March 23

DIGITAL NO. 100849 MONDAY, MARCH 23, 2020
DAILYHERITAGE.COM.GH
• The Kotoka
International airport
•
•Ex President
John Mahama
• Mr Patrick
Gilima standing
before his ban
of yam
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CONTENT
ANNIVERSARIES
Good Friday — Fri, 10 Apr 2020
Easter Monday — Mon, 13 Apr 2020
Labour Day — Fri, 1 May 2020
DAILY HERITAGE MONDAY, MARCH 23, 2020
Published by: EIB
Network / Heritage
Communications Ltd.
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Covid-19:
Let’s act as we pray
BY KWAME ACHEAMPONG
• Ex Prez Mahama urges Ghanaians
FORMER PRESIDENT John Mahama
has urged Ghanaians to act
even as they pray for divine intervention
in the wake of the coronavirus
pandemic.
In a Facebook address yeaterday afternoon,
the National Democratic Congress
flag bearer said he had put together a team
of technical experts to augment the government’s
efforts in controlling the spread of
the deadly virus in Ghana.
“We must act even as we pray! I have
made a firm commitment to support the authorities
in whatever way possible, and
whenever called upon, to combat this pandemic.
Over the last week, I have forcefully,
thanks to my Communications Team, led a
public education drive that is promoting effectively
the introduction, education and
practice of the recommended WHO protocols
aimed at helping stop the spread of the
COVID-19.
“I have also already announced that the
National Democratic Congress (NDC) is
committed to assisting government in this
fight by availing all technical and logistical resources
at our disposal. As evidence of our
seriousness in that respect, we have assembled
a technical team to guide our efforts
and to lead the NDC’s response to the
evolving situation. The team is an assembly
of experts from the many fields that will be
required to implement a national action plan
on COVID-19.
Mr Mahama also declared support for
President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-
Addo’s call for national prayer on Wednesday,
March 25.
President Akufo-Addo, in his third address
to the nation on Sunday asked that all
Ghanaians, Christians and Muslims join to
call on God to protect Ghana from the pandemic.
“While we continue to adhere to these
measures and ramp up efforts to defeat this
virus, I urge all of us also to seek the face of
• Former President John Mahama
the Almighty. So on Wednesday 25th March,
2020, I appeal to all Ghanaians, Christians
and Muslims to observe a national day of
fasting and prayer.
“Let us pray to God to protect our nation
and save us from the pandemic. I thank the
men and women of God who prayed for the
nation on Thursday and with the Vice-president
on Friday, for their interventions,” he
said.
Mahama team
The former president akso unveiled a
team of technical experts to augment the
government’s efforts in fighting the coronavirus
pandemic.
According to the former President, he is
willing to avail himself for the campaign
against the virus whenever he is called upon.
Below is the list of the technical experts
announced by Mr. Mahama
1. Nana Kofi Quakyi (Assitant Professor
in Public Health/Specialist in Health Economics)
2. Dr. Vida Yarkong (Ph.D in Interdisciplinary
Medicine)
3. Dr. Prosper Akanbong- Immediate
Past CEO of Tamale Teaching Hospital and
Physician Consultant.
4. Dr. Jehu Appiah: Senior Medical Consultant
and former General Secretary of the
Ghana Medical Association
5. Prosper Bani- Former Minister of Interior
and former Head of UNDP’s Crisis Prevention
and Recovery Team for Africa’s.
6. Dr. Ezanator Rawlings- Medical Doctor
7. Hon. Alex Segbefia: former minister of
Health
8. Hon. Mintah Akando- Ranking member
on committee of Heath
9. Prof. Margaret Kweku- UHAS
10. Dr.Jonas Asamoah- Public Health Expert,
Hawa Memorial Hospital, Osiem.
11. Mrs. Mawuena Trebarh – (Communications
Specialist)
So far the coronavirus infections have hit
308,547 globally with 13,069 deaths. However,
95,829 people have recovered from the
deadly disease.
