UN dissociates itself from “fake” Blueprint Global Challenge Awards
The Blueprint Global Challenge Awards have come under the spotlight after it emerged that it was a fraudulent scheme
The United Nations in Ghana has distanced itself from the Blueprint Global Challenge Awards, which is spearheaded by one “Dr Kwame Fordjour”.
The awards scheme has been happening for nearly a decade now.
However, it came under intense scrutiny in 2020 when the organisers claimed it was being organised under the auspices of the UN and the Kofi Annan Foundation.
The scheme was later shown to be fraudulent, although several respected media personalities and celebrities were recipients of the award. Sarkodie, Berla Mundi, D Black, Nathaniel Attoh, Johnnie Hughes and many others fell victim to the sham.
The UN office in Ghana said it has no links to the awards scheme and its organisers.
No affiliation
A statement from the UN office in Ghana said neither the UN nor the Kofi Annan Foundation knows anything about the Blueprint Global Challenge Awards.
The office said such information, if genuine, is published on the website of its agencies, through which it usually communicates every official announcement.
“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 statement said.
“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 added: “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).”
$10,000 investment
Meanwhile, “Dr” Kwame Fordjour has rejected claims that the awards scheme is fraudulent, despite the UN’s dissociation from it.
According to him, he invested over $10,000 in the scheme. He also denied reports that he took money from the rapper Sarkodie before giving him an award.
In a social media post that went viral, he is heard saying that it was unfair for the public to describe him as a fraudster.
“I used my money, I used more than $10,000 to invest in this award. Sarkodie never paid anything. Ask him; I like him, I don’t think he can lie. I have not even asked for a donation from Sarkodie,” he said.
“Those that know me in London and the US know that I am the man to do this. Their terms don’t define what is intellect. Their terms ‘fraudster’ and ‘scam’, those words do not define my PhD nor global studies,” he said.
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