By Lydia
Kukua Asamoah, GNA
Accra, Sept 11, GNA – Ghanaians have been
paying their last respects to celebrated diplomat – former United Nations (UN)
Chief, Mr. Kofi Annan, as his body lies in state, at the Accra International
Centre (AICC).
Hundreds of people have been filing past the
body amid heavy security presence.
The government has declared three days of
national mourning for the man, who rose through the ranks to become the seventh
UN Secretary-General.
Mr. Annan passed on at the ripe age of 80, at
a hospital in the Swiss city of Bern, on August 18, and his remains was flown
in on Monday evening, for a befitting state funeral.
By 0800 hours, when the Ghana News Agency
(GNA), got to the AICC, mourners and scores of journalists had already started
gathering.
Madam Rejoice Adjeley Mensah, who led the La
Bethel Women Fellowship to pay their respects to Mr Annan, told the GNA that
they were there to honour him for his extraordinary service to humanity.
She added that he brought honour to Ghana and
had earned his place in history.
“We are here to honour him and it is our
prayer that he would find peaceful rest in the bosom of his maker.”
Tributes have been pouring in for Mr. Annan –
a global statesman, who tirelessly fought for a fairer and more peaceful world.
In 2001, he co-received the Nobel Peace Prize
with the UN.
GNA