Italy, now the pandemic’s new epicentre,
has more than 53,000 recorded infections
and more than 4,800 dead, and the rate of
increase keeps growing, with more than half
the cases and fatalities coming in the past
week.
On Saturday, officials reported 793 additional
deaths, by far the largest single-day increase
so far. Italy has surpassed China as the
country with the highest death toll, becoming
the epicentre of a shifting pandemic.

WWW.DAILYHERITAGE.COM.GH
DAILY HERITAGE MONDAY, MARCH 23, 2020
03
Ghana's borders
shut down
NEWSDESK REPORT
PRESIDENT NANA
Addo Dankwa Akufo-
Addo has announced the
closing of the country's
borders and the recall of
retired health workers.
He says these additional measures
are meant to contain the
spread of the deadly coronavirus
(COVID-19) that has infected 24
persons in the cpuntry.
In an address to s nation Saturday
evening, the President stated
also that 50,000 test kits had been
ordered and were expected in the
country shortly.
He said the recalled retired
health workers were coming in to
help fight the coronavirus.
Closure of borders
The President said the closure
of the country’s borders took effect
yestersay (Sunday, March 22,
2020), clarifying that the closure
did not apply to goods and cargo.
Mr Akufo-Addo urged Ghanaians
to strictly adhere to observing
the social distancing measures announced
on Sunday, March 15.
• Retired health workers
to help fight Covid-19
He said this on Saturday,
explaining the decision was to
help reduce further escalation
of the infection rate in the
thanks country.
“Fellow Ghanaians, all that
the government is doing is intended
to achieve five key objectives:
limit and stop the
importation of the virus; contain
its spread; provide adequate
care number of the sick;
limit the impact of the virus on
social and economic life; and
inspire the expansion of our
domestic capabilities and
deepen our self-reliance.”
It was his third address to
the nation on the coronavirus
pandemic.
He said all the country's
borders- land, air and seawould
be closed at midnight on
Sunday.
The closure would, however,
not apply to goods.
According to Nana Akufo-
Addo, the measures will be reviewed
periodically and
enhanced if necessary.
He also declared Wednesday,
March 25, as a national day
for fasting and prayers against
the spread of the Coronavirus.
The President’s address
came hours after one of the 24
individuals who tested positive
for Coronavirus died in a
health facility at Kumasi in the
Ashanti Region.
The victim, according to the
Deputy Health Minister,
Alexander Abban, is a
Lebanese national who tested
positive for the virus last
week.
Globally the virus has
infected 304,336 people
with 12,984 deaths, with
most of the deaths occurring
in Italy and China.
China, Italy, Iran,
Spain and Germany have
suffered the highest number
of infections.
President
Nana Addo
Dankwa Akufo-
Addo has announced
the
closing of the
country's borders
and the
recall of retired
health
workers.
• Some of Ghana’s
point of entry

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DAILY HERITAGE DIGITAL MARCH, 23, 2020
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We need a yam marketing board -GYPEA
BY RAMSON ACQUAH-HAYFORD
THE PRESIDENT of
the Ghana Yam Producers
and Exporters
Association
(GYPEA), Mr.
Theophilus Kenneth
Hayford, says the yam sector in the
country's agriculture economy needs
a Yam Development and Marketing
Board.
He says there numerous challenges
confronting the yam value
chain such as poor quality seeds resulting
in short shelf life of yam,
lack of storage facilities, inadequate
agric extension services, deplorable
road conditions, aging workforce on
yam farms and lack of financial support
for the yam value chain operators
in the country.
Mr Hayford expressed such view
in an interview with the DAILY
HERITAGE in Accra on Saturday.
He noted that the Board would
coordinate the development and
promotion of the yam sector similar
to the Cocoa Marketing Board, as
envisaged in the Yam Sector Development
Strategy, and that the absence
of such a board was costing
the country and the yam sector players
millions of dollars.
