By
Iddi Yire, GNA
Accra, Sept. 4, GNA
– President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo on Wednesday cut the sod for the
erection of a 20-feet memorial statue for the late Mr Kofi Annan, the former
United Nations Secretary General at the Kofi Annan International Peacekeeping
Training Centre (KAIPTC) in Accra.
The statue, which
will be constructed by Stone Depot, a Ghanaian company will take six months to
complete.
The design of the
statue is unique as it portrays the gentle, quiet and soft-spoken subject (Mr
Annan) in one of his many poses.
President Akufo-Addo
said Mr Annan was a man of principles, a man who values important concepts in
life and who lived his life according to those values.
“A very few of
us can claim that. But he did that. And that is the reason why a grateful
posterity has found it necessary to honour him,” he said.
“It is a lesson
for all of us, that if you live and act in a commendable way, your peers will
recognise and acknowledge your efforts”.
President Akufo-Addo
said he was very happy that he had the opportunity to make his contribution to
the perpetuation of this memory.
Mrs Nane Annan, the
wife of the late Mr Annan, expressed gratitude to all who supported her and the
family in their difficult year, which had just passed.
She said having
spent many years with the late Mr Annan and for having being part of his vision
for global peace; there is the need to preserve Mr Annan’s legacy.
Mr Dominic Nitiwul,
the Minister of Defence and the Chairman of the KAIPTC’s Governing Board, said
the Centre was established 21 years ago by the government with the mandate to
train military, police, and civilian personnel for multidimensional
peacekeeping and peace support operations in Africa and across the globe.
He said the mandate
of the KAIPTC was created within the context of the global iconic image of Mr
Annan, the world statesman, who dedicated his life to global peace.
The statue to be
erected will show the Mr Annan in a mobile pose with a simple gesture to
signify the subject’s continuous desire for world peace.
The statue will
portray Mr Annan as an astute gentleman, a peace diplomat and a global icon.
The 20-feet height
was chosen to achieve the purpose of a towering statue at the entrance of the
KAIPTC, and strategically placed close to the boundary fence and the road, for
all to see and appreciate Ghana‘s international Peace Diplomat on a Giant scale.
The statue will be
produced in grey ornamental stone marble known as Sierra Elvira.
This type of marble
stone is original, hardwearing, durable, water resistant and has no weather
coloration.
The statue will
measure 18 feet with a pedestal of two-feet; it has a width of six feet, a
thickness of five feet and weighs 21 tons.
Among the
dignitaries who graced the sod-cutting were former President Pierre Buyoya of
Burundi and African Union High Representative to Mali and Sahel (MISAHEL).
Others were Madam Catharine
Samba-Panza, former President of Central African Republic; Mr Hassan Sheikh
Mohamud, former President of Somalia; Dr Ernest Bai Koroma, former President of
Sierra Leone and Professor Amos Claudius Sawyer, former President of Liberia.
The rest were Dr
Mohamed Ibn Chambas, the Special Representative of the Secretary-General and
Head of the United Nations Office for West Africa and the Sahel (UNOWAS) and
Mrs Mary Chinery-Hesse, Chairperson of the KAIPTC’s “Goodwill Ambassador”.
The sod-cutting
event forms part of the Kofi Annan Peace and Security (KAPS) Forum this year in
Accra (4 -5 September), which is the Centre’s flagship annual event designed to
bring together political leaders, diplomats and experts to dialogue and share
ideas on the most critical evolving peace and security trends on the African
continent.
The forum was held
under the theme: ‘Peace Operations in the Context of Violent Extremism in
Africa.’
The forum also seeks
to deepen the collaboration between KAIPTC and international organisations such
as the United Nations, African Union, Regional Economic Communities,
governments, development partners, civil society organisations and the business
community.
GNA
