MONROVIA, Liberia (AP) — Liberia’s new president, Joseph Boakaihe was sworn in on the Monday after his own narrow victory in November elections. Boakai, who at 79 has become the country’s oldest president, has vowed to unite and rescue Africa’s oldest democracy from its economic woes.
“Partisanism must give way to nationalism,” Boakai told citizens and members of foreign delegations attending his inauguration ceremony in Monrovia, the Liberian capital. He cited improving the rule of law, fighting corruption and renewing citizens’ “lost hope” as his priorities.
The ceremony, however, ended abruptly after Boakai, who wore traditional Liberian attire for the occasion, began to show signs of physical discomfort while speaking. Officials led him away from the stage after he tried unsuccessfully to continue his speech.
A spokesman for Boakai’s political party said the president’s weakness was caused by the heat and had nothing to do with his health.
Boakai dismissed concerns about his age, arguing that he came with a wealth of experience and achievements that would benefit the country.
He won a tight second round election to defeat the youngest president of Liberia, George Weah. Public goodwill towards football legend turned politician Weah stepped down as he neared the end of his first six-year term. Critics accused him of failing to fulfill campaign promises to fix Liberia’s troubled economy, root out corruption and ensure justice for victims of the country’s successive civil wars between 1989 and 2003.
Boakai, who earned a university degree in business administration, has been active in Liberia’s national politics since the 1980s, when he served as minister of agriculture. Starting in 2006, she spent 12 years as vice president under Africa’s first democratically elected female leader. Ellen Johnson Sirleaf.
He lost his first bid for the presidency in 2017 to Weah, who took over from Sirleaf in the West African nation’s first democratic transfer of power since the end of civil wars. Boakai pitched his second presidential campaign as a rescue mission to liberate Liberians from what he described as Weah’s failed leadership.
Despite his promises, any positive changes from Liberia’s new leader are likely to come slowly considering how different Boakai’s agenda is from his predecessors, according to Ibrahim Nyei, a researcher and political analyst at the Ducor Institute for Social and Economic Research of Liberia.
“It is not going to be a walk in the park for the Boakai administration,” Nyei said. “The new leadership should review the concession agreements signed by the Weah and Ellen governments to determine which one works in Liberia’s best interests (and) seek new international partners to help address some of the country’s challenges.” .
Monrovia resident Ansu Banban Jr. said he believes Boakai will improve the lives of citizens. “I expect nothing less than good from the president,” Banban said.
Boakai has a public reputation as a “hard-working and humble politician” whose personality and political experience suggest he “may show greater commitment to fighting corruption than previous administrations,” said Zoe McCarthy, a policy and security analyst at the African Signal Risk Consulting.
“However, it is unlikely that Boakai will be able to fully address this issue due to the entrenched nature of corruption within Liberian politics,” McCarthy said. the lack of diversification and dependence of the Liberian economy on imports”.
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Asadu reported from Abuja, Nigeria.
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