Who Was Kofi Annan?
Kofi Annan was born into an aristocratic family in Ghana and he attended a number of schools and colleges, studying international relations in the United States and Switzerland. He became an international civil servant working for the United Nations in 1962. He went on to become the U.N. secretary-general and later a special envoy to Syria. Annan died on August 18, 2018 in Switzerland at the age of 80.
Early Life and Education
Former United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Atta Annan was born within minutes of his twin sister, Efua Atta, on April 8, 1938, in Kumasi, Ghana. The grandchild and nephew of three tribal chiefs, Annan was raised in one of Ghana’s aristocratic families.
In his mid-teens, Annan attended an elite Methodist boarding school called Mfantsipim, where he learned that “suffering anywhere concerns people everywhere.” Upon Annan’s graduation from the school in 1957, Ghana gained independence from Britain; it was the first British African colony to do so. “It was an exciting period,” Annan once told The New York Times. “People of my generation, having seen the changes that took place in Ghana, grew up thinking all was possible.”
Annan went on to pursue higher education, attending four different colleges: Kumasi College of Science and Technology, now the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology; Macalester College in St. Paul, Minnesota; Graduate Institute of International Studies in Geneva, Switzerland; and the MIT Sloan School of Management in Cambridge, Massachusetts. He earned a number of degrees, including a Master of Science, and studied international relations. Annan, whose native language is Akan, also became fluent in English, French, some Kru languages and other African languages.
Career with the United Nations
Annan’s career with the United Nations began in 1962, when he got a job working as a budget officer for the World Health Organization, a U.N. agency. Annan has been an international civil servant ever since, with the exception of a short break from 1974 to 1976, when he worked as the director of tourism in Ghana.
For a nine-year period from 1987 to 1996, Annan was appointed to serve as an assistant secretary-general in three consecutive positions: Human Resources, Management and Security Coordinator; Program Planning, Budget and Finance, and Controller; and Peacekeeping Operations. While he served in that last capacity, the Rwandan genocide took place. Canadian ex-General Roméo Dallaire, who has been the force commander of the United Nations Assistance Mission for Rwanda, accused Annan of being overly passive in his responses to the 1994 genocide. Some 10 years after the genocide, in which more than 800,000 people were killed, Annan admitted that he “could and should have done more to sound the alarm and rally support,” according to a March 2004 BBC article.
Annan served as under-secretary-general from March 1994 to October 1995. He resumed the position in 1996 after a five-month appointment to serve as a special representative of the secretary-general to the former Yugoslavia.
United Nations Chief
The United Nations Security Council recommended Annan to replace the previous secretary-general, Dr. Boutros Boutros-Ghali of Egypt, in later 1996. The General Assembly voted in his favor, and he began his first term as secretary-general on January 1, 1997.
Among Annan’s most well-known accomplishments were his issuance of a five-point Call to Action in April 2001 to address the HIV/AIDS pandemic and his proposal to create a Global AIDS and Health Fund. He and the United Nations were jointly awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in December of 2001 “for their work for a better organized and more peaceful world.”
Annan is also known for his opposition to the 2003 invasion of Iraq and to Iran’s nuclear program. He told the BBC in September 2004 that the Iraq war did not conform to the U.N. charter and was illegal.
Life After the United Nations
Annan retired on December 31, 2006. Several months prior, he gave a farewell speech to world leaders at U.N. headquarters in New York, outlining major problems with an unjust world economy and widespread contempt for human rights.
“We are not only all responsible for each other’s security,” Annan said in his speech. “We are also, in some measure, responsible for each other’s welfare. Global solidarity is both necessary and possible. It is necessary because without a measure of solidarity no society can be truly stable, and no one’s prosperity truly secure.”
Following his retirement, Annan returned to Ghana. He became involved with a number of organizations with a global focus. He was chosen to lead the formation of the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa, became a member of the Global Elders and was appointed president of the Global Humanitarian Forum in Geneva. In 2009, Annan joined a Columbia University program at the university’s School of International and Public Affairs.
In February 2012, Annan was appointed as the U.N.-Arab League envoy to Syria in an attempt to end the civil war taking place there. He developed a six-point plan for peace. He resigned from the position, citing intransigence of both the Syrian government and the rebels, as well as the Security Council’s failure to create a peaceful resolution.
“As an envoy, I can’t want peace more than the protagonists, more than the Security Council or the international community, for that matter,” Annan said in a resignation speech on August 2, 2012.
