'One Man Supporter' joins colleagues

Segou (Mali) -- Mr Abraham Boakye, popularly known as ‘One Man Supporter’ arrived in Segou on Wednesday night and teamed up with the supporters to cheer the Black Stars in their nil-nil drawn game with the Bafana Bafana of South Africans on Thursday.

Reacting to allegations levelled against him on Wednesday by a section of the supporters, Mr Boakye said he was surprised at the charges because he had fulfilled his part of the contract he had signed with them for the Mali tournament.

He said he personally made all the contacts for the sponsorship deals with the companies involved and was able to raise ?47 million while Vanef/STC provided them with a bus which operations were valued at ?30 million cedis.

The ‘One Man Supporter’ said Castle Milk Stout gave them ?30 million cedis, 200 T-shirts, 12 cartons of ABL products and 50 golf caps. He said Mid-West Company Limited donated ?10 million to the group while Glico doled out five million cedis.

Mr Boakye said he received donations from Mid-West Company, Accra Brewery, brewers of Castle Milk Stout, GLICO and Fritz- Tel. He said he was asked by Vanef to fuel the vehicle from Paga to Bamako and back and that the contract did not permit the bus to remain with the group while the competition goes on. But it would return to pick them at the end of the competition.

The Supporterhene said he could not travel with the supporters because he had to straighten some business contacts, as he is a licensed cereal buyer for the ministry of Food and Agriculture. He said he had paid the group their per diem of 20 thousand cedis per day till Sunday, Jan 27 when he would assume responsibility once more.

He said the only problem he discovered the group had was that of accommodation and he has bought 16 mattresses for them to alleviate their sufferings. The ‘One Man Supporter’ said he remains grateful to the companies, which made the trip of his group possible and assured them that he would not divert their contributions to other uses apart from what they are intended for.