Mr Hayford added that the absence
of the Yam Development and
Marketing Board was also denying
the national economy of Ghana essential
jobs, especially in Northern
Ghana and Savannah areas of the
country where the yam value chain
can make the desired impact in the
socio-economic transformation of
the people there and beyond.
“In Ghana, the Cocoa Marketing
Board (CMB) is the most shining
example of an agricultural produce
•MrTheophilus Kenneth Hayford,
president of GYPEA
development and marketing board.
Since the inception of the CMB, it
has implemented several bold initiatives
that have resulted in sustained
growth and development of the
cocoa sector as a leading agricultural
export earner for Ghana.
"With the immense untapped
potential of yam, if we pay the right
attention to this commodity, it can
contribute significantly toward
poverty alleviation in Ghana as a
whole and in yam-growing communities
such as Buya, Chinderi,
Kpassa,Damanko, Bimbilla, Dambai
and Kpandai, where poverty is endemic,”
he said.
He added that the situation was
exacerbated by the fact that the twomember
Yam Development Council
(YDC), tasked to oversee the implementation
of the Yam Sector Development
Strategy existed only in
name and had no functional secretariat
or core administrative and
technical staff to drive the policies
that might be initiated by the Council.
“This should not be the fate of a
commodity with so great a potential,
hence the need for a properly
constituted Yam Development and
Marketing Board with a functional
Secretariat to spearhead the development
of the yam sector and
transform it into a vibrant commodity
for both the domestic and international
markets,” he said.
Mr Hayford remarked that in
the light of this situation, GYPEA,
had initiated an advocacy action
under the DANIDA, European
Union and USAID-sponsored Business
Sector Advocacy Challenge
(BUSAC) Phase III to demand the
establishment of a Yam Development
and Marketing Board for
Ghana, which wiould see to the formulation
and implementation of appropriate
policy interventions which
will ensure the optimal development
and sustained growth of the yam
sector in Ghana.
&Env.
Zoomlion advocates “1bin for
1household” at Tamale Trade Expo
WASTE
MAN-
AGE-
MENT
Company,
Zoomlion
Ghana Limited, has urged the various
Metropolitan, Municipal and
District Assemblies (MMDAs) to
lead the charge for households in
the country to get waste bins to
help effectively collect waste.
The Director of Communications
and Corporate Affairs of
Zoomlion Ghana Limited, Mrs
Emma Akyea-Boakye, who made
the appeal to the MMDAs and the
general public at the 24th Ghana
International Trade Fair organized
in Tamale, stated in an interview
that there were huge volumes of
uncollected waste in the system
which these waste bins could help
to collect.
She said “the uncollected waste
ends up at unauthorized places
such as drains, streets, public
parks, among others, which is a
public health concern, considering
the onset of rains as we are about
to experience the rainy season.”
Mrs Akyea-Boakye said she
was optimistic that the waste bin
distribution project was very critical
in sustaining Ghana’s gains in
ensuring that the country would
become one of the cleanest in the
sub-region.
Meanwhile the company has
exhibited its integrated waste
management solutions services
and other innovative products
being undertaken in the Northern
Region at the 24th Ghana International
Trade fair organized at the
Aliu Mahama Sports Stadium in
Tamale.
Patrons who visited the stands
of Zoomlion Ghana Limited were
impressed with the various stateof-the-art
infrastructure-integrated
recycling and composting
plants being established to help
convert waste into compost to
feed the agriculture sector.
The 11-day fair, on the theme
‘Value Addition, Trading Globally’,
attracted over 600 exhibitors
from Ghana, the Western African
sub-region, Madagascar, India,
Guinea, Italy, Angola, and Gambia
among others.
The fair aimed at promoting
value-added products, connecting
local industries to international
partners, as well as encouraging
people to patronize made-in-
Ghana products.

