Meu Primeiro Golpe de Estado (Em Portugues do Brasil)
(My First Coup brings the life of John Dramani Mahama, cur...)
My First Coup brings the life of John Dramani Mahama, current President of Ghana, and one of Africa's most popular politicians. Dramani grew up during the lost decades, a hazy period of the former African colonies, which with the conquest of independence after World War II sank into violent civil wars, internal power struggles, economic crises and a veritable diaspora when thousands of intellectuals and Professionals from Africa have fled abroad.
My First Coup d'Etat: And Other True Stories from the Lost Decades of Africa
(My First Coup d'Etat chronicles the coming-of-age of John...)
My First Coup d'Etat chronicles the coming-of-age of John Dramani Mahama in Ghana during the dismal post-independence "lost decades" of Africa. He was seven years old when rumors of a coup reached his boarding school in Accra. His father, a minister of state, was imprisoned for more than a year. My First Coup d'Etat offers an intimate look at the country that has long been considered Africa's success story. This is a one-of-a-kind book: Mahama's is a rare literary voice from a political leader, and his personal stories work on many levels--as history, as cultural and political analysis, as fables, and, of course, as the memoir of a young man who unbeknownst to him or anything else, would grow up to be president of his nation. Though nonfiction, these are stories that rise above their specific settings and transport the reader into a world all their own, one that evokes the universal human emotions of love, fear, faith, despair, loss, longing, and hope despite all else.
John Dramani Mahama is a Ghanaian politician who has been president of Ghana since July 2012. He served as vice president of Ghana from 2009 to 2012 under the late president John Atta Mills. Following Mills death, he assumed the office of the president and was elected to serve his first term as president following a peace election. John Dramani is a communication expert, historian and a writer.
Background
Ethnicity:
He is part of Gonja ethnic group from Bole in Northern Ghana.
John Dramani Mahama was born on 29 November 1958 at Damongo, in the Northern region of Ghana into the family of Mr. Emmanuel Adama Mahama. he hails from Bole, and his father was a wealthy rice farmer and teacher. Also, his father was the first Member of Parliament for the West Gonja Constituency and the first Regional Commissioner of the Norther region during Ghana's First Republic under her first president, Kwame Nkrumah.
Education
Mahama began his elementary education at Achimota School and then went further to Ghana secondary School, Tamale and had his tertiary education at the University of Ghana, Legon, where he bagged a bachelor's in history in 1981. Five years later, he did his postgraduate diploma in communication studies in the same university. He was a member of Commonwealth Hall while at the university. In 1988, he obtained his postgraduate degree at the Institute of social science, Moscow, Russia (then Soviet Union), majoring in social psychology.
After rounding up his undergraduate studies, John taught History at a secondary school for some time. After returning to Ghana from Moscow, he worked as the Information, Culture, and Research Officer at the Japanese Embassy in Accra between 1991 and 1995. Thereafter, he moved to the Anti-Poverty Non-Government Organization in Ghana where he served as International Relations, Sponsorship Communications and Grants Manager from 1995 to 1996. In1993, he took part bin a professional training course for Overseas Public Relation Staff, organized by Japan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Tokyo, Japan. He also took part in a management development course put together by Plan International (RESA) in Nairobi, Kenya.
His political career started in 1996 when he was elected as member of Parliament of Ghana to represent the Bole/Bamboi Constituency for a four-year tenor. In April 1997, John Dramani was appointed Deputy Minister of Communications. In 1998, he rose to the post of Minister of Communications, serving in that post until 2001 when the ruling National Democratic Congress (NDC) handed over power to the government of New Patriotic Party.
In 2000, he enjoyed another four-year term as the member of Parliament for the Bole/Bamboi constituency. he was re-elected again for the third term in 2004. Between 2001 and 2004, John Dramani served as the Minority Parliamentary Spokesman for Communications. He was appointed the Director of Communications for NDC in 2002. Within that same year, he was part of the team of the International Observers selected to monitor Zimbabwe's Parliamentary Elections.
In 2003, Dramani expanded his interest and involvement in international affairs by becoming a member of the Pan-African Parliament, serving as the Chairperson of the West African Caucus until 2011. He was also a member of European and Pan African Parliament's Ad hoc committee on Cooperation.
John Dramani Mahama became the Vice-President of Ghana on 7 January 2009, where he also served as the Chairperson of the National Economic Team, the Police Council of Ghana, the De-centralization and Implementation Committee, and the Armed Forces Council of Ghana.
In line with the constitution of Ghana, Dramani became the President of Ghana on 24 July 2012 following the death of his predecessor, John Atta Mills. Mahama made history by becoming the first Ghanaian head of state to have been born after Ghana gained her independence on 6 march 1957. He was elected president in 2012 during Ghana's presidential election under the National Democratic Congress.
On 30 March 2014, Dramani was elected to preside over ECOWAS. He was elected as the Chairperson of the African Union's High-Level African Trade Committee (HATC).
Achievements
He touched on sectors including health, water and sanitation, education, transportation, security, energy and corruption
(My First Coup brings the life of John Dramani Mahama, cur...)
2014
Religion
He is a Christian, born and raised a Presbyterian but is now a member of Assemblies of God, Ghana due to marriage. His family is multi-faith consisting of Christians and Muslims. He is an ardent follower of Christ.
Politics
His political views can be seen from his work. He has served in different capacity of the Ghanaian government and Africa as a whole. He believes in rendering his services to humanity through his political power.
Being a staunch campaigner for sustainability, he has a keen interest in environmental affairs, particularly the problem of single-use plastic waste pollution in Africa, which he committed himself to addressing during his tenure as Vice President.
Views
John Dramani Mahama believes that the issue of inequality particularly that of wealth inequality, the gap between those who have and those who don't have has been a major debate of global concern since the beginning of time.
Quotations:
"With the kinds of progress we're seeing in Africa, we have people who have a very high expectation, and often people think that, you know, things would happen overnight. But I want people to understand that sometimes it even gets worse before it gets better."
"Happily, there's a reversal of the brain drain occurring in Ghana now. We're seeing a lot of - actually in Africa - we're seeing a lot of African professionals, you know, returning to the continent to contribute their quota."
"I think that Africa has made quite rapid progress and a lot of the conflicts that we saw on the continent have abated."
“I have seen more demonstrations and strikes in my first two years. I don’t think it can get worse. It is said that when you kill a goat and you frighten it with a knife, it doesn’t fear the knife because it is dead already. I have a dead-goat syndrome”
Personality
President Mahama has been projected as a humble person, who never dreamed of being president and is “not power hungry.” On the other hand, it is believed that president Mahama is such a weaker leader and can easily be manipulated therefore not fit to be a President.
Physical Characteristics:
He is dark in complexion and of average height and size
GOVERNING WITH PASSION
HE John Dramani Mahama, President of the Republic of Ghana, on the importance of sustainability development and making tough decisions.
