Brazil WC: Baako fumes over $20k paid to errand boy

Kweku Baako Jr has described as “naked robbery” and “thievery,” a revelation that the Ghanaian contingent that led the Black Stars to the FIFA 2014 World Cup tournament in Brazil paid a total of US$20,000 to an Angolan for tour guiding services – mainly directing and leading the Ghanaian contingent to grocery stores to purchase vegetables and foodstuffs for cooking.

“This is stealing,” the New Crusading Guide Editor-In-Chief thundered in the studios of Joy FM on Saturday, on the private station’s news and current affairs programme, Newsfile, hosted by Samson Lardy Ayenini.

It was revealed at the hearing of the presidential commission investigating Ghana’s participation in the tournament that the said Angolan was paid about US$4,000 for each of his five guiding services in Brazil.

Baako wondered why Ghana’s mission in Brazil did not save the West African country from incurring such a loss by suggesting cheaper alternatives.

“The Ghana embassy couldn’t find somebody to give directions to grocery stores? I’ve tried not to be judgmental but this is robbery,” Baako stressed.

Also condemning the expenditure on the same programme, Egbert Faibille Jr, a private lawyer, described the cost as “repugnant and offensive."

“Why should a Government of the 21st century, with their errand boys and errand girls, expose this country to such ridicule? It is an affront to the common sense of Ghanaians. It is an affront to the president who appointed the minister,” Faibille Jr said.