Pay DK Poison’s US$45,000 loan with interest – A Plus to Akufo-Addo

Kwame Asare Obeng, a.k.a “A Plus” a staunch supporter and now frenemy of President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, has stated that the loan the Government of Ghana repaid to boxer David Kotei [DK Poison] should have been paid with interest.

He added that he cannot comprehend why the retired boxer should receive the initial amount he loaned the country in 1976 without any interest.

D.K Poison, the first-ever Ghanaian boxer to win an international title, had been chasing the money for all this while but President Akufo-Addo on Tuesday gave an order to the Ministry of Finance to repay the loan.

D.K. Poison said that he earned a purse of $75,000 from an international bout but was paid an amount of 34,000 old cedis, through a transfer at the then Barclays Bank, which was equivalent to $30,000 at the time.

The loan to Col. I.K. Acheampong’s administration was advanced purely on a gentleman’s agreement basis with officials of the then military administration way back in Tokyo, Japan where D.K. Poison won his second title defence against Shigefumi Fukuyama.

A Plus, in reacting to the news, lauded President Akufo-Addo for the move but insisted the Government of Ghana should pay Poison with interest.

He wrote on his Facebook Timeline: “Nana Addo has done well by paying back the money DK Poison loaned to Ghana. But you see, if it were a politician the government owed for this long they would have calculated interest or even paid judgement debt. You took a loan from someone 44 years ago to save an economy which was at the brink of collapse. After 44 years of putting him through hell, why will you give him the same amount? At least montwa no 100k dollar.”

A Plus continued: “No government made any effort to pay him so Nana has done very well. But Charley, they for add small interest. This amount koraaa people go tear tear their affairs for inside before the man go receive am. The one wey go reach am go be like twenty-five thousand.”

D.K. Poison has reportedly told the media that he had been pursuing the amount for years and is therefore grateful for the repayment of the loan despite not receiving interest.