Hundreds of cheering well-wishers, dancing and waving Ghanaian flags, greeted former United Nations secretary general Kofi Annan when he arrived in his native Ghana after 10 years at the helm of the world body.
Ghanaian President John Kufuor joined a long line of politicians, diplomats and traditional chiefs awaiting Annan and his Swedish wife Nane when they disembarked a flight from Nigeria on Tuesday.
”This has been a wonderful homecoming … It has been a long journey and today [Tuesday] I complete the circle,” he told journalists.
Annan stepped down after a decade in the United Nations’ top job at the end of last year and was replaced by South Korea’s Ban Ki-moon. The 2001 Nobel Peace Prize winner said he was looking forward to spending time with his compatriots.
”I want to thank all of you for the support and the encouragement you gave me throughout these 10 years. Without that support, I am sure it would have been much more difficult,” he said.
It is unclear how long 68-year-old Annan will spend in Ghana, where he is hugely popular. He is due to meet with President Kufuor on Wednesday and deliver a speech on Thursday as part of Ghana’s celebrations of the 50th anniversary of its independence from Britain.
Some local media had suggested he might contest the 2008 election, at which Kufuor is due to step down, but Annan ruled this out in November.
His final years as secretary general were dogged by lingering questions over UN scandals, deteriorating ties with the United States government and the repercussions of the war in Iraq, which he opposed.
But the waiting crowd gave him an ecstatic welcome. ”He is our leader. It is good that he is coming home and we are here to welcome him,” said Zinatu Mohammed (25).
About 30 members of a Ghanaian climate change pressure group, www.StopKillingUs.org, turned up to thank Annan for his environmental work.
”We are here to welcome him, our hero. We are letting him know he is welcome in Ghana,” said member Kwabena Osei Bonsu. ”He has done well on climate change and he should continue.”
In November in Nairobi Annan launched a new UN initiative to pump funds into Africa to help its people adapt to climate change, such as the threat of encroaching deserts and increasing natural disasters. — Reuters