Image source, Reuters

South Africa's Jacob Zuma will not be among the African leaders gathering in Liberia's capital, Monrovia, today for George Weah's presidential inauguration.

The president will instead be represented by South Africa's Minister of Water and Sanitation, Nomvula Mokonyane.

The announcement appears to have only been made yesterday.

However, the statement released to local media in South Africa gives little explanation as to why Mr Zuma - who was replaced as the head of the governing African National Congress (ANC) in December - will not attend.

According to The Citizen newspaper, presidential spokesman Bongani Ngqulunga said in a statement: “Liberia and South Africa share strong economic and trade relations, further cemented during a state visit to South Africa by the outgoing President, Her Excellency Ellen Johnson Sirleaf last year.

“President Sirleaf is leaving office after serving two six-year terms as Africa’s first elected female Head of State."

Rumours of a power struggle between Mr Zuma and his successor as ANC leader, Cyril Ramaphosa, continue to circulate.

Mr Ramaphosa is tipped to succeed Mr Zuma should the ANC win the 2019 election. However, whether Mr Zuma will still be in power then remains to be seen, following reports that the ANC wants Mr Zuma, hit by numerous corruption scandals, to make a "dignified" exit .

• What Cyril Ramaphosa's victory means for South Africa

Image source, EPA

• Born 1 October, 1966
• Grew up in a slum in Liberia's capital
• Made his name playing for Monaco for five seasons, from 1987
• Only African to win the Fifa World Player of the Year and Ballon d'Or
• Retired from football in 2002
• First ran for president in 2005
• Elected president in December 2017

Read: Weah - a life in three acts

BBC Monitoring
The world through its media

Image source, Reuters

Security forces in the Democratic Republic of Congo have arrested 10 priests and more than 200 protesters over Sunday’s demonstrations demanding President Joseph Kabila leave power, a rights group has been quoted as saying.

The Catholic Church had called for demonstrations against the leader, whose constitutional mandate ended in 2016.

Six people were killed in the capital, Kinshasa, when police used tear gas and live bullets to disperse the protesters, which also took place in other parts of the country.

“We have registered the case of 10 priests who have been arrested, including Father Dieudonne Mukinayi of Saint Christophe Parish in Binza Ozone. He is detained in a residence of a government official alongside eight parishioners,” Georges Kapiamba of the NGO Congolese Association for Justice told the UN-sponsored Radio Okapi.

“According to information we have, they were or continue to be mistreated. Their clothes have been torn. Two nuns are missing, 257 demonstrators have been arrested and are being held in various cells in Kinshasa,” Kapiamba added.

The Lay Coordination Committee, an arm of the Catholic Church, had called for nationwide demonstrations to push for the implementation of a political agreement signed between the government and the opposition on 31 December 2016.

Under the deal brokered by the Catholic Church, Kabila was to organise elections in 2017.

Read more: Several deaths in anti-Kabila protests

Supporters of Liberia's President-elect George Weah are in festive mood as they wait for his inauguration at a foootbal stadium in the capital, Monrovia, an AFP news agency correspondent tweets from the scene:

Tamasin Ford
BBC Africa, Monrovia

Image source, Reuters

International football legend George Weah will be sworn in as Liberia's president at a packed stadium in the capital, Monrovia, later today.

People have been camping overnight at the Samuel Doe Stadium to witness the historic inauguration, following Mr Weah's victory in a presidential election run-off in December.

Unsurprisingly, this is a celebrity football studded affair. Chelsea legend Didier Drogba is here, along with Cameroon’s Samuel Eto'o and Nigeria’s Sunday Oliseh and Taribo West.

There were even rumours at some stage Messi was in town.

Weah, famed for his Chelsea and Manchester City playing days, made history by becoming the only African to win the Ballon d’or.

He replaces Africa’s first elected female head of state, Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, who is stepping down after two terms, in the first democratic transfer of power in the West African state in more than 70 years.

The Country Giant, as Weah is known, has inherited a country ravaged by war in the 1990s, only to be hit by the devastating Ebola virus a few years ago.

Ms Johnson Sirleaf secured nearly $5bn in debt relief during her term, attracting investors from all over the world.

But the Ebola epidemic scared many of them off.

Mr Weah has a massive job on his hands to turn the economy around.

But the majority of the country seems unphased - convinced their new celebrity president, with his celebrity connections, can do the job.

Read: Weah - Footballer-turned-president faces his toughest challenge

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