The inauguration of Liberia’s new president, Joseph Boakai, who succeeds former football hero George Weah, was marked on Monday by the 79-year-old leader’s temporary weariness caused by high temperatures, according to his party’s secretary general.
Boakai, whose age and health have sparked much debate in the West African country, had to pause and sit down to complete his speech in front of the parliament in Monrovia, where foreign delegations and local authorities had assembled.
“Heat exhaustion contributed to the few minutes of disruption in his speech but the speech ended successfully and the president was advised by his doctors to come home as a result of that,” Amos Tweh, secretary general of Boakai’s party, told AFP.
“The president was not taken to the hospital. Everything went okay, the president is normal, and he’s doing well. The president has resumed his normal presidential duties,” he added.
Political veteran Boakai beat former Ballon d’Or winner Weah in November’s run-off poll, with 50.64 percent of the vote to 49.36 percent.
‘Come to the rescue’
During his inaugural address, Boakai emphasized the importance of rebuilding dilapidated infrastructure, improving basic services for all, and ensuring that all Liberians have equal opportunities to achieve.
“We see hard times, we see dysfunctioning… we see corruption in high and low places. And (it’s) in these and similar conditions that we have come to the rescue,” Boakai declared, pledging to uphold the rule of law.
Ghana’s President Nana Akufo-Addo and US Ambassador to the United Nations Linda Thomas-Greenfield attended the investiture in parliament.
Boakai, who will lead Africa’s oldest country for six years, has 40 years of political experience.
He served as vice president from 2006 to 2018 under Africa’s first elected female head of state, Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, before being soundly defeated by Weah in the 2017 election.
The November election was held peacefully in a region plagued by military coups in Mali, Burkina Faso, Guinea, and Niger.
However, following years of back-to-back civil wars and an Ebola outbreak, the little country of five million people has been plagued by corruption, high levels of poverty, and a poor justice system.
Impunity for crimes committed during the civil wars is another outstanding issue.