I’m Not Part Of Chop Chop -Minister

Stephen Amoanor Kwao, a former Minister of Employment and Social Welfare and now Minister of State at the Presidency, has confirmed the initial $67 charge for accommodation per person at the Muzinda dormitory in South Africa for Ghanaian soccer fans, but was quick to add that he did not know at which stage the figure jumped to $97. As chairman of the committee which located and negotiated for the Muzinda accommodation for Ghanaian supporters during the just-ended World Cup tournament in South Africa, Mr. Kwao, in his reaction to yesterday’s story on the alleged scandal, presented another face of the matter.

He said he only spent one week in South Africa after successfully negotiating the deal with other committee members and returned to the country.

Mr. Kwao, who has since not been briefed, assured the nation that he would get the facts during their next meeting possibly today.

In a classic case of conflict of interest, Michael Owusu Darko Bonsu, son of Kojo Bonsu, is said to have been paid $495,000, being the total cost of the Muzinda Residence where Ghanaian supporters were housed during the World Cup fiesta in South Africa.

The dormitory is owned by Posterity Capital Group. Besides the free accommodation, supporters were entitled to free feeding and miscellaneous expenses from government.

Speaking to DAILY GUIDE, Mr. Kwao said although he chaired the committee which searched, inspected and acquired accommodation for Ghanaian supporters in South Africa, he was unaware of the involvement of Kojo Bonsu’s son, Michael Owusu Darko Bonsu, who he said acted only as a protocol officer at the Ghana camp.

When the committee meets today, Mr. Amoanor Kwao said, it would interrogate the books, with a view to finding out if something really went wrong financially.

He was however emphatic of his ignorance over how Kojo Bonsu’s son came to be involved in the scheme of things as a protocol officer, as suggested by his father when he was called by DAILY GUIDE prior to the publication of the story.

DAILY GUIDE reported yesterday about how Michael Owusu Darko Bonsu, son of Kojo Bonsu, member of the committee which negotiated accommodation for the 1,100 Ghanaian supporters in South Africa, was the middleman between owners of the dormitory in which the supporters lived and Ghana’s organizers.

Michael Darko Bonsu, under a revenue-sharing arrangement, was alleged to have received $30 per supporter for 1,100 supporters for 15 days.

When contacted prior to the publication, Mr. Kojo Bonsu denied the story, explaining however that at the time his son was considered for such an engagement, he (Kojo) stopped it. He added however that his son was engaged as a protocol officer at the mission.