KOJO TSIKATA SNUBS AWARD

...Says he will not accept any honours from Prez Kufuor
By Charles Takyi-Boadu Posted: Tuesday, June 24, 2008
Hours after his name popped up among the list of persons slated to receive national honours, former Security Coordinator of ex-President Rawlings, Captain (Rtd) Kojo Tsikata has issued a statement rejecting his nomination.
He vowed not to accept any such award from President Kufuor and his New Patriotic Party (NPP) government, since he could not fathom the processes that led to his name being put on the list of nominees.
In a statement issued and signed by Mr. Tsikata, he noted that “I have now learnt that my name is on the list of persons on whom national honours are to be conferred. Let me put it beyond doubt that I will not accept any honours from Mr. John Agyekum Kufuor or any of his cronies who have blatantly and cynically engaged in a systematic manipulation of the judicial process.”
While abroad, Mr. Tsikata noted that he learnt of what he described as the ‘bizarre’ proceedings in the High Court before Justice Mrs. Henrietta Abban on Wednesday, June 18, 2008, which led to the incarceration of his cousin and former boss of the Ghana National Petroleum Corporation (GNPC), Tsatsu Tsikata. Immediately the list of nominees was made public, some members of the public subjected the list to a critical analysis, raising questions about the processes that led to the selection of some of the nominees, since in their opinion they do not deserve such national honours.
Some questioned what contributions some of the nominees had made to the nation and how they have positively impacted on the lives of Ghanaians.
Others described the entire exercise as a joke, considering some of the names that had been put out in the tall list of nominees.
The inclusion of President Kufuor’s name on the list has also sparked heated debate, since some consider it to be self-acclaimed.
The name of former President Jerry John Rawlings is also being paraded as a likely recipient of an award among distinguished Ghanaians and foreigners who will be awarded on July 3, 2008.
Though the two, current President Kufuor and former President Rawlings, are expected to be honoured with the newly created highest state award, the Grand Order of the Star and Eagles of Ghana, Mr. Rawlings has given indication that he will not accept the honour, since according to his Spokesman, Kofi Adams, he is not ready for any such award from President Kufuor and his NPP government.
Though it not clear whether or not the former President has indeed been nominated for the award, Mr Adams who spoke on various radio stations yesterday, said his boss does not take delight in the award and for that matter will not take it.
He recalled how Mr. Rawlings was virtually subjected to an embarrassment when the University of Development Studies (UDS) in Tamale, nominated him for a similar award.
After a heated debate on whether or not he indeed deserved the award he had been nominated for, he noted that the University finally decided to cancel the nomination, thereby causing an embarrassment to Mr. Rawlings.
For this reason, the Spokesman noted that even if he is nominated this time again for a national award, the former President will not be there to receive it. The new award was instituted by President Kufuor, in accordance with the National Honours Warrant of the Republic of Ghana (1960).
Meanwhile, the ‘Ghanaian Times’ newspaper has quoted Information and National Orientation Minister, Steve Asamoah Boateng as saying that “from what I am privy to, the two will be awarded on July 3, barring any future changes.”