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Another Kofi-Kojo? Ban's Disclosure Form: Daughter and Son-in-Law Employed by U.N.; Refuses to Release Any More Detailsby Daniel Freedman
First there was Kofi Annan and Kojo, now there's Ban Ki Moon and his daughter Ban Hyun Hee and his son-in-law Siddarth Chatterjee? According to a financial disclosure statement for the period January 1 to December 31, 2006, submitted by Secretary General Ban to Price Waterhouse Coopers, Mr. Ban's daughter and son-in-law are employed by the United Nations, working at the UNICEF Office in Nairobi, Kenya. We originally planned to salute Mr. Ban for his openness. Unlike Kofi Annan, who refused to release his financial details, Mr. Ban did make public his financial disclosure statement. But when we made routine calls to the United Nations to ask about Mr. Ban's financial disclosure form, we were met by a wall of silence. We called UNICEF to ask how long Mr. Ban's daughter and son-in-law have been employed by the United Nations, and to ask what their positions are in the Nairobi office. When a spokesman got back to us he said that the "S.G. has asked not to pass on any information about them out of respect for her privacy" and said that all questions should be referred to the Secretary General's office. When we pointed out to the spokesman that the questions were very simple and hardly an invasion of privacy, he acknowledged this was true and said the request from the Secretary General's office was "strange," but said that was the instructions he'd been given. When Mr. Ban's office finally returned our calls for comment, a spokesman told us that he "doesn't know how long they've been working" for the United Nations and "can't give out details." The spokesman confirmed that she is "definitely a field officer" for UNICEF, but said that those "agencies have their own hiring processes" and he "can't give information about her own contract." The spokesman wouldn't say anything about Mr. Ban's son-in-law. We're not accusing Mr. Ban of any wrongdoing. It could well be the case that his daughter and son-in-law are employed by the United Nations on their own merits, and not because of Mr. Ban's position as Secretary General or because of any influence he wielded before he was Secretary General. But if Mr. Ban is trying to distance himself from the murkiness that marked Kofi Annan's tenure at the United Nations -- with many questions remaining about the role of his son, Kojo, and how Kofi Annan's influence helped him attain contracts -- it would pay to answer these simple questions. The questions are: If there has been no wrong-doing, why the secrecy?
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