by John M. Curtis
(310) 204-8700

Copyright June 15, 2005
All Rights Reserved.

efusing to resign, U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan finds himself caught in a thicket, trying to spin his way out of his role in the scandal-plagued oil-for-food-program. Recently uncovered memos by the U.N.-mandated Independent Inquiry Committee headed by former U.S. Federal Reserve Board Chairman Paul Volcker show that Annan had contact with Cotecna Inspection Services, the Swiss-based company that employed the Secretary-General's son, Kojo. Cotecna received a $10-million contract to audit the U.N.'s $65 billion oil-for-food program. Annan has denied any knowledge or involvement in helping Cotecna land the contract. Recent e-mails reveal a 1998 meeting between “the SG and his entourage in Paris,” telling Cotecna that it could “count on their support.” Annan has called the new memos “incessant attacks against me, the U.N. and this committee.”

     Though former Cotecna vice president Michael Wilson said he “never met or had any discussion with the United Nations Secretary-General, Kofi Annan, on the issue of the bid for the U.N. contract by Cotecna at the Francophone Summit, during the bidding process, or at any time prior to the award of the contract,” inconsistencies remain. Wilson, for instance, a close family friend of Annan, arranged Kojo's lucrative consulting job with Cotecna. Wilson's e-mail specifically chronicles a meeting between Cotecna and “the SG and his entourage” in 1998. Whether Wilson specifically met face-to-face or had phone conversations with Annan doesn't rule out meetings with other Cotecna executives to nail down the contract. Wilson's denials don't automatically exonerate Annan. Speaking in Paris, U.N. spokesman Fred Eckhard said Annan didn't recall any such meeting.

     Annan's culpability is best evidenced by his defensive responses to a preponderance of press reports pointing toward inexcusable ethical lapses. With his son Kojo put on Cotecna's payroll, eyebrows were bound to rise when his employer landed the whopping contract. “I am determined to work with the member states to conduct these changes as well,” Annan told the French daily newspaper Le Figaro, saying he would “absolutely” not resign. Annan's sweeping overhaul to “reform” the U.N. can't be taken seriously when his own ethical conduct can't be ignored. Pointing the finger at his detractors doesn't erase ethical lapses that have damaged his and the U.N.'s credibility. Annan's shenanigans will probably push the U.S. Senate to approve President George W. Bush's controversial pick for U.N. ambassador, John R. Bolton, regarded as a no nonsense, tough enforcer.

     Annan continues to deny he knew Cotecna was a bidder for the contract. Yet Wilson, who now denies any contact with Kofi about the contract, told former Fed Chairman Paul Volker that he and Annan discussed the potential conflict-of-interest if Cotecna landed the contract with his son Kojo on the payroll. Annan's current denials and Wilson's change of stories don't add up. For a man Wilson called “uncle,” it's inconceivable that Kofi didn't have a hand in nailing down the contract with Cotecna. Back in March, Annan abruptly declared himself “innocent,” after Volcker found insufficient evidence to implicate Annan in Cotecna's $10 million contract. It shouldn't surprise anyone that Wilson, whose memo has become a “smoking gun,” would try to get Kofi off the hook. No matter how you explain it away, Kofi Annan's name keeps popping up in the wrong places.

     Analyzing Wilson's e-mail, it's clear that Annan played a part in landing Cotecna's contract. “We had brief discussions with SG [secretary general] and his entourage,” said the e-mail. “Their collective advice [sic] was that we should respond as best as we could to the Q & A session of 1-12-98 [Dec. 1, 1998] and that we could count on their support,” stated the memo, only one week before Cotecna was awarded the contract. Without coming clean, Annan can't possibly lead reform efforts at the U.N. Kojo earned his keep getting Wilson and other key executives access to his father. There's simply no plausible explanation denying Kofi's direct involvement in closing the Cotecna deal. Wilson's flip-flop is a conspicuous attempt to undo the damage stemming from his e-mail. If Annan really valued his job, he shouldn't have messed around with the controversial oil-for-food program.

     Volcker and the Independent Inquiry Committee can't take their eyes off the ball when it comes to the Secretary-General Kofi Annan. Wilson was right when said in a second e-mail that “effective but quiet lobbying,” would get Cotecna a $10 million contract. It helped immeasurably to let Wilson, a long-time friend of Kofi, hire Kojo, and slam home the contract. While Wilson called that “effective and quiet lobbying,” the egregious influence peddling and conflicts-of-interest made the Cotecna contract radioactive—and may cost Kofi his job. Talking tough, making excuses or changing the subject won't undo the damage from Kofi's bad judgment. With money always running out and the U.N. facing greater scrutiny, Annan has lost his moral authority to lead the world's most prestigious international body. While mistakes happen everywhere, this one can't pass unnoticed.

About the Author

John M. Curtis writes politically neutral commentary analyzing spin in national and global news. He's editor of OnlineColumnist.com and author of Dodging The Bullet and Operation Charisma.

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