The swearing in ceremony of Liberia’s new president Joseph Boakai ended abruptly on Monday after he almost fainted while making his inaugural speech.
Boakai, 79, was aided to move away from the podium after breaking his speech twice, about 30 minutes into his inaugural statement as president of Liberia. He was later taken home, as dignitaries at the event left the venue.
The incident at the Capitol Building in Monrovia, which is the seat of the legislature, has rekindled concerns about the health of the veteran politician who was elected in November after defeating incumbent President George Weah.
But local media cited government sources attributing the incident to heatwave currently impacting the West Africa region.
Security officers first assisted President Boakai to sit down and fanned him to help him cool off after he first showed sign of exhaustion.
He later resumed his speech in a sitting position, before it was again interrupted.
Boakai is a former Vice President who served under Africa’s first female president, Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf, from 2006 to 2018.
At 79, he becomes Liberia’s oldest president.
Bokai was defeated by Weah in his first attempt at the presidency in 2017.
In the latest election, he narrowly beat the former football legend in the November 14 run-off poll with 50.64 percent of the votes to 49.36 percent.
Several foreign leaders, among them Sierra Leone President Julius Maada Bio and Nana Akufo Addo of Ghana graced the event. Also in attendance are the Vice President of Nigeria, Kashim Shettima, as well as US Ambassador to the UN, Linda Thomas-Greenfield.
The new president is expected to address key challenges faced by the Mano River Union nation of about 5 million population, notably corruption, poverty, and poor infrastructure.
There is also high expectation for him to embark on reform of the justice system.
