The Foreign Service Journal, February 2011

As we stood cheek-to-jowl, with perspiration flowing, I began to panic when I became aware that all the pushing and shoving had trapped Am- bassador Rosenthal on the opposite side of the room from us. At that point, we were told to take off our shoes. I helped the vice president do so, but when I bent over to remove mine, I bumped heads with Benin’s president, Mathieu Kérékou. Next, we waited for what seemed an excruciatingly long time for the inner doors of the mosque to open so we could take our places in the main hall. As we waited and gasped for air, I could see that the elderly and very frail Félix Houphoüet-Boigny, presi- dent of Coté d’Ivoire, was suffering greatly and being held up by his aides. Perhaps the most remarkable im- pression from that day for me was the way Vice President Bush stood, so poised, cool and calm, without a drop of sweat on his brow. Just when we thought we could take no more, one of the head imam’s assistants announced that the leader had changed his mind and non-Christians would not be al- lowed to enter the mosque. The com- plaints were many and loud, but escaping the small room to the fresh air of the outside helped calm the group. The Burial Once outside, we put our shoes back on and walked around to the other side of this huge mosque (Africa’s fourth-largest). There we sat down on metal folding chairs that had been placed under some trees near the kiosk where Pres. Touré was to be buried. Huge crowds gathered around us and the Secret Service agents went bonkers as the crowds surged toward us. I was called to help push people away. (I learned that the best way to do that is to push at waist level, not the shoulders.) Crowd control was getting very dicey when the mosque doors opened and pallbearers carried a casket to- ward the kiosk. We thought key dig- nitaries would be called at that point to observe the burial, but that did not happen. Because the Moroccans gathered around the casket, no one would see anything as it was placed in the grave and quickly covered with concrete. As we wondered what in the world the Moroccan imams who were in charge of the funeral were doing, we were shocked when our Foreign Min- istry handler told us the service was over and we could leave. President Houphoüet-Boigny be- came indignant at this news and said he would not leave until he had signed the condolence book. A book was quickly found and placed on a stand near the kiosk burial site. A number of other presidents also signed it as they briskly passed by the fresh ce- ment that covered the grave of the Grand Syli. Then the races were on, as all the VIPs got into their cars and headed for the airport at top speed. As the sun set, more chaos ensued. Planes that had been hovering over- head waiting for space to land at the overcrowded airport blocked those al- ready on the ground waiting impa- tiently to take off. We were lucky, for the big planes that had brought Vice President Bush and his party were among the first to take off. It was a re- lief to see him safely on his way. Pres. Touré will always be remem- bered as the man who said “no” to French President Charles de Gaulle’s 1958 offer of continued association with France, instead opting for inde- pendence. The French promptly bailed out of Guinea, even taking all the light bulbs with them. But Sékou Touré will also be re- membered for the ruthless bloody dic- tatorship he presided over until his death on March 26, 1984, in a Cleve- land clinic following an emergency evacuation on an ARAMCO plane from Saudi Arabia. Such a strange ending to his life! Portents and Hard Lessons This story would not be complete without noting that shortly before Touré’s death, there had been a lunar eclipse and a rare earthquake in north- west Guinea. For many Guineans, these events were signs that some- thing important was about to happen. And, lo and behold, within a few days a rumor spread like wildfire that the Grand Syli was dead. At first, nobody believed this could be true; people thought it was just an- other ruse to maintain power and keep everyone off balance. But after a few days people began to believe it, and large groups began to assemble throughout the capital. These groups went to work de- stroying the many images of the late president and his much-hated politi- cal party and building huge bonfires out of Touré’s numerous books, which had been required reading for all lit- erate Guineans and the core curricu- lum in all schools. The popular and spontaneous cele- bration that occurred in the streets re- minded me of the scene in “The Wizard of Oz” where the death of the wicked witch was joyously celebrated. Overnight, all signs of Touré and his party’s 26-year rule were erased. I was so encouraged by the turn of events that I bid on a second Foreign Service 46 F O R E I G N S E R V I C E J O U R N A L / F E B R U A R Y 2 0 1 1 More than a quarter- century after Sékou Touré’s death, I am still waiting for Guinea to find its way.