The police, in a statement said the perpetrators normally struck halfway through a journey on the pretense of courtesy.

“The Police has observed that victims of this trend hired by a member of the syndicate at good offers, and sedated halfway through the journey after being offered water or an energy drink. The targeted driver is then hauled from the car and the vehicle driven away.”

The police has therefore advised commercial drivers to be “extra vigilant”, and avoid accepting consumables from strangers and passengers.”

Find below the full police statement

–

By: citifmonline.com/Ghana

The post Crime Alert: Car-thieves targeting commercial drivers appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.

According to the drivers, the unexpected increases which often do not correlate with transport fares are making the transportation business unattractive.

They said the disparities between the cost of fuel and the transport fares could not help them accrue the needed profit or stay afloat.

“Unless you go the filling station before you know they have increased fuel. If they informed us that they are increasing the price of fuel, at least we drivers would be aware so we increase our fares accordingly. Now you could budget for a particular amount of fuel for a trip only to get the filling station and realized prizes have gone up. It is unfair and its killing the business” a driver lamented.

The drivers also lament over the deplorable nature of the major town roads.

They said the roads which are replete with chains of gaping potholes are breaking down their vehicles.

Citi News toured of some major express roads in the region including the infamous eastern corridor roads and the Ho-Aflao roads saw their deteriorating nature.

“Our roads are too bad. The portholes have now developed into manholes. Visit the Ho-Aflao road and the Hohoe road then you know we are suffering. We spend so much maintaining our vehicles but government is unconcerned,”  another driver lamented

They are therefore calling on the government to ensure increments are announced ahead of time and their roads fixed.

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By: King Nobert Akablie/citifmonline.com/Ghana

The post Volta: Fuel price hike killing us – Drivers appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.

Their strike is to protest the commissioning of the Rapid Bus Transport (RBT) system expected to commence in the coming weeks.

The RBT aims at providing Ghanaian motorists greater options and flexibility in road transport with dedicated lanes for swift movement.

This decision defies calls by the implementers of the system to abandon such plans as it will collaborate with the various transport unions in implementing the RBT.

According to the Chairman of the Association, Mr. Charles Danso government has not expanded the road networks in the city; therefore, creating a dedicated lane for the RBT out of existing ones will throw them out of business, hence the strike.

“It is indefinite and after that we are going to demonstrate against the government….Government has to reverse this decision. If you want to do this thing, trotros are many in Ghana here and they have to consult us first. They cannot throw us out of business like that,” Mr Danso explained.

Commercial drivers’ agitation over BRT system needless 

The Greater Accra Passenger Transport Executive (GAPTE) had described as unnecessary plans by some commercial drivers in Accra, to embark on strike over the introduction of the RBT service.

Speaking on the Citi Breakfast Show on Friday, September 16, Roland Bruce, Marketing and Communications Manager of GAPTE, implementers of the RBT project, said there is no reason for commercial drivers to strike over the matter, as collaboration will be maintained with the transport unions to augment the transport services in Accra.

“Our dialogues included the transport unions, in fact, we are working with these unions. We will have a round-table with them, it is not a matter going on demonstration on this.”

“Dedicated lanes are for the buses and that needs to be understood. If any car can use it, then what is the use of it,” Roland Bruce quizzed.

–

By: Marian Ansah & Caleb Kudah/citifmonline.com/Ghana

The post Commercial drivers to embark on indefinite strike today appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.

Citi Sports understands that the Ghana FA will make an appearance, but it’s not clear what day exactly.

But we may also see a reappearance of Elvis Afriyie Ankrah, as he seeks to contest some damaging claims made against his administration.

Since the former sports minister made his appearance at the commission a fortnight, ago, the head of the Brazil 2014 secretariat, Fred Darko was first to appear and contradict him.

Fred Darko had said that each of the three accredited caterers got $17,200 in honorarium payments, which seemed to have contradicted Elvis Ankrah’s claim of an initial $2,000.

