Kakata — Angry players besieged the offices of Margibi County Superintendent Victoria Duncan in demand of pay from the National County Sports Meet.
Having waited patiently for about a few months without receiving their stipend for the 2024 National County Sports Meet, protesting kickballers of the Margibi County Team have reacted in anger against the county administration, locking up the offices of county superintendent Victoria Worlorbah Duncan.
According to them, the amount is US$200.00 per player, in accordance with an agreement reached with the Margibi Sports Association.
The investigation established that some team officials, along with male players, have yet to receive pay after the competition.
Their action has forced superintendent Duncan and her corps of officers to stay away from work.
Tuesday, July 2, 2024, marked the players' second day of protest at the administrative building in Kakata, mainly before the superintendent's offices. They have promised to keep the offices locked up and disturb local county authorities if they are not paid.
Some of them were at the same time seen and heard abusing officials of the county administration and the mother of the former MSA Chairman, Abu Fofana, who is alleged to have squandered huge sum of money meant for the County Meet.
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This has also left some of the county's government employees with no choice but to roam around the Margibi County Administrative Ground in frustration and fear, given the recent violent protest at the Salala Rubber Corporation in the county characterized by arson and looting that led the company to shut down indefinitely.
A total of 18 kickballers, who claim to have been hired by the county sports association in April this year, got their own locks and shut down the main entrance that leads to the rest of the building that houses the superintendent's offices.
They claim that the superintendent has asked them to exercise a little more patience until August, which they describe as fun.
Efforts to speak to the Margibi County Information Officer, Joe Benson Josiah, didn't yield results, as he said he was not in the mood to talk to the press.
In April 2024, Abu Fofana, then-Chairman of the MSA, publicly stated that he had an arrangement with players (both boys and girls) that they would have been paid by June 2024. However, in June, some officials of the sports association who worked along with Fofana complained to Superintendent Duncan, accusing him of mismanaging a bulk of the funds received for Margibi's participation in the annual sports meet.
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His colleagues further noted that money and other support given by some county lawmakers were used for his personal benefits, but Mr. Fufana denied this and challenged his accusers to prove an allegation made against him.
The office of Superintendent Duncan told the county sports officials who complained about Fofana to be calm as she investigated the matter. She also told Abu to prepare his report and get ready for an audit, but Abu Fofana resigned from the MSA immediately following that meeting.
The New Dawn is informed that a majority of Marbigi's caucus members, including Representative Ivar K. Jones, Senators J. Emmanuel Nuquay and National F. McGill, and Representative Ellen A. Wreh, requested Mr. Fofana's presence at the Capitol Building to explain what he did with the funds they gave the team through him. However, he could not give a concrete justification, which caused the lawmakers to be furious with him.
Since then, the players who endured suffering conditions during the county's meet continue to complain about their payments. In the wake of all the above, the girls, in a very angry mood, said the best way to push the authority's feet to the fire is to take some unexpected actions because it appears the authorities are giving cool shoulders to their concerns. Editing by Jonathan Browne