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NEWS
Covid-19:
DAILY HERITAGE DIGITAL MARCH, 23, 2020
We’re using funds from our
research work – KCCR
BY PHILIP ANTOH
ASENIOR lecturer
at the Department
of Theoretical and
Applied Biology at
the Kwame
Nkrumah University
of Science and Technology
and a Research Scientist at the
Kumasi Centre for Collaborative
Research (KCCR) in Tropical
Medicine, Dr Agustina Angelina
Sylvrlerken, say they are testing
Covid-19 cases with resources
from research work.
“For now we able to use resources
from our research work
to test the samples but once the
numbers go up we will need some
support from the government. We
have also received support from
our collaborators from Germany.
We work closely with them and
they actually develop the test the
World Health Organisation is
using, but like I said, once the
numbers go up, we definitely need
some support from the government,”
she told Ultimate FM’s
Isaac Bediako Justice.
According to her, the KCCR
received 31 samples of suspected
cases of Covid-19 and three have
tested positive and are currently in
isolation centres receiving treatment.
She said currently, the centre
had what it takes in terms of resources
to test but in a situation
where the numbers would go up,
“we will need more support to enable
us to do our testing.”
According to her, the three
who have tested positive are in
isolation and the clinicians are attending
to them because once
someone tests positive, that person
needs to be isolated and given
the needed care.
On the issue of fear and anxiety,
Dr Sylvrlerken said “we don’t
need to panic, be afraid or scared
because if we adhere to the advice
the President gave us as well as
others from the experts on the
need to practise hand-washing
with soap under running water,
using sanitizers containing at least
60% of ethanol and practising
cough and sneezing ethics such as
sneezing onto a smooth paper
and dispose it off immediately.
Don’t be in a crowded environment,
no funerals, mosques,
churches nor temples. We will
minimise it.”
“As I keep on saying, we don’t
want to be like Italy where the
whole country has been shut
down and I believe that if we pay
attention to these instructions, we
will be able to contain the spread
of Covid-19,” she said.
Dr Anyars to give Tamale hospitals hot water facilities
THE FOUNDER of Repairer
Foundation and the New Patriotic
Party (NPP) 2020 Parliamentary
Candidate for the Tamale Central
Constituency, Dr Ibrahim Imoro
Anyars, has pledged to support
Tamale West and Central hospitals.
According to him, these hospitals
lack hot water facilities in the
delivery of healthcare to patients.
Against this background, Dr
Anyars has promised to provide
hot water facilities for the two
hospitals.
The two public health facilities,
which are situated in his constituency,
serve thousands of people
in the area. Dr Anyars is also
popularly known as ‘Barhama’.
Dr Anyars, who is also the
Chief Executive Officer of the
Nation Builders Corps, made this
statement while addressing loyalist
group of young ladies named
Barhama Ladies, who are supporting
his campaign.
This was after ‘Barhama
Ladies’ had undertaken a clean-up
exercise at the Tamale Central
Hospital and also donated sanitary
pads, baby diapers, among other
items to the maternity ward of the
facility.
“From my childhood days till
now, I see caretakers of hospitalised
patients commute every
morning to these hospitals carrying
flasks filled with hot water. I
want to save them the stress by
providing hot water facilities in
the hospitals as soon as possible,”
Dr Anyars said.
He thanked the ‘Barhama
Ladies’ for their hard work and
dedication towards his campaign,
and urged them to continue with
the good work and urged them to
spread his campaign messages in
order for him to come out victorious
from this year’s December 7
general election.
Clean environment
The leader of the Barhama
Ladies, Hajia Mutiatu Sayibu Dinnani,
told the media that the
group took the initiative to
demonstrate to the public the
need for a clean environment and
to drum home their parliamentary
candidate’s dream of making
Tamale Central the cleanest constituency
in Tamale.
She said as a group of young
ladies, they had the understanding
of the vulnerability and plight of
women during pregnancy and
labour and that made them chose
to donate to the maternity ward of
the facility.
Pregnant women and mothers
of newborn babies, who were
beneficiaries of the items, expressed
joy and appreciation for
the gesture and thanked the
‘Barhama Ladies’ team for their
kindness.