That said, the commission has since heard that Afriyie Ankrah did indeed give each caterer an initial $2,000.

Also problematic for Mr Ankrah was the appearance, last week, of the three caterers themselves.

But according to information gathered by Citi Sports, Elvis Ankrah will seek to clear the air on certain key issues when he appears.

First of all, the caterers agreed with the Brazil 2014 commission to take $35 per head in Ghana before leaving for Brazil.

According to our information, all three caterers – Ambar Foods, Monees Catering and Kenkey Boutique – were all given the latitude to shop in 3 Brazilian supermarkets, accompanied by one Afua Adoboe as a facilitator.

Citi Sports also understands that as several people have testified to the commission, none of them was allowed bring their own ingredients, as agreed.

After the Black Stars were eliminated in Brazil, Citi Sports understands that each of the caterers was then given $17,200, which in addition to the $2,000 earlier given, totaled $19,200.

Our information also indicates that the airfare for all three caterers was paid for by the secretariat, despite the fact that Mrs Quashigah did not state this information in her testimony last week.

–

By: Gary Al-Smith/citifmonline.com/Ghana

Follow @garyalsmith

The post Brazil 2014 inquiry: What to expect when Elvis Afriyie-Ankrah reappears appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.

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After the tears of last week, Elvis Afriyie Ankrah was in total control of himself on Monday at the Presidential Commission of Inquiry into the happenings of Brazil 2014.

The former minister confronted the commissioners, tackled unfriendly media reportage and pursued an agenda against his detractors.

Tears were very far away on day eight of the hearings.

Who sent back the cash?

Almost 9 million Ghana cedis was given to the Sports Ministry for preparations for the Brazil 2014 effort, and despite many public rumours to the contrary, the former minister clarified that over four million cedis is still available.

“So this is from the ministry – the money which was left. We were given almost nine million [cedis] for the tournament. We didn’t use all of it. So up to the point where we got to and the monies we used, this is the balance left: 4,444,053 [cedis].”

However, the commission wanted to know the status of a mysterious return of 500,000 cedis.

The chairman of the commission hinted that those monies had been refunded after the commission was set up.

“You have no idea that some monies have been refunded – paid back – to the bank after this commission was set up?”

“My Lord,” came the reply from the former sports minister, “I don’t. This is all that I know. At the point I finished, this is all the information I have.”

Ladies and gentlemen: the spectacles are off from Elvis’ eyes. Questioning gets a bit more pointed and heated. pic.twitter.com/c13DlRkEHS

— Gary Al-Smith (@garyalsmith) August 25, 2014

Elvis demands right to fairness

Not long after the sitting started at 10am, the ex-minister’s spectacles came off.

He was not happy.

Much of the first two hours had been spent going through expenses made by the Brazil 2014 planning committee, notably in areas of air travel, accommodation and tickets.

Moses Foh-Amoaning, member of the three-man commission, in going through the notes portion of the accounts Afriyie-Ankrah had tendered in as evidence, consistently quoted figures in old Ghana cedis.

“My lord, we no longer use old Ghana cedis. That creates the impression that it is a very huhudious [astronomical] amount. That’s what the media has been doing and I’m gonna make a complaint about that. You know, they change the figures into billions and make it look [more than it looks]. I don’t think it is fair.”

Later, the issues of interpretation of accounts came up again and Afriyie Ankrah had cause to question the style of interrogation of the commissioners.

Foh-Amoaning had been zeroing in on figures the former youth and sports minister seemed unsure of, because (as Elvis said) he did not want to “say something that is not very concrete” and told the commissioners that the “appropriate committee chairmen to answer.”

Foh-Amoaning went on to point out, again, that the figures being mentioned as having been expended by the sports ministry sounded frightening to the ordinary Ghanaian, especially when thought of in old cedis.

“If the documents are examined, and there are questions and those who did it directly are asked and are not able to answer, then I can be asked. This is the difficulty I have.”

