Ghana mission to UN hosts President Mahama
President John Dramani Mahama observed a minute’s silence in memory of Professor Kofi Awoonor during a welcome reception for him after he had arrived in New York.
Advertisement
The President is in New York to attend the United Nations General Assembly.
The welcome event was hosted by the Permanent Mission of Ghana to the United Nations at the residence of Ghana’s Permanent Representative to the UN for President Mahama and his entourage, who are attending the 68th Session of the UN.
According to a report by the Information Services Department, the tone for the ceremony was set when the President had directed that a minute’s silence be observed in memory of Prof. Awoonor.
The ceremony was characterised by the playing of dirges.
Prayers were said by Rev Paul Kweku Nii of the Mount Horeb Prayer Centre in the Eastern Region.
Prof. Awoonor, a former Chairman of the Council of State, died in Nairobi from injuries he sustained during an attack on the Westgate Shopping Mall on Saturday morning, an attack for which the Somali militant group, Al-Shabab, had claimed responsibility.
In a statement issued by the Ministry of Information on Saturday, President Mahama described as a sad twist of fate Prof. Awoonor's presence at the Nairobi Mall where terrorists killed shoppers.
