Liberian president works from home due to snakes

Times of News

5 years ago

Liberian President George Weah was forced to work from home on Thursday after his office was invaded by snakes.

Two black snakes were found slithering from a hole in the reception area of the building hosting the presidential office.

George Weah: From football star to Liberian president

A rising star in football

Outside Liberia, George Weah is best-known as a football player. In his heyday, he was considered to be one of the best strikers in the world. Football helped Weah escape a life of hardship. The son of a mechanic, he grew up in a slum in the Liberian capital. The family sank deeper into poverty after his father’s early death. Fortunately, Weah was discovered by a Liberian football team.

George Weah: From football star to Liberian president

From Cameroon to France

George Weah was Liberia’s top scorer in 1987 and played for Invincible Eleven, the country’s leading team at the time. When his club played against the Cameroonian side Tonnerre Yaounde, officials noticed his talents and signed him up to play for their club. But life in Cameroon wasn’t easy. Weah had to live with other players and struggled with speaking French, Cameroon’s national language.

George Weah: From football star to Liberian president

Making it big in Europe

After six months in Cameroon, Weah joined French club AS Monaco in 1988. It was the beginning of his successful career in Europe that saw him play for the continent’s top leagues and clubs. He was world football player of the year in 1995 and was chosen trice as African footballer of the year. Milan’s former coach Arrgo Sacchi once said about him: “With every action he’s re-inventing football.”

George Weah: From football star to Liberian president

Failed dreams of a World Cup tournament

But while George Weah made it big as a player in Europe, his dream of playing at a World Cup tournament was never fulfilled. In 2002, Liberia qualified for the Africa Cup of Nations finals in Mali. Weah was the team’s technical director, but announced his resignation as a player and an official after the team was knocked out in the group stages.

George Weah: From football star to Liberian president

Fighting poverty and human rights abuse

Weah has used his success to help others who are less fortunate. In 1997, the UN’s children fund UNICEF appointed him special representative for sports. Weah has donated large sums to charity. This has made him popular in his war-ravaged home country, where he maintained close contacts over the years.

George Weah: From football star to Liberian president

Family life

George Weah is married to Clar, a US citizen with Jamaican roots. The couple has three children. His oldest son is following in his father’s footsteps as a football player. Weah named a Liberian TV station that he owns after his wife. “She always supported me and motivated me to do something for my country,” he told German magazine “Stern” in 2008.

George Weah: From football star to Liberian president

2005: A surprise bid for the presidency

George Weah had to face a number of setbacks after the end of his football career. He became a politician and took a shot at the presidency at Liberia’a first democratic elections after the end of the civil war in 2005. He came in second place in a runoff after former World Bank Vice President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf. Johnson-Sirleaf scored 59.4 percent of the vote, Weah got 40.6 percent.

George Weah: From football star to Liberian president

Working in parliament

After an unsuccessful bid to become vice president in 2011, Weah managed to win a seat in the senate, Liberia’s upper house of parliament in 2014. Weah defeated his main rival, President Johnson-Sirleaf’s son Robert, by a landslide, winning 78 percent of the vote. But according to media reports, Weah was rarely seen in parliament, nor did he sponsor any legislation.

George Weah: From football star to Liberian president

2017: A second attempt

George Weah has proven to be a political fighter. In 2017 he again ran for the presidency. While his supporters have continued to cheer on their idol, Weah’s decision to choose Jewel Taylor as his running mate shocked people both at home and abroad. She is the ex-wife of former Liberian president Charles Taylor, who was convicted of war crimes in 2012.

George Weah: From football star to Liberian president

The new Liberian president

George Weah won the first round of the elections in October 2017. A necessary runoff was postponed by Liberia’s Supreme Court after another candidate complained of fraud. Weah won the runoff on December 26, 2017, with 61.5 percent of the vote. Former Vice President Joseph Bokai scored 38.5 percent of the vote. Bokai was quick to accept defeat and congratulated Weah.

Author: Daniel Pelz

His press spokesperson said Weah would work from home until the building was fumigated to take care of “crawling and creeping things.”

