Shame on you George!

It's said that politics sullies all who enter it. George Weah is no exception. The Liberian was nothing less than a class act as a soccer player, as a UN humanitarian ambassador and as someone who's financed many good things in his country. But as a politician, he's nothing more than an ordinary, garden variety sore loser.

Weah contested internationally supervised presidential elections last month. The political neophyte lost a runoff to veteran opposition leader and economist Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf, despite the fact that most of the political class endorsed him. I'm not sure if Weah is sore about losing to a woman or if his influential entourage is upset about not having access to the spoils of power. But his camp is not taking the loss well.

Despite widespread international praise for the conduct of the election, Weah and his allies continue to claim the election was stolen. Weah held a rally in Monrovia where he declared, "There is no victor for now, and I say there will be no inauguration in the country until the world gets together and finds a means for a peaceful resolution to the problem."

Nice words if you believe him, something his followers apparently didn't. After his speech, violence erupted as his supporters clashed with riot police.

Most menacingly, his supporters chanted "No George Weah, no Liberia".

Weah's camp filed complaints with the country's electoral commission. A responsible leader should try to calm the waters and at least wait for the electoral commission's decision before holding provocative rallies and making inciteful remarks.

Does he think that Liberia hasn't suffered through enough violence since 1989? If he wants to repair the serious damage to his reputation, he should graciously concede to Ms. Johnson-Sirleaf and contest the next presidential election, instead of creating the cult of personality that has been so ruinous to so many other African countries.