‘Dr. UN’ and Sarkodie
The Ghana office of the United Nations has denied any working relationship with Dr. Kwame O. Fordjour, who is now popularly known as ‘Dr. UN’.
In a press statement on Sunday, the UN Ghana also disassociated itself from having any alliance with Blueprint Global Awards Challenge by Dr. Fordjour.
“The attention of the United Nations in Ghana has been drawn to news reports of an award purported to be associated with the United Nations and the Kofi Annan Foundation.
The United Nations in Ghana wishes to state categorically that the United Nations (neither in Ghana or anywhere else) has no affiliation with the Blueprint Global Challenge Awards nor with the organisation (Blueprint Mission) or its personnel in any way, shape or form,” it stated.
“The UN advises that all genuine UN notices follow strict rules and procedures and are announced/published on UN websites. We advise the general public to access genuine information by visiting the relevant UN agencies’ websites or the UN Ghana website (https://ghana.un.org/en).
The UN in Ghana remains committed to working with the government of Ghana and its people to deliver on its mandate to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals and support Ghana attain its development objectives,” it added.
The statement comes days after Dr. Fordjour had organised the 7th Global Leadership Service to Humanity Awards at the Alisa Hotel in Accra on August 24 to honour some personalities for their tremendous role in promoting the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
He awarded a number of high-profile Ghanaian celebrities, politicians, pastors and several others. Among them were Sarkodie, Apostle Kantanka, Chairman Wontumi, Berla Mundi, Nathaniel Attoh, Natalie Fort and many others.
UN logos were used in promoting the award at various times which raised concerns about whether the UN was indeed part of the award.
Critics have since described the ceremony as a “fake UN Award”.
By Francis Addo