Moses Foh-Amoaning responded wryly: “You’re virtually telling us what we should do. Anyway, I don’t agree with you…”

Elvis cut in: “No, my lord! With respect, you just said that this is a court of law whose findings are equivalent to the judgment of a court. My life, my rights [and] everything is at stake here so when I feel strongly about something I believe I should put it out there.”

Elvis hits back at the commissioners. Subtly accuses them of unfairness to him in framing questions. “It creates a certain -ve impression”

— Gary Al-Smith (@garyalsmith) August 25, 2014

Get Songo here!

It was clear that media reportage sat big on the former minister’s mind, as he constantly referred to what he felt was unfair coverage of the proceedings.

Monday’s edition of the Herald newspaper had carried a story imputing wrongdoing by deception from Afriyie Ankrah, and he plead with the commission to invite the paper’s editor to prove the allegation.

The paper alleged that the breakdown of the expenses offered by the former minister last week were incorrect and presented to deceive the general public.

It also repeated rumours that strongly linked the former sports minister in sexual escapades in Brazil with popular female musician, Becca.

And then he rounded on popular radio show host from Asempa FM.

“My Lord all kinds of things have been reported about me in the media including this report. There is a radio station with a presenter named Fireman and he has alleged that I have spent money even before the budget was approved. All these people should be brought before the Commission to share their evidence,” Afriyie Ankrah said.

Foh-Amoaning has been a known critic of the presenter in question, Patrick Osei Agyemang, who goes by the alias Countryman Songo.

Who takes blame for Brazil failure? Elvis: “It depends”. Says blame must be jointly & severally shared but leader must take responsibility.

— Gary Al-Smith (@garyalsmith) August 25, 2014

Sabotage?

During the cross examination, Afriyie Ankrah was asked, after he had catalogued how frustrating fundraising and other aspects of the Brazil had gone, if he suspected sabotage from certain quarters.

It took him a full minute to answer to answer Foh-Amoaning.

“There are some aspects of this whole drama that does not make sense but we will talk in chambers,” he told the commission.

Elvis insisted that the people he presided over did their very best, speaking passionately about why some things may or may not have worked.

Who is Dentaa?

A name that came up during the day was Dentaa Amoateng.

A UK-based media practitioner and better known as the owner of the GUBA franchise that organizes awards and events, Dentaa is also among the management team of Black Stars captain Asamoah Gyan.

Afriyie Ankrah mentioned her in his evidence as having been part of one of the sub-committees, prompting Justice Dzamefe to ask where she can be found.

“My Lord she was based in the UK but we contacted her when she came for a visit to run the secretariat,” Afriyie Ankrah said.

The former minister said she would be available upon request.

A word on the tears…

A section of the public has been cynical about last Thursday’s sensational episode when Afriyie Ankrah wept during cross examination.

Foh-Amoaning asked him about the public perception that his tears had been a charade.

“My lord, we have 25 million Ghanaians [and] people are entitled to their views…You were here and you saw what happened…Before God and man it was not planned, it was not premeditated…I don’t even know how it started…Never in my wildest imagination will I think of doing something like that [crying in public]…It wasn’t a difficult question but it triggered the emotions,” he explained.

Appearance fees – again

The question that would never go away was addressed again, but this time the former minister was asked if he thought appearance fees for players and officials was merited.

Elvis recommended that “a broader [public] discussion” be held on the matter in order “to listen to arguments for maintaining the status quo and arguments against, I will then be in a better position to say this is my position.”

He also reiterated the explanations that GFA boss Kwesi Nyantakyi has consistently proffered.

“My understanding is that the money given officials is based on seven people. It is not as if each [official takes the same amount as the players].”

The sittings continue on Tuesday, with the expected appearance of Fred Darko, who was in charge of the planning committee for Brazil 2014.

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___

–

By: Gary Al-Smith/citifmonline.com/Ghana

Follow @garyalsmith

The post Elvis suspects sabotage, demands right to fairness & denies Becca sex romp appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.

