Ghanaian secret agent deported from South Africa

PLOT TO DESTROY 2010 WORLD CUP PROJECT UNCOVERED"

........Ghanaian secret agent deported from South Africa....."

I was offered GH¢15,000 to join sabotage mission to SouthAfrica"-informant. As the Black Stars of Ghana prepare for the final phase of qualifiers forthe 2010 World Cup in South Africa, some Ghanaian officials are alleged to be busy masterminding a plot to destroy a Pan-African 2010 projectwhich will guarantee the Black Stars, if they qualified, the massivesupport of over 100,000 African fans drawn from the 53 African countriesin all the matches Ghana would play at the 2010 World Cup.

The plot was uncovered when one Prosper Kumson who had allegedly beensponsored to South Africa on the mission to infiltrate into 2010stakeholder-organizations as well as South African government units tosabotage the project, was arrested by South African authorities anddeported to Ghana for engaging in "illegal activities"there.And now, the man at the centre of the whole drama, African-based Ghanaianbusiniessman, Mr. Richgold Kwaku Odeshie Godson who rejected a GHC 15,000bribe to join on the mission, has broken his silence and granted the"Chronicle" an exclusive interview with the sordid and shameful detailsof the plot. This was after he was arrested and taken to the policeheadquarters in Accra on a charge of causing the deportation of someoneon "official duties", and framed up on importation of expired goodscharges.

According to Mr. Godson, he got to know about the plot when Mr. Kumson approached him with a cheque for the amount to solicit his help to join"an ongoing campaign to disgrace one lawyer Sarfo Abebrese and destroyhis reputation in an attempt to destroy a 2010 project he( lawyerAbebrese) was working on in South Africa".

He made available to the "Chronicle" a copy of an Ecobank cheque, not dated. To be dated when Mr, Richgold shoul have taken the offer.The cheque made out for the amount of GHC15,000.00, which he said was presented to him by Kumsonat Golden Tulip Hotel in Accra to join him on the"assignment" to South Africa with the promise of more afterwards."Kumson told me he himself had been given a huge sum of money by his"bosses" who included the owners and publishers of an Accra-basedprivate newspaper, and a "big man" in high political authority in thesports ministry". (names witheld by the Chronicle).

According to Richgold, upon further investigations, he realized thatthe whole agenda against the said lawyer Abebrese was aimed atdestroying his COSUA project to pave the way for a rival supportersunion which the "big man" at the sports ministry had founded toovertake and replace COSUA,and serve as the big man's own politicalpowerbase."Chronicle's" own investigations have revealed that the project inquestion, known as the Coalition of Supporters Unions of Africa, (COSUA)a brainchild of the Ghanaian Lawyer and Sports Broadcaster, SarfoAbebrese had been launched in Accra on 7th September 2006, with the aimof mobilizing an average of 2,000 fans from each of the 53 Africancountries under one umbrella organization to support the 6 countriesthat would qualify to represent Africa at the 2010 World Cup.

The group is the continental offshoot of the Supporters Union of Ghana,and it is widely acclaimed as a source of hope to Africa at 2010 not onlyin terms of providing overwhelming support for African teams in thestands, but also in terms of providing an opportunity for all 53 Africancountries to take part in the historic World Cup, the first in Africa inover a hundred years of FIFA's existence, whether their own countriesqualified or not.By far the most laudable aspect of the project is its use of football ingeneral, and the 2010 World Cup in particular, to achieve African unity.This African Unity mandate of COSUA is clearly recognized as its greatestcontribution to the continent, and it is given great emphasis in theOfficial Certification of the African Union Commission numberCOM/SAD/18/129.08 issued in Addis Ababa on April 3, 2008. It is in line with this call for Africa's support for the organizationthat the South African government granted the leader, Mr. Sarfo Abebresean unusual 6-year residence permit on the ticket of COSUA and for theestablishment and smooth running of its 2010 operations in Johannesburg.

Countries like Zambia, Zimbabwe, Botswana, Namibia,Mozambique,Lesotho andSwaziland have all embraced the COSUA project and hosted Sarfo Abebrese tostate visits, in the course of his country tour of Africa to preach the"gospel" of African Unity. Not only has he been featured in T.V.Newsbroadcasts and newspapers in all these countries, but he has also met withseveral government officials and political leaders in those countries aswell as in the A.U and the U.N

Ironically, the uncovering of the plot to undermine this Pan-Africanproject and to sabotage its founder, who has been hailed as themodern-day Kwame Nkrumah and was recently described by a Namibiannewspaper as "El Salvador...The Saviour" of Africa,proves once again theBiblical truth that no prophet is without honour except in his ownhometown.According to Mr. Godson, Prosper Kumson had told him that the need toembark on the South African mission had arisen because Sarfo and his grouphad surprisingly survived all the initial plans to useharrassments and intimidations which backfired when their main rivalgroup, the Ghana National Supporters Union (GHANSU) led byOne-Man-Supporter, Abraham Boakye teamed up with them to fight against the"big man" at the sports ministry and his new supporters union.

