The United Nations has sent condolences to Ghanaians and Africans over the passing of Ghana’s first female Brigadier General, Constance Emefa Edjeani-Afenu.
Edjeani-Afenu, 61, died in a hospital in Ghana’s capital, Accra on Monday after a short illness.
She was the first female to attain the highest feat in the Ghana Armed Forces when she earned the badge for the rank of Brigadier General in March 2016.
In a heartfelt letter reacting to the demise of the Brigadier General, the UN Secretary General Anronio Guterres described her as a true pioneer and exalted her for her peacekeeping efforts with the organization in her over four-decade career.
Edjeani-Afenu “made history in peacekeeping as the first female Deputy Force Commander in the United Nations Mission for the Referendum in Western Sahara (MINURSO),” Mr. Guterres said in the condolence statement.
Edjeani-Afenu
“She was active in several UN peacekeeping missions including Lebanon, Liberia. Brigadier Edjeani-Afenu will be remembered for her distinguished service in these missions, as well as her tireless work to promote inclusiveness and increase the number of women in the peacekeeping operations where she served”
While many will easily remember Edjeani-Afenu for her historic position as Brigadier General, her career profile reveals a trailblazing journey in the military.
She joined the GAF in 1978 at the age of 18 years, she then rose through the ranks to become the first female to be appointed as the Commanding Officer of the Forces Pay Regiment.
In between 2013 to 2016, she served as Ghana’s Deputy military advisor to its permanent mission in New York.