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DAY ONE | DAY TWO  |  DAY THREE  |  DAY FOUR |  DAY FIVE |  DAY SIX 

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Former  Youth and Sports  Minister, Elvis Afriyie Ankrah shed tears on Thursday during the seventh sitting of the commission set up to investigate Ghana’s  participation at  the  World Cup in  Brazil.

A teary and emotional Afriyie Ankrah told the Justice Dzamefe Commission that he felt “devastated” by how much the country’s efforts were thwarted by the issues of bonuses.

This was after the commission chairman, Justice Dzamefe, asked him how he felt when the Black Stars refused to attend two training sessions  before their match against Portugal.

The former minister responded: “My Lord, they were assured that they would definitely get the money before the next match. They are professionals and know very well that they had to train adequately to win matches.

“Eventually, even though the money came on the eve, they still got the money but by not preparing for the match they couldn’t deliver.”

He continued: “The Black Stars resolved not to train ahead of their crucial encounter with Portugal if their appearance fees were not paid…”

The Minister’s words trailed off, as he dabbed his eyes with a handkerchief.

And Elvis wept.

“Honorable, relax,” Justice Dzamefe implored.

“Honorable, relax. We are helping mother Ghana.”

The chairman continued, what appeared to be, consoling the witness as he put the hearings on hold for a few minutes to allow the former sports minister to compose himself.

Ex-minister on why he (nearly) cried: “Because I was sure that even if we didn’t win the World Cup, this team could go very far.”

— Gary Al-Smith (@garyalsmith) August 21, 2014

Payment of appearance fees The commission asked Afriyie Ankrah why he could  not push for the players to accept the initial $82,500 appearance fee the government touted. “The issue of the appearance fee came up, my Lord, and that is why the leadership of the team –  captain Asamoah Gyan, Sulley Muntari, and Michael Essien who  speak for the players – made a formal  request that the 82,500 dollars approved by  cabinet  was not acceptable to them for the following reasons: “1: FIFA had increased the prize money from the last World Cup. 2. They were the ones who toiled and sweat on the field to get the team to the World Cup. 3. They also referred to the status of former players. 4. The players also said that their colleagues from other countries like Cameroon were being paid about 120,000 dollars as appearance fee,” he explained. Throughout the part of the session where he was speaking about money, the ex-minister was emotionally agitated. Could airlifting of $3 million dollars have been avoided?

Amazing: ex-sports minister admits that Ghana players were more powerful than the FA and the govt in negotiating for bonuses. — Gary Al-Smith (@garyalsmith) August 21, 2014

He further said financial transactions in Brazil are very difficult and it involved some security measures.

“After doing everything I had no choice than to involve National Security but as to those details, I will prefer to talk in camera.”

Afriyie Ankrah,  who has now been reassigned to the Presidency as a Minister of State, told the Commission that he had been under serious pressure to cede to the demands of the playing body for their appearance fees to be paid in cash, instead of exercising an electronic option.

The commission peppered the witness on this point, forcing him to agree that he had bowed to player power. But he had his own say.

“I was kowtowed, just as the same was done to the state, to pay the $100, 000,” he said.

He however, denied claims that funds were not available at the time the tournament was ongoing. According to him, the issue had to do with how to get the money to the players since it was difficult doing so electronically.

“There was no budgetary allocation to cater for the 17 percent tax on the transaction [charge in Brazil],” he said.

He added: “It was not about the availability of the money but how to get it to them…The moment the issue of the mode of payment came up the first person I spoke to the Governor of the Bank of Ghana.”

The commission asked how the state had planned to foot extra bills if the team had progressed beyond the group stages, considering the fiasco even at just the group stage.

“My Lord, I have no answer.”

Burden of proof

The former Youth and Sports Minister told the commission that he was still at a loss as to why people would level all sort of allegations against him without providing evidence.

He dismissed reports that he had spent the Ghanaian tax payer’s money and that his wife was the only caterer contracted to cook for the supporters in Brazil.

