Posted by Today is exactly 3 years (12 July 2017) since Asante Kotoko team bus was involved in a fatal accident at Nkawkaw.
The team was heading back to Kumasi from Accra after suffering a 1-0 defeat in the hands of Inter Allies in a Premier league fixture at the El Wak Stadium.
The club’s team bus after overtaking a salon car rammed into a stationery Kia Rhino truck. The unfortunate incident claimed the life of assistant equipment officer Thomas Kofi Obeng Asare and the driver’s mate of the Kia Rhino truck it run into, while others, including players, team officials and journalists, sustained various degrees of injuries.
Today is exactly 3 years since the gory incident transpired and accident victims are still bemoaning a long wait for financial compensation.
“Coming Sunday, July 12, 2020, will mark three years since the horrific incident happened but [we have] still not received a penny from Kotoko and we don’t know as to when our compensations would be paid,” Isaac Amoakoh told BA TV.
“The refusal of the Kotoko leadership to pay our monies has placed a heavy toll on most of the victims.
“Longest-serving team driver Nana Berchie has been at home due to the accident he had, while [players] Baba Mahama and Ollenu Ashitey have had their playing careers stymied.
“We are aware that the newly constituted board led by the previous board chair, Dr Kwame Kyei who held that position at the time of the accident, had begun paying off several debts incurred by the club but [we have] still not heard from him.
“We will not keep quiet until Kotoko’s leadership pays our compensation to us [victims].”
English manager Steve Polack who was then manager of the team has also bemoaned the long wait for financial support.
”Basically it’s a human thing that you do that, you come to your employee’s aid when there have been kind of problem to your employee,” Steve Polack told Wontumi FM in Kumasi.
”You are an employee and you are working for an employer, you expect them (employer) to take care of you whatever that happens to you during your contract or how long you’ve been working there so we are expecting them(Asante Kotoko) to do that.
”Let’s be honest, they are adult, they should know these things; If the tables turn around and it happens to them, how will they feel, three years later and we still haven’t been compensated, what if is them was in the accident, don’t you think they would have already got their compensation?.
”So always you need to put yourself in other people’s shoes and feel it too, Kotoko needs to compensate us (accident victims).”
Members of the playing body who were reported to have suffered various degrees of injuries include; Head Coach, Steve Polack, Ashitey Ollenu, Evans Quao, Michael Akuffu, Awudu Nafiu, Osei Agyemang, Godwin Ablodey, Baba Mahama, Ahmed Adams and Isaac Amoako.
It is my hope that the new and promising Asante Kotoko board will clear this off the table.