Liberia’s new President Joseph Boakai failed to finish his speech during his inauguration ceremony on Monday and had to be helped away from the podium when it became clear he was having difficulty continuing, reported BBC News.
The 79-year-old leader had been speaking for around 30 minutes at his inauguration ceremony when it became clear to his aides that he was struggling.
He failed twice to carry on speaking, and the ceremony had to be adjourned.
Some reports suggested that Boakai suffered from heat exhaustion as the temperature reached more than 30C.
Video footage showed a man fanning papers near Boakai’s face before he was taken away.
The incident occurred after Boakai had already been sworn in as Liberia’s oldest-ever president.
The earlier ceremony was held at the Capitol Building, the seat of parliament in the capital, Monrovia.
After Boakai was taken away, new Vice-President Jeremiah Koung spoke to guests and escorted them to the presidential dinner.
Boakai narrowly defeated the outgoing president, former football star George Weah, in a run-off election in November.
During the election campaign, concern about Boakai’s health was a major issue.
However, he told the BBC that he was in good health and “age should be a blessing to this country”.
Boakai was vice-president in Nobel Peace Prize-winner Ellen Johnson Sirleaf’s government until 2018 and contested the presidency under the banner of the United Party (UP).
He defeated Weah by just over 20,000 votes in a run-off election in November.
SOURCE : PINDULA
