LIBERIA’s president was “honoured” to meet US counterpart Donald Trump this week and wasn’t offended by Trump’s comment about his fluency in English — his mother tongue — Liberia’s foreign minister said on Friday.
The US president’s comment has even inspired a catchy tribute song in the West African country.
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Trump praised President Joseph Boakai on Wednesday for his English-speaking skills, apparently unaware that English is the official language of Liberia.
Responding to remarks Boakai made at a White House mini-summit of the presidents of five mineral-rich countries in West Africa, the US leader said, “Such good English… Where were you educated?”
Boakai — who, like most Liberians, speaks English as a first language laughed uncomfortably and replied he had been educated in his home country.
“We were honoured by the White House’s invitation to President Boakai for a meeting with President Trump and fellow African leaders. No offence was taken,” Liberian Foreign Minister Sara Beysolow Nyanti told AFP on Friday evening.
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She said Liberia was keen to strengthen ties with the United States, “built on mutual respect”.
Liberia is the oldest republic in sub-Saharan Africa.
It was founded in 1822 when the American Colonisation Society, funded by the US Congress and slaveholders, began sending freed slaves to its shores.
Thousands of “Americo-Liberian” settlers followed.
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They declared independence in 1847 and set up a government to rule over the native African majority.
English is the official language and the most widely used throughout the country.
