LIBERIA: Liberians attempted yesterday to cast off their brutal past by taking part in the first democratic election in the west African country's history.
Many of the 1.35 million registered voters started to queue as early as 3am around the capital, Monrovia, but in some places tempers began to fray by mid-morning as teething troubles arose at a number of polling stations.
Irate presidential candidate George Weah expressed concerns that many of his supporters would not get the chance to vote because of these difficulties.
However, the head of the European observer mission chastised the former football star, saying: "The Liberian electorate is teaching their leaders a lesson in democracy today."
At Antoinette Tubman Stadium, 61-year-old Roland Porter had queued for four hours before he got a chance to cast his ballot to elect the new president and House of Representatives, as officials did not receive the ballot papers until after 10am.
"I am old, and it is hard to stand in a queue, but we've been at war too long, so it is worth waiting for," he said.
" I don't want my grandchildren and great-grandchildren to suffer like I did.
When asked who he had voted for as next president, Mr Porter replied: "Ellen Johnson Sirleaf".
"George Weah, he ain't fit. Youth want George to be president because they don't have life experience. They only think of today, not tomorrow," he maintained.
At St Matthew's Church in Red Light, one of the capital's outer suburbs, problems arose when officials could not organise voters into orderly queues because the keys to the main gate had gone missing.
As a result, a number of the polling booths inside the church grounds were empty as thousands of voters were squashed while trying to get through a small gate.
"They don't want to form an orderly queue by their voter ID number, and we have lost the key to the main gate. This only leaves one way in, and everyone is desperate to cast a vote," said the national election commission's presiding officer at the station, Mulbah Kollie.
However, most polling stations from around the country reported orderly queues and a calm environment.
Nevertheless, there were unsubstantiated rumours that exiled former dictator Charles Taylor had gone missing from his compound in Nigeria.
Throughout the city the majority of the electorate could be seen waiting patiently with family members for the chance to vote in what is considered the first truly free and fair election in the country's history.
Although there have been elections in the past, all have been considered flawed in one way or another.
Unmil spokesman Paul Risley said that as of late yesterday morning the turnout was very high, and there were no reports of disturbances.
"Voting appears to be proceeding in an orderly manner. If anything, we are concerned at the slow process of voting. We were told it was meant to be 100 people per hour, but it appears to be a slower process than that," he said.
"The polling places are instructed to stay open until 6pm, and everyone who is in the queue at that time will be allowed to vote, so many of the polling stations will remain open well past that time," he said.
The result of the 22-candidate presidential election is expected to take a few days to tally.
If one candidate fails to win 50 per cent of the vote, the top two candidates will take part in a head-to-head, and the winner of that poll will be declared president of Liberia.