Why I fear that the C’mssion of Enquiry’s report will yield no results

It sounds strange, but unfortunately that is what is happening at the moment.

It is my considered view that, unless I am mistaken (and I will be glad if that becomes the case), nothing will come out of the findings of the Presidential Commission of Enquiry set up to look into events before, during and after the 2014 World Cup in Brazil.

I am sure some of you might be saying that I need my head examined. Some of you might also say that this means I do not believe in the integrity of the Commission

Actually, I believe in the integrity of the Commission, but I am worried.

This is because of recent events that have occurred.

You are aware right now that Youth and Sports Minister, Mahama Ayariga has refused to answer questions regarding the budget for the 2015 African Nations Cup.

I will not focus on his calling journalist questions useless because a lot has been said about that already, but I will focus on a couple of things he said that arouse a lot of curiousity.

The first is the decision by the Ghana National Petroleum Corporation (GNPC) to give each player $25,000 despite missing out on the trophy.

Now Mahama Ayariga will have us believe that the President, H.E. John Dramani Mahama did not know about this until he gave him a note before the announcement was made.

That intrigues me because GNPC is a state concern and so before spending a total amount of $575,000, are we now being told that government would have no knowledge, especially when GNPC is 100% wholly owned by the state?

I am therefore stating that this was just an attempt to cover up the fact that government authorized the payment.

To put the issue in context, $30,000 was paid to each player after qualifying for the quarterfinal; $15,000 was paid out to each player after the 3-0 win over Guinea, and $20,000 was given to each player after the 3-0 victory over Equatorial Guinea.

The players would have earned $25,000 each if the trophy had been won, so it comes back to the same thing.

Personally, this is where Mahama Ayariga actually insulted the intelligence of all Ghanaians.

Secondly, Ayariga says he refused to reveal the budget for the AFCON because it would not be good for other countries to know about it.

That is double standards of the highest order because as Information Minister, he was the one who revealed the budget for the 2014 World Cup.

We all know that one of the reasons why Ghana failed to do well in Brazil was the broken promises over when the appearance fees would arrive, and not the revelation of the budget itself, so who is Ayariga trying to kid?

What worried me the most was the sponsoring of supporters to travel to Equatorial Guinea.

This was a major challenge at the World Cup and so one would have expected that nothing of the sort would happen, especially when there was a sizeable Ghanaian fan base in Equatorial Guinea.

Since GNPC funded the supporters, I am taking the liberty of saying that government okayed a move that should simply not have happened!

My information is that the Commission has finished its work and has written to the Ministry of Youth and Sports, asking for a date to present it.

When the first letter went, the response was that Mahama Ayariga had gone to the AFCON.

After the tournament, another letter has been sent from the Commission, but up till now, no response has come out.

With all that is going on now, it would appear that a lot is being made of Ghana’s gallant showing at the competition and the impressive showing is being used to gloss over some of these things.

I hope that I am proved wrong, but with everything going on now, I seriously doubt that there will be any serious efforts towards implementing the findings of the report.

This is because the same things that brought challenges are still happening and it will surprise you to know that even though H.E. John Mahama has spoken about the Commission, he has never met the members before.

Mahama Ayariga’s statements and posturing would also appear to confirm my worst fears and at the moment, all we can do is wait until he deigns to answer the Commission’s latest letter of enquiry.