‘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.”
Source: Caleb
Kudah/citinewsroom.com/Ghana
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