Abuja, 13 September 2018. The President of the Commission of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), Jean-Claude Kassi Brou, who is leading a large delegation, arrived Accra, Ghana on Thursday 13 September 2018 for the state funeral of former United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan.In addition to Mr Brou, the delegation includes the Vice-President of the Commission, Mrs. Finda Koroma, senior staff of the organisation, and the Auditor General of ECOWAS institutions, Dr. Alfred Mahamadu Braimah.

Jean-Claude Kassi Brou and the accompanying delegation will present ECOWAS condolences to the Ghanaian government and people, as well as to the family of late Kofi Annan.

The late Ghanaian diplomat, who died on Saturday, 18 August 2018, in Geneva, Switzerland, at the age of 80, will be buried in the new Accra Military Cemetery.

Speaking after a meeting with the family of the deceased, the Ghanaian Head of State, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, stated that it is “the most appropriate place to host late Kofi Annan’s funeral”.

Born on 8 April 1938 in Kumasi, Ghana, and after studying Economics in Geneva, Kofi Annan joined the World Health Organisation (WHO) in 1962. He then worked in various UN agencies, including the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).In 1972, he earned a Master of Science degree at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

From 1993 to 1996, he served as UN Under-Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations during the genocide in Rwanda and the war in Bosnia.On 1^st January 1997, Kofi Annan became Secretary-General of the United Nations, the first to rise through the ranks of the organisation and the first Secretary-General from sub-Saharan Africa.

He was re-elected for a second five-year term in June 2001.On 12 October 2001, he was awarded the Nobel Prize for Peace, jointly with the UN. In 2007, he joined the “Elders”, a group of international personalities working for the conflict resolution in the world, a group spearheaded by Nelson Mandela. Kofi Annan also founded the Kofi Annan Foundation that same year.

The Kofi Annan International Peacekeeping Training Centre, established in the Ghanaian capital, was named after him.