‘I left $4.44 million in ministry’s coffers’
A former Minister of Youth and Sports, Elvis Afriyie Ankrah, has declared a total of US $4,444,053.89 as the money which has to return to government chest after Ghana’s Brazil 2014 FIFA World Cup campaign.
Advertisement
The amount, he said, represented the balance he left in the ministry’s accounts at the time of leaving office.
He,however, emphasised that it was the Ministry’s Chief Accountant, Mr Prosper Apasu, who could tell whether the money had been transferred to government or not.
World Cup tickets
Mr Ankrah also said at his third and final appearance before the Justice Dzamefe Commission of Inquiry yesterday that GH¢434,000 was transferred to FIFA for the purchase of World Cup tickets alloted to Ghana as stated in what he described as a draft statement of accounts he tendered as evidence.
He, however, could not mention the exact number of tickets bought but only explained that each participating country had eight per cent of total tickets per match.
“We exceeded our quota and, therefore, bought extra tickets in Brazil through the GFA,” the now Minister of State at the Presidency recalled in an answer to a question by Justice Senyo Dzamefe.
He noted that the need arose for the purchase of extra tickets after it came to light in Brazil that the original 612 supporters had increased to 969.
“All the match tickets we brought them back as evidence,” he stated.
Hot tempers, minister’s apology
When the chairman of the commission wondered how come he could not get an important piece of information, Mr Ankrah responded that it was not possible to keep everything in his head.
That response naturally provoked Justice Dzamefe who described it as an unfair and unpalatable comment to the commissioners.
A visibly upset Justice Dzamefe stressed that once the witness was appearing before the commission, he expected him to carry along the necessary documents to support his evidence.
Immediately afterwards, Mr Ankrah apologised to the commissioners and explained that he did not mean to be rude.
Minister’s confession
Pushed to the wall by the ever-jovial Justice Dzamefe in the heat of yesterday’s cross-examination, the Minister confessed that his brother, Yaw Ampofo Ankrah, was among one of the two advance delegations which travelled to Brazil prior to the World Cup as the media co-ordinator.
He disclosed that two different groups were actually sent to Brazil with specific tasks, and that the composition was based on the expertise of those selected.
Asked who Dentaa Amoateng was, he said she was a Ghanaian based in the UK who was an administrator at the World Cup Secretariat.
A follow-up question as to whether the lady was flown from the UK particularly for that assignments compelled Mr Ankrah to have a brief consultation with his aides before saying that she was given the appointment while on a private visit to the country.
Upon request, he promised to furnish the commission with Dentaa’s appointment letter and address so she could be contacted for any details.
Asked whether he was aware that Dentaa engaged some people to raise funds for the project on a commission basis, he answered in the affirmative.
Asylum seekers
The minister told the commission that he was surprised that some supporters whom he knew had travel experience from previous trips could decide to not stay in Brazil.
While emphasising that the trip was absolutely free for the supporters, Mr Ankrah disclosed further that by the time the group was leaving Brazil, over 100 Ghanaian supporters had gone AWOL.
Advertisement
According to him he and his committee members observed that the numbers kept dwindling right from the first week.
He reiterated that the nation spent between US$5,000 and US$6,000 on each supporter for the entire trip.
Ambassadors, artistes’ remuneration
He also told the commission that while the supporters stayed in Mardunas Centre on the outskirts of Natal, the ambassadors, artistes, corporate sponsors and other stakeholders who made the trip lodged in hotels in Natal city, though he could not readily recollect the names of those facilities.
In addition, he said, each of the ambassadors and artistes attracted a per diem of US$200 cash but failed to tell the commission whether they were paid extra money.
Advertisement
English Language gymnastics
At a point, the former minister, who said he did English Language as his First Degree, resorted to the Queen’s language to weather the storm when he tried to convince the commissioners that the word ‘assist’ did not carry the same meaning as ‘facilitate’.
The argument arose when Justice Dzamefe sought to ascertain whether the office of the Chief of Staff assisted in the fund-raising campaign involving the corporate world.
He also noted that the funds raised did not cater for flights.
Flights failure
Explaining why the supporters ended up watching the Stars’ World Cup matches on television, Mr Ankrah said the Chief Executive of Travel Matters, Mr Ivan Bruce, informed him that the chartered aircraft was facing problems with landing rights so supporters could not be flown to the match centres.
Advertisement
“After frantic efforts by the agent and my team on the ground proved futile, following several attempts to secure flights from other international and domestic flights, I directed the agent to go and explain the situation to the supporters and apologise for the failure.”
He also told the commission that the agent cited a cracked windscreen of one of the aircraft as the reason for the earlier confusion which erupted in Fortaleza during Ghana’s game against Germany but could not answer why the company could not be impressed upon to provide another aircraft.
When Justice Dzamefe tried to find out whether the Ministry had a contract with the agent, he said all the agents were given letters.
Why Elvis wept
“I wept for Ghana; that we couldn’t make it to the semi-final or do well in spite of all the efforts we put in.
“I never expected it. It wasn’t planned. After all it wasn’t a difficult question to cause me to weep. But I don’t know what happened,” Mr Ankrah retorted in response to a question as to why he wept during last Thursday’s proceedings before being discharged.
The Project Coordinator, Fred Darko, will testify before the commission today.