Hot!
Good to have the team back!
News that the Technical Team which superbly navigated Ghana’s path to the Qatar 2022 World Cup tournament, will still be in charge of the forthcoming Mundial, is worth celebrating.
It is one that disciples of Ghana football will hail for many days to come.
Spearheaded by Otto Addo and a formidable backroom staff made up of George Boateng, Mas-udDidiDramani, the team masterminded Black Stars’ triumph over their age-long rivals – Nigeria’s Super Eagles, via the away goal rule.
The game’s crucial first leg play-off at the Baba Yara Sports Stadium in Kumasi had ended in a heart-pumping goalless stalemate – an upshot that sent tongues wagging in blissful discord.
Indeed, many had thrown hands up in dispair, predicting doom for the Stars in the return encounter in the capital Abuja, especially when the game was going to be held at a stadium that takes more than 80,000 fans, double the size of the Baba Yara Stadium.
The stadium was filled to the brim. It was already known it was going to be so. Not surprising at all.
To cut a known long story short, tactical shrewdness from Ghana’s Technical Team blew off Nigeria’s overzealous, embarrassingly rich armada.
Though they dominated exchanges, it had to take Nigeria a contentious spot-kick to efface Thomas Partey’s 12th minute strike, finishing the gut-wrenching evening 1-1.
Nigeria mourned! The fans gnashed their teeth in rage. And, the players wept uncontrollably back in their dressing room.
A different story lit up the nation as many cartwheeled in celebration at the final signal from the Tunisian referee. Ghanaians, especially, the ‘Doubting Thomases’ remained shocked.
But one thing that everybody did was to praise the tactical depth of the Otto Addo-led team, believing they have something spectacular up their sleeve to turn the fortunes of the Black Stars around in the November 2022 World Cup.
And, suddenly, everyone is calling for the Technical Team to be retained.
You remember how they (technical team) doggedly refused to ‘unmask’ their squad ahead of the cracker in Kumasi? Those who criticised that unpopular decision would later gild their lily.
The good thing is that the Ghana Football Association (GFA) has elicited a positive response from Bundesliga side Dortmund, employers of Otto Addo – the Germany team agreeing to release their Scout and Assistant Coach for the World Cup and other engagements.
Otto Addo, it was agreed, would be on the touchline when the Black Stars host Madagascar in a 2023 Nations Cup qualifier in June (next month) at the Cape Coast Sports Stadium.
The GFA is also in talks with the other backroom staff and their employers to get them aboard – and from all indications, the coast is almost clear for an encore.
What the Technical Team and the players need now is the consummate backing from Ghanaians. It is important.
However, we shall not sit aloof if they get it wrong, especially with new call-ups into the national team. Every player must be worth their weight in gold.
By John Vigah
The Member of Parliament for Nsawam Adoagyiri, Frank Annoh Dompreh, has expressed concern over delays in the release of the District Assemblies Common Fund, warning that the situation is stalling development across the country.
On his facebook page, he described as a matter of urgent national importance, the Minority Chief Whip pointed to what he sees as a growing crisis of unpaid contractors, abandoned projects, and halted infrastructure works in many districts.
He noted that several communities are grappling with half completed schools, unfinished health facilities, abandoned markets, deteriorating roads, and stalled sanitation projects.
According to him, many contractors who have executed projects for district assemblies have not been paid, forcing some construction firms to demobilise from sites while workers lose their jobs.
He stressed that the District Assemblies Common Fund is not a discretionary allocation but a constitutional requirement under Article 252 of the 1992 Constitution, intended to support development at the local level.
In his view, years of delayed releases and accumulated arrears have weakened district development financing and disrupted projects meant to improve living conditions in communities.
He further argued that some payments made in recent years were largely the settlement of old debts rather than funding for new or ongoing projects, a situation he believes has affected contractor confidence and local economic activity.
He described the issue as more than a budgetary challenge, characterising it as a development emergency and a governance concern.
He therefore urged the appropriate authorities to pay outstanding DACF arrears, settle contractors who have completed their work, and ensure that transfers to districts are automatic and predictable.
He maintained that decentralisation can only succeed when district assemblies receive adequate and timely funding to carry out development projects.
He emphasised that stalled projects directly affect ordinary citizens, since they rely on such infrastructure for education, healthcare, transportation, sanitation, and economic activities.
He called for renewed attention to grassroots development, insisting that national progress should not be concentrated only in major cities but extended to all communities.
By: Jacob Aggrey
Richard Appiah, the footballer who killed two children and stored part of their bodies in a fridge at Abesim in the Bono Region in 2021 has been handed a lifetime sentence.
This was after a five member panel of judges at the Accra High Court returned a verdict of guilty against the convict.
Appiah, 32, also a draughtsman would spend the rest of his life in prison after he was convicted of murder.
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BY MALIK SULLEMANA
