This archive report was first published on 1 August 2019.
Protests in Liberia's capital, Monrovia, turned violent on July 31, 2019, as hundreds of demonstrators clashed with police over economic grievances.
According to an AFP reporter at the scene, police fired tear gas to stop the protesters from approaching the parliament building, while protesters threw stones and bottles at officers.
The protests, which were the second major rally since thousands gathered on June 7, called on the government to improve living conditions amid spiralling inflation.
Police arrested at least five protesters, and additional clashes broke out when it appeared that an opposition candidate was on track to win a senatorial by-election in Montserrado county, which includes Monrovia.
Based on the results from half of the polling stations, Darius Dillon, the candidate for the opposition Liberty Party, won nearly 54 percent of the votes, while Paulita Wie, the candidate from President George Weah's Congress for Democratic Change (CDC), secured only 37 percent.
Scuffles broke out between supporters from both sides, with objects being thrown and police firing tear gas, an AFP reporter said.
Four people -- two opposition supporters and two from the CDC -- were injured, the reporter said.
Since President Weah came to power in January 2018, inflation has soared and growth has shrunk, according to the IMF.
A footballing icon, Weah is struggling to revive the economy of a country still traumatised by back-to-back civil wars between 1989 and 2003, which claimed a quarter of a million lives.
