Ghanaian government accused of fixing a football match to spite Uhuru Kenyatta
The Republic newspaper alleges that Ghana’s president is unhappy with the result of Kenya’s disputed election due to his close relationship with opposition leader Raila Odinga.
The Republic Newspaper. (Courtesy)
Ghanaian government has been accused of fixing a football match to spite Uhuru Kenyatta.
A Ghanaian newspaper is reporting that the country’s government fixed an international football match to avoid sending the country’s national team to Kenya in 2018.
According to the Republic newspaper,the NPP government had a hand in the reserve team of the national team,losing a qualifier to Burkina Faso on August 20,2017 at the Baba Yara Sports Stadium. The result meant that Ghana would be unable to qualify for next year’s CHAN tournament schedules to be staged in Kenya from January.
The paper alleges that Ghana’s president is unhappy with the result of Kenya’s disputed election due to his close relationship with opposition leader Raila Odinga.
Ghana’s governing NPP had been accused in the buildup to Kenya’s election of providing technical support to Odinga’s NASA party,leading to the refusal of entry into Kenya of a high ranking member of the NPP,Peter MacManu,who had been billed to visit the country as the head of an independent election observation team.
Mustapha Hamid,Ghana’s minister of information had in the days after the election issued a statement,saying Ghana had no interest in the results of Kenya’s presidential election.
“We wish to make it clear the government of Ghana has no interest whatsoever in who emerges the winner in Tuesday's poll. The decision as to who leads Kenya for the next four years as President remains the sole preserve of the Kenyan people.”
“The Ghanaian Constitution guarantees every citizen of Ghana the freedom to participate in political activity inside or outside of the country, within the laws of Ghana or wherever they find themselves. They do so in their own capacity as free citizens of a free state, and not at the behest of the government of Ghana,"read the statement.
Ghana’s football association could not be reached for comment on the allegation .