Self-serving awards

The recent debate about some awards to some Ministers of State has kindled in me a similar incident in 2015 when I received a message that I had been nominated for an award, " 'Who is Who' for the decade" as part of 100 recipients so honoured.

But what followed irritated and drowned any feeling of genuine recognition in me as I was asked to pay GHS5,000 to receive the award and a publication of my name on the list of the awardees in a book. I quickly sent a message recanting any interest in the award since it was for sale and not meritorious.

Equally at Graphic, I cannot remember exactly when, but in certainty, I was part of a management meeting that had to resolve whether an international award recognising Daily Graphic among global icons in the media was worth it, especially as representatives of the company were expected to physically receive the award, at a gala dinner in either France or Italy.

I am weak in recollecting historical places, events and dates. 

Observations

Observations such as Mother's Day, Father's Day, World  Environment Day and even the birthdates of my children, including mine, which I know is August 22.

I often overlook such observations, probably because of my grandmother's admonition that if you focus too much on observing such events, you may die early, until I receive goodwill messages about my birthdate.

At the meeting, there were some of us who discounted the award because we had seen a decline in circulation data.

However, others argued that impact did not necessarily spring from circulation data.

In the end, both the Managing Director and Editor of the Daily Graphic travelled to receive the award in Europe.

Apart from the cost of the tickets, the company paid a substantial amount in Euros to receive the award. 

We know of organisations which organise award ceremonies and do not charge even gate fees from awardees to receive their recognition.

The Ghana Journalists Association awards do not attract monetary payments from awardees before they receive recognition. 

The association seeks sponsors for that purpose. About four years ago, I was invited by Most Rev. Prof. Yinkah Sarfoh, retired Archbishop of the West Africa and Internal Province Ghana and Bishop of the Kumasi Diocese of the Anglican Church, to join him to receive an award by a group which recognised men of God in Kumasi.

Each of the recipients was asked to bring a number of guests. 

None of the awardees nor their guests paid even for gate fees.

Although at the end of the day, there was a call for support, that was neither forced nor mandatory.

Like all other Christian celebrations, it was the usual collections which take place during church services that were taken.

However, in contemporary times, due to branding and marketing strategies, there has been a proliferation of institutions purporting to recognise excellence, but which is used as a means of raising money for survival.

Some of them insist on physical presence as a precondition to receive the award or payment for a dinner table as an alternative means of validating the award.

And because of what Dr Martin Luther King has described as the drum major instinct, people jump at such awards without being discreet in establishing their genuineness, because that immediately and momentarily raises the ego of the recipient, whether as an individual or organisation. 

The recent awards have generated controversy, including an intervention by President John Mahama, that officials of the state, including Ministers and Chief Executive Officers, must seek clearance from the Chief of Staff at the Office of the President before attending such award ceremonies.

It was Prof. Kpessa Whyte, Chief Executive of the State Interests and Governance Authority, who acted as a Whistleblower in exposing the demand to pay GHS50,000 or buy a dinner table for GHS25,000. He explained that he was never ready to pay for an award which was for sale and whose credibility he could not establish.

Thereafter, it became public knowledge that a number of Ministers of State and Chief Executive Officers of public organisations were given awards at a dinner in Accra on the night that disaster struck in the city with the death of a Ghanaian from a building which collapsed during the rains.

What brought oil to fire and exacerbated public anger was the Greater Accra Regional Minister, Ohenewaa Linda Ocloo, who was beside herself and all over social media, proclaiming her award as the best Regional Minister.

What is worse is her claim that she did not pay anything to receive the award, against the position of Prof. Whyte that he was asked to pay or buy a dinner table to receive the award.

Particularly for the Greater Accra Regional Minister, whilst I applaud her for the dexterity and courage to remove all unauthorised buildings from Ramsar sites and watercourses, she cannot be seen as an excellent Minister of State because of her undemocratic tendencies during the approval of District Chief Executives, when she threatened the dismissal, particularly of government appointees, if they failed to approve the nominees.

More importantly, all the district assemblies in the Greater Accra Region were represented at the awards ceremony.

Since food was not served free, it can only mean that all the attendees occupied dinner tables bought by their organisations from the organiser.

Can the Regional Minister say that the district, municipal and metropolitan assemblies which patronised the event never bought tables and if they did, did the money come from public or private sources?

The other ministers were equally accompanied by public officials and civil servants, who sat at dinner tables not purchased from the private pockets of the ministers nor public officials but from public funds.

It therefore becomes absurd and annoying to deny making any form of payment, when their guests would have had something meaningful to do, but for the fact that they were dragged to cheer their superiors for being recognised for ill-defined objectives.

Organisers

It is no defence for the organisers to argue that they previously awarded the former Speaker of Parliament, Rt Hon. Prof. Aaron Mike Oquaye, and former Majority Leader Hon. Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu. 

heir claim that they did not charge anything pales into nothingness in comparison to the uncontroverted position of Prof. Kpessa Whyte and the fact that food was not served free on the dinner tables.

They did not advertise a fund-raising dinner, which was subscribed by the awardees and their guests. 

Rather, they sold the dinner tables to the awardees, involving them in unauthorised expenditure against the awards intended to project them as conscientious public servants.

The awardees can come back to apologise to Ghanaians that they are sorry to have patronised the event from public funds used in either paying the prize or buying the dinner tables, otherwise in the next audit cycle, the Auditor General should surcharge them personally to recover the money as unauthorised expenditure or misappropriation of funds.