Former United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan is Dead

Former United Nations Secretary-General, Kofi Annan is reported dead.

He was reported to have died in Switzerland, Saturday morning after a short illness.

Several Ghanian media outlets broke the news of Anna's demise while international media houses like Aljazeera and BBC reported on the passing of Mr Annan.

Annan was the 7th Secretary-General of the United Nations.

[caption caption="Former United Nations Secretary-General, Kofi Annan"][/caption]

He died in hospital in Bern, Switzerland with his wife, Nane, and three children Ama, Kojo and Nina, by his side. He retired to Geneva and later lived in a Swiss village.

Annan’s foundation issued a statement on his Twitter account on Saturday morning that described him as a “global statesman and deeply committed internationalist who fought throughout his life for a fairer and more peaceful world”.

He was appointed as the Secretary-General on 13 December 1996 by the Security Council and later confirmed by the General Assembly, making him the first officeholder to be elected from the UN staff itself.

The former UN secretary general was re-elected for a second term in 2001 and was succeeded as Secretary-General by Ban Ki-moon on 1 January 2007.

Annan was credited for helping sign the National Accord signed on February 28, 2008, at the height of the post-poll chaos, saw the birth of the Grand Coalition Government led by the two leaders.

[caption caption="Former United Nations Secretary-General, Kofi Annan"][/caption]

Annan described the mediation role as the most engaging but noted that it ended a stalemate that left at least 1,000 people dead. 

"My role in mediating was amongst the most intensive and enduring of all my interventions," Annan stated.

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