Kofi Annan a ‘model leader’

With the death on Saturday of former United Nations secretary-general Kofi Annan, the world has lost yet another “magnanimous and selfless model leader”, Brand South Africa said yesterday.

“The world woke up to the sad news on the passing of the first black African secretary-general of the United Nations Kofi Annan,” Brand SA said.

The 80-year-old advocate for the African continent and seventh secretary-general who rose through the ranks of the UN, suffered a short illness before he died.

The Ghanaian diplomat, and one of the United Nations’ most high-profile and well-respected former secretary-generals was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, along with the UN, “for their work for a better organised and more peaceful world”.

Annan served as the secretary-general from January 1997 to December 2006 – and put development, human rights, the rule of law, good governance, and peace at the top of the UN’s agenda, Brand SA said.

Annan also served as chair of The Elders, an international nongovernmental organisation of public figures noted as statespeople, peace activists and human rights advocates, brought together by Nelson Mandela in 2007.

New York – From his native Africa to the United States, tributes continued to pour in from around the world yesterday after former UN chief, Nobel peace laureate and “diplomatic rock star” Kofi Annan, pictured, died at age 80.

The Ghanaian national, a career diplomat, projected quiet charisma and was widely credited for raising the world body’s profile in global politics during his two terms as head of the UN from 1997 to 2006.

Annan’s family said he had died peacefully on Saturday after a short illness.

Annan died in a Berne hospital, Swiss media reported. The UN said it would fly flags at half-mast at all of its locations around the world.

And Ghana’s President Nana Akufo-Addo announced a week of mourning for “one of our greatest compatriots”.

Another Nobel laureate, retired South African archbishop Desmond Tutu, described Annan as “an outstanding human being who represented our continent and the world with enormous graciousness, integrity and distinction.”