General News of Monday, 16 July 2012

Source: Stan Dogbe

Vice President completes book lunch the USA

Vice President John Mahama has completed the official launch of his book in the United States of America with a number of reading sessions and discussions arranged by publishers, Bloomsbury.

The four-city launch programme took Mr. Mahama to New York, Washington DC, Houston and Los Angeles. The conclusion of the USA launch coincided with the publication of the English version of the book, ‘My First Coup D’etat’ in paperback and now available in UK book stores and also a Brazilian Portuguese language version.

The ebook version of the "My First Coup'D'Etat" and other True Stories From the Lost Decades of Africa is also available at http://ebookstore.sony.com. The Ghana launch according to the Publishers will be in August or September, and that will depend largely on the schedules of the author.

The July 10 main launch at the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture in Harlem, New York saw Mr. Mahama sharing with the audience his memories of life in the 1960s and how his closeness to his father, a former Minister of State, influenced his decision to write the book.

He has throughout the launch tour, been reading excerpts from the book and also discussing his experiences as a young kid in the period he describes as the lost decades of Africa because there is very little, if at all, written about that era- ate 1960s to the early 1980s.

Mr. Mahama also used the programmes to promote Ghana as a country that is working to be a world leader, and emphasizing the successes of the country as a stable democratic state, and the worldview of Ghana today under President John Atta Mills.

In addition to the opportunity to interact with various groupings of people including business with investments in Ghana, prospective investors, Americans who have visited Ghana before to those desirous of experiencing the Ghanaian hospitality, curious students who have been reading VP Mahama’s writings on the internet among others, Mr. Mahama also spent time personally signing autographs for the thousands who bought copies of the book at each tour location.

The Vice President also appeared on a number of international media platforms including BBC World TV News, VOA News and the Straight Talk Africa Programme, and had news attention in the World Street Journal, The Roots and many other national radio and newspapers in the USA.

This programmes were opportunities for the Vice President to promote Ghana and Africa even more than his book.

VP John Mahama was joined by his wife, Lordina Dramani Mahama, son Shafik and brothers Alfred, Peter, Samuel, Micheal and sisters for the launch.