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| Annan will sacrifice Kojo to save himself |
| 2005-03-29 |
| Kofi Annan, the beleaguered United Nations secretary general, is expected to sacrifice his son's reputation today as he fights to save his own position after a damaging report into a family conflict of interest. The long-awaited report by the commission set up to investigate the scandal-hit oil-for-food programme for Iraq, will criticise the UN leader for a series of management failings. In particular, he will be accused of failing to recognise or deal with conflicts of interest involving the work of his son, Kojo, for Cotecna, a Swiss firm that had a lucrative UN contract in the multi-million-pound humanitarian programme. Leaks of the report suggest that Mr Annan will be absolved of having organised or benefited from the United Nations' allocation of contracts. But there is mounting concern at UN headquarters in New York that new revelations over Cotecna and Kojo Annan will intensify the pressure from Washington for him to step down. The Wall Street Journal said the report would say that Kojo Annan received nearly $400,000 from Cotecna, more than twice the money previously acknowledged. It will also focus on four previously undisclosed meetings between Mr Annan and Cotecna starting in 1992, five years before he became secretary general. Mr Annan has denied any impropriety but his many critics in Washington say that, by failing to disclose the meetings before, he has given the impression of a cover-up. Republican Right-wingers in Congress who are baying for his blood will seize on the report to press home their argument that he is too discredited to keep his job. The report has been drawn up by Paul Volcker, a former chairman of the US Federal Reserve, who heads an independent commission appointed by the UN to investigate the oil-for-food programme. This is the second of three interim reports by the commission and is seen at the UN as being potentially the most damaging to Mr Annan. "There is a fair amount of anticipation and turbulence," a UN source said. "This is the one that might hurt." Mr Annan has said that he was "disappointed and surprised" when he learned that Kojo continued to be paid by Cotecna after 1998 when the firm was awarded a contract to monitor the oil-for-food programme. But in his response to the report he is expected to go much further in distancing himself from his son. UN officials are privately briefing that he has never had a close relationship with his son and that he is exasperated by his behaviour. Cotecna and both Annans deny any connection between the firm's contract and its employment of Kojo. Cotecna says that Kojo was paid his fee for agreeing not to work for a rival firm in west Africa. But the report will criticise him for appearing to trade on his family name and will claim that he misled his father over the extent of his involvement with Cotecna, which employed him from 1995 to 1998, as it won the key contract. The report will say that Cotecna paid the $400,000 between 1996 and 2004. The UN is on the back foot over a range of issues, including a sex scandal in its peacekeeping operation in the Congo, and the first Volcker report last month that savaged the record of Benon Sevan, the former head of the oil-for-food programme. It has since emerged that up to the publication of the first Volker report the funds for Mr Sevan's legal defence came from the remains of the oil-for-food project. The White House was furious with Mr Annan over his remarks to the BBC last year that the war against Iraq was "illegal" and for his call for the American-led forces not to launch an offensive on the former insurgents' stronghold of Fallujah. As the Bush administration seeks to repair relations with its former allies, it has toned down its criticism of the UN, leaving the attacks to Republican congressmen who have long seen it as a bumbling and corrupt restraint on American interests. "This report will greatly increase the pressure from Congress for Kofi Annan to go," said Nile Gardiner, of the Heritage Foundation, a conservative think-tank. Mr Gardiner works closely with the congressional inquiries into the oil-for-food programme. "What will hurt him is the impression that he has not been completely honest, the impression of a cover-up." |
| Posted by:Dan Darling |
| #16 And no boats. Definitely no boats. |
| Posted by: Matt 2005-03-29 2:35:48 PM |
| #15 Kojo better take the stairs and stay well away from elevator shafts... |
| Posted by: Classical_Liberal 2005-03-29 2:15:58 PM |
| #14 Guess that means no Father's Day card for Kofi this year.... |
| Posted by: Desert Blondie 2005-03-29 1:16:55 PM |
| #13 If this is was anything close to what the original founders wanted Annan would resign in shame. For some reason LLL politicians wear their incompetence like some badge of honor. Kofi will probably next receive some Novel award for excellence in government. Not that he presided over and had FAMILY involved in the largest financial un scandal ever (that we know of). These people have no shame and DO NOT deserve our reverence or financial support. Can the whole bunch and start over with countries getting seats based on merit and not some silly alphabetical formula. |
| Posted by: Cyber Sarge 2005-03-29 12:58:03 PM |
| #12 Yeah, that's the story! Kojo was so important that Cotecna had to pay him "not to work" for a rival firm. Can't they do any better than that? Why not "Kojo's already dead in my eyes." |
| Posted by: Tkat 2005-03-29 12:44:05 PM |
| #11 UN officials are privately briefing that he has never had a close relationship with his son and that he is exasperated by his behaviour. These kids today, huh, Kofi? Ungrateful bastards!Ya try and do 'em a favor and look what happens. Bet ya don't know what to do with him anymore, do ya? |
| Posted by: tu3031 2005-03-29 12:28:50 PM |
| #10 In particular, he will be accused of failing to recognise or deal with conflicts of interest involving the work of his son, Kojo, for Cotecna, a Swiss firm that had a lucrative UN contract in the multi-million-pound humanitarian programme. "...those were unofficial meetings. I was informed Kofi won those SuperBowl Tickets and use of the Cotecna Luxury box in an office raffle. I only expressed my gratitude for the hospitality. Besides, how much business could be conducted during the game anyway, particularly with the unfortunate Justim Timberlake- Janet Jackson affair..." |
| Posted by: Capsu78 2005-03-29 11:24:38 AM |
| #9 LOL--Great comments! Rantburg's off to a good start today! |
| Posted by: Dar 2005-03-29 9:39:27 AM |
| #8 Kojo you are a son for me. But I can have other sons and there is only one maltese falcon. |
| Posted by: JFM 2005-03-29 9:18:30 AM |
| #7 So, uh, where's Mike Sylwester? Off crying somewhere, his heart crushed because, well, we were right and he was wrong. "What will hurt him is the impression that he has not been completely honest, the impression of a cover-up." Impression? |
| Posted by: Robert Crawford 2005-03-29 7:44:08 AM |
| #6 Mr. Greenstreet- You beat me to it sir, but Gad, I like you. Mike |
| Posted by: Mike Kozlowski 2005-03-29 7:22:47 AM |
| #5 I wonder what Mrs. Kofi Annan thinks of her husband's current behaviour wrt her son? And just how angry she'll have to get before she reveals names, dates, and account numbers? |
| Posted by: trailing wife 2005-03-29 5:28:58 AM |
| #4 SG - Cosby said something along the lines of: "I brought you into this world and I can take you out and I can make another just like you." Pretty harsh, lol! Both of the Annons be toast. |
| Posted by: .com 2005-03-29 2:31:27 AM |
| #3 So, uh, where's Mike Sylwester? |
| Posted by: someone 2005-03-29 1:57:43 AM |
| #2 Well, if one loses a son, one can always get another. |
| Posted by: Sydney Greenstreet 2005-03-29 1:23:30 AM |
| #1 "What will hurt him is the impression that he has not been completely honest, the impression of a cover-up." What do they mean "will" hurt him? Goo-fi is already hurt, and his own stupidity is the cause. And throwing his son to the sharks won't help. |
| Posted by: Bomb-a-rama 2005-03-29 1:03:26 AM |