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Secretary of
State Hillary Clinton and
George Ayittey |
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At the State Department with Hillary Clinton
George Ayittey
August 1, 2009
Ghanadot
Next week, Secretary of State Hillary
Clinton will be visiting 7 African countries in 11 days:
Cape Verde Islands, Liberia, Nigeria, Congo DR (Goma, in
particular), Kenya, South Africa and Angola. Part of the
purpose of the trip is to smooth over ruffled feathers.
Recall that Kenyans were miffed over the fact the
President Obama skipped his fatherland and visited Ghana
instead. And Nigerians felt his trip to Ghana was an
insidious plot to destabilize their country. So Hillary
is being dispatched to soothe frayed nerves and douse
the flames. There are also genuine concerns in the Obama
administration about Nigeria’s stability and China’s
forays into Africa.
The purpose of the dinner at the State Department was an
effort by the Secretary of State, Hillary, to reach out
of the bureaucratic cocoon to independent “gurus” and
seek alternative viewpoints before her trip to Africa.
We were given a set of questions to respond to in order
to frame the discussion at the dinner forum and help
prepare her for the trip. What she should be looking
for, what she should say, how she could be helpful, etc.
etc.
The dinner was quite extraordinary. The protocol was
stultifying; everything was planned to the minutest
detail. Yet the atmosphere was relaxed. There were 26 of
us at the dinner table with Secretary of State, Hillary
Clinton, at the center. Half of the guests were State
Dept. operatives -- speech writer, policy planner, and a
retinue of deputies and assistants -- assistant this,
assistant that, deputy assistant this, if you know what
I mean. The remaining 13 of us where the "experts."
There were only 5 blacks there, including Asst. Sec. of
State for Africa, Ambassador Johnnie Carson. I was the
only African but, at least, it was a start.
The reason why I was invited was because Brian Phipps,
Clinton’s policy planner, had read my book, Africa
Unchained two years ago and said it had "a profound
influence" on his thinking about Africa. So I asked him
if it would be OK to bring two copies of my book -- one
for Hillary and the other for Obama. He said who would
refuse such gracious act of generosity.
I immediately took two copies along. One for Hillary
which I autographed as: "I am a big fan of yours.
Africans are grateful for your concern for the
continent." Hey, a little fawning adulation never hurt
nobody. My students do that to me all the time to get
good grades. “I learned a lot from your class,” “You are
my greatest teacher,” they often tell me. A quick check
of the grades of those praise-singers tell a different
story. Rascals.
The other book was for President Obama. I autographed it
as: "This wont' get me a BEER at the White House but we
are proud of you as a son of Africa. Don't mind what the
Americans say." I hope Obama has a sense of humor but
don’t try this with President Musugu Babazonga,
President-For-Life of the Coconut Republic of Tonga
somewhere in the Gulf of Guinea. He is the author of the
“Green Book,” which everybody must read. All other books
are banned.
I told the group that there was no need to re-invent the
wheel and that the West should deal with Africa the way
it dealt with the former Soviet Union. There it didn't
form partnerships with communist regimes and hand over
money to them on promises of reform. It helped
Solidarity movements and established Radio Free Europe.
Why not Radio Free Africa? Sec. of State Hillary Clinton
said it is a great idea and she likes it.
To the consternation of everyone, I commended Hillary
highly and told her I was humbled by her invitation and
I wish African governments would reach out and seek
alternative viewpoints. Instead, they tossed me into
jail, raided my hotel room and even fire-bombed my
office in Washington, DC. Hillary was listening
attentively.
She is very sharp, witty and a good sport. She is quite
warm and open. The dinner lasted for two hours and at
the end, I gave her the book and posed for a photo. It
is attached.
George Ayittey
Read George Ayittey's
Parody on Obama's address to Africa
Dr. Ayittey, a native of Ghana, is a Distinguished Economist at
American University and President of the Free Africa Foundation,
both in Washington, DC. His new book is Africa Unchained
(Palgrave/MacMillan).
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