Crashing the Kofi Annan Lecture
The big news last week was that Kofi Annan was in town. Not surprisingly, he is a hero to most Ghanaians… one of their own, who has really ‘made good’ on the world stage. The radio and papers were filled with his comings and goings.
I had heard that he was going to be giving a lecture on Thursday at the National Conference Centre. I decided that I really wanted to hear him, but wasn’t sure how to get tickets. And first, I wanted to find a buddy because Colin was out of town doing ProLink training.
Brian, a young man who is also a volunteer from AJWS, also wanted to go, so I said I would find out more details and we agreed to go together. I found a phone number for tickets, but when I called they said they were all out. It was free but by invitation only – oh, and there was a dress code, either business suits or ‘traditional’.
We still didn’t want to give up on this venture, so Brian and I went anyway, arrived about an hour early, dressed up as much as we could (with a scarf of traditional cloth each). We tried the direct route, just going in without an invitation, but they weren’t buying it.
They pointed off in a direction and said we should go there for invitations. We recognized that they meant a place about 20 minutes walk away, but decided to pretend that we didn’t. So next we went to the side entrance and told the guards there that someone at the front had told us to come there. This is where we began our sweet talking routine. Even though they weren’t allowed to let us in (it was the VIP entrance), they took pity on us when we said that we were volunteers and we respected Mr. Annan so much and just wanted to hear him speak. The most senior policeman told us he would speak to his ‘big man’ and we should wait for him by the front entrance.
Meanwhile the entertainment had begun at the front entrance- drumming and dancing, followed by the navy honour guard, in full dress uniforms with their band, and all the important people being dropped off by their limos. Our personal policeman came and found us and told us that, “yes, we could go in once all the people with invitations were seated.” We were so excited and thanked him profusely, only to find when the time came, that all the people who were hanging about at the front entrance without invitations were let in at the end. Turned out we weren’t so special after all!
The lecture itself was interesting. It was the first in a series, marking Ghana’s 50th anniversary of independence. When you consider that Kofi Annan was then only 18 years old and attending college in Ghana, his references to the hopes and dreams of Ghanaians at independence, were very personal.
He spoke about the whole continent of Africa and its successes and disappointments; how it was often its own worst enemy, with poorly run governments, headed by despotic, crooked leaders. He alluded to many war-torn countries like Sudan, northern Uganda. He also drew attention to countries where there are reasonable signs of progress (including Ghana) in the fight against HIV/AIDS, moving towards universal educational access and addressing the many development issues that result from profound poverty throughout the continent.
His message was Africa’s need for three pillars: peace and security, development and human rights. Big, sweeping statements, but to be perfectly honest, it made me feel quite sad about the lack of effective progress in much of Africa.
Still, I was glad we had ‘crashed’ the lecture. It was Annan’s first public appearance since he finished his term as Secretary-General of the UN, and maybe a little piece of Ghanaian history.
I had heard that he was going to be giving a lecture on Thursday at the National Conference Centre. I decided that I really wanted to hear him, but wasn’t sure how to get tickets. And first, I wanted to find a buddy because Colin was out of town doing ProLink training.
Brian, a young man who is also a volunteer from AJWS, also wanted to go, so I said I would find out more details and we agreed to go together. I found a phone number for tickets, but when I called they said they were all out. It was free but by invitation only – oh, and there was a dress code, either business suits or ‘traditional’.
We still didn’t want to give up on this venture, so Brian and I went anyway, arrived about an hour early, dressed up as much as we could (with a scarf of traditional cloth each). We tried the direct route, just going in without an invitation, but they weren’t buying it.
They pointed off in a direction and said we should go there for invitations. We recognized that they meant a place about 20 minutes walk away, but decided to pretend that we didn’t. So next we went to the side entrance and told the guards there that someone at the front had told us to come there. This is where we began our sweet talking routine. Even though they weren’t allowed to let us in (it was the VIP entrance), they took pity on us when we said that we were volunteers and we respected Mr. Annan so much and just wanted to hear him speak. The most senior policeman told us he would speak to his ‘big man’ and we should wait for him by the front entrance.
Meanwhile the entertainment had begun at the front entrance- drumming and dancing, followed by the navy honour guard, in full dress uniforms with their band, and all the important people being dropped off by their limos. Our personal policeman came and found us and told us that, “yes, we could go in once all the people with invitations were seated.” We were so excited and thanked him profusely, only to find when the time came, that all the people who were hanging about at the front entrance without invitations were let in at the end. Turned out we weren’t so special after all!
The lecture itself was interesting. It was the first in a series, marking Ghana’s 50th anniversary of independence. When you consider that Kofi Annan was then only 18 years old and attending college in Ghana, his references to the hopes and dreams of Ghanaians at independence, were very personal.
He spoke about the whole continent of Africa and its successes and disappointments; how it was often its own worst enemy, with poorly run governments, headed by despotic, crooked leaders. He alluded to many war-torn countries like Sudan, northern Uganda. He also drew attention to countries where there are reasonable signs of progress (including Ghana) in the fight against HIV/AIDS, moving towards universal educational access and addressing the many development issues that result from profound poverty throughout the continent.
His message was Africa’s need for three pillars: peace and security, development and human rights. Big, sweeping statements, but to be perfectly honest, it made me feel quite sad about the lack of effective progress in much of Africa.
Still, I was glad we had ‘crashed’ the lecture. It was Annan’s first public appearance since he finished his term as Secretary-General of the UN, and maybe a little piece of Ghanaian history.
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9:36 AM
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