Inside Politics Reporter
President Cyril Ramaphosa has sent his condolences to the people and government of Togo following the death of former Prime Minister Edem Edouard Kodjo.
The former diplomat died at the age of 82 in the French capital Paris on Saturday, April 11.
Ramaphosa, in his capacity as chairperson of the African Union, said the people of the Republic of Togo and of Africa have lost a true compatriot who contributed greatly to the development of the African continent.
“He will be remembered not only as the former Prime Minister of the Republic of Togo, but also as the Secretary General of the Organisation of African Unity (OAU), who played an important role in crafting the Lagos Plan of Action, Africa’s Blue Print for Economic Revival,” said Ramaphosa on Sunday.
In Togo, Kodjo spent two stints as Prime Minister, the first period from from 1994 to 1996 and again from 2005 to 2006 under former president Gnassingbe Eyadema. He also held a number of ministerial posts years before.
Kodjo served in Eyadéma’s government as Minister of Finance from 1973 to 1976 and as Minister of Foreign Affairs from 1976 to 1978. He was elected as the Secretary-General of the Organisation of African Unity (OAU) at its summit in Khartoum on July 18-22, 1978.
In his condolence message, the current African Union Commission chairperson, Moussa Faki Mahamat, described Kodjo as “a brilliant African intellectual,” and “a distinguished statesman and tireless knight of peace.”
The AU chief continued that death was “painful” before extending on behalf the staff of the AUC, his most sincere and deep condolences to his family, the Togolese people and all the African peoples. May his soul rest in peace and may his example continue to inspire the continent,” the statement concluded.
Namibian president Hage Geingob was one of the earliest African leaders to react to the death as well as Malian president Ibrahim Boubacar Keita.
Geingob wrote: “With the passing of Edem Kodjo, Africa has lost an illustrious former SG of the OAU, a former Prime Minister of Togo and a refined intellectual. A towering Pan-Africanist who contributed immensely to a peaceful and better Africa is no more. Condolences to the people of Togo. RIP.”
Aside his work as OUA chief which ended in 1983 following which he returned to France to continue with academic pursuits at the prestigious University of Sorbonne; the AU named him envoy to the Democratic Republic of Congo during the electoral crisis in the late years of Kabila’s mandate.
(Additional reporting by Togo News)