They prayed for victory for Dr
Anyars to become the next Member
of Parliament for the Tamale
Central Constituency on the ticket
of the NPP.
The Medical Superintendent of
the Tamale Central Hospital, Dr
Mahamadu Mbiniwaya, expressed
appreciation and also prayed that
Dr Anyars would emerge victorious
and continue the good work
for the Tamale Central Hospital
and good people of the area.
Barhama Ladies
‘Barhama Ladies’ is a political
loyalist group which was formed
in May 2019, to campaign towards
attaining victory for Dr Anyars,
The group has an active membership
of over 150 young ladies.
They go by a slogan in Dagbani,
‘Bobgu N-nye Yaa’, literally meaning
‘Unity is strength.’

WWW.DAILYHERITAGE.COM.GH
06
DAILY HERITAGE MONDAY, MARCH 23, 2020
Editorial
The public interest is supreme
WE ARE caught up in a crisis; the
worries associated with the coronavirus
seem to suggest that certain
things must be stopped, things like
the national identification exercise
and the compilation of a new voters
register if the Supreme Court sanctions
that.
The worries of those advocating
that such exercises be stopped cannot
be rubbished unlike what some
people, especially political party supporters,
are doing because the calls
for stopping such exercises are coming
from their political opponents.
The DAILY HERITAGE is
not against either stand but would
like to make one suggestion or two.
Is it not the best if we can have a
second look at our stand and see
what we can do about it before taking
entrenched positions or become
peremptory about that stand?
It’s a pity that in this country, the
two frontline political parties, the
ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP)
and the opposition National Democratic
Congress (NDC), fail to appreciate
each other’s contributions
or opinions about issues of national
interest.
Yes, no one set of people can
claim to be the repository of all
knowledge and wisdom but sometimes
the DAILY HERITAGE
sees that certain initiatives from one
party or the responses or reactions
to such initiatives are rash or simply
hasty conclusions, yet members of
these parties, especially the appointed
communicators, would
spew out responses that inflame
passions.
Just consider the statement by Mr
Asiedu Nketia, the General Secretary
of the NDC that various
arrangements by President Nana
Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo to contain
the spread of Covid-19 in the
country such as quarantining people
suspected of having the virus are intended
to rig the 2020 elections
rather than truly containing the disease.
The DAILY HERITAGE is
concerned about remarks such as
this. It gives the NDC out as just
being interested in smearing others
just to get power to rule and enjoy
the pecks thereof rather than seeking
the national interest.
It is disturbing how political opponents
demonise each in almost
everything they do, good or bad.
There are even media outlets
(radio stations especially) which insult
President Nana Addo Dankwa
Akufo-Addo for one initiative, project
or remarks, while there are others
which descend on former
President John Mahama.
The DAILY HERITAGE
thinks that though it is the right of
people to express opinions about
whatever thing they deem interesting,
they should seek the general
good rather than being emotional
and rash by attacking individuals instead
of pointing out loopholes in
their initiatives or statements and offering
better alternatives.
That way the country can make
more progress than we see now.
Just last Sunday, March 15, 2020,
France had local government elections
to choose mayors and local
leaders at a time that country had
4,500 cases of coronavirus out of
which 91 people had died.
French President Emmanuel
Macron asked that the elections
should go ahead as planned because
he did not want to unduly delay
them.
The people did not rubbish their
president’s decision. They were left
to take a decision and that decision
reflected in the turnout. That Sunday’s
elections had a turnout of 38%
as against 54% in similar elections in
2014.
We need to learn from this instead
of rubbishing everything because
we did not initiate them.
Now the DAILY HER-
ITAGE hears that the National
Identification Authority also has
been taken to court and so has suspended
it's activities in view of the
coronavirus outbreak in the country.
All we would like to advise is that
we all should remain calm and wait
for the Court's rulings on the two
cases because relying on the courts
is a huge example of seeking the national
interest.
