Liberians protest against ‘worsening economic situation

In a rare state radio interview days before the protest, President Weah said he did not see any need for such a gathering.

“We don’t want unrest here, the country has the potential to gain growth,” he said.

He accused opposition politicians, who lost to him in the presidential election in December 2017, of organizing the demonstration.

“They’re sitting [at] home to plan protests, no, they should be trying to create jobs, they should be trying to be innovative, they should be trying to be entrepreneurs,” Mr Weah said.

He rejected criticism that power has got to his head or that he has become intolerant of criticism.

“This is not a tyrannic government,” he said.

“This is a democratic form of government [in which] everyone has their right to operate in the country but respect civil liberty so that other people can feel comfortable to do business,” he added.

Liberian police fired tear gas and water cannon to clear thousands of anti-government protesters from a central district in the capital Monrovia.

A crowd of some 3,000 people had gathered outside Monrovia’s Capitol building since Monday morning to protest the deepening economic crisis under President George Weah.

People outside the Capitol building had started cooking evening meals, against police orders, when law enforcement began to forcefully clear the area, an AFP journalist reported.