Minister denies allegations, threatens to resign if ....

Accra, Aug 3, GNA - Mr Osei Bonsu Amoah, Deputy Minister of Education, Science and Sports has denied allegations of impropriety levelled against him by Mr Sarfo Abebrese, President of the Supporters Union of Ghana (SUGHA) and threatened to resign if the allegations were substantiated.

In a press statement issued on Thursday in reaction to Mr Abebrese's allegations published in the Tuesday, July 31 edition of The Chronicle, he said "I state categorically that I have never ever collected money from any person to secure a visa for any trip including the 2006 World Cup in Germany and hereby challenge The Chronicle and Mr Abebrese and indeed any person with such claims to provide evidence to expose me and for which I am ready to resign my position as a Deputy Minister."

The Deputy Minister challenged Mr Abebrese to proceed to the General Legal Council with him, as they are both members of the Ghana Bar so that their conduct would be scrutinised and the appropriate sanctions applied.

Mr Amoah said "the malicious publications and the repetitive lies by unscrupulous persons are attempts to intimidate and gag me in my demand for transparency in the running of the Supporters Unions." He assured the general public that such reckless defamatory statements would not deter him from "exposing persons who have turned the recreation of cheering our national teams into indecent business."

Mr Amoah accused Mr Abebrese of taking money from innocent gullible persons and issuing them with receipts so that "his victims have a chance of reprieve."

Dwelling on a story published by the Free Press, which alleged that one Kwame Densu had made allegations on air against him, a publication, which Mr Abebrese referred to as his source, the Deputy Minister described the said Kwame Densu as non-existent, adding that "Free Press has retracted its publication and apologised to me."

He said "Kwame Densu whose motive is purely in respect of Akwapim South Constituency politics, is in court for his true identity to be revealed and I believe the Chronicle and Mr Abebrese know the implications of their libellous and contemptuous statements." Mr Amoah accused the Chronicle of publishing the defamatory statements by the SUGHA leader knowing them to be false or with reckless indifference to the truth and in general belief that they would damage and injure his reputation.

The Minister called on all those who had been victims of fraudulent acts of the "so called champions of Supporters Unions to come forward and tell their stories without any fear or intimidation whatsoever."