Two years after the tournament, Jean Marcel, the Chief Executive of African Village, an event management company, approved by FIFA to render hospitality services to selected West African countries including Ghana, said Ghanaian officials had refused to pay the outstanding bills.
The impasse over unpaid tickets has set off a chain-reaction that includes a potential blacklisting of Ghanaian supporters in the 2014 World Cup in Brazil.
"FIFA has been notified about the infamous activities or Ghana National Sports Council during the 2010 FIFA World Cup being perpetrated by the Chairman [Kojo Bonsu] and FIFA's outcome would be disastrous for Ghanaian supporters come 2014 World Cup in Brazil should-Ghana National Sports Council refuse to make payment for services rendered by FIFA approved agent," Jean Marcel threatened.
In the September 17,2012 petition to Provident Mahama made available to DAILY GUIDE, Jean Marcel stated that in May 2010, Kojo Bonsu the Chief Executive of the NSC approached him for a total tour package for approximately $5.5million for 1,100 Ghanaian supporters.
The package was planned to cover air tickets accommodation, meals and ground transportation for all the 1,100 spectators airlifted to South Africa.
However, in his petition to President John Mahama, Mr Marcel alleged that Kojo Bonsu lured him to bring the tickets to Ghana and upon arrival at the Kotoka International Airport late May 2010, he was roughed up by a number of gun-wielding Bureau of National Investigations (BNI) operatives who subsequently snatched the tickets meant for the Ghanaian supporters.
"Your Excellency, to my surprise, Kojo hatched a plan and invited me to Ghana from South Africa to present the games tickets for supporters so that I can receive my payment, instead for Kojo to pay me. He then used BNI security officials with machine guns and kidnapped me into a small room at the Kotoka International Airport...Kojo ordered the security officials to rob me of all the game tickets numbering 2100 and ordered me to keep quiet and leave the airport. Sensing that my life was in danger, I boarded the next available plane to Ivory Coast," stated Jean Marcel in the petition.
'When contacted by DAILY GUIDE, Kojo Bonsu denied ever wresting the tickets from Marcel, describing him as a "very terrible crook".
Mr. Bonsu stated, "He is a crook; we paid him for the tickets for the World Cup. The money was transferred to him and just about two days for the World Cup to open, the tickets were not here. So we told him to bring the tickets, he brought them, we had paid him the money. The man still owes me money."
The Deal
Documents available to DAILY GUIDE indicate that apparently, on April 16 2010, a memorandum of understanding was signed between Posterity Capital Group, the mother company of Muzinda Residence where the Ghanaian entourage lodged: E-Zee Travel, the local travel agency in South Africa, African Village South Africa and the National Sports Council. All the parties were allocated their respective responsibilities to cater for the travel arrangements, from visa acquisition to lodging, transportation and feeding.
In total, African Village was to arrange for accommodation for 1100 supporters for 13 days at the cost of $20 a night, ground transportation using 10 luxury buses, and match tickets. The package summed up to $1,706,659. This amount was apparently left unpaid.
According to the local partner of African Village, Kwame Wadaada, who heads a local NGO called Africa Awake, the deal was snatched from African Village and handed down to Mr. Bonsu's son based in South Africa, Michael Owusu' Darko Bonsu who allegedly reaped $495,000 from margins gained from providing accommodation and feeding for the Ghanaian contingent
According to Mr Wadaada, unknown to African Village, a parallel MoU was signed between Posterity Capital Group, E-Zee Travel, Michael Bonsu and the National Sports Council headed by Kojo Bonsu.
But when quizzed, Mr. Bonsu said the deal was taken away from the Af0rican Village because it kept delaying in delivering the tickets and after several correspondences, Jean Marcel was convinced to bring the tickets to Ghana.
Ticket Blues
The Sports Council boss told DAILY GUIDE that when the tickets finally arrived their authenticity became an issue. David Kirkham Match Event Services, FIFA's ticket enforcement agency raised questions about the fact that the verification codes of the tickets from Ghana were reflecting in the FIFA system. "That means those papers [confirmation codes] he gave us were fraudulent, so we got scared," charged Mr. Bonsu.
"So what [we] did was that, the tickets he brought to us, we calculated the amount of money we've paid him and gave the balance of the ticket to him," Mr Bonsu disclosed.
The impasse appears to be intensifying as both sides feel they have been cheated.
Executive Silence
Meanwhile, since the petition was sent to the Presidency, no official response had been issued, stated Mr. Wadaada. He said he had met the Chief of Staff at the Castle, Henry Marley Newman, but all efforts to get an official action had proved futile.
Mr. Bonsu said he was unperturbed and was ready to go to court to battle it out with African Village. "Even if it goes to court, I will present my papers on behalf of government and sue him, he is just a bloody rogue. If he is a man and he thinks what he is saying is substantiated, he should go to court and the issues will come out. He is a crook.'" he fumed.
source: Daily Guide
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