President John Dramani Mahama would go down in history not only as the first Ghanaian President to write his autobiography while occupying the Presidency (as Vice-President) but also one whose book is found worthy by a top notch America University to be included in the set of books for study by its students studying Africa history.

Yale University is an Ivy League University located in New Haven, Connecticut in the US. According to the respected US newspaper, the Boston Globe “if there’s one school that can lay claim to educating the nation’s (US) top national leaders over the past three decades, it’s Yale.”

Yale educated students include Gerald Ford, George H.W. Bush, Bill Clinton and George W. Bush who at various times became President of the United States of America.

Former U.S Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton and current Secretary of State, John Kerry also attended Yale. It is this high-profile university that has found President Mahama’s autobiography worthy of studying to gain an insight into politics in Africa.

According to current course requirements of this prestigious university, students studying “Introduction To Africa Politics” must study President John Mahama’s book, My First Coup d’état, among other Africa literary works such as King Leopold’s Ghost by Adam Hochschild, It’s our Turn To Eat by Michela Wrong, Notes from the Hyena’s Belly by Neya Mezlokia and Africa by Richard Dowden. (See page 8 of this paper for the full course requirement)

My First Coup D’état sees President John Mahama capturing his life especially during his formative years during a period of political upheavals in Ghana.