In Photos: Kofi Annan’s body returns to Ghana before funeral

The body of Kofi Annan was returned to his native Ghana on Monday in a solemn ceremony marking the start of official mourning. [AFP]

The body of former U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan has received a hero’s welcome upon landing at Kotoka International Airport in Ghana’s capital.

President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo was with Annan’s widow and family members on Monday as uniformed soldiers brought Annan’s coffin down from the aircraft amid solemn music played by a detachment of Ghana’s armed forces.

Prayers followed.

Ghanaian soldiers cover the coffin of late Ghanaian diplomat Kofi Atta Annan with the Ghanaian flag on the tarmac of Kotoka International Airport in Accra on September 10, 2018. [AFP]

To signify Annan’s return home, the UN flag covering the coffin was replaced by a Ghanaian one.

Annan will lie at the Accra International Conference Center, where people can pay their respects in the days before Thursday’s state funeral.

Annan died in August in Switzerland at age 80.

Ghanaian soldiers, accompanied by clergymen, carry the coffin of former UN Secretary General Kofi Annan. [Courtesy]

The grandson of tribal chiefs, he was the first black African to work as U.N. secretary-general, and was awarded a Nobel Peace Prize.