“My Lord, all the caterers were carefully selected and I believe that the heads of the various committees we set up will provide the appropriate  answers.

“My Lord, I also want to state that my mother never participated in the sale of replica jerseys as was alleged.”

He went on: “People also alleged that I was distributing money, dollars, on the hips of Brazilian women. I never did such a thing, my Lord.”

He further challenged anyone with evidence of his misappropriating the tax payer’s money to come forth with it.

Elvis regrets pushing for supporters to be airlifted by the state. “All the troubles I am facing now is from that.”

— Gary Al-Smith (@garyalsmith) August 21, 2014

Recommendations

Elvis Afriyie Ankrah made suggestions to the Commission on what he thought should happen in future instances.

He said the players should be committed to a Code of Ethics to ensure  discipline.

On payment  of appearance fees,  he advised that monies should be given to players via electronic  means to avoid the transfer of liquid cash over long distances.

He went ahead to state that qualifying matches for tournaments should also be considered when computations of appearance fees are being done so that players who played active roles in getting the team to a main tournament will also be rewarded.

“Also we need to take a second look at who gets paid appearance fee because  it  is sometimes  unfair to those who play for us to  qualify  for  the World Cup and yet are not selected to play. That should be changed.

An example is Jerry Akaminko, who did so well and yet did not qualify to play for his nation in Brazil.”

Finally, Afriyie Ankrah said government must not be directly involved in sending  supporters  to any  international tournament.

The commission adjourned to resume on Monday, August 25.

___

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By:  Pearl Akanya Ofori, Nathan Quao & Gary Al-Smith/citifmonline.com/Ghana.

Follow @pearlakanya

Follow @nathanquao2211

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The post “Conduct of the Black Stars shocked me,” tearful Afriyie Ankrah tells Commission appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.

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__

The effort to maximize Ghana’s participation at the 2014 Fifa World Cup yielded only 26,373 cedis.

This deduction came from the testimony provided by the eagerly anticipated appearance of former Youth and Sports minister Elvis Afriyie Ankrah on Wednesday at the Dzamefe Commission.

The former minister spoke to several issues as he was interrogated by the Presidential Commission set up to look into the happenings of the World Cup.

Wednesday’s sitting was day 6 and covered only the preparatory stage of the Brazil 2014 process, therefore everything discussed was centred on what happened before the various delegations emplaned to Brazil.

There were several highlights, including some pricey stuff.

But the quote of the day came in the last ten minutes of the hearings when the former minister was being quizzed about details of accounts.

“My lord, some of your questions are like quadratic equations so it is difficult to answer them yes or no.”

That drew laughter all round, but there were a lot of serious highlights.

Waakye matters

Elvis Afriyie Ankrah revealed that there was no formal contract between the ministry and the caterers they employed for the tournament in Brazil.

He explained the three selected caterers were the popular Accra-based joints called Kenkey Boutique, Amber and Muni’s Waakye. These three were given letters to formalize the arrangement between the two parties, a situation which did not sit well with the commission.

Send off party

A farewell ball was hosted by the state for the Black Stars before their departure for pre-tournament games with the Netherlands and the USA in May.

This four hour event cost the taxpayer GHS 188,665.

Afriyie Ankrah explained that the  event – which had President John Mahama, prominent ex-footballers and high ranking football people in attendance – was used as a fund-raising initiative.

“We used that platform as an opportunity to auction materials that the president signed with his green pen too,” the sports minister noted of the event held on May 22.

8,700 visas were issued to Ghanaians for #WC2014. Sadly, NONE of Ghana’s former natl team players got visas by sports ministry.

— Gary Al-Smith (@garyalsmith) August 20, 2014

The bank account

Elvis Afriyie-Ankrah confirmed what has been public knowledge that the Ministry of Youth and Sports had a bank account at the Zenith Bank that was used for official World Cup transactions.

Operating under the name MOYS – Brazil Fifa World Cup 2014, the account had four signatories from the sports ministry.

