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Claim: Jeremiah J. Khalifa Gidden posted in the Costa Show (Facebook group) claiming that Liberia’s President went off while delivering a speech at the United Nations high-level meeting on the 30th anniversary of the Fourth World Conference on Women.
Verdict: False! A review of a live video from the United Nations website of the event shows that President Boakai didn’t faint or struggle during his speech. However, his microphone was automatically muted when he exceeded the time apportioned for each speaker.
Full Text
President Joseph Boakai and other Cabinet members are currently attending the United Nations (UN) General Assembly in New York. The occasion runs from Sept. 23, 2025, to Sept. 29, 2025. During this time, leaders from UN countries are allowed to speak on diverse issues confronting the world and their nations. Their speeches often outline challenges, solutions, and recommendations that Heads of State are taking to resolve these problems.
In commemoration of the 30th Anniversary of the Fourth World Conference on Women (Beijing+30), the UN General Assembly hosted a high-level meeting at which the Heads of States presented efforts to empower women in their respective countries.
President Joseph Boakai delivered a speech on Liberia’s progress, challenges, and recommendations regarding women’s empowerment.
However, Jeremiah J. Khalifa Gidden took to Facebook to claim that President Joseph Boakai “went off” while delivering his speech at the occasion suggesting he fainted.
“In other news! Boakai went off while reading, The E-Mansion quickly ended the live” he said.
As of Sept. 25, 2025, the claim had generated 26 reactions and 69. The comments were divided. Some argued that the claim was false, while others believed it.
The mixed views led DUBAWA to initiate a fact-check.
Verification
In verifying this claim, DUBAWA researched the UN Website to review the live video on the 30th Anniversary of the Fourth World Conference on Women (Beijing+30) at the UN General Assembly.
Findings from the review show that President Joseph Boakai didn’t faint during his speech delivery, but got automatically muted when he exceeded the allotted time limit for speeches. The timeline protocol read by the moderator at the event states that delegates were advised to stick to three minutes for national and five minutes for a speech to a group of delegates. The moderator stressed that the protocols will be strongly adhered to and speakers would be automatically muted when the time elapsed. The video can be found at one hour four minutes forty-three seconds (01:04:43) here.
The video of President Boakai presenting to the UN can be found at one hour 54 minutes, 43 seconds (01:54:43) here.
In verification, DUBAWA contacted Kula Fofana, Presidential Press Secretary of Liberia, who dismissed the claim.
DUBAWA also made efforts to contact the claimant but wasn’t successful because his message options were turned off for Facebook and Messenger.
Conclusion
From our findings, President Boakai didn’t faint during his speech at the UN; therefore, the claim is false.
