Kofi Annan gave me sensitive advice –Akufo- Addo

President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo says the late former United Nations Secretary-General, Kofi Busumuru Annan, gave him sensitive advice when he took over as President of Ghana.

Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo said he appreciated the advice from the late diplomat.

“He gave me sensitive, deeply appreciated advice when I became President of the Republic,” Akufo-Addo said when he read his tribute at Kofi Annan’s burial service held at the Accra International Conference Centre (AICC) on yesterday.

He said the last time he saw Mr. Annan was in March 2018, when the former international diplomat came to “inform me, much to my discomfiture, that he could no longer continue to serve as Chancellor of Ghana’s premier university, the University of Ghana, Legon, since he had served the two terms permitted by the statutes of the university.”

“I bemoaned my ill-luck, even though, as life would have it, the university has found in Mary Chinery-Hesse, his old and trusted friend, a worthy successor,” he said.

President Akufo-Addo added that Mr. Annan was enthused about his Ghana Beyond Aid agenda.

“Kofi Annan was an ardent believer in the capacity of the Ghanaian and African to chart his or her own course on to the path of progress and prosperity. He found the vision of a Ghana Beyond Aid, indeed of an African Beyond Aid, very appealing. Undoubtedly, he excelled in the various undertakings of his life, leaving in his trail most pleasant memories. His was a life well-lived,” President Akufo-Addo added.

Kofi Annan died on August 18, 2018 in Switzerland at the age of 80 after a short illness.

Several dignitaries including world leaders and the current UN Secretary-General, Antonio Guterres, were at the funeral service.