Yeah Samake

[YOhio]

Mitt isn't the only BYU grad running for President of a nation this year. Yeah Samake is waging a campaign for President of Mali. He graduated from BYU a few years ago and seems to have found some political success in his hometown.

[YOUTUBE]u7IuJbbDHHM[/YOUTUBE]

[YOhio]

Per wikipedia, he and his family are also the only Mormons in the country.

Samake and his wife Marissa have two children: Keanen Oumar Samake, who is 5 years old and Carmen Sanamba Samake, who is 2 years old.

Samake's wife, Marissa Coutinho Samake, was born in India but raised in Bahrain. She attended BYU for her bachelor's degree in Information Systems. She joined the church while at BYU. When Samake first met Marissa, he told her she was the most beautiful woman he had ever met. She initially refused his advances, but had a change of heart as they became friends.[3] They married in 2004.

Samake and his family are the only members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints in Mali. Samake first encountered the church through his work with the Peace Corps and Ouelessebougou Alliance. One Peace Corps volunteer left him an English Book of Mormon, which he read.[3] Later, in the US, he wanted to be baptized, but was initially refused because of the Mormon Church's policy on baptizing citizens of Islamic countries. Mali is 90% Muslim, and the church worried that if he converted to Mormonism his life would be in danger. After convincing church leaders that Mali is a country with religious freedom, he was baptized in 2000 in New York.[2] He reports that he faces no discrimination in Mali due to his faith.[20]

[Surfah]

That is pretty rad.

[YOhio]

Slate picks up on Yeah. This is a really great story.

http://www.slate.com/articles/news_a..._button_chunky

[TripletDaddy]

Yeah!

I read about this story the other day in a blast email from my FIL. He loves any story that involves Mormons. This particular story is quite inspiring.

BYU alum all over the planet running for President of their respective countries. Enter to Learn, Go Forth to Serve! :rockon2:

[LiveCoug]

This can't be good for our friend Yeah's presidential chances

http://edition.cnn.com/2012/03/22/wo...html?hpt=hp_t3

[Pelado]

Looks like Yeah's still trying to make the Mali elections happen:

THE ELECTION WILL MOVE FORWARD! This last week has seen an onslaught of events in Mali.

ECOWAS, the Economic Community of West African States, placed sanctions on Mali after Mali junta failed to step down. On April 6th, the military junta reached an agreement with ECOWAS to restore the constitution and appoint Diacounda Traoré, the former head of the National Assembly and a current presidential candidate, as the interim president. This has been received with a mixture of feelings by Malians. Traoré was pursued by the junta at the beginning of the coup for his alliance with ATT and he is considered to be a part of the “old guard.” The agreement brought an end to week-long sanctions on food and fuel.

However, Mali now faces issues of territorial integrity as the rebels in the North tried to declare their independence in the regions of Gao, Kidal and Tombouctou which were taken by the MNLA and AQIM (an Al-Qaeda branch) in less than 3 days.

With the constitution restored, pressure now has to be placed so that a valid plan is created for when elections can be held. As of now, the date for elections is very ambiguous. Territorial integrity must first be restored and only then can there be free and fair elections. The elections will move forward!

This past two weeks, saw the union of Yeah and 10 other political parties and 3 other presidential candidates in a unified front called Alliance of Democratic Patriots out of the crisis (ADPS) or (l’Alliance des Démocrates Patriotes pour la Sortie de crise (ADPS) in French). They held a press conference last week to advise their position on the political scene in Mali and are inviting all of the political parties to come discuss the agreement between the junta and ECOWAS and how it can be adapted to meet all of the political needs for Mali. They plan to hold a convention soon, inviting all political leaders. ADPS has been working hard to find a solution that is the most compatible with the previous Constitution.

Support SAMAKE FOR DEMOCRACY!

http://samake2012.com/updates/

[New Mexican Disaster]

I still think that Samake Walker must have done something excellent when I see this thread title.

[YOhio]

The situation in Mali is horrible. I guess they're still planning on elections this next spring but the country doesn't appear to be in much shape to hold a free and transparent election.