The former United Nations Secretary-General from 1997 to 2006 died in a hospital in the Swiss city of Bern on Saturday, August 18, 2018.
Since the announcement last Saturday, August 18, 2018 of the death of 80-year-old Ghanaian diplomate and former Secretary-General of the United Nations from January 1997 to December 2006, Kofi Atta Annan, world leaders from across the globe have been paying glowing tribute to the fallen peace crusader. Kofi Atta Annan, son of Kodandros section of Kumasi, Ghana born on April 8, 1938 died in a hospital at the Swiss City of Bern reportedly from a short illness. He had been living near Geneva for several years. Reports say Ghana's President Nana Akufo-Addo has announced a week of mourning for one of their greatest compatriots. Indeed, Kofi Annan enters the world history book of records as the first and for now the lone African South of the Sahara to accede to the position of the UN Secretary-General. On December 13, 1996, the UN Security Council recommended him to replace the previous Secretary-General of the UN, Egyptian-born Boutros Boutros-Ghali whose second term faced the veto of the United States of America. The accession of Kofi Annan to the post of UN Secretary-General came to crown his long years of work at the UN that started in 1980 when he became the head of personnel for the office of the UN High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) in Geneva and in 1983 he became the director of administrative management services of the UN Secretariat in New York. During the two terms Kofi Annan served as UN Secretary-General, his main priorities were a comprehensive programme of reform that sought to revitalize the United Nations and make the international system more effective, a constant advocate for human rights, the rule of law, the Millennium Development Goals and Africa. He is celebrated to have played a central role in the creation of the Global Fund to fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, the adoption of the UN's first-ever counter-terrorism strategy, and the acceptance by Member States of the "responsibility to protect" people from genocide, war crimes, ethnic cleansing and crimes against humanity. Thanks to his commitment to peace, Kofi Annan and the UN were the co-recipients of the 2001 Nobel Peace Prize. After leaving the helm of the UN, he established the Kofi Annan Foundation in 2007. It is an independent, not-for-profit organization that works to promote better global governance and strengthen the capacities of people and countries to achieve a fairer, more peaceful world. Children yet unborn in Cameroon will come to know Kofi Annan for the role he played for the peaceful return of the Bakassi Peninsula to Cameroon. During his tenure of office, he also visited Cameroon to consolidate relations between the world body and the country. In this special report, Cameroon Tribune looks at the special relations Kofi Annan had with Cameroon, seeks the clarification of an expert on international relations on his contribution to world peace and stability and finally analyses the legacy he left the helm of the UN.
