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Two more words . One morning , in Paris , Issa called me at my office at Maison de la Radio . “ I ’ ll come and see you ”. Shortly afterwards , he arrived , accompanied by a well-known footballer on the African continent , Mawade Wade from Senegal . He tells me : “ I ’ m a candidate for the presidency of CAF ”. Fine , we ’ ll do an interview . No ,” he replies , “ I haven ’ t yet got the go-ahead from my Head of State in Cameroon . Well , we ’ ll do the interview , I ’ ll put it aside , and we ’ ll broadcast it when President Paul Biya has given you the go-ahead . A few days later , it was done .
Yes , of all the journalists , I was the closest to him , with the exception of my friend Abel Mbengue , the irreplaceable voice of the Cameroonian airwaves in the good old days , who worked with him at the CAF office in Yaoundé . Since I ’ m mentioning this name , I ’ d like to add that of the Ethiopian Fekrou Kidane , a journalist to some extent , a politician to some extent , and at the end of his life a very close collaborator of IOC President Juan-Antonio Samaranch , having also worked with Issa Hayatou ’ s predecessor , Ydnekatchew Tessema , the two men who built the mother house of African soccer . Both were , quite simply , great Africans . One last word and that ’ s it . A few months ago , I learned from one of Issa Hayatou ’ s former colleagues in Cairo that , before the end of his mandate , President Barack Obama had invited him to Washington . He refused the American President ’ s offer of a plane ticket and had the ticket picked up by his services in Cairo . He was received in the Oval Room of the White House . He never told me about it . That ’ s all right , Issa . We ’ ll talk about it again up there , me in the press gallery and you in the official gallery .
Flashmag ! Issue 152 August 2024
Once again , a thousand thanks to you for teaching me about Africa , making me understand and love it . It was your greatest gift . Eternal .
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June 6th 2010 Issa Hayatou with South African President Jacob Zuma World Cup 2010