Kofi Annan, the former secretary-general of the United Nations, on Thursday buried in his home country of Ghana.
Around 2,000 guests attended the ceremony, including several heads of state and former leaders. The laureate of the Nobel prize for Peace in 2001, died last month. He was 80.
The funeral took place at the International Convention centre in the capital Accra. Thousands of Ghanaians, many dressed in the traditional rouwkleuren black and red, followed the ceremony on large screens outside the conference centre. In the whole of Ghana hung the flags at half mast.
“As but few today could Kofi Annan bring people together, make them at ease, and get them on the road to a common goal for our humanity,” said current UN secretary-general, Antonio Guterres. He called Annan an ‘exceptional leader’.
Annan will get a final resting place at the military cemetery in Accra. His body was Monday transferred from Switzerland, where he on August 18 died.
Annan was from 1997 to 2006 as secretary-general of the United Nations. He was a successful reformer, motivator and bridge-builder.
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