Posted on: www.dailyguideghana.com
By William Yaw Owusu
Thursday, September 10, 2015
The Minister of Youth and Sports, Dr
Mustapha Ahmed, has reportedly defied President John Dramani Mahama’s directive
not to fly cash abroad for footballers.
In what can be likened to the Brazil
episode of 2014, the ministry allegedly flew $200,000 cash to Kigali, Rwanda, at
the weekend to pay the winning bonus of players of the senior national team,
the Black Stars, in their match against Mauritius.
According to reports monitored on Joy FM, an Accra-based radio station, the
hundred dollar bills totaling $200,000, were in two briefcases. The Black Stars
defeated Rwanda 1-0 in an Africa Cup of Nations qualifier in Kigali, and payment
of the bonus is still pending.
The players’ bonuses were said to have been
hurriedly flown to Kigali by the ministry to avoid another standoff with the
powerful national team players.
Physical Cash
Curiously, after the Justice Senyo
Dzamefe Commission was set up by President Mahama to look into Ghana’s disastrous
participation at the 2014 World Cup in Brazil, the three-member panel
recommended that never again should any department of the ministry transport
physical cash outside Ghana.
Gov’t White Paper
President Mahama, after receiving the
Commission’s Report, issued a White Paper and adopted most of the
recommendations which included a charge not to transport physical cash outside the country.
According to Joy FM, the ministry transported the physical cash to avoid a
repeat of the Brazil debacle where the players almost boycotted the Portugal match
if their appearance fees and bonuses for previous games were not paid to them.
The players were said to have been ‘patient’
with the government for not paying bonuses owed since June when the team beat
Mauritius 7-1 in Accra and Togo 1-0 in a friendly, but were ready to forgo the
Kigali one.
Gov’t Delegation
A high-powered government delegation led
by sector minister, Dr Mustapha Ahmed, made sure each player received $10,000
on the eve of the game.
The report said the money was actually
used to pay the players and officials for beating Mauritius in June but the Black
Stars had not been paid for beating Rwanda last Saturday - courtesy a Mubarak
Wakasso free-kick - and it was unclear when that would be done.
Brazil Debacle
It was confirmed last June that Ghana’s presidential
jet was used to convey $4 million cash to the Black Stars in Brazil during the
2014 World Cup - an act which subjected Ghana to international ridicule.
It was revealed that the Bank of Ghana
(BoG) released the $4 million cash on June 21, 2014 - which was a Saturday -
against the central bank’s own working rules.
When news broke about the mode in which
the money was sent to the Brazilian capital, Brasilia - where the Black Stars
were due to face Christiano Ronaldo-led Portugal - the government insisted it
was about $3 million it transported, but the Justice Dzamefe Commission’s
report established that it was indeed $4 million.
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