Compensation demands get louder as Kotoko mark three years of fatal accident

It was a Wednesday evening and a bus-load of Kotoko players, technical team members and other officials was enroute Kumasi.

The team had earlier been pipped by Inter Allies in the Ghana Premier League, and the one thought that presumably engulfed each and every passenger on that bus was how the club was going to recover from the defeat.

Little did they know that a bad day was going to turn worse and the recovery was not only going to be about winning their next league games but also overcoming a traumatic experience that will take the life of a man who had dedicated his life to serving ‘Asanteman’.

Halfway through the journey which was eating into the night, those onboard the bus who were catching some sleep were awakened by the loud noise of their bus ramming into a stationery car.

An accident it was. Nkawkaw was the venue of the incident and their assistant kit manager was going to be the one whose life was tragically consumed by occurrence. The driver paralyzed.

Players Baba Mahama, Ollennu Ashittey and Ahmed Adams sustained career-threatening injuries and Pollack, the coach then was a major casualty.

What happened after the accident was a series of knee-jerk activities that raised a few questions about the club and how it was being managed.

Did the players have insurance. Was the bus insured? These are but two of the numerous questioned that arose from what has understandably been described as a black day in Kotoko’s history.

The more the probe, the more confusing it became with club officials not offering clear and succinct responses to the avalanche of questions.

Instead, a fund-raising campaign aimed at mobilizing funds to compensate the victims.

Thirty-six months on from that fatal accident victims, supporters and media practitioners are still in the dark over how much was accrued from that initiative.

The pleas for help by the victims is heard at every opportunity, but it seems their tears only fall on rocky grounds so nothing substantial has ever come out of it.

The man who was behind the wheel during their trip to Kumasi has now become housebound and continues to wail for help.

Steve Pollack who was the gaffer keeps lamenting the treatment of the victims, and so is goalkeeper Richard Amoako who hasfound a new home at Dreams FC.

Was the bus insured? Reports say NO and with the silence of the club on this issue, one can assume it’s true, after all silence they say, means consent.

Were the players and other occupants of the bus on any form of insurance. The answer is negative and same response can be given to the question of compensation.

Thirty-six months from the Nkawkaw accidents and while Kotoko can beat its chest for footing the cost of the treatment of the victims, it can’t speak proudly of as demands for compensation and questions of insurance continue to hover.