Ministers Clash Over Stranded Footsoldiers

Posted: Daily Guide|Thursday, 17 June 2010

By Charles Takyi-Boadu
It appears that there is shadow boxing in government with two deputy ministers slugging it out over the stranded Black Stars’ supporters at the El-Wak Stadium in Accra, as they continue to churn out conflicting reports over the fate of the stranded supporters who are mostly National Democratic Congress (NDC) foot-soldiers.

While Elvis Afriyie-Ankrah, deputy Minister of Local Government and Rural Development said the foot-soldiers could now heave a sigh of relief as the leadership of the NDC mobilized funds to airlift them to South Africa to cheer the Stars, in their next match against Australia on Saturday, the man in charge of ferrying the supporters to South Africa, Nii Nortey Dua, deputy Minister of Youth and Sports, said the exercise was over.

Even though Nii Nortey Dua said there was no way out for the stranded supporters, mostly NDC foot-soldiers, Elvis Afriyie-Ankrah stated it was not a hopeless case and that something was being done about their situation.

Nii Nortey Dua told the stranded supporters, who have virtually made El Wak their temporary home, to search for accommodation in Accra to rent, stay in there and pretend they also went to watch the World Cup in South Africa, if going back to their homes would be embarrassing to them.

Speaking to Joy News yesterday, Nii Nortey Dua stated, “Some people are saying that they have said farewell to their family relations and their friends that they are going to South Africa.

So if they go back, they will feel very ashamed that they are not able to go.

“Such people should go and hire proper place of accommodation and stay so that after the tournament, they can go back and give the impression that they were in South Africa.”

Government had earlier promised to send over 2000 people to South Africa for the tournament but later cut down the number to 1000.

Most of the supporters flew to South Africa over the weekend, and government had indicated that it could not send more people to that country due to inadequate funding.
The decision has incurred the wrath of the stranded party foot-soldiers.

As a result, the NDC leadership has decided to mobilize funds swiftly to ferry the supporters to watch Ghana play in her second successive world cup appearance.

The deputy Minister of Local Government and Rural Development and former Deputy General Secretary of the party, Elvis Afriyie-Ankrah, is a member of the fund raising team which seeing to the lifting of the stranded foot soldiers to South Africa.

Elvis told Citi FM that by the close of yesterday, the foot-soldiers would have landed in South Africa.

“My general secretary, Hon. Ofosu Ampofo, myself and others are seeing how best we can help resolve the problem.

And so we’ve been trying to put our heads together and I can say that thankfully, all things being equal tonight, we will be able to airlift about 340 people, and if there are some left, then we will see how to push them on individual flights tomorrow, Thursday, June 17,” he said.

“We have a list of 370 people but I must say that by end of the day, everything will be quite clear,” he added.

The deputy Minister said that the cost of sending the foot-soldiers was being borne by some philanthropists who he was not ready to name.

“We contacted some individuals who expressed their willingness to pay, once we are able to get an aircraft and put our stuff together.

One of the flight that left for South Africa on Monday June 14, almost all the people on that flight were paid for by some individuals, so people are showing a lot of interest and once they see that supporters are desirous of going and they are stranded, they are ready to support them”.

It was not clear whether the stranded supports were able to go last night.

However, President of the National Union of Ghana Students (NUGS), Wonder Madilo, has ridiculed Nii Nortey Dua’s statement, stressing that “asking them to rent rooms in Accra and stay is neither here nor there.”

Taking into consideration the fact that some of the stranded fans have travelled all the way from Tamale in the Northern region to Accra, the NUGS President said the deputy Minister’s advice is not only in bad taste but also uncalled for, and should rather look at ways to help solve the problem instead of making such uncomplimentary remarks.

He believes that the entire planning process for the trip was flawed since, according to him, “it seems to be the case that people who are made as representatives on committees do not have the right expertise to deliver on the reason for which they have been appointed.”

Nii Nortey Dua insists neither his Ministry nor the planning committee was aware of any such arrangement to airlift the fans to South Africa, as suggested by his colleague, Mr Afriyie-Ankrah.

