Kufuor: Kofi Annan had ‘impeccable diplomatic skills’

 

Former President of Ghana, John Agyekum Kufuor says that Kofi Annan’s assumption of the high office of UN Secretary-General raised the image of Africans in the sight of the Western world. 

Extolling the deceased Ghanaian diplomat, Kufuor explained that prior to Annan’s ascension to the UN high office, it was the practice of the West to treat the views and the suggestion of Africans with disdain, however, Kofi Annan’s impeccable diplomatic abilities and indelible mark has changed their perception about Africans.

Speaking on Accra based Okay FM Monday, he said:  Kofi Annan was the first “black” person from South of the Sahara to have risen to that height…this tells you that he has brought so much dignity to all Africans; in time past, when countries all over the world gathered, Africans were just presumed as observers” he commented.

“They (whites) didn’t perceive Africans as people who could hold higher positions …they would say Africans had no culture …but after Kofi’s Annan’s legacy, I think that if anyone from Africa presents himself to the international community they would revise their notes that an African is incapable of excellence…Kofi has really raised our image” he said.

Kofi Annan was a Ghanaian diplomat who served as the seventh Secretary-General of the United Nations, from January 1997 to December 2006 and was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2001.

Mr. Annan, 80, died in the early hours of Saturday 25th August 2018 in Switzerland after a short illness.

The Former President expressed that even though Kofi Annan was well- to- do, he always lived a “simple” life, unassuming, and not flashy. He said Annan always had his eyes on the job. 

Eulogizing Mr. Annan further, Kufuor observed that Mr. Annan always remained resolute in upholding truth and integrity despite external pressures noting, “not even a caterpillar truck could cause him to distort what is truthful”. 

In that regard, he called on everyone to emulate Kofi Annan’s sense of integrity, diligence, his fear for God and other good traits that have been left by the deceased diplomat.

He added that Ghanaians should not only mourn Mr. Annan, but also build on the indelible mark that has left behind.

Ghana |atinkaonline.com |Odel Boaheng
 

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