Ghanaian boxing legend, David Kotei, popularly called, D.K. Poison, has said former President Mahama did not honour his promise to pay back his $45,000 loan to government during the Acheampong era.
According to him, he has been trying to retrieve his funds since the Kufuor administration but all efforts have proven futile.
He noted that in the case of former President Mahama, he received assurances that his money will be paid to him but has not heard anything about it to date.
He recalled that in one instance, he was directed to the then Chief of Staff, Prosper Bani who gave him an amount of 1500 for transport assuring him of government’s assistance.
”I spoke with his excellency president Kuffour but on paper, I petitioned president Attah-Mills but I believe the petition didn’t reach him. That is my belief. Then when it came to president Mahama, I spoke with him and he promised me. I had a conversation with him after which he said I should go and see the Chief of Staff who was Mr. Bani. I went to him and Mr. Bani told me, ‘oh D.K take this 1500 as transport. We shall call you back’ and they didn’t call me,” he said in an interview on Citi FM.
D.K poison gave the government of Ghana a loan in 1976 when he was approached by the military junta at the time under an emergency but has not been paid to date.
According to him, the government of Ghana was so broke at the time that they had to borrow his money to purchase canned mackerel to mitigate the harsh conditions the country was facing then.
Unfortunately for him, shortly after the canned mackerels arrived in Ghana, Acheampong’s regime was overthrown by Jerry Rawlings’ coup. Acheampong was subsequently executed by the new military regime, and since then, the boxing legend has been chasing his money.
Mr. Kotei who is now 68-years-old loaned the Ignatius Kutu Acheampong led administration an amount of $45,000 which is equivalent to $232,231.50 today and the cedi value of GHC 1,120,361.
Meanwhile, President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo last year granted him an audience and also promised to look into the concern of a one-time World Boxing Council (WBC) featherweight champion.
He said he was confident that the assurance by the President to get to the bottom of the issue would ensure a positive outcome and an end to the long-running issue.