Kotoko stretch lead …as Hearts, Dwarfs share spoils

Kotoko stretch lead

…as Hearts, Dwarfs share spoils

By Mohammed Awal

A solitary strike by Kumasi Asante Kotoko was enough to fetch them all the three points in the week 18 fixture of the First capital Plus Premier League at the Baba Yara stadium.

 A sumptuous strike in the 48th minute from the boots of Seidu Bancey did the damage as they handed Amidaus Profs their 9th defeat of the season.

 The win saw Kotoko strengthen their grip atop the First Capital Plus Premier League summit with 43 points, opening a 12 points gap between them and their arch rivals Accra Hearts of Oak, who are second on the standings, with 13 points between them and the third and fourth placed teams, Ashanti Gold and Kpando Heart of Lions respectively.

 Meanwhile, Accra Hearts of Oak at the Accra Stadium failed to register a win over Ebusua Dwarfs, rather sharing the spoils. They played out an uninspiring goalless draw. 

Elsewhere at the Golden City Park, Brekum Chelsea trashed Heart of Lions by three goals to nil. Chelsea started the romp through Benjamin Boateng in the 14th minutes.

The rampage began in the second half with additional strikes by Jackson Owusu  and Tetteh Dennis in the 49th and  87th minutes respectively.

The win saw Chelsea move themselves away further from relegation struggles, boosting their survival chances.

At Bechem Park, a late strike by Martey Noah in the 85th minute ensured Bechem United defeated Liberty Professionals.

The first half of the game ended in a stalemate; however, in the second department of the game, Bechem grounded the much needed results.

Also, at the Essipong stadium, Secondi Hasaacas shocked Ashanti Gold with a 2-1 victory. The home side prior to the match, 5th on the log and 3 point adrift Ashanti Gold, but the win saw both teams level on points 27 respectively.

Haasacas opened the scoring through Fedrick Quayson in the 39th minute. In the second department of the game AshGold pull parity with a strike from the shoes of Ato Bissah Joseph.

However, before the referee could bring the game to an end, Hasaacas grabbed the winner from a brilliant strike by the same Fedrick Quayson in the 88th minute.

Meanwhile, at Wa Park, All Stars and Aduana Stars played to a 1-1 drawn game. All Stars took the lead in the 21st minute through Asare Paul De Vries. However, in the 47th minute, Seth Opare notched the much needed leveler.

Elsewhere, at the Gyamfi Park, home side Edubiase FC suffered a 0-1 loss at the hands of visitors Madeama SC.

The visitors grabbed the win in the 50th minute from the boots of Moro Kabiru, and relegated Inter-Allies surprised their visitors, Kumasi based King Faisal, with a lone win at the Tema Park. Inter- Allies scored in the 80th minute through Safiu Abdul Fatawu.

SCORES AT A GLANCE

All Stars	1 - 1	Aduana Stars
Hearts	0 - 0	Dwarfs
Edubiase FC	0 - 1	Medeama SC
Kotoko	1 - 0	Amidaus Profs.
Inter-Allies	1 - 0	Faisal
Hasaacas	2 - 1	AshGold
Bechem Utd	1 - 0	Liberty
Chelsea	3 - 0	Lions

I am not a fraudster -Bahmed

I am not a fraudster -Bahmed

By Mohammed Awal

The Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Bahmed Travel and Tours, Alhaji Ahmed Bandoh has vehemently denied reports by the New Weija Police that he had absconded, after being granted bail in a GH¢8,000 Visa fraud charge.

Arguing his case, the CEO of Bahmed Travel and Tours said that the claim by the Weija Police that he was nowhere to be found after being granted bail was inaccurate, adding that the allegations against Bahmed were not true.

Bandoh was reacting to the story carried by The Chronicle in its Tuesday, February 25, 2014 issue headlined "Police hunt for Bahmed over visa fraud."

Alhaji Bandoh visited The Chronicle office in the company of four friends to deny the story as narrated by the police.

In the story, Inspector Abdul Abubakar, the investigator handling the case, told The Chronicle that a complaint was lodged before the New Weija Police by one Lukman Dauda (complainant), that the CEO of Bahmed had conned him (Lukman Dauda) to the tune of GH¢8,000.

According to him, Alhaja Bandoh promised to secure a US visa for the complainant, for which he charged him (complaint) GH¢15,000, adding that the complainant then made a down payment of GH¢8,000 with the promise to pay the balance once the visa was secured.

The Chronicle was told that though the payment for the first tranche was made way back on October 17^th, 2011, Alhaji Bandoh has to date, failed to secure the visa for the complainant.

The complainant subsequently made a report to the police on April 11, 2013, upon which the accused was arrested and granted bail. The investigator, Inspector Abdul Abubakar, said though the accused admitted the offence and promised to pay back the money; he had reneged on his promise. 

Alhaji Bandoh has also stopped reporting to the police as specified by his bail condition. “All attempts aimed at getting him to report have proved futile”, the Inspector said.

According to Inspector Abubakar, all attempts to reach the accused on mobile phone numbers he gave to the police have also failed. According to him, he personally visited his (Alhaji Bandoh) house “several times”, but he was still nowhere to be found.

But Alhaji Bandoh rubbished the allegations, claiming that they were not factual and that they were orchestrations by his "detractors" to sabotage his hard won reputation in the travel and tours business of over many years.

He argued that he was always available, saying "I'm always on television and radio advertising my company and my business. So I don’t think anybody has called on me… that Bahmed has absconded from police,” adding that it was "neither here nor there.  It's never true."

According to Alhaji Bandoh, he met Inspector Abubakar two weeks ago, therefore, for the Inspector to claim that attempts to reach him through his mobile phones and other means had proven futile, were inaccurate.

“I think there are some people who want to try to muddy the successes I have chalked over the years," he said. To him, he had no issue with the Weija Police, adding "I'm always in touch with the Police every time," he asserted.

On the substantive issue, he said he does not know the complainant in the case, let alone collect any money from him. He admitted that he was invited by the police, but said it was on a different issue, which had long been settled.