Several world leaders are in Ghana’s capital Accra to participate in the final funeral rites of former United Nations Secretary General and Nobel Peace laureate Kofi Atta Annan who died at the age of 80.
The late Kofi Annan will be buried today, Thursday after laying in state at the Accra international conference centre for the three days sanctioned by the government.
Mr. Annan who was the seventh UN Secretary General from 1997 to December 2006 died in Switzerland after a short illness and will be buried today at the new military cemetary in Accra with full military honours and a 17-gun salute.
Ghana’s president Nana Akuffo Addo, the Vice president Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia, former presidents John Agyekum Kuffour, Jerry John Rawlings and John Dramani Mahama as well as other African leaders are among the high profile personalities attending the final funeral rites of Mr. Annan today.
Since the departure of Mr. Kofi Annan, many World figures have been paying tributes to the former UN secretary-general.
Current UN chief Antonio Guterres hailed him as “a guiding force for good” and Russian President Vladimir Putin described him a “remarkable person”.
Ex-US President Barack Obama said Annan had always pursued “a better world”.
The Ghanaian national, Mr. Annan is the only black African ever to hold the post of the UN Secretary General.
After stepping down as UN chief, Mr. Kofi Atta Annan served as the UN special envoy for Syria, leading efforts to find a solution to the conflict until his untimely demise.
Source: BestNewsGH.com
