“I am here to show that Oppong is qualified to be the next leader of Africa,” announced a cheerful Morris Dwah, referring to Mr. Weah, whom Liberians routinely call by his nom de soccer. Mr. Dwah said he had traveled for two days from Nimba to take part in the festivities.

This battle over which of 20 registered candidates will succeed Ms. Sirleaf, the first woman in Africa to be democratically chosen as president, often resembles a roof-raising party — but it also sometimes seems to be just on the edge of requiring a phone call to the police.

Fights between supporters of Mr. Weah and Mr. Boakai break out routinely; in Kakata last month several people were hospitalized after one fracas. Supporters stage impromptu daily marches, banging on the windows of cars in their way. And the memory of the country’s 14-year civil war, which came complete with child soldiers and rebel fighters wearing wedding gowns and blond wigs, hangs over it all.

In a radio broadcast at the beginning of the campaign season, Ms. Sirleaf urged her would-be successors to keep a lid on things. “We hold them as political leaders who seek the highest office of our land to act with dignity and responsibility that befits that office — to live up to their commitments to ensure violence-free elections,” she said.

But a quick perusal of those potential successors shows that may be easier said than done. Mr. Weah’s vice-presidential running mate is Mr. Taylor’s ex-wife, Jewel Howard Taylor, who told reporters last month that although her ex-husband isn’t involved in Liberian politics any longer — he is locked up in a British prison for war crimes — he still has promises that need to be kept. She called for putting Mr. Taylor’s agenda “back on the table.”