“My Lord, I would like to point out that I was not one of the signatories to this account,” Afriyie-Ankrah clarified.

How much was in the account?

Sponsors and well-wishers were publicly courted by the ministry to help the country in its quest to have a successful World Cup on all fronts. The amount realized, according to the minister, was 4,509,635 cedis ($1.16 million at current rates).

How much was spent?

The commission heard that Ghana spent 4,483,282.89 cedis ($1.21 million), which drew a low whistle from the chairman of the commission. That took the profit the government Ghana made to just 26,373 ($6,800).

How many sponsors contributed to the effort?

Justice Dzamefe challenged the minister on this point, after Afriyie-Ankrah had said only 23 sponsors had contributed to the effort.

Further probing revealed that the number was 41, with the commission asking him to provide further and better particulars later.

But they stopped short of asking him to provide the names in public, due to the possibility of offending some of the sponsors.

Four of the sponsors preferred to remain anonymous. But one key question was: how many supporters did the taxpayer pay to airlift to Brazil?

INFOGRAPH: Breakdown of $1.16 million Ghana’s Planning Committee for Brazil 2014 spent. #citisports pic.twitter.com/PkGVhY6KIl — Gary Al-Smith (@garyalsmith) August 20, 2014

The Ghana support

This was one of the most intriguing parts of the day, as it was revealed that 612 fans were officially airlifted on the ticket of the government.

It emerged at the sitting that the sports ministry was initially not sure if they could pay for the penciled number.

“There was a lot of pressure for us to send them, and my seniors will tell you that support, motivation and inspiration plays a big role in football so we felt we must take a core group of supporters.”

“That’s official. So what was the unofficial number?” came the response from Moses Foh-Amoaning, a member of the commission.

Elvis responded: “696. At the camp when we took the official roll we realized that some people had managed to get into the camp that the committee did not send.”

Afriyie-Ankrah, having noted already that the camp capacity was 1000 people, pointed out that those who managed to sneak in were Ghanaians as well.

He admitted that the excess numbers were fed and housed by the ministry, saying that a list of all 696 was available.

“You did well [by hosting and housing them because] they were Ghanaians, but systems must work. You can’t tell the whole of Ghana that you are taking 612 and take care of that number.”

Also of interest was the fact that the former minister revealed an estimated 3000 supporters were airlifted to South Africa for the 2010 World Cup, a fact which Foh-Amoaning was skeptical about.

Foh-Amoaning: “Are you sure about this? Can you provide proof, files and documentation? Can we have it?”

“Yes, my lord.”

Former Ghana sports minister speaking at #Brazil2014inquiry. Not allowed to use ppt as he wanted but speaking well. pic.twitter.com/NuZSSg7V8E

— Gary Al-Smith (@garyalsmith) August 20, 2014

 Bonuses again

The former minister cleared the air on the thorny issue of the appearance fees wanted by the Black Stars players.

“They had asked for $120,000 [and later the Ministry and the FA] proposed that $100,000 [to be given to them],” Afriyie-Ankrah said.

“The FA brings proposals. We look at the proposals and then I have to take it to cabinet. So it when it got to cabinet said we can do $82,500, which is 10 percent [more than the amounts given] in 2010.”

The commission promised to go deeper into this issue on Thursday.

Other interesting costs

Out of the over four million cedis expended, GHS 1,953,96 was spent on accommodation and feeding in Brazil.

Also revealed was that GHS 16,700 was spent on media relations (which he clarified as not being payment to journalists) and GHS 519,035 on match tickets covering 612 fans.

The commission heard that a mobile application and website together cost GHS 22,857.

Citi Sports has found the website (click here) and the android mobile application, which received just over 100 downloads (click here).

Afriyie-Ankrah appears again on Thursday.

___

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___

By: Gary Al-Smith/Citifmonline.com/Ghana

 Follow @garyalsmith

The post “The Commission’s questions are like quadratic equations” – Afriyie Ankrah appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.