“As far as my ministry is concerned, we sent the last batch of the supporters to South Africa on Sunday evening, June 13, and we have never discussed sending any more people,” he told Citi Fm.

Under the current circumstance, Nii Nortey Dua said government cannot bear the expenses of the remaining 400 or so stranded fans, having already airlifted 1,000 fans to South Africa, under the government funded initiative, to support the senior national football team, the Black Stars.

For this reason, he said, any individual or group of persons who have the intention of travelling to South Africa to watch the world cup should do so in their own capacity.

Mr. Afriyie-Ankrah however seemed surprised his colleague deputy Minister of Youth and Sports was unaware of the arrangement they were making to airlift the stranded fans to South Africa since, according to him, are arrangements are being made by private individuals to get the remaining supporters to watch the world cup.

“As far as I know, those who have to know are aware,” Elvis said.

Azeem Slams Pratt

Posted: Daily Guide |Thursday, 17 June 2010

By Charles Takyi-Boadu
THE CREDIBILITY of the Committee for Joint Action (CJA) has been brought to question.

Executive Secretary of Transparency International’s (TI) local chapter, the Ghana Integrity Initiative (GII), Vitus Azeem, cannot comprehend why the group, which is often led by Mr. Kwesi Pratt Jnr. and his cohorts, have suddenly become numb about protesting against the very issues they used to fight against with passion and enthusiasm a couple of years ago.

Speaking at a public forum put together by the Ghana Academy of Arts and Sciences (GAAS) in collaboration with the Friedrich Ebert Stiftung (FES) foundation in Accra on Tuesday, under the theme ‘The role of civil society and private institutions in fighting corruption’, Mr. Azeem said “this has reduced in the last two years, for obvious reasons.”

Whilst appreciating the role the CJA used to play in bringing pressure to bear on President Kufuor and his erstwhile New Patriotic Party (NPP) government to take appropriate action against individuals and group of persons perceived to have engaged in corrupt practices, Mr. Azeem wondered whether they would have the moral courage to do same to the present administration. This, he was not sure of.

When asked in a subsequent interview with DAILY GUIDE as to why he thought the CJA has virtually gone into hibernation, the GII boss said “it’s obvious, former President Rawlings and President Atta Mills used to join them.

They were largely supported by the opposition then and now that opposition is in power, so you don’t expect ex-President Rawlings or President Mills to go and join a demonstration.”

Though Mr. Pratt sought to justify the sudden silence of the usually vociferous CJA, Mr. Azeem’s comments affirm the belief that he (Mr. Pratt) and the CJA are now in bed with the incumbent government hence their inability to criticize them.

Some have also questioned why the CJA failed to organize and lead the demonstration against the recent astronomical increases in utility tariffs as it did during the previous administration.

That notwithstanding, the anti-corruption campaigner said Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) have not been satisfactorily vigilant in looking out for individuals who engage in corrupt acts, blowing the whistle on them or taking joint action to bring pressure to bear on government to take action on the culprits.

Also appreciating the effort of the media in carrying out effective investigations and exposing some of these corrupt practices in society, Mr. Azeem indicated “unfortunately, action on many of these allegations, and or revelations has not been satisfactory for various reasons, including lack of commitment on the part of the executive and the judiciary to fighting corruption, sometimes frustrating these journalists.”

Considering the multi-faceted nature of corruption, he believes that no matter how much the private sector and the CSOs do in the fight against it, they cannot succeed without what he described as effective governance.

For that reason, he has stressed the need for the three arms of government, being the executive, legislature and the judiciary, to play their roles effectively and provide Ghanaians with transparent, accountable and participatory governance.

Mr. Azeem noted “We need an executive that will design and implement anti-corruption policies and bring before Parliament bills that will promote transparency and accountability”, emphasizing “we need a Parliament that will enact bold laws without fear of being caught by those laws themselves.”

In the final analysis, Mr. Azeem also spoke about the need for a judiciary that does not allow corruption, politics and personal interest to influence their decisions.