THE JOURNEY OF THE FIRST AFRICAN TO THE PRESIDENCY OF
THE INTERNATIONAL COUNCIL OF CATHOLIC MEN (UNUM OMNES), SIR KT EDDIE PRAH
“ … clearly an indication that I must have performed well in the position during my first term.” – Sir Kt Prah.
It all began in June 2009 after my penultimate Standing Committee meeting as the 27th Supreme Knight of the Noble Order Knights of Marshall. The Supreme Director, Sir Kt Vet. Bro Dr. E.S. K. Kwaw informed me that as our Order is affiliated to two international Catholic organisations, the International Alliance of Catholic Knights (IACK) and the International Council of Catholic Men (Unum Omnes) he had decided that henceforth, incumbent Supreme Knights would attend the biennial meetings of the IACK and the Immediate Past Supreme Knight, the General Assembly of Unum Omnes which takes place every three years. I should therefore prepare to attend the Unum Omnes General Assembly (GA) which was due the following September in Germany.
Though Ghana, through the Knights of Marshall had been a member of Unum Omnes as far back as 1982, not much was known about it in our Noble Order as the IACK. Unum Omnes was introduced to the Order by the late Peter Cardinal Derry, the then Supreme Spiritual Director of the Noble Order. It happens to be one of the only 122 International Associations of lay Catholic Faithful, officially approved by the Pontifical Council for the Laity at the Vatican. Membership of Unum Omnes therefore gives Catholic national organisations like the Knights of Marshall, the status it otherwise would not have in the scheme of things at the Vatican.
It may sound surprising to many but my very first contact with information about Unum Omnes was when it held its GA in Ghana in 2006. At that meeting, the Supreme Director was elected one of two Vice Presidents to serve a term of three years. As the DSK then, I was privileged to be a member of the Planning Committee for the GA in Ghana but even then, to ensure that all behind-the-scenes organisation was smooth to ensure a successful General Assembly, I hardly sat in the discussions to enable an appreciation of what went on or what Unum Omnes was all about. After the General Assembly in Ghana, nothing much happened that I knew of, about Unum Omnes except the occasional information to me as Supreme Knight that the SD as Vice President of Unum Omnes was travelling for their meetings.
In September 2009, I went to Germany with the SD to a place called Schmochtitz, where the 2009 GA was to be held. As the SD was the incumbent Vice President, I attended the meeting as the official delegate of the Knights of Marshall. I had not been nominated for any position and I couldn’t in the wildest of my imagination have thought that I would return home an officer of the Unum Omnes Bureau. My expectation as far as elections were concerned was that the SD who had served a first three year term may at the very least be re-elected to another three year term or to the Presidency. It was therefore a total surprise to me when one late afternoon, the SD visited me in my room and told me about the decision of the Bureau to go out of office with none including him, seeking re-election. Even more shocking was what followed – the outgoing Bureau had asked him to request me to consider contesting for one of the vice Presidential slots in the upcoming elections.
Clearly dumbfounded, I could not immediately give an answer. How I could I take on a job about which I knew so little and from an incumbent who was not only my compatriot but the head of the organisation that I was representing at the GA. Surely this was not going to work, was the thought that immediately crossed my mind. Being the father that he is, the SD encouraged me to think and pray about it and give an answer the next morning. He also advised that should I make a decision to contest, it would be useful to speak to Mr. Niall Kennedy, the Secretary General of IACK who was contesting unopposed for the Presidency of Unum Omnes at the GA.
Bruised ego
I lost quite a bit of sleep that night thinking about whether to contest or not. As fate would have it, I made the decision to contest and informed the SD the following morning. Following his advice, I went confidently to Mr. Kennedy to seek his support. I knew Mr Kennedy from the 2006 Unum Omnes meeting in Ghana, an IACK meeting in Abuja, Nigeria and also from the 2008 Marshallan Reunion Conference in Accra where I invited him in my capacity as the Supreme Knight, to be the special guest of honour. To my surprise and shock, he looked straight into my face and told me, he couldn’t support my candidature because according to him, I lacked experience in the organisation. Of course he was right but being Ghanaian and an African, my cultural sensibilities could not support an acceptance of such forthright opinion. My ego was suddenly and immediately cut to pieces.
It was about one more day to the election and here was I, my ego so badly wounded and about something I never asked for or dreamt about. I woke up on the day of the election with a firm resolve to go forward with the contest, irrespective of what outcome awaited me. There was no turning back, especially as at that point people had been informed about my candidature. Fortunately, I received pleasant boosts to my ego when before the election, many delegates came to me pledging support though unsolicited. The vice presidential election was between a German, an Italian, a Kenyan and myself. To the glory of God, I won the election with a wide margin, followed by the German, the Italian and the Kenyan in that order. Since there had to be two vice presidents, the German and myself were elected.
It turned out that winning the election was the easier part of the journey. Remember that all the officers of the predecessor bureau left office so every single member of the new bureau was new to his office We inherited quite a number of problems including a young Italian office lady who didn’t do much and still had to be paid to keep the office at the Vatican, rent arrears dating back many years, even before the immediate predecessor bureau, piled up telephone bills that remained outstanding, indebtedness to some member organisations and countries who had previously hosted Executive Committee Meetings and most importantly very little institutional memory to build on. A good part of the first term therefore had to be used to sort out many of these issues in order to function properly. In spite of the initial difficulties, members of the Bureau worked well as a team to run the organisation.
After the first term, I was again elected in 2012 for a second and final term as vice President, this time with about 90 per cent votes in my favour, clearly an indication that I must have performed well in the position during my first term. The other candidate for the vice Presidential slot this time was from Slovakia. Mr. Kennedy was re-elected for a second and final term as President. A new Secretary General was also appointed who proved very capable to his task.
New era
The year 2015 saw the coming to an end of the term of office of the Bureau on which I had served two terms as vice president. A new Bureau was therefore to be elected in its place at the GA to be held in Vienna, Austria during 26th September and 2nd October 2015.
Already in 2013 at an Executive Committee meeting in Kaunas, Lithuania and at the 2014 Executive Committee meeting in Seoul, South Korea, I had received indications of support to contest for the Presidency of the next Bureau. Encouraged by this, I informed the Supreme Cabinet and sought their blessing to present myself for the office of president of Unum Omnes. The Noble order duly nominated me. I understand I received secondment from Ireland, France and Austria.
I was accompanied to Austria by Sir Kt. Tony Kemavor, the Continental Delegate of Unum Omnes to West Africa and Sir Kt. Derx Baffour, the official delegate of the Knights of Marshall to the GA in Vienna. Up till when we got to Austria, and about two days before the election, I had not been told if someone else was contesting for the position. I thought I was going unopposed, but that was not to be. Ukraine had put up a candidate.
Fortunately, he withdrew his candidature paving way for me to run unopposed. I received 100 per cent of the votes cast and was thus elected President of the organisation, the first African to occupy the office in the 67 years of its life.
What next? Check out Sir Kt Eddie Prah’s vision for Unum Omnes in the next piece.