“I had expected to go into Ghanaian politics,” Annan once told Saga magazine, “retire to a farm at 60 and die in my bed at 80. It did not happen so. It’s one of the things God does.”
Annan passed away after a short illness in a hospital in Bern, Switzerland, on August 18, 2018. His wife Nane and children Ama, Kojo and Nina were by his side. “Kofi Annan was a global statesman and a deeply committed internationalist who fought throughout his life for a fairer and more peaceful world. During his distinguished career and leadership of the United Nations he was an ardent champion of peace, sustainable development, human rights and the rule of law,” the Kofi Annan Foundation and Annan family said in a statement.
List Of Luxurious Houses Owned By Osei Kwame Despite – Photos
From a humble beginning, Osei Kwame Despite popularly known as Despite has grown from selling video cassettes in the late 90s to become of the billionaires in Ghana.
Known to be an automotive enthusiast, Osei Kwame Despite also loves luxurious buildings and GhanaCNN takes you through some of his houses and their locations.
Check out the photos below:
List Of Expensive Cars Owned By Osei Kwame Despite – Photos
Business mogul, father, mentor, and multimillionaire, Osei Kwame Despite known popularly as Despite is one of Ghana’s finest mentors we have currently, and he doubles as the CEO of Despite Media, U2 Company among others.
Despite as also called gathered by GhanaCNN.com own cars like:
- Bugatti La Voiture Noire – £14.4 million
- Rolls-Royce Sweptail – £9.9 million
- Lamborghini Veneno Roadster – £3.4 million
- Lykan Hypersport – £2.6 million
Check out the photos of these cars below:
Today Be The Judgement Day: All You Need To Know About The 2020 Election Petition
The case was filed by the NDC’s 2020 Presidential Candidate, John Dramani Mahama. He is the former President of Ghana who lost the 2016 election and contested in the 2020 polls with the hope of capturing power
In accordance with the rules governing the hearing of petitions in Ghana, Mr. Mahama named Ghana’s electoral management body, Electoral Commission and Nana Akufo-Addo as respondents. Nana Akufo-Addo has been President of Ghana since 2016 and was declared the winner of the 2020 polls by the Electoral Commission.
John Mahama’s case
Mr. Mahama claims none of the candidates who contested the polls obtained more than 50% of the votes cast. He alleges that the person said to have won the polls benefitted from vote padding.
He also claims the candidate benefitted from arithmetic and computational errors. He concludes that the EC’s declaration of Nana Akufo-Addo is unconstitutional since he did not obtain more than 50% of the votes cast.
What John Mahama wants?
He wants the Supreme Court to rule that the election results as declared by the EC Chairperson, Jean Mensa, breached the constitution. He is further asking the court to annul the results of the polls and order the EC to organize a run-off between himself and Nana Akufo-Addo.
Electoral Commission’s response
But the EC says the petition is incompetent. It admits that it’s Chairperson Jean Mensa inadvertently read out the figure representing the total number of votes cast as the total number of valid votes and the percentage of Mr. Akufo-Addo as 51.59% instead of 51.295%. It says the allegation of vote padding is untrue. It however admits that minor discrepancies may have occurred as a result of computational and mathematical errors in the course of collation. These errors the commission insists did not affect the outcome of the results as declared by the EC.
Nana Akufo-Addo’s response to petition
On his part, President Akufo-Addo says the petition does not disclose any attack on the validity of the election held in 38,622 polling stations. He says the allegation of vote padding involving some 6,622 votes is empty and insignificant to materially affect the outcome of the election.
He further contends that the petition does not state how many votes John Mahama should have obtained except pointing out that none of the candidates got more than 50% of the votes cast.
The case is being heard by Chief Justice Anin Yeboah and Justices Appau, Marful-Sau, Nene Amegatcher, Prof. Kotey, Mariama Owusu and Gertrude Torkonoo.
The Chief Justice was appointed to the Supreme Court by the NPP’s John Kufuor in 2008 and elevated as Chief Justice in 2020 by President Akufo-Addo. He was part of the 2012/2013 petition and in his ruling called for fresh elections to be organized since the polls were fraught with irregularities and statutory violations that have been proven.
