To say Kofi Annan has reached the lame duck phase of his tenure as Secretary General of the United Nations is wrongly to suppose that at some time he might have been cock of the walk.
The man who based the legacy of his tenure on the 32nd floor of the UN Turtle Creek headquarters on reforming the world organisation has to face up to the reality that it will not happen before his second and final term expires at the end of the year.
The momentum built up over years to the special summit has dissipated. Annan’s specific desire to see the powerhouse Security Council enlarged to reflect the political dynamics of the modern world by including more permanent members has been dashed. The initiative fell into the deep ditch of malice, narrow interest and indecision that has drowned so many others.
On the South African leg of his valedictory tour of Africa this week, Annan showed just how much more he relies on wishful thinking than on muscle in steering the UN, whose existence is threatened by the United States’s proclivity for embracing multilateralism only when it suits.
As he emerged from his meeting with Nelson Mandela in Houghton, he was asked about how the new UN human rights council would work when the US was about to vote against its establishment.
“My understanding is that the US, even though they may not be able to vote for the council as it is currently proposed, will be able to work with the council.”
Later he referred to the council again, telling a gathering of civil society leaders in Soweto: “I’m hoping to have good news today.”
And his optimism was rewarded when the UN General Assembly voted 170-4 in favour of the new council, with the US, Israel, the Marshall Islands and Palau dissenting.
Less than a day earlier, US ambassador to the UN, John Bolton, insisted that the only way through the mess was to reopen negotiations over how to replace the UN’s discredited existing human rights body.
Annan did not mention reform of the Security Council at his Soweto meeting. When I asked him why, he replied: “It’s not dead. I expect it to probably come up before the end of the year. Security Council reform is something that I believe is essential. I hope in time the membership will find a way of reforming the council.”
But was he not afraid that the momentum had been lost?
“I hope not. We are going to try and push it as far as we can this year and then leave it to my successor for him or her to push it forward.”
Annan was treated royally in South Africa. Mandela positively gushed praise, saying he had seldom shaken hands with such a big man.
President Thabo Mbeki said: “As an African, part of the great continent toiling towards its renaissance, I am proud that a world leader, who is an African, has had the courage to stand up against ‘the blood-dimmed tide’, to point humanity in another more human direction.”
That Mbeki should find someone to be so kind on the eve of his retirement!
As to what he plans to do when he leaves office, Annan told reporters: “My wife and I have been discussing this. We would want to devote some time to African development, so we will return to Africa. I will be in Ghana and I will devote myself to this.”