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He ain't heavy.... | |||
2005-08-15 | |||
.. He's Kofi Annan's Brother THE official investigation into corruption in the £20 billion United Nations oil for food programme is now looking at the brother of Kofi Annan, the UN secretary-general. Kobina Annan, the Ghanaian ambassador to Morocco, is said by investigators to be âconnectedâ to an African businessman at the centre of the scandal.
Inquiries into Kobina are at an early stage and he has not been interviewed. However, investigators are understood to suspect that Michael Wilson, an African businessman, and Kobina had a business relationship at the time of the scandal. A source close to the investigation said: âWe believe Kobina Annan may be involved with Michael Wilson and Kojo Annan. We know there is a connection between Kobina and Wilson.â The oil for food programme was the biggest humanitarian Volcker has already uncovered a web of corruption at the UN, which appears to have allowed the schemeâs abuse to continue unchecked. Last week, in an interim report, he said Benon Sevan, the head of the programme, and Alexander Yakovlev, another senior UN official, had taken bribes. Sevan has left the United Nations in disgrace and Yakovlev was arrested in New York last week in relation to the charges. Wilson, a long-standing family friend of the Annans, is now fast becoming a focus of Volckerâs commission and some believe crucial evidence surrounding his business activities may prove fatal to the secretary-generalâs career. Wilsonâs role in the oil for food furore dates back to September 1995, when Kofi Annan spoke about the possibility of Kojo working for Wilson after leaving university in Britain. Kojo was then employed as a graduate trainee at Cotecna, of which Wilson was a vice-president. The company monitors shipments of imported and exported goods around the world. In 1998, the year after Kofi became secretary-general, an inspection contract to monitor oil exports leaving Iraq was won by Cotecna. Initially it was claimed Kojo had no links with the company when the contract was awarded as he had left earlier in the year. However, it later transpired that he had continued to receive payments from Cotecna until 2004. The commission then unearthed e-mails sent by Wilson which refer to âbrief discussions with the SG (secretary-general) and his entourageâ at a UN event in Paris shortly before the contract was awarded. Wilson reported âwe could count on their supportâ â a claim denied by Kofi. Kojoâs conduct has been criticised by investigators but no formal charges have been brought. Wilson is in a similar position, although the investigation into both men continues. Now investigators say a new link has been established between Wilson and Kobina the secretary-generalâs brother. It is not known what this connection is. Kobinaâs son, Kobina Jr, who lives in America, also has connections to the United Nations. Last year he worked for Ruder Finn, a New York public relations company that boasts a number of UN contracts. The company is run by David Finn, a friend of Kofi Annan. According to American reports, Ruder Finn employed Kobina Jr on a short-term contract after Kofi asked Finn if he could offer some âguidanceâ to his nephew. At the same time the company was hired by the UN development programme to revamp its communications office. A statement issued by the company said: âKobina Annan was interested in public relations and applied for Ruder Finnâs internship programme and was admitted. Ruder Finn was not awarded any UN contract because of Kobinaâs employment.â
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Posted by:Steve |
#7 Be careful, Robert, or a certain person may start logging your every comment for a future snit-fit dumping. |
Posted by: Darrell 2005-08-15 20:59 |
#6 Anybody here seen my old friend Kobina? Can you tell me where he's gone? He made a lot of money but now he's gone With Bevan, Kojo and Kofi |
Posted by: Claviter Omuque3310 2005-08-15 20:44 |
#5 Now, I'm no Sherlock Holmes, but I'm guessing that if you looked at all of Kofi Annan's brothers, sisters, uncles, aunts, cousins, and close friends, you might find quite a few people who made a lot of money during the Oil-for-Food period, and can't explain exactly how they made it. But that's just my guess. |
Posted by: WhiteCollarRedneck 2005-08-15 16:21 |
#4 I think that those predicting the imminent demise of Kofi Annan's Secretary Generalship are off target. The problem is not that Kofi Annan is crooked, but that the UN -- more accurately, most of the member states of the UN -- are crooked. No honest broker, much less one interested in the spread of democracy and economic empowerment, will be elected to such a position, at least not in the foreseeable future. The U.S. can act as a spoiler and depose a corrupt U.N. Secretary General, but there is not much point in doing so -- the Who's lament holds. A better strategy is to get the goods on the crook and play him like a 1959 Les Paul, which Bolton, if he is half the guy he has been played up to be by the wishy-washy, should be able to do in spades. |
Posted by: Curt Simon 2005-08-15 15:44 |
#3 Kofi: Leave the car running Jeeves, we might have to make a break for it. |
Posted by: Grerelet Creatch3554 2005-08-15 14:37 |
#2 It all makes more sense now. Funny how sanctions ended up being a cash cow for some at the UN as well as their friends and family. Alot of those same folks were working really hard to keep Saddam under the gun and sanctions yet vehemently opposed a war or other action that might end sanctions and the oil for scamster profit scheme. |
Posted by: MunkarKat 2005-08-15 12:27 |
#1 Kofi, Kojo and now, Kobina. Remember when a certain person would scoff at the suggestion that Kofi was dirty? How he'd say there was no evidence Kojo was involved in anything untoward? I'll be honest -- I didn't see this spreading to Kofi's brother. I had no idea he had a brother, but that doesn't change the fact I had no idea it was going to spread like this. It turns out that while all of our suspicions were being poo-poo'd, we had no idea how big it would really be. |
Posted by: Robert Crawford 2005-08-15 11:55 |