Stadium Disaster Fund Paying Victim's Childrens Fees

The chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Stadium Disaster Fund, Mr John Saka Addo, has said that the school fees of the children whose parents died as a result of the May 9, 2001 Accra Stadium tragedy are being paid from the fund.

Speaking at a press conference in Accra yesterday, Mr Addo said the committee had the mandate to pay the school fees of the children of the deceased up to the Senior Secondary School (SSS) level.

He said those above the SSS level did not qualify to benefit but added that considering the returns that had accrued to the money as a result of the investments, the committee could consider having discussions with the Government to extend the threshold to children above the SSS level.

He was reacting to allegations made by some family members of the deceased to the effect that the Government had reneged on its promise to cater for the educational needs of children of the deceased.

He maintained that 103 out of the 325 people who were injured had been paid a total amount of ¢169.5 million, leaving 222.

He said the fund had yielded ¢4,833,117,257.88 as of March 31, 2005, out of which ¢2,783,624,412.88 had been paid to families and other beneficiaries and ¢2,344,146,215.00 invested. He added that ¢208,360,136.60 was left as balance at the Bank of Ghana.

Giving a background to the fund, Mr Addo said the Government, after making an appeal to individuals and companies to contribute to the fund, appointed a four-member committee to administer it.

He said other members of the committee are Ms Helena Cobbina of the Ghana Police Service, Mr Kwesi Essel Koomson, the managing director of KEK Insurance Brokers and Mrs Regina Apotsi, the Judicial Secretary.

The committee, he said, was later reconstituted into a board of trustees.