The day Africa gathered in Tripoli

It will always be difficult for any historian to find a proper place for Colonel Muammar Gaddafi in history. Whether he was a hero or a villain will always remain a question that will receive different answers from different people. He surprised the Arab world when he led a group of about 70 young military officers to overthrow the feudal monarchy of King Idris I, whom he sent into exile.

From the day he seized power on September 1, 1969 to the day he was killed in a tunnel on October 20, 2011, near his hometown of Sirte, Gaddafi took on so much, just to change the world. He had a burning ambition, probably to create a new world order in which he would put the West, especially Britain and America, at their proper places, no more in the forefront. 

Initially, he wanted to join forces with Gamal Abdel Nasser of Egypt and get Algeria and Tunisia to support his wild dream. But Nasser died in 1970, just a year after he had come to power. That dream simply fizzled out.

No doubt Gaddafi had surplus money to embark on grandiose projects. When he did not get the support of his Arab brothers, he turned to Black Africa. He gave full support to the African National Congress in the struggle against apartheid and was, therefore, a great friend of Nelson Mandela.

Gaddafi also supported unpopular African leaders like Uganda’s Idi Amin; Central African Empire’s Jean Bedel Bokassa and Soviet protégé, Haile Miriam Menigistu of Ethiopia.

He also had among his friends on the continent, Zimbabwe’s Robert Mugabe; Blaisse Compaore of Burkina Faso; Idris Deby of Chad; Liberia’s Charles Taylor and Foday Sankoh of Sierra Leone. 

It was the friends he made and the projects or ventures he pumped money into, not only on the African Continent but elsewhere in the world, that made him so controversial and he became an enemy of the West.

Unease in the West

The money was there to throw about and he was ready to support any move that would cause unease in the West.

However later in life, he tried to patch up with the West and won the friendship of some western leaders like former British Prime Minister Tony Blair.

All that I have written so far can be described as a preamble to my real intentions. I saw Gaddafi as somebody who wanted to make history. He wanted to do extraordinary things for which he would always be remembered. He was very much in a hurry to change the course of history.

There were two crazy projects he embarked upon which left many wondering what kind of person he was.  One was his journey by road with so many vehicles across the desert to the West Coast of Africa, ending in Accra in early 2000.

30th anniversary

But the most fascinating of all the projects was when he decided to bring the rest of Africa to Tripoli to mark the 30th anniversary of his revolution on September 1, 1999.

Towards the end of August 1999, I had an invitation through the Islamic Call Society in Accra that I had been selected to attend the 30th anniversary of the Libyan Revolution. I was told to be at the Air Force Base to join other Ghanaians for the journey to Tripoli.

It was when I arrived at the Air Force Base that I realised it was not a joking matter. There was a big Libyan cargo plane ready to convey journalists, dancers and soldiers from Ghana to Libya to be part of the revolutionary parade on September 1, 1999.

The three journalists from Ghana were myself, my good friend and brother, Alhaji Alhassan Abdulai, and Emmanuel Kwarteng of the Daily Graphic.

It was a big cargo plane that we were told had been in Accra for three days. After we had boarded, we realised it was just a hollow plane with what looked like benches in four rows, two rows by the side of the plane and two rows in the middle.

Before takeoff, we were told the plane would go to Lome and Cotonou to collect journalists, dancers and soldiers from Togo and Benin before flying to Tripoli.

By the time we left Cotonou, the plane was full to capacity. There were no seat belts but as I mentioned, we sat close to each other in four rows while there was an upper chamber that also carried more passengers.

It was a heavy military plane and despite the absence of seat belts it was still comfortable and we did not experience any turbulence till we landed at Tripoli.  

It was when we got to Tripoli that we learnt that similar aircraft had gone on other routes to carry journalists, dancers and soldiers from across Africa. In fact by August 29, Tripoli was full to the brim.

Every African country was represented in Tripoli. Apart from journalists, dancers and soldiers from every single African country, all the heads of state were also present.  

Real celebration

We were all decently accommodated and food was no problem.

All roads led to the centre of Tripoli on September 1, 1999. It was a spectacle to behold. The centre of the Libyan capital was blocked from vehicular movement. Rather, soldiers marched from one end of the city to the other, displaying their military might. 

There was a big pavilion where the heads of state sat to have a look at the spectacle. Other pavilions were also erected for other visitors including many from other continents. Honestly, I never saw anything like this. It was a real celebration of 30 years of revolution and power.

After the parade, journalists had time to interact with each other. The journalists from Ghana were able to locate  Ghana’s Ambassador at  the time, Alhaji B.A. Fuseni, who hosted us at his residence.

We also met so many Ghanaians living in Libya. They were addressed by the then Head of state, Fl. Lt J.J. Rawlings. Even though they complained about the security situation in Libya, they appeared to be doing well in Libya and they were far from being harassed. 

Before departure,  it was arranged for the various delegations to drive in a long convoy of buses to Sirte, over 500 kilometres away from Tripoli, the hometown of Gaddafi. This was where the “Libyan strong” had built a huge African Parliament and where we were treated to a mini-African Union (AU) Conference. In fact,  he had planned to convince other African heads to accept Sirte as the permanent home of the AU.

By September 4, the return journey had begun. 

This time, we passed through Niger and Burkina Faso to Ghana. At the end of it, we were left with nothing but memories of probably the greatest gathering of Africans at one location.