By Christiana Afua Nyarko, GNA
Accra, Aug. 20, GNA – Dr Vladimir Antwi-Danso, a Security and International Relations Expert, has criticised Ghana for failing to fully leverage the international stature and diplomatic goodwill associated with the late Kofi Annan to advance the country’s diplomatic influence, mediation capacity and development interests.
Although Mr Annan’s rise to become the seventh Secretary-General of the United Nations gave Ghana an unprecedented visibility and prestige, successive governments had not sufficiently transformed that goodwill into a sustained national diplomatic asset.
Dr Antwi-Danso said Ghana could have deliberately built on Mr Annan’s reputation as a symbol of peace and international cooperation to position the country as a stronger mediator in West Africa and beyond.
“Kofi Annan is a great giant. His ascension to the pinnacle of international politics as the seventh Secretary-General of the UN was a big pride, not to himself but to Ghana,” he said in an interview with the Ghana News Agency (GNA) as part of activities marking the eighth anniversary of Kofi Annan’s death.
He said Annan’s global recognition meant that Ghanaian identity itself gained considerable visibility, particularly at a time when the country was seeking to strengthen its international profile.
“Everywhere you went, when you mentioned you were a Ghanaian, the first thing they mentioned was Kwame Nkrumah, then Kofi Annan,” he recalled.
Dr Antwi-Danso said Ghana could have developed a deliberate “soft diplomacy” strategy around Annan’s legacy, using the credibility associated with his name and peace advocacy to strengthen its role in conflict prevention and mediation in the sub-region.
Such an approach could have seen Ghana progressively establish itself as a preferred venue and facilitator for dialogue on West African political and security challenges.
The expert also argued that Ghana had not adequately drawn on Kofi Annan’s development legacy, particularly his advocacy for the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), which provided a global framework for tackling poverty, hunger, disease, poor education and other development challenges.
The United Nations says the MDGs emerged from the Millennium Declaration adopted by world leaders in September 2000, with time-bound targets to be achieved by 2015.
Kofi Annan played a central role in promoting the global development agenda during his tenure as Secretary-General.
Dr Antwi-Danso said the failure to institutionalise and strategically exploit that legacy represented a missed opportunity for Ghana.
He said the situation was particularly worrying because Annan’s influence extended beyond his tenure as UN Secretary-General, with his post-UN diplomatic interventions demonstrating the value of quiet diplomacy and negotiated settlements.
Kofi Annan, who served as Secretary-General from 1997 to 2006, was also instrumental in strengthening UN peacekeeping and advocated human rights, the rule of law, development and the MDGs.
The UN credits his leadership with the contribution to the establishment of the Peacebuilding Commission and Human Rights Council in 2005.
Dr Antwi-Danso said Ghana’s strongest demonstration of continuity with Kofi Annan’s legacy remained its contribution to international peacekeeping.
He noted that Kofi Annan had served as Under-Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations before becoming Secretary-General, while Ghana had maintained a long-standing record of contributing military and police personnel to UN peace operations.
Ghana is currently described by the UN as one of the top contributors to peacekeeping, with Ghanaian personnel having served in missions stretching from the early 1970s across Africa and other regions.
“Ghana has lived up to expectations where Kofi Annan’s legacy is concerned in peacekeeping,” he said.
Dr Antwi-Danso, however, said the country needed to go beyond commemorating Annan by converting his legacy into a deliberate diplomatic and development strategy.
He said Ghana could use its peacekeeping credentials, diplomatic tradition and the international respect associated with Kofi Annan to deepen its mediation role in West Africa, particularly at a time when the continent was facing political instability, violent extremism and democratic challenges.
Kofi Annan, a native of Kumasi, died in Bern, Switzerland, on August 18, 2018, aged 80.
He served as the UN Secretary-General from January 1997 to December 2006 and was jointly awarded the 2001 Nobel Peace Prize with the United Nations for their work towards a better organised and more peaceful world.
Dr Antwi-Danso said eight years after his death, the most appropriate tribute to Kofi Annan would, therefore, not be limited to monuments and commemorative events, but should involve consciously applying his diplomatic philosophy to Ghana’s foreign policy, regional mediation and development agenda.
GNA
Edited by Agnes Boye-Doe