Justice Yaw Appau was appointed to the Supreme Court by the NDC’s John Mahama in June 2015. One of the most recent public interest cases he participated in is the case filed by the AG asking that that the court sets aside an injunction granted against the gazzetting of John Amewu as Hohoe MP. He was actually the presiding judge and that court ruled 5-0 that the judge erred in granting the injunction. He was also part of the panel that heard the case filed by Prof Kwaku Asare challenging the monopoly of the Ghana School of Law. He agreed with his colleagues in dismissing this case.
Justice Marful Sau was appointed to the Supreme Court in July 2018 by President Akufo-Addo. He was previously a Court of Appeal judge. He was also part of the panel in the SALL case at the Supreme Court mentioned earlier and the Ghana School of Law case (He agreed with his other colleagues). He participated in the voters register case prior to the 2020 elections and agreed with his colleagues that the EC can compile a new register. He was also part of the case that challenged the eligibility of Martin Amidu as Special Prosecutor. He agreed with the majority opinion that Mr. Amidu was eligible to hold office. He participated in the National Cathedral case and agreed with his colleagues that the decision to build the cathedral was in tune with the social and political objectives of the constitution.
Justice Nene Amegatcher was appointed as a Justice in July 2018 by President Akufo-Addo. Prior to that, he was a private legal practitioner. He participated in the following cases; Amidu’s eligibility, Ghana School of Law monopoly, EC register compilation. In all these cases, he agreed with his colleagues mostly unanimously in dismissing it or with the majority opinion.
Justice Prof Ashie Kotey joined the Supreme Court in July 2018. He was part of the voters’ register case and the Amidu eligibility case. In both matters he agreed with his colleagues.
Justice Mariama Owusu joined the Supreme Court in December 2019 and was part of the voters register case as well. She agreed with her colleagues.
Justice Gertrude Torkonoo joined the Supreme Court in December 2019 and was part of the SALL case that unanimously held that the High Court judge erred in granting the injunction against Peter Amewu.
Issues for Determination
The court before trial commenced set the following issues for determination
- Whether or not the petition discloses any reasonable cause of action
- Whether or not based on the data contained in the declaration of the 1st Respondent (EC), no candidate obtained more than 50% of the valid votes cast as required by article 63 (3) of the 1992 constitution
- Whether or not the 2nd Respondent still met the article 63 (3) of the 1992 constitution threshold by the exclusion or inclusion of the Techiman South constituency Presidential Election Results of 2020
- Whether or not the declaration by the 1st Respondent dated the 9th of December was in violation of article 63 (3) of the 1992 constitution.
- Whether or not the alleged vote padding and other errors complained of by the petitioner affected the outcome of the Presidential Election results of 2020.
Mr. Mahama’s legal team is led by Tsatsu Tsikata and has Tony Lithur as a member.
The EC is represented by Justin Amenuvor and A.A Somuah Asamoah.
President Akufo-Addo’s lawyers are Akoto Ampaw, Frank Davies, Kwaku Asirifi and Yaw Oppong.
Three witnesses were presented by the petitioner to be cross-examined by the respondents. They are Johnson Asiedu Nketia, the NDC’s General Secretary, Dr. Michael Kpessa Whyte, and Rojo Mettle Nunoo who were Mr. Mahama’s representatives at the EC’s National Collation Centre (strongroom).
The crust of Mr. Nketia’s testimony is that the declaration of the EC on December 9 is error-ridden; makes no mathematical sense and indicates that no one won the polls. The other witnesses allege they discovered errors during the computation and informed the EC. They claim they were instructed to go and confer with the party’s presidential candidate. It was while they were away, that the results were declared.
The EC and President Akufo-Addo opted not to call any witnesses, insisting a case meriting an answer has not been made.
The seven justices and at times nine judges hearing the 2020 Election Petition have been called upon on 11 occasions to rule on various issues.
These are matters that have seen lawyers representing the Respondents (EC and President Akufo-Addo) take positions contrary to the position of the petitioner, John Mahama.
The seven judges hearing the case are Chief Justice Kwasi Anin Yeboah, Justices Yaw Appau, Marful Sau, Nene Amegatcher, Prof. Kotey, Mariama Owusu, and Gertrude Torkonoo.
They have on three occasions been joined by Justices Amadu Tanko (all three occasions) and Prof Henrietta Mensa Bonsu (twice) and Avril-Lovelace Johnson (once).
During the trial, it was only on one occasion that a request by the petitioner was wholly granted.
This was the request to correct mistakes.
The petitioner’s viewpoint has been partly upheld on two occasions when it came to striking out portions of witness statements.
The legal arguments of the Respondents have however swayed the judges 8 times.
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