The body of former UN secretary general Kofi Annan received a hero's welcome, upon landing at Kotoka International Airport in Ghana's capital yesterday.

President Nana 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 prayers and music played by a detachment of Ghana's armed forces.

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

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

Annan died in August this year in the capital city of Genevepital Switzerland at age 80 after a short illness and he was the first black African to work as UN secretary general, and was awarded a Nobel Peace Prize.