Mr. Godson said according to the briefing,even though the "big man's "supporters union took centre stage in the AFCON 2008 matches after bothSarfo and Abraham were blacklisted and discredited,the two had bouncedback strongly and threatened the staus quo."The blacklisting was done by creating a situation that ensuredthat visa applications by the two groups for travels outside Ghana wereundermined, using the influence of the sports ministry, and when theembassies declined, the same "big man" would turn round and get theleaders arrested and disgraced with charges of engaging in visa fraud",he said.Mr Godson further explained that Kumson revealed to him that the plotworked more effectively on Mr. Abebrese whose work as U.S. Attorney andImmigration Lawyer already involved the handling of visa cases.

"It was easy to paint him black because as an immigration lawyer, hewould win some of his cases and lose some, like any other lawyer. theplan was to present those cases he lost as 'visa fraud' cases. This wasdone by creating a story to the effect that he was being investigatedby the police, and that anybody who had paid money to him or to hisimmigration law firm for visa services and been unsuccessful had beenduped and so should report to the police.For maximum effect, acollossal amount of 14.8 Million US Dollars and 300 Million Cedis wasmentioned as the amount he had fraudulently taken from some 8 peoplewho have already lodged complaints against Mr. Abebrese.", said Mr.Godson.He continued that the wicked plot, he was told, worked to perfectionbecause accoding to Kumson, for the first time, his "bosses' managed toget the story on the front page of the "Daily Graphic" instead of thepages of their own private nerwspaper which they had previously beenusing to circulate "anti-Abebrese" stories.

"The story was widely covered by all the radio stations in Ghana and ina lot of foreign media, including internet circulation.Nobody stopped toask how 8 people could pay more than 200,000 US Dollars each for avisa!...and in a short time, over 50 people had reported to the policeheadquarters with receipts from Sarfo's Unilegal Consult lawfirm inAccra. Even though,most of these receipts covered "non-refundableconsultation fees" for legal immigration services and some dated back 4years or more, Kumson's bosses managed to get an Accra circuit court toissue a bench warrant for Sarfo's arrest,declare him wanted, and publishhim negatively all over the place".

According to Mr. Godson, what shocked the detractors most was the factthat in spite of all that had been done to his reputation, theycontinued to receive reports of Sarfo's travels to, and COSUAactivities in, not only South Africa but also in various other Africancountries as well as in Europe and in the USA, from foreignnewspapers,T.V. News, magazines and the internet."The last straw to breat the camel's back was when the same AccraCircuit Court that had declared Sarfo wanted by the issue of the benchwarrant, finally dismissed all charges against him, rescind the benchwarrant, and declare him a free man. That was the point when thedecision to "carry the fight to him at his South Africa base" wastaken, and it was at this point that i was offered the money to join theplot", Godson concluded.Asked why he refused to join the plot, he simply answered," myconscience".He said Kumson had woefully failed to convince him as to why Sarfo andCOSUA "had to be stopped" as he always put it."Besides, i also did my own investigations and i was fortunate to meetMr. Abebrese himself in the course of my investigations!. He had visitedone of the African countries on his COSUA tour and i caught up with himafter his official meeting there with the 1st Vice President of CAF, Gen.Seyi Memene.I just fell in love with his dedication to the project and howmuch he was prepared to suffer, and had suffered, for it! I knew at oncethat as a Christian, i could not betray my God, my Continent and myconscience to work against this vision...and so i declined".

He concluded that even though he was aware of the plot, and of Kumson'spresence and activities in South Africa, he had not orchestrated his(Kumson's) deportation as he was being accused of, saying he only gotto know of Kumson's return to Ghana when he was invited to the policestation and asked questions about causing the deportation of someone "onofficial duty" in a foreign land, which he denied." I got a taste of Sarfo's bitter pill when the police used my wife'sprofession as a pharmacist to accuse me of importing expired drugs intothe country to warrant the ransacking of my office in Accra".

He concluded by saying that even though he has been on police enquirybail with the threat of court prosecution and death threats to him, hehas never regretted his actions, and believes God will vindicate him ashe prays for the success of Mr Abebrese and his noble COSUA project.

I will in the next story come out with full names of those behind this.