‘The United Nations (UN) is a complex organization and reforms are difficult’ says the noble laureate, Kofi Annan when he was asked what his challenges were while working there.
But he was poised to reform it anyway. So he set off by launching a comprehensive reform program.
Barely six weeks after the launch, however, a critic published an article in the New York Times accusing him of failing to reform the UN in six weeks flat.
As was his habit, he held his usual monthly lunch with UN Security Council members.
Except that, this time, he started his address with an apology for not reforming the UN in six weeks flat.
But his apology fell on the wrong side of the former Russian Ambassador. Sergey Lavrov was the only communist present and he quoted the Bible to challenge the Secretary-General.
‘Mr. Secretary General, what are you complaining about? You’ve had more time than God had in creating the world’ he argued.
But the scathing attack will not do much harm to the confidence of the distinguished Ghanaian diplomat.
Rather he conceded to Mr. Lavrov’s assertion, saying ‘Mr. Ambassador you are right. But God had a unique advantage – He worked alone – without the Security Council’.
The UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan shared this experience during the Q&A session after his lecture on ‘leadership and public service’at a public lecture by the alumni of his alma mater Mfantsipim College dubbed ‘An afternoon with Kofi Annan, at the Kempinski Gold Coast City Hotel about a year ago.
Kofi Annan passes on
Kofi Annan passed away on Saturday, August 2018 after a short illness at a Hospital in the Swiss city of Bern.
He reportedly fell ill on his way back from South Africa (the Mandela centenary).
He was hospitalized in Geneva and later airlifted to the capital, Bern.
A statement from the Kofi Annan Foundation said, “His wife Nane and their children Ama, Kojo and Nina were by his side during his last days.”
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By: Caleb Kudah/citinewsroom.com/Ghana