Fare Thee Well, Kofi Annan

Dear H.E Kofi Annan,

The last part of 2018 hasn’t been fair to us as youth of this country and as Ghanaians. We lost K.B Asante, Paa Kwesi Amissah Arthur and JH Mensah !

As if death hasn’t taken enough from us already, he laid his ugly cold hands on you too. What at all have we done to death to deserve this and what possibly could we have done, to have made sure you did not leave us?Well, we are still searching for that answer, and we do not even know if we would ever find any; tragic!

You served your country well, you served your continent exceptionally, you paid your due dues to Mother Earth. We can never quantify your contribution towards world progress, we won’t even try quantifying!

From the land of Isthmo, your influence and role in making them an independent and sovereign nation will forever be written in the annals of world history, your deeds will forever be made indelible in the hearts of humanity.

Unlike today’s generation, who aspire to get to the top through various dubious and truncated means, one distinctive feature of yours which we particularly admire, is the fact that you passed through the mill to reach the status of UN Secretary General; may today’s generation learn to trust the process and walk in the light.

When the African Union took a decision not to recognize coup makers as leaders of their respective countries, as the then UN Secretary General, you made sure, that this declaration was endorsed and upheld by the United Nations! This singular act, to a very large extent, played a critical role in reducing or curbing the incidence of coup d’état on the continent.

You mediated the Kenyan crisis of 2007-2008 and today,Kenya is one of the enviable countries on the continent!

You stood for many things: ranging from women rights, gender equality and equity, world peace and cohesion among others!

You were a master servant leader; you kept Africa’s identity on the globe! Without any shred of doubt ; we can boast of you as the most successful UN boss ever to have lived. You were accepted everywhere you went . You never forgot where you came from and the millennium development goals from which we derived the sustainable development goals shall forever become a living testimony.

You are a model for our politicians and we all have a lot to learn from your powerful but humble persona!

Today’s politician will not even accept or take responsibility for his own offenses or negligence , yet you; in your time even took responsibility for things you did not directly or weren’t liable for ; the Rwandan genocide is one clear example. You made peace where you made no war, and brought peace to where it was needed the most .

You were not for the NDC nor the NPP, you were first for Ghana-may we change our ways to follow in your footsteps.

As you make that lone-cold journey back home, may you continue to pray for us; pray for our maker to send forth sons who will be committed to the fight against terrorism, for a peaceful world and daughters who will not kowtow to forces above them to sacrifice global progress on a cheap alter.

H.E Kofi, you are a global icon, an epitome worthy of emulation.

My heart is broken; our hearts are broken ,but we know in our hearts, you are forever with us. We are waiting to join you, whenever our maker calls us too; but until that day, fare thee well!

Sincerely yours.

Raphael Kumah Abolasom.