Kalomoh pays tribute to Kofi Annan

TULIAMENI KALOMOH WRITES:

I first met Kofi Annan in Washington, DC in 1993. I was Namibian Ambassador to the United States; he was invited to appear before the International Relations Committee of the House of Representatives of the US Congress to which Ambassadors were invited.

We had brief interaction when he briefed African Ambassadors on conflict situations in Africa. I asked him a few questions about Angola and DRC. Annan was UN Under Secretary General for the Department of Peacekeeping Operations (DPKO).

A few years later, 1997 to be precise I met Kofi in Windhoek when he visited Namibia at the invitation of President Sam Nujoma. I was Permanent Secretary in the Ministry for Foreign Affairs. Upon assuming office as Secretary General, Annan chose Namibia and South Africa for his first visit in his new capacity.

We later met in Lome, Togo for an OAU conference on the conflict ravaging Zaire at the time. President Nujoma informed me Annan wanted to see me to ask me to accept an appointment as his Special Representative for Liberia. I reluctantly accepted the offer. Thus, I have effectively known Kofi Annan for well over twenty years.

TOTAL COMMITMENT

My impression of Kofi Annan was that he was totally committed to the United Nations' core values of maintaining international peace and understanding among nations. Kofi had a unique ability to bring bitter enemies together and strike agreement. He also had an exceptional ability to trust his colleagues and subordinates.

He was intellectually curious, with wide interests. He absorbed even minute details of every conflict situation.

As first Secretary General elected from the ranks with wide and varied knowledge of the Organization, he introduced wide ranging reforms, including his proposals for far reaching reforms of the UN Security Council. He tirelessly championed the global fight against HIV/AIDS.

At the personal level Kofi was amiable and kind. He projected a combination of joy of life with the very strong commitment to his family and friends.

Kofi was never ego-driven. He was a man of quiet dignity.

KIND BUT TOUGH

Although soft spoken and always courteous Kofi was tough. One day he bluntly told US Ambassador to the UN, John Bolton that: “ we are civil but not servants”.

Among the highlights of his tenure were the awarding of the Noble Peace Price, the adoption of Millennium Development Goals, the deployment of a hybrid UN/AU Peacekeeping force in Darfur, Sudan to prevent the carnage and the Agreement on the independence of South Sudan.

Although Annan was not Secretary General at the time of the Rwanda genocide he accepted responsibility as head of DPKO. That was true to his character of honesty and professionalism.

There is universal recognition that Annan was the best Secretary General after Dag Hammarskjold. He demonstrated sound and independent judgment, like when he condemned the US/British Invasion of Iraq in 2003.

He constantly promoted democratic values, accountable governance and respect for human rights, a stance not always appreciated by some developing countries.

AN EXTRAORDINARY PRIVILEGE

Messages of sympathy with Annan’s family poured in from world leaders: president Hage Geingob of Namibia; President Cyril Ramaphosa of South Africa; UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres, former US President George W Bush, president Vladimir Putin of Russia, president Emmanuel Macron of France and Nana Akufor Ado of Kofi’s native Ghana, among others.

Annan’s death, about two years after Hidipo Hamutenya, one year after Andimba Toivo ya Toivo, four months after Professor Adebayo Adedeji of Nigeria and one month after Theo Ben Gurirab, brings to an end an era of an extraordinary generation of African leaders.

We convey our sincere condolences to his wife and partner Nane; his daughter Ama; his son Kojo; and his stepdaughter Nina.

It was an extraordinary privilege for me to have had known and worked with Kofi Annan and to support his efforts to maintain international peace and security, especially in Africa.