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Scandals and the United Nations

Kojo's wheels

By Judi McLeod
Saturday, September 10, 2005

Somewhere out on banana tree-flanked roads of rural Ghana, some lucky dude is tooling around in a $39,000, sporty, green Mercedes ML 320.

That someone answers to the name of Kojo and he's the upwardly mobile son of United Nations Secretary General Kofi annan.

While some Ghanaians rely on motorized scooters and clunkers to get to and from work, Kojo gets around in style when in the country of his birth.

Being the son of a global diplomat has its privileges. In buying his new wheels, Kojo got a $6,000 “diplomatic” discount by using the lie that his famous father was the car's owner.

and here's the Kojo kicker: When he decided to ship the shiny new Mercedes ML 320 back home to Ghana, Kojo again used daddy's diplomatic status--saving himself $14,000 in customs duties.

UN watchers won't find much detail about how annan senior feels about junior using his name for perks, in the final report tabled Thursday by independent committee oil-for-food chairman Paul Volcker. Kofi might know how to go about saving the planet, but claims he didn't know precise details of his son's car deal.

Like the black box recording device from the downed aircraft found years later in his UN filing cabinet, for Kofi annan it seems out of sight is out of mind.

The secretary-general also knew little of the details of son Kojo's job with Cotecna. Kojo's employer was at the heart of the influence-peddling inquiry.

Nor did Kojo use money from a newspaper delivery route to purchase his new wheels.

“In late 1998, U.N. sources say, Kojo got a $3,000 loan from a friend for a down payment on the Mercedes in Geneva, Switzerland.” (adam Zagorin, Time, September 4, 2005).

That friend just happened to be Michael Wilson, then a vice president of Cotecna, the firm that not only employed Kojo but also won millions of dollars in UN contracts. One of Cotecna's contracts was signed within two month after Kojo's down payment was made, to monitor the oil-for-food program in Iraq.

about the same time Wilson's wife bought a car from the Swiss dealer, Kojo annan wound up paying $39,000 for his Mercedes. Dad chipped in with $15,000 to help.

  “a lawyer for Kojo told Time that Kojo reimbursed Wilson, who could not be reached for comment.” (adam Zagorin).

With the car in Ghana, at least american taxpayers won't be picking up the tab for free parking for Kojo when he's visiting UN headquarters.

Meanwhile, congressional investigators are considering recommending that the Justice Department pursue perjury charges against Kojo. The move to prosecute comes in the wake of revelations that Kojo lied about lobbying his father's office for a company that won an Iraq oil-for-food inspection contract.

Two congressional committees, the House Government Reform Subcommittee on National Security and the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations are reviewing the latest report from the UN-appointed panel, officials said yesterday.


Canada Free Press founding editor Most recent by Judi McLeod is an award-winning journalist with 30 years experience in the print media. Her work has appeared on Newsmax.com, Drudge Report, Foxnews.com, Glenn Beck. Judi can be reached at: judi@canadafreepress.com


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