Putin Was The Reason I Was Knighted By Prince Charles ..Sam Jonah

Ghanaian business mogul Sir Sam Jonah, KBE, has explained that Russian President, Vladimir Putin, was the reason he was knighted by Prince Charles (now king Charles) instead of Queen Elizabeth ll in 2003.

Sam Jonah is accused of selling Ghana out by curiously merging Ghana’s then-biggest indigenous gold mining company Ashanti Goldfields Limited with Anglo-American Corporation to become AngloGold Ashanti Limited.

After the merger, save for royalties, Ghana lost all of its interest in the new entity, despite Ghana holding the majority shares of Ashanti Goldfields at the time of the merger.

Later, Sam Jonah who supervised the fiasco will mount media platforms to complain about Ghana having zero shares in AngloGold Ashanti.

That faux pas notwithstanding Sam Jonah appears to be extremely satisfied with his knighthood by the British Empire, allegedly for selling out Ghana.

In an interview on the BBUM show, a personality profile programme on Ghana Television (September 25), the former Ashanti Goldfields CEO gleefully recounted his knighthood, saying Queen Elizabeth could not personally knight him because she had to attend to Russia’s Vladimir Putin that day.

“I had the privilege to be knighted by Prince Charles in 2003, it was quite an experience, I was fortunate I took my entire family with me, which was very unusual. Because usually, they would ask you to come with your spouse,” Jonah explained.

“I was fortunate because what happened was, that same day, the reason why I was not knighted by the Queen was that, the Queen was hosting President Putin to a state lunch and therefore it fell on Prince Charles. Therefore, Prince Charles said, bring your entire family and so I took my entire family,” he added.

In June 2003, Jonah became the first Ghanaian to be knighted in the 21st century when he was presented with an honorary knighthood (KBE) by the then Prince of Wales, in recognition of his achievements as an African businessman, a leading business executive from the Commonwealth, and an international public figure.

Commenting on the elevation of Prince Charles as King following the passing of his mother, Queen Elizabeth ll, Sir Sam Jonah said the new king is a “hugely understated and underappreciated person,” adding that he has a commanding presence, unenforced authority and he is a delight to be with.