The spokesperson for Liberia’s newly elected president, Joseph Boakai, stated that he has recuperated from a brief spell of fainting due to the heat during his inauguration speech on Monday. He had to end his speech early and was assisted off the stage.
At the age of 79, the individual who won the runoff election against George Weah in November was inaugurated in an open-air event in the hot weather of Monrovia, the capital of a west African country.
During his speech, Boakai took a break and his aides hurried to cool him down. He continued a few minutes later but stopped again and his aides assisted him in leaving the stage, cutting the event short.
“The temperature was the issue. It was very high. According to Mohammed Ali, spokesperson for Boakai’s Unity party, they should have had a fan or some other means of cooling in the area at the time of the incident.”
“He mentioned at the event that he experienced exhaustion due to his age, but he assured that it has subsided now.”
Boakai’s age and energy were questioned by some of his opponents during the election campaign, but his team rejected the criticism.
Even though the inauguration event ended suddenly, Boakai had already sworn in before being assisted away. Government officials continued with the scheduled lunch, but Boakai’s location was unknown at the time.
Source: theguardian.com
