Kojo Annan

Kojo Annan (born July 25 1973 in Geneva, Switzerland) is the only son of ex-UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan. A January 2005 article in The Sunday Times catapulted him to fame when it announced that he had confessed involvement in the UN Oil-for-Food Programme scandal; in a libel settlement eleven months later, the paper announced that it now "entirely accepts that the allegation was untrue."

At issue is the use of political associations to gain the private sale of oil from Iraq through the UN—which was illegal as Iraq was under UN sanctions (following the Persian Gulf War of 1991) and showed a conflict of interest because it compromised the UN's neutral role. Further, the Oil-for-Food Programme was a strictly humanitarian venture—to use it as a means to gain profit was to steal from the Iraqi people.

From 1995 to 1997, Kojo Annan worked in West Africa for the Swiss-based inspection company Cotecna, then as a marketing consultant for the company. A July 1998 billing memo for Cotecna stated that Annan wrote that he should be reimbursed for eight days that included six days "during my father's visit to Nigeria". A fax dated August 28, 1998 included the statement, "Your work and the contacts established at this meeting should ideally be followed up at the September 1998 UN General Assembly in New York." A September 1998 hotel bill for the Holiday Inn Garden Court in Durban was paid for by Cotecna, while he was registered as being there for the United Nations. He used a calling card paid for by Cotecna to call from a phone that begins 212-963-XXXX, the same beginning number for most phones in the United Nations in New York City.

In September 1998, Kojo Annan met with several heads of state and government ministers during the opening session of the U.N. General Assembly. In December, Cotecna won a $4.8 million Oil-for-Food contract. Kojo Annan, Kofi Annan and Cotecna deny that the younger Annan was involved in the Oil-for-Food contract. Annan also claimed that connections with Cotecna severed after 1998, however Kojo continued to be paid by the company until February 2004.

The Second Interim Report by the IIC confirmed that Cotecna indeed won the Oil for Food contract fairly and based on merit. The Committee concluded that there was no link between Kofi Annan and the award of Cotecna’s contract; and Cotecna has been transparent and cooperative through this investigation.

On December 13, 2004, Kojo Annan claimed that the probe into the Oil-for-Food Programme by U.S. congressional committees was "a witchhunt from day one as part of a broader Republican political agenda."

Megadeth front man Dave Mustaine mentioned Kojo in the song "United Abominations" the title track of Megadeth's 2007 studio release, this song based on the UN sparked an official retort from the UN on July 10, by Mark Leon Goldberg of the United Nations affairs blog, UN Dispatch posted a rebuttal. This was based on the accusations Mustaine made in the song.

Kojo is cited in the Megadeth song for his active role of abusing the privileges of his father:

"Held hostage by oil-for-food Yet their own plates are full off the fat of their lands There's no blood on their hands, right Kojo? They promised to tell the truth Without leaving a fingerprint, but They will lose the U.N. one way or another The victim, I fear will be us, sisters and brothers" Dave Mustaine - Megadeth