“WHEN THE RIGHTEOUS ARE IN AUTHORITY, THE PEOPLE REJOICE…”

Proverbs 29:

It was 90-minutes of a nail-biting game. It was a game that saw the Super Eagles of Nigeria, trying hard to soar high above Ghana’s Black Stars. All Ghanaians glued to television sets across the country, usually, on such occasions, shared a common goal - a win for the Black Stars.

At the end of the game, a 21st minute header from striker Asamoah Gyan, who is turning out to be the scorer of important goals of the team in Angola, gave Ghanaians their hearts desire. Gyan scored the only goal in the quarter-final match against Angola.

But even as many Ghanaians across the political divide were united by their common wish for a win, a notice served by Members of Parliament (MPs) of the minority New Patriotic Party (NPP), clearly indicated that the outcome of the game was going to have political implications.

Just when President John Evans Atta Mills announced his first ministerial reshuffle, 72 hours away from kick-off, minority MPs, led by Mr. Isaac Asiamah, MP for Atwima Mponua, cried foul over the president’s decision to replace the caretaker Minister of Sports, Mr. Rashid Pelpuo.

According to the minority MPs, taking the acting minister away from the Sports Ministry at a time when he was at the head of the Ghanaian delegation to Angola for the African Cup of Nations, and at a time when the team had qualified for the semi-finals was catastrophic, and signaled a bad omen for the team. The minority used the occasion to question the judgment of the president and called on Ghanaians to hold him (President) responsible for the consequences.

The minority’s beef was that at a time that the Black Stars had qualified for the Semi-Finals of the tournament, removing the minister was going to demoralize the players and the team as a whole.

Mr. Pelpuo had been in charge of the Sports ministry since Alhaji Mohammed Muntaka Mubarak resigned from the position following a scandal.

…AND OTHERS TOO

Other sports analysts, including Moses Foh-Amoaning had condemned the president over the decision to replace the sports Minister. Foh-Amoaning in an interview with Citi FM, described the removal of Mr. Pelpuo from the Sports Ministry as absurd. According to Foh-Amoaning, former President of the Ghana Boxing Authority (GBA) by that decision, the President had put his head on the chopping block.

Many analysts had written off the Black Stars, on the basis of the loss of their key players, mostly through injuries and coming against a star-studded side like the Nigerians.

The match saw the Nigerians continuously launching menacing attacks into the Stars goal area, but often came against experienced goalie Sammy Adjei, who saved several sticky point-blank situations.

The Stars, featuring a more youthful side, warded off the desperate Nigerian attacks, as many times as they tried, with Peter Odemwingie and Obafemi Martins being the frontline predators.

Asamoah Gyan, on the 21st minute, warded off an attack from a defender to head home a beautiful curly corner kick by Kwadwo Asamoah.

The Black Stars line up for the match comprised of: Richard Kingston, Samuel Inkoom, Hans Adu Sarpei/Ibrahim Ayew, Lee Addy, Isaac Vorsah, Emmanuel Agyemang-Badu, Andrew Dede Ayew, Anthony Annan, Asamoah Gyan/Matthew Amoah, Kwadwo Asamoah, Opoku Agyemang/Haminu Dramani.

VODAFONE UNDER PRESSURE … As NCA Threatens Harsh Sanctions for Gross Disrespect The National Communication Authority (NCA) has bared its teeth at Ghana Telecommunication Company Limited, now Vodafone, threatening “harshest sanctions” against the company for any future exhibition of gross disrespect towards institutions and the general public.

According to the communications regulatory body, it “is not at all pleased with the manner in which Vodafone handled the fault of the SAT3 Cable, which has adversely affected a wide section of the society: government, commercial, industry, academia and the general public at-large.”

NCA’s stern warning was contained in a strong-worded letter signed by the Director General of NCA, Mr. Bernard A. Forson, fired to the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Vodafone, Mr. David Venn, and sighted by The Enquirer.

Mr. Forson’s letter, dated Thursday, January 21, 2010 was in reaction to disruptions in internet service provided by Vodafone throughout the country last week, which the company has attributed to a technical fault.

The letter did not specify the kind of “harshest sanctions” to be slapped on Vodafone, but sources close to the NCA board, chaired by Mr. Kofi Totobi Quakyi, ex-National Security Capo, told The Enquirer that the board has resolved to take drastic action against any telecommunications company taking consumers for granted.

A statement issued by Vodafone said the disruption was due to the failure of a planned power reconfiguration activity on the SAT3 submarine cable station in South Africa.

It apologized over the disruption and said engineers from Vodafone Ghana and South Africa were working hand-in-hand to restore service as soon as possible.

But in spite of Vodafone’s apology, the NCA boss insists “it is wrong for the Authority to find out about such an outage, planned or otherwise, through the press.”

The NCA boss explained that this is because “Ghana Telecommunication Company Limited (Vodafone) is enjoined by its operating license to inform the Authority and the general public anytime there would be a disruption in the service, particularly when planned maintenance programs take place”.

He said, much as it fully recognized that even the best engineering networks will sometimes experience challenges, the manner in which the fault regarding the SAT3 Cable was handled “leaves a lot to be desired,” adding that “ it sure could have been handled more professionally and the with the appropriate respect”.

The NCA warned Vodafone to ensure that in future, timely notification and appropriate contingencies are put in place to ensure that the public is informed and adverse customer impact mitigated, adding “the authority shall not hesitate to impose the harshest sanctions for any future exhibition of disrespect for our institutions and the public.”

As of yesterday, it was not clear whether Vodafone, which is already going through times of uncertainty over the manner, in which it acquired 70% stake in Ghana Telecom, has responded to the NCA letter.