Annan to receive achievement award from Ghana

UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan was to receive one of his native Ghana’s highest official commendations today, an award granted twice each decade that this year lauds Annan for his distinguished overseas service.

Ghana President John Kufuor and king of the west African nation’s fabled Ashanti ethnic group, Osei Tutu, were hosting the Accra ceremony to award Annan the citation in recognition of leadership of the United Nations.

“He’s done a lot for humanity through the world body,” said Kofi Yankah, an event organiser.

Annan will be among more than a dozen other people or organisations receiving Millennium Awards, awarded by Ghana every five years to honour Ghanaians and foreigners alike for work that judges deem to have bettered mankind.

Ghana created a special subset of the award this year – the Global Excellence prize – implemented specifically to honour Annan, among Ghana’s best-known citizens.

A past recipient of the Millennium Awards is ex-President Jerry Rawlings, who rose to power through a coup but later helped ease Ghana onto a democratic path. Rawlings received a luxury automobile. It was not clear if Annan would be given a valuable prize beyond his citation.

Annan arrived back home on Sunday. He is scheduled to travel next week to nearby Niger, where hundreds of thousands of people are threatened by one of West Africa’s worst food crises in years.