FORMER UN CHIEF KOFI ANNAN LAID TO REST IN GHANA
Late Former United Nations Secretary General, Kofi Annan has been laid to rest in his native Ghana as world leaders paid tributes to the late icon with calls to keep alive the legacy of a “stubborn optimist” to create a better, more peaceful world.
At the funeral on Thursday, Annan’s widow, Nane Maria, led hundreds of mourners, including world leaders past and present, traditional rulers and global royalty, and called her husband an “extraordinary” person who had a “joy of life”.
“My love, you are now back home where you started your long journey. But may your wisdom and compassion continue to guide us, wherever we are,” she said at the state funeral in the capital, Accra.
Annan led the UN from 1997 to 2006, becoming the first person from sub-Saharan Africa to do so. He died on August 18 aged 80 at his home in Switzerland after a short illness.
Thousands of people have filed past his coffin this week during three days of national mourning for Annan who was called “one of the truly iconic figures of modern times” by Ghana’s President Nana Akufo-Addo.
