BY MARK N. MENGONFIA AND CHINEDU ASADU
MONROVIA, Liberia (AP) — Liberia’s new president, Joseph Boakai, was sworn into office Monday after his narrow win in a November election. Boakai, who at age 79 has become the country’s oldest president, promised to unite and rescue Africa’s oldest republic from its economic woes.
“Partisanship must give way to nationalism,” Boakai told citizens and foreign delegation members who attended his inauguration ceremony in Monrovia, Liberia’s capital. He listed improving adherence to the rule of law, fighting corruption and renewing “the lost hope” of citizens as his priorities.
The ceremony, however, ended abruptly after Boakai, who wore traditional Liberian attire for the occasion, began to show signs of physical distress while speaking. Officials led him away from the podium after he unsuccessfully tried to continue his address.
A spokesperson for Boakai’s political party said the president’s weakness was caused by heat and had nothing to do with his health.
AP