Go into farming to
ecourage youth
• Krachi West MCE to colleagues
BY PHILIP ANTOH
philip.antoh@dailyheritage.com.gh
THE MUNICIPAL Chief Executive
(MCE) of Krachi West in
the newly-created Oti Region,
Mr Patrick Gilima, has called on
colleague Metropolitan, Municipal
and District Chief Executives in the
country to take advantage of the government's
initiative of 'Planting for food and
jobs' to go into farming.
According to him, the youth these days
see going into farming as either a sign of
lack of academic prowess or punishment and
therefore find it difficult to engage in it.
Mr Gilima said it was time the government
appointees took farming seriously for
the youth to know that farming is not for failures
in life but is one of the surest ways of
employment and also feeding the nation.
He said " I have always been telling the
youth that farming or weeding is not a punishment
as portrayed in the past when teachers
gave students pieces of land to weed as
punishment," he stated.
The MCE said farming had now gained
international recognition to the extent that in
the United States it is farmers who are controlling
the economy and the business environment.
Speaking to the DAILY HERITAGE
at Pai Katanga on Saturday, March 21, 2020,
when the MCE was preparing to go to his
farm, he said last year alone, "I harvested
over 50,000 tubers of yam, cultivated maize
and planted cashew too."
He said he had cultivated a
five-acre land, which contain, at
least, 100,000 mounds for
planting yams and that he had
plans to plant cashew too.
"Farming is what prospered
our forefathers but these day,
we have left farming for the less
privilege in society and until
bankers, accounts, politicians
and the worthy in society engage
in it, we will continue to
import foodstuffs from neighbouring countries,"he
said
Mr Gilima said this year, the municipality
multiplied its food production involving
items like maize, yam, cassava, and rice production
grew 10 times.
On the coronavirus, the MCE said the
municipality had started educating people on
•Mr Patrick Gilima standing
before his ban of yam
personal hygiene by regularly washing hands
with running water and that today, he is
mounting a public address system in the
market to continue the education.
He called on all Ghanaians to adhere to
the President's directives to ensure that together
we can fight Covid-19.

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Arts & Ent
DAILY HERITAGE MARCH, 23, 2020
Araba Cudjoe
drops debut
single ‘
Akakakra’
•Araba Cudjoe
BY ERICA ARTHUR
ANEW singer has mounted
the Ghanaian gospel music
stage with her debut single
dubbed ‘Aka Kakra’, which
she renders in Twi in a soothing
spirit-filled voice.
Araba Cudjoe, the new act, says ‘Aka
Kakra’ means ‘In a short while’ in the English
Language.
According to the artiste who doubles as a
songwriter and wife, ‘Aka Kakra’ is an advocacy
tool to draw men to Jesus Christ to accept
Him as their Lord and personal saviour
as the only way to salvation.
In an interview with the DAILY HER-
ITAGE, she explained that the title of the
song was inspired by “the excuses we always
seek to give for not pursuing our salvation,
postponing our salvation to tomorrow as if
tomorrow is ours. Salvation is now”.
The artist said she started as a solo artist
in the church, adding, “I did my first demo
album about 20years ago, and had to hold on
due to other equally important responsibilities,
but I believe in His time He makes all
things beautiful and the time is ripe for me
to come out now.”
Araba says she is motivated by the love
she has for music and worship and that she
believes Ghanaian gospel has come of age
with genres like urban/ contemporary music
unlike when it was started.
“For me, I believe in the present day,
there’s a dramatic move and a revival of the
Holy Spirit on the gospel music front.”
The artist said she started as a solo
artist in the church, adding, “I did my
first demo album about 20years ago,
and had to hold on due to other equally
important responsibilities, but I believe
in His time He makes all things beautiful
and the time is ripe for me to come
out now.”
