Mohammed Ali was sent to Kenya by US President Jimmy Carter in 1980 to persuade President Daniel Arap Moi to do America a BIG favor!
The world is mourning the death of boxing great Mohammed Ali who died yesterday after succumbing to Parkinson's disease.
Mohammed Ali was a VERY influential figure the world over during his heydays when he used ‘float like a butterfly sting like bee’.
Ali rose to glory at a time when the world was divided into two ideological blocks, communism and capitalism.
Cold war had pitted America against Soviet Union and the fear of nuclear strike was as real as the death of Al Shabaab commander who masterminded Garissa University College attack.
Russia was to host 1980 Olympics and US President Jimmy Carter decided to marshal the world into boycotting the Olympics in Moscow.
The idea was to punish the Soviet Union for invading Islamic Republic of Afghanistan. Mohammed Ali being a Muslim and an African America was the perfect vehicle to lobby Islamic and African countries to boycott 1980 Olympics in Russia.
President Carter dispatched Ali to Africa to convince head of state and governments to join the American course in boycotting the 1980 Olympics.
President Jimmy Carter and Mohammed Ali
Ali arrived in Kenya and he met the then President Daniel Toroitich Arap Moi at State House Nairobi to sell him President’s Carter’s plan to boycott the Olympics.
Muhammad Ali meets with President Daniel Arap Moi to enlist support for the Olympic boycott
Mohammed Ali’s shuttle diplomacy had a disastrous effect on the summer Olympics in Moscow as 65 countries, including Kenya, that were invited to participate in the 1980 Olympics did not send their athletes to Moscow.
RIP Mohammed Ali
Credit: Politico Magazine
The world is mourning the death of boxing great Mohammed Ali who died yesterday after succumbing to Parkinson's disease.
Ali rose to glory at a time when the world was divided into two ideological blocks, communism and capitalism.
Cold war had pitted America against Soviet Union and the fear of nuclear strike was as real as the death of Al Shabaab commander who masterminded Garissa University College attack.
Russia was to host 1980 Olympics and US President Jimmy Carter decided to marshal the world into boycotting the Olympics in Moscow.
The idea was to punish the Soviet Union for invading Islamic Republic of Afghanistan. Mohammed Ali being a Muslim and an African America was the perfect vehicle to lobby Islamic and African countries to boycott 1980 Olympics in Russia.
President Carter dispatched Ali to Africa to convince head of state and governments to join the American course in boycotting the 1980 Olympics.
President Jimmy Carter and Mohammed Ali
Ali arrived in Kenya and he met the then President Daniel Toroitich Arap Moi at State House Nairobi to sell him President’s Carter’s plan to boycott the Olympics.
Muhammad Ali meets with President Daniel Arap Moi to enlist support for the Olympic boycott
Mohammed Ali’s shuttle diplomacy had a disastrous effect on the summer Olympics in Moscow as 65 countries, including Kenya, that were invited to participate in the 1980 Olympics did not send their athletes to Moscow.
RIP Mohammed Ali
Credit: Politico Magazine
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