.

Polls will close at 18:00 local time (18:00 GMT), when vote counting will get under way.