President Akufo-Addo cuts sod for the construction of a memorial Statue in honour of H.E. Kofi Annan
HE Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, President of the Republic of Ghana has cut a sod at the Kofi Annan International Peace Keeping Training Centre (KAIPTC) for the construction of a 20-foot memorial statue in honour of H.E. Kofi Annan, former Secretary-General of the UN (1997-2006).
The statue which will be situated at the entrance of KAIPTC at Teshie in Accra, will be constructed with marble, and will have a width of six feet and weigh 21 tonnes for all to see and appreciate Ghana’s International Peace Diplomat on a giant scale. The project is scheduled to be completed in six months and will serve as an everlasting memory of the Ghanaian diplomat.
Before cutting the sod with Mrs. Nane Annan, widow of the late Kofi Annan, H.E. Nana Akufo-Addo, eulogised the late international diplomat, describing him as “a man of principle, a man who valued important concepts in life and who lived his life according to those values.” Mrs Annan, after watching a concept video of the statue, described the monument as a depiction of her husband’s “optimism and vision to make life better for all.” On behalf of her family, she expressed her appreciation to all who supported and helped them during his demise.
Elaborating on the materials to be used for the statue, the Deputy Director, Engineer Services and Chief Military Architect of the Ghana Armed Forces, Lt Col AB Tekyi, stated that the statue will be produced in a grey ornamental stone marble known as Sierra Elvira. “This type of marble stone is original, hard-wearing, durable, water resistant and has no weather coloration,” he added.
The sod-cutting ceremony was witnessed by invited former African Heads of State namely; H.E. Pierre Buyoya, Former President of Burundi and AU High Representative to Mali and Sahel (MISAHEL), H.E. Catharine Samba-Panza, Former President of Central African Republic, H.E. Hassan Sheikh Mohamud, Former President of the Federal Republic of Somalia, H.E. Dr Ernest Bai Koroma, Former President of Sierra Leone and Professor Amos Claudius Sawyer, Former President of Liberia.
The sod cutting was a special event as part of the maiden Kofi Annan Peace and Security (KAPS) Forum which is a 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 theme for the forum was ‘Peace Operations in the Context of Violent Extremism in Africa,” and was organized by (KAIPTC) in collaboration with the Federal Government of Germany and the Government of Norway.
For further information, please contact the Corporate Affairs Unit of the Kofi Annan International Peacekeeping Training Centre (KAIPTC) on +233302-718200 ext 1104/1203 or +233 550 303030. You can find the KAIPTC on Facebook and twitter as: @Kaiptcgh. You can further find out more about the KAIPTC on our website: www.kaiptc.org.
About the Kofi Annan International Peacekeeping Training Centre:
The Ghana Ministry of Defence (MoD) established the Kofi Annan International Peacekeeping Training Centre (KAIPTC) in 1998 and commissioned it in 2004. The purpose was to build upon and share Ghana’s five decades of internationally acclaimed experience and competence in peace operations with other states in the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) region and the rest of Africa. This was in recognition of the need for training military, police and civilian men and women to meet the changing demands of multidimensional peace operations. The Centre is one of the three (3) Peacekeeping Training Centres of Excellence mandated by the ECOWAS to offer training in peacekeeping and peace support operations (PSO) in Africa.
The Centre delivers training courses in three thematic areas; Peace Support Operations, Conflict Management and Peace and Security Studies and also runs Masters and PhD programmes in same. The KAIPTC has a world-class research department that undertakes research in the thematic areas in Peace and Security. Located in Accra, Ghana, the KAIPTC is an internationally recognised institution and has to date trained and tutored over 21, 496 participants and students since its inception.
KAIPTC is a gender-sensitive organisation and committed to gender equality. Following the launch of its gender policy in 2014, the Centre has mainstreamed gender into its policies and programmes, and integrates same in its focal areas, namely training, research and postgraduate education. The Centre has developed a Sexual Harassment policy and fully oriented employees on same. It has also provided a Nursing and Childcare Centre and instituted a paternity leave policy, all with the aim to create a conducive work environment at KAIPTC.