Phew! US$10,000 (about ?88,000,000) a month salary for our expatriate coach, Mr. Ralf Zumdick. How many Ghanaian professionals earn this kind of salary? For this salary, I will be able to do the impossible. By the way, how much were our local coaches paid every month? What were their conditions of service?
In this country of ours, those in authority or rather the authorities pretend that they are paying us living wages. No doubt, employees also pretend to be doing what is expected of them. Others in authority call this indiscipline.
How do people live below subsistence level (poverty line) and be expected to give of their best? How can you perform when the future looks bleak, you are aging, not being able to meet your commitments when your meagre salary cannot support you? Will you not be compelled to take bribes when your back is being forced to the wall?
Although I do not support negative attitude of people but what I am trying to get at is that Ghanaian workers have, over the years not been paid well to enable them give of their best.
With low salaries and no incentives, they perform abysmally because of job insecurity! Why does the GFA Chairman lambast our local coaches of bribe taking, when he did not pay them living wages, provide them with the infra structures and necessary inputs?
The GFA Chairman should have gone beyond name calling by instituting investigations into the reasons why some of our local coaches take bribes. As a good administrator as he projects himself, what solutions did he provide to stem the tide?
Look at Coach Jones Atuquayefio performing wonders in Benin. Was it not the same Jones who was sacked as coach of the National Team? Pay our local coaches just a quarter of what is offered to expatriate coaches and they will also perform.
Also, is it true or is it not true that there is too much interference in the work of our local coaches? Some of the issues border on selection of the right calibre of players for the national side.
Sometimes, we learn that players, who do not qualify to be selected, are forced on the coaches handling the national teams.
Until Ghanaian coaches are paid well, have job satisfaction and the authorities inside and outside the GFA STOP interfering in their work and their job descriptions well spelt out, our attempts to perform better than what we are doing now will ONLY be a mirage!

ABE MENSAH,
XBORG –OSU,
ACCRA