Unpaid salary saga, Nyaho-Tamakloe urges Coach Akonnor to go to court

A former chairman of the Ghana Football Association (GFA), Dr Nyaho Nyaho-Tamakloe, has advised former Black Stars coach, Charles Kwabla Akonnor, to take legal action against the Ministry of Youth and Sports to retrieve his outstanding salary.

Coach Akonnor is owed about $275,000 in outstanding salary following the termination of his contract by the GFA two years ago.

However, Dr Nyaho-Tamakloe told Graphic Sports in an interview last Friday that the only way Akonnor would be paid was when he instituted legal action against his former employers to force them to pay back his outstanding money.

He said as a former FA boss, he knew that the ministry was responsible for the payment of national team coaches’ salary and that it had no excuse holding on to Akonnor’s money, especially where it quickly paid off Milovan Rajevac after the termination of his contract last year.

''He should take them to court if they are refusing to pay him. This is a straightforward matter; the person has worked for you, and you are not paying him. He should take them to court,'’ he said.

Dr Nyaho-Tamakloe expressed his disappointment at the manner in which Coach Akonnor had been treated right from the day he was appointed till his contract was terminated, most especially when he was denied some privileges as the head coach.

''You are supposed to be the coach of the Black Stars and you have certain privileges; your bungalow that was supposed to be given to you was given to a white man, your official car was also given to a white man, and you are not being paid and you are quiet?” he questioned angrily.

Dr Nyaho-Tamakloe said Coach Akonnor had been very lenient and had even delayed in seeking justice, insisting that he should have even quit the job long before he was kicked out.

He was of the view that Akonnor qualified just as any other coach who applied for the job at that time and did not know why he allowed himself to be treated as an option.

''I was even thinking when he was denied a place to stay, he would have resigned. A job that you are supposed to have qualified for; there were others who were competing with you but you got it ahead of them so it means you qualified, so I don’t understand why he should allow himself to be treated this way,” he wondered.

Apart from Akonnor, his assistant David Duncan, who was believed to be on a $10,000 monthly salary is also battling with undisclosed unpaid salary arrears.