Ticket Scam at Youth & Sports Ministry
-Asst. Minister Accuses Ticket Committee,
But...
Minister of Youth and
Sports, Cllr. Wheatonia Dixon Barnes
The Liberia/Mali and Togo matches have come and gone. But the
dust is yet to settle especially at the two institutions responsible
for the game of football, the Liberia Football Association and the
Ministry of Youths and Sports. First, it was controversy surrounding
the welfare of players, which players should be called to don the
national colors among many other issues.
While Liberians are trying to cope with these issues, another
heartbreaking issue has emerged. This time, it is the Assistant
Minister of Sports, Mr. Richard Wleh who is questioning the fairness
of the Ticketing and Finance Committee in handling the work.
In his report covering the activities of the Lone Star Vs
Togo match to the Minister of Youths and
Sports, Cllr. Wheatonia Dixon-Barnes, he alleged that the ticketing
and Finance Committee had printed excess tickets during the Lone
Star of Liberia and Hawks of Togo encounter at the Samuel K. Doe
Sport Complex, a week ago.
The two persons are the center of the Assistant
Minister’s accusations are Mrs. Elizabeth T.W. Omoko, Assistant
Minister for Administration and Co-chairman of the Ticketing and
Finance Committee and Mrs. Sheba Brown, Chairperson of the
committee.
Giving specifics of how the alleged ticket deal
occurred in a report, copy of which is in the
possession of this paper, Mr. Wleh alleged that when one James O.
Jarvan was dropped by Mrs. Elizabeth T.W. Omoko to serve on the
Ticketing and Finance Committee on July 3, 2004, Mr. Christian King
and he (Wleh) met her and told her that there was need for the
Assistant
Minister for Sports to replace Mr. Jarvan, a proposal she consented
to.
According to him, the committee proceeded to the home
of Mrs. Brown in Paynesville around the 101 Gas Station, but got
there later than the time they were expected by the committee. He
said the two MYS officials argued that their late arrival was due to
their abrupt engagement with some problems affecting players of the
National Team.
However, despite the lateness of the two officials,
they did report the tickets to the entire committee. But, he alleged
that the same number of tickets printed during the Lone Star/Mali
match was the same presented to the committee by Mrs. Omoko and
Brown. According to the letter, after counting them, the number came
up to 35,000 booklets.
Mr. Wleh noted in his report that all the 35 booklets
were stamped and finished at 5:30 A.M.
Besides the tickets for the game, he also alleged that there were
raffle tickets among the tickets for
sale by Mrs. Omoko and Mrs. Brown. He did not state what the raffle
draw was about
According to the Assistant Minister, no ticket was
duplicated during the game but rather the two ladies over printed
the tickets.
“Perhaps tickets that were given to Mr. Edwin Snowe as
well as other higher government officials were those that were kept
in secret by Mrs. Omoko and Mrs. Brown.,” he alleged without dealing
with the nitty-gritty of the information.
“All the booklets were given to ticket sellers that Sunday
Morning and we left the two Chairpersons in the houses,” he alleged,
“Secondly, the amount realized from the sale was not summed up
during the counting process before our very eyes.” He reported that
the two ladies meant to cheat during the process; they decided to
“print booklets libelously. I challenge the report that will be made
to you, Madam Minister.”
Assistant Minister Wleh noted that the two ladies are not
fair and that “I will therefore recommend to
you that Sports activity should be left with the sports bureau
only.” Meanwhile, MYS official claimed that almost all of the
tickets sellers were short beside the representatives of Sports
Bureau, Madam Viola Wleh and Madam Josephine Coleman.
Football analysts are questioning the authenticity of the
Assistant Minister’s allegation against the
backdrop of confusion in his elucidation. First, remarked Paul King,
he said there was no duplication. But the question being by lovers
of the game is why he is raising issues.
Another aspect observers are concerned about has to do with
the lateness of the two officials at the
meeting place, which he raised. Asked John Boe: “Is it because they
arrived late that prompted the
accusation? Or is it that Mr. Wleh wants the Sports Bureau at the
MYS take over the ticketing aspect?” The answers to these questions
remain anybody’s conjecture, according to sports enthusiast.
When contacted, the ticketing and Finance Committee
chairperson, Sheba Brown and her co-chair Elizabeth Omoko have
denied ever printing excess tickets. They told our reporter that it
was possible for them to have printed extra tickets apart from the
ones that were sanctioned by the Ministry of Youth and Sports and
the Liberia Football Association.
On what happened to the raffle tickets, both committee heads
said all the tickets – the game
tickets and the raffle tickets were sold at the same time so as to
get good sale of the raffle tickets.
Investigations continue
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