Kotoko Bosses At War

Accusations and counter accusations between the Chairman of the disbanded Interim Management Committee of Kumasi Asante Kotoko, Sylvester Asare Owusu and a Board member of the club, Mr. Wilberforce Mfum last Friday resulted in a police patrol team making a swift move to Fox FM to avert an attack by a mob on one Nana Atta, an aide of the former IMC chairman.

The police eventually arrested Atta who had earlier on owned up as the one who had ambushed Mr. Kennedy Agyepong at the S. Bar in Bantama, a suburb of Kumasi two weeks ago.

Atta had claimed on the programme that Agyepong had collected an amount of ?10m from the former IMC Chairman with the promise of influencing the Board?s decision so that Asare Owusu would be given the nod for the Kotoko top job in the days leading to the appointment.

The tone for the near disturbances was set earlier last Friday on another private radio station when Mfum had accused Asare Owusu of calling him on phone to verbally abuse him after the selection of Major (rtd) Yaw Larson as the CEO of Kotoko against the candidature of Asare Owusu.

Mfum, sounding very embittered said, "he (referring to Asare Owusu) called me on phone and said unprintable things to me and further threatened that I would come to Kumasi to face him".

He described the attitude of Asare Owusu as very insulting in view of his advanced age against that of Mr. Asare Owusu.

Mfum was at a loss as to why Asare Owusu had even harboured the hope of becoming the CEO of the club against the background that he had failed to inject financial discipline into the club?s accounts.

Asare Owusu on the other hand called on to the programme to tell his side of the story. He admitted calling the Board member but explained it was Mfum who had rather abused him earlier on and gone ahead to peddle falsehood about him.

He claimed that Mfum had told a section of the club?s supporters that he (Asare Owusu) had embezzled the club?s funds.

The former IMC chairman claimed on the programme that contrary to Mfum?s assertion that he had embezzled Kotoko?s money, his administration rather left a profit of over one billion cedis when one took the value of players his administration left behind into consideration.

The former IMC Chairman caused a stir when he questioned "what was a whole Board Chairman of Kotoko doing at that time of the night at the drinking spot", in reference to the physical attack on Kennedy Agyepong said to have been witnessed by Kotoko Board Chairman P.V. Obeng.