Liberia's new leader, ex-football player George Weah, on Monday lent the number from his national team jersey to a military hospital as he unveiled the first major project of his presidency. The "14 military hospital" will primarily care for Liberian soldiers returning from peacekeeping missions abroad, who are currently obliged to seek treatment in foreign countries due to a lack of specialised facilities.
"The number 14 was the number on my back playing for the Lone Stars (national team). The number is now attached to this important new institution as a symbolic reminder of what Liberians can achieve," Weah told journalists. The hospital will be located in the Edward Binyah Kesselly Barracks, close to the capital Monrovia.
Liberia's police and army were disbanded after back-to-back 1989-2003 civil wars, and security was assured by a UN peacekeeping mission finally due to leave on March 30.
The security forces took back responsibility from the UN last year, but the mission has remained in place to wind up its last projects.
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