•Mugeez Afrobeat Musician
•DJ Justice

DAILYHERITAGE.COM.GH
MONDAY, MARCH 23, 2020
I didn't want
to leave Hearts
• Says Charles Taylor
AFTER SO many
years of bastardizing
the club, Charles
Taylor has finally
professed his love
for Accra Hearts of Oak.
Taylor’s rise to prominence as a
footballer occurred during his
stint with the Phobians.
While with Hearts, Taylor won
a lot of trophies and became national
sensation for his trickery
and showboating.
After crossing carpets to rivals
Asante Kotoko, however, Taylor
has consistently hit out at his former
club.
He has always suggested that
his time at Hearts of Oak was of
no benefit to him.
In an interview with Eastern
Region-based Tru FM, Taylor
confessed to being a Kotoko fan
but always played his heart out for
Hearts.
"I was happy at Hearts of Oak
and I felt a lot of happiness there,
Hearts is a team. I was supporting
Kotoko during the time I was
playing for Hearts, all my family
members also support Kotoko
but whenever you are doing
something let it come out
from your heart”.
“I love Hearts and I did
not want to leave Hearts but I
used to support Kotoko at
that time. I used to call
Stephen Oduro in Kotoko to
ask for their scoreline after
each match when I was with
Hearts but I make sure we
also score, that's why there
was happy in Ghana football."
• Charles Taylor
Court postpones 2019
African Champions
League appeal hearing
AN APPEAL hearing scheduled
for Friday to finally decide the
2019 African Champions League
title has been postponed for several
weeks.
Wydad Casablanca of Morocco
is challenging Confederation
of African Football rulings
to award Espérance of Tunisia
the title after a controversial second
leg of the final in May, and
subsequent legal disputes.
A Court of Arbitration for
Sport hearing was due to start on
Friday, but in-person evidence is
no longer possible during the
coronavirus pandemic.
The hearing was canceled and
a new date is being sought “in
May or early June,” the court said.
A previous CAS ruling in the
legal saga overruled a CAF executive
committee attempt to order a
replay of the second leg.
The original game was abandoned
when Wydad players refused
to continue in a dispute
over a disallowed goal. The players
had not been told there was
no working video review system
to judge the incident.
The game was defaulted and
Espérance awarded the title. Espérance
then represented Africa
at FIFA's Club World Cup in
Qatar last December.
A second appeal case involving
African soccer was postponed
at CAS this week.
The coach who led Nigeria to
a bronze medal at the 2016 Rio
de Janeiro Olympics is trying to
overturn a life ban by FIFA for
agreeing to receive bribes to fix
matches.
Samson Siasia’s case is the latest
in almost a decade of investigations
and punishments linked
to Singaporean match-fixer Wilson
Perumal.
FIFA based its investigation
on emails Siasia exchanged with
Perumal in March and April 2010
about possibly coaching an Australian
team allegedly under the
fixer’s control.
Siasia coached Nigeria’s national
team in 2011, and the
Under-23 team at the 2016
Olympics where it beat Honduras
3-2 in the bronze medal match.
CK Akonnor’s nononsense
approach key
to Black Stars success
FORMER GHANA winger
Bernard Don Bortey has backed
Charles Kwablah Akonnor to
succeed in his new role as head
coach of the Black Stars.
Akonnor was handed the national
team job in January after a
short spell as assistant to former
boss Kwesi Appiah.
He has been tasked to win
the 2021 Africa Cup of Nations
(AFCON) in Cameroon and
also qualify the four-time
African Champions to the 2022
FIFA World Cup in Qatar.
According to Don Bortey, he
believes Akonnor’s no-nonsense
approach will be key in ensuring
he meets his targets.
“CK Akonnor is a no-nonsense
coach, he will not be influenced
by even the sports
minister on player call ups,” he
told FOX FM.
“What CK Akonnor has
• Don Bortey observes
done in football none of those
playing for the Black Stars has
done so, he will not listen to
those who will ask him to use
• Don Bortey
their players, so for the Black
Stars coaching job he can do it
easily,” he added.