The blessing in disguise that the Dzamefe Commission was for Elvis Afriyie Ankrah

It remains one of the most intense moments in the country after the country’s national football team, the Black Stars, made their third appearance at the World Cup, which was fraught with a lot of scandals.

The 2014 World Cup in Brazil saw Ghana get eliminated at the group stage of the competition, but it also came with several camp-related stories, among other stories of corruption allegations.

Recalling the moments and some of the happenings during the period, Elvis Afriyie Ankrah, who was the Minister of Youth and Sports, explained how he received one of his biggest blessings in disguise.

He explained that, upon the return of the team to the country and the eventual setting up of the Dzamefe Commission to look into the issues surrounding Ghana’s appearance at the Mundial, he got a unique opportunity to understand things better.

In hindsight, Elvis Afriyie Ankrah says he would not advise any politician to consider using state money to send supporters to a soccer tournament like the World Cup.

"With the benefit of hindsight, I probably should have... I should have just left it, and they would have said whatever they wanted to say, and it would have saved me a lot of headaches.

"It’s not worth it and I would advise – and I’ve been saying this that the current minister, in this economic crisis, don’t bother our supporters. If you want to go and watch the World Cup, if you have your own money, get your ticket and go. So, those were the lessons, of course, fortunately, or not, the Commission was a blessing in disguise," he said.

Speaking to Edward Smith Anamale on GhanaWeb TV’s Election Desk, the aspiring General Secretary of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) said that it was during the hearings of the Dzamefe Commission that he heard some of the wildest things.

Elvis Afriyie Ankrah said that some of the allegations were so wild that they even involved stories that his wife and his mother were also implicit in some purported corrupt practices.



"There were all manner of wild stories. I’d give you just a few. There’s this story that my wife was a caterer... I mean, my wife has absolutely nothing to do with cooking; the only reason she went was because we buried her mother three weeks earlier. So, I took my wife and my two kids because the other one was in boarding school, and I bought the tickets myself –Air Portugal- and took them. 

"It was not at government expense but there was the story out there. They said my mother was in charge of replica jerseys. What they didn’t know is that my mother doesn’t live in Ghana; my mother has never lived in Ghana since I was six months old. She doesn’t know the difference between a corner kick and a penalty. She has no idea so when I told her, ‘Mummy, they said you are in charge of replica jerseys, she said what is that?’ she has no idea," he said.

Elvis Ankrah also recalled how there was news that he had paid about $2000 just for coconuts when, in actual fact, after the Commission’s hearings, it was established that he was not guilty.

He added that by the time he left office as the Minister of Youth and Sports, he was able to leave behind well over $4 million of the money the government gave them to go to the World Cup.

"I woke up one day and there was one of the papers with me sitting with some ministers, with coconut in front of us. They said coconut was $200, $2000. There was nothing about coconut. I drink coconut always because I’m a health-conscious person, and at the camp, coconut was virtually free. And even if you buy it, it’s less than $1. Nothing; it was all manufactured. 

"It was later that I got to know that there were some unseen hands behind it but I keep saying that if those things had not happened, and especially if the commission had not been put in place, and a report officially there, which shows clearly I was audited by Ernst and Young… by the time I was leaving office, the World Cup money itself, which government gave to us, $4.444 million was left in the account," he explained.

Watch the full interview with Elvis Afriyie Ankrah on GhanaWeb TV below:





You can also watch this edition of GhanaWeb Special:

AE/SEA