The inauguration of Joseph Boakai as the 26th President of Liberia on Monday was cut short as he suddenly suffered a heat stroke while reading his acceptance speech.
Video footage showed a man fanning papers near Boakai’s face, after taking the oath of office as Liberia’s oldest-ever President.
The 79-year-old who paused during his speech as a result of the sweltering heat, resumed a few minutes later but halted again.
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Owing to this, aides helped him walk away from the podium, curtailing the ceremony which was being held at the Capitol Building, the seat of parliament in the capital, Monrovia.
Mohammed Ali, the spokesman for Boakai’s ruling Unity Party, said after the incident: “It is the heat. The heat was high. They should have had some fans or something around there. At his age, exhaustion happened. But it is okay now.”
