President Paul Kagame has paid tribute to Araya Assefa, a former UN diplomat who passed away yesterday at age 89.
“I knew Araya Assefa very well. He was a very good man. Worked for the UN. May he rest in eternal peace!!” Kagame wrote on his twitter account.
Araya who was the representative of the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) in Uganda in the 1980s was a very important person in the life of President Kagame’s family.
The diplomat is said to have acted a father figure to President Kagame during his wedding in June 1989 in Uganda.
In the photo above, Araya seems to be on a visit to President Kagame at battlefield, which shows strong attachment and support to the latter’s dream of freedom of mankind.
“He was a UN diplomat from Ethiopia and served as the head of UNICEF in Uganda during the 1980s. I once read a story about how he stood firmly against injustice. This photo holds great significance! Rest in peace, Araya Assefa. Judging by the vegetation, this must have been taken in Gikoba!” writes Noel Kambanda.
