Snippets: The $45,000 Missing Saga (updated)

* Ben Ephson, whose Dispatch newspaper broke the story, said in an interview that he got wind of the missing money on Sunday, March 11, and approached the minister on Monday for his comment. The minister expressed a wish that the story should not be published, but Ben says he explained that it will be published with or without the minister's version. According to Ephson, the minister had not at that time reported to the police or the president, almost three weeks after the loss was discovered
* The actual amount is closer to $50,000 than $45,000. In the suitcase was an additional 2,500 pounds and 200,000 cedis. The suitcase was secured with a combination lock.
* Issa says he was advised by Ministry officials to carry the money with him, because it was not ready in time to travel with the players (they had left earlier). He was assured by the officials that the suitcase would not be searched because the minister was traveling on a diplomatic passport.
* The money was packed in the presence of several people in the minister's office.
* The minister's flight took him on KLM via Amsterdam. The suitcase didn't make it to Khartoum with the minister. When it was retrieved and sent to Accra, the handle was broken and the money gone.
* On his return from Sudan, Malam dropped hints about the existence of a syndicate of sorts in football circles. Malam was convinced that this syndicate was all out to sabotage him in his work. According to him, people who had become uncomfortable with his pledge and determination to expose the deals and scandals in the Youth and Sports Ministry were all out pulling strings here and there and posing problems for him.
* One name which has featured prominently in the scheme of things has been that of Mr. Kojo Bonsu, the Adidas representative in Ghana. Chronicle learnt that he managed to get officials of the Sports Ministry to reveal the Minister's travelling plans to him and that is how come he ended up travelling on the same plane as the Minister.
* When the Minister's travelling bag got missing he (Kojo Bonsu) assured the Minister that he would use his connections to get the baggage back to him. Sources close to Ghana's contingent at in Sudan said that Mr. Kojo Bonsu, was virtually with the Minister everywhere he went. This kept observers including some Sudanese wondering whether he (Kojo Bonsu) was Malam's bodyguard.
* ET Mensah, the former minister, has confirmed that cash is often carried to pay players. However, he said that he himself never handled "a single cedi". The money was always carried by an accountant or other official
* Some observers, including Issa himself, believe that he was set up.
* Elizabeth Ohene, Minister for Media Relations, was on radio on March 15 to praise the government for acting swiftly on the matter by letting Issa resign. She would not say whether he jumped or was pushed. She said the President heard the news on Wednesday morning, and Issa was gone by the end of that day.
* Hours later, Issa has been reported to say that he never resigned in the first place.
* Hours later Govt. announced Mallam has been fired.