You can’t pay lecturers but can spend $25M on AFCON, World Cup – Captain Smart fires govt

UTAG on indefinite strike

Ghana exit 2021 AFCON from group stage

Host of Onua Maakye on Onua TV, Captain Smart, has taken a swipe at the government for budgeting $25 million for both the Africa Cup of Nations and FIFA World Cup.

According to Captain Smart, it is only an irresponsible government who budgets $25 million for two football tournaments when he knows he is unable to pay for the research allowances of university lecturers.

His comment comes on the back of the continuous failure of the Black Stars on the international stage despite the huge capital injected into the team over the years.

“This government told us that they were budgeting twenty-five million for the World Cup but when the opposition became stronger, they said the budget will cover the AFCON too. But up still now nobody knows how much was spent on the AFCON.”

“It pains me because this country and government cannot pay lecturers and their research allowance but we are ready to spend twenty-five million for just two tournaments,” he said on Onua TV on Monday, January 24, 2022.

He also kicked against the political arguments that the government has been spending so much on the Black Stars because Ghanaians are happy when the team succeeds.

“And nobody should tell me that football is a unifier because it hasn’t unified anybody in this country because referees are beaten on the football field and people lose their lives about attending football games.”

Meanwhile, UTAG begun an early year strike on January 10, 2022, and its members have since stayed away from the lecturer halls, vowing not to return until the government addresses their concerns for improved conditions of service.