He did not confirm the species of snake found, but Liberia is home to several venomous and harmless snakes that are black.

Read more: George Weah sworn in as president of Liberia

His office is in the top floor of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in central Monrovia, the country’s capital. The presidential palace burned down in 2006 during independence celebrations.

Prior to his entry into politics, Weah was a former footballer who had been named FIFA’s player of the year in 1995. He assumed the presidency in January 2018 on a campaign of stamping out corruption in the desperately impoverished country.

aw/kl (AP, AFP)

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Record-breaking snakes

The most venomous snake

The inland taipan produces the most toxic venom in the snake kingdom. Researchers estimate that one bite could kill more than 100 men. The taipan’s venom is specially adapted to kill warm-blooded animals. It affects the nervous system, the blood and the muscles. The species lives in semi-arid regions in Australia and is strictly protected.

Record-breaking snakes

The deadliest snake

Though its venom only kills one out of 10 untreated people, the aggressiveness of this snake means it bites quickly and often. This is why the saw-scaled viper is considered the world’s deadliest snake, killing the most people. Venomous snakes have diamond-shaped pupils, like cats. Non-venomous snakes have round pupils, like humans. But remember: there is no rule without exceptions!

Record-breaking snakes

The largest snake

The green anaconda is the largest snake in the world. Living in the dark, deep waters of the South American jungle, some anacondas have been reported to be up to 8.8 meters (29 feet) long. The average anaconda is only about 4 meters long. They are very robust snakes and packed with muscles which they use to kill their prey by wrapping around it and slowly suffocating it.

Record-breaking snakes

Even larger

The green anaconda is nothing compared to the titanoboa. This pre-historic snake was a true giant. The photo shows a python creeping over a single vertebra of titanoboa cerrejonensis discovered in Colombia. Fossils suggest titanoboas could grow up to 13 meters long and weigh 1,135 kilograms (2502 pounds). Like the green anaconda, they probably lived in or very close to water, 40 million years ago.

Record-breaking snakes

The smallest snake

The Barbados threadsnake is about 10 centimeters long and, according to its discoverer “about as wide as a spaghetti noodle.” It feeds on termites and ant larvae and is found only on the Caribbean island of Barbados. S. Blair Hedges, a herpetologist from Pennsylvania State University, discovered the species in 2008.

Record-breaking snakes

The greediest snake

Snakes have a flexible lower jaw that enables them to swallow animals twice their own size. But sometimes even that is too much for them. In 2005, in the Everglades National Park in Florida, a python exploded after trying to swallow a whole alligator. The snake was found with the alligator’s tail sticking out of its midsection. Seems like someone got a bit greedy.

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A master of camouflage

Just a leaf? No, it’s a gaboon viper. The form and color of its head resembles a leaf perfectly, enabling the ambush predator to wait patiently for prey coming by in the African rainforests. It has the longest fangs of all snakes – up to 5 centimeters (2 inches) – and is also very venomous. The snake is not at all aggressive, though. Only very few people are bitten by it.

Record-breaking snakes

The sneakiest snake

This guy, the scarlet kingsnake, is non-venomous. But it doesn’t want other animals to know that. So it mimics the venomous coral snake which has the same tricolored pattern of black, red and white. It’s a sneaky way to tell predators to get lost.

Record-breaking snakes

Most water-loving snake

Snakes are everywhere – you can even find them at a coral reef. Some of those sea snakes are really venomous. Unlike fish, they do not have gills and need to get up to the surface regularly to breathe. Sea snakes can grow up to 3 meters (9.8 feet), but the majority only grows up to 1.5 meters. This species, the banded sea snake, regularly returns to land to digest its food, rest and reproduce.

Record-breaking snakes

Snakes that fly

This snake can propel itself forward by thrusting its body up and away from a tree. That’s why it is commonly known as the “flying snake.” It curls itself up to resemble the form of a frisbee and glide up to 30 meters wide from tree to tree. Its biological name is Chrysopelea and it feeds on lizards, rodents, birds and even bats. But it’s harmless to humans.

Author: Brigitte Osterath, Sophia Wagner