Monrovia. Dec. 26, 2017 (AltAfrika)-Liberians have lined up at polling stations across the country for a runoff election between a former international football star and the vice-president. The winner will replace Africa’s first female head of state.

For the first time in more than 70 years, the west African nation founded by freed American slaves will see one democratically elected government hand power to another.

Voters were seen very early checking their names on the posted electoral register publicly displayed . Nearly 2.2 million voters will choose between George Weah, a 51-year-old former AC Milan striker who is now a senator, and 73-year-old Joseph Boakai, who has been vice-president for 12 years.

The Nobel peace prize winner Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, 79, is stepping down after two terms in office that brought the impoverished country out of back-to-back civil wars. She also led the country as it grappled with a deadly Ebola outbreak.

The runoff has been delayed twice after being contested in court amid claims of irregularities, with its original 7 November date put back.