Why the 1965 AFCON winning team didn't receive the houses promised - Rev. Osei Kofi

Ghanaian football legend, Rev. Osei Kufuor, has revealed that a promise made by then-President to the Black Stars squad who triumphed in the African Cup of Nations (AFCON) in 1965 was not honored.

He narrated that before the 1965 AFCON, the president vowed to award each of the Black Stars players a house in a Dansoman estate should they emerge victorious in the tournament.

Rev. Osei recounted that, fortunately, Ghana clinched the AFCON title, but shortly thereafter, Lieutenant General William Kwasi Akuffo ousted the then-president.

"In all the four AFCONs we secured, no one received even a bicycle, yet the recent team that placed second in Equatorial Guinea were presented with Cherokee cars. Back in 1965, when we captured the cup and returned, a grand banquet was held," he stated.

He mentioned that Acheampong guaranteed the Black Stars that each player would be granted a house in the newly constructed Dansoman Estates if they secured the Cup.

"The president summoned me and Sempah Asante to convey to the Black Stars players that if they secured the cup to honor Ghana and him as the Commander in Chief of the Ghana Armed Forces, at that time the Dansoman Estates were under construction, they would each receive a house, and indeed, they triumphed," Rev. Kofi expressed, as reported by Myjoyonline.com.

Nevertheless, this pledge was never actualized.

After the president was deposed, his successor, General Akuffo, defaulted on the promise.

"Akuffo succeeded the president and declared he had made no such promise. Do you perceive the misfortune? When a head of state commits, and the head is no longer present, does the state cease to exist as well?" he questioned.

Meanwhile, many old Black Stars players have been fuming about how they are treated by the government.

SB/OGB