It’s been six long weeks since the official mouthpiece of
Asante Kotoko Sporting Club – the Kotoko Express – went off the newsstands
following some operational difficulties. When the paper first put out an
announcement on-line that, it was going to be off for some weeks to sort out
financial issues with its printers, not many of our readers and supporters
liked the idea.
But the move was necessary since we needed to iron out a
few issues that threatened the sustenance of the paper. We are thankful that,
our break, though regrettable has given us the chance to better address certain
critical issues. It’s important to stress that, the issues have been reasonably
dealt with and even though there are a few others that have to be tackled,
those issues are the type that are handled internally.
My conviction is that, as we do that, Kotoko Express will
be better and indeed, Asante Kotoko will be the ultimate winner in the whole
enterprise. I will not put in the public domain, all the issues that needed to be
addressed but the ones I can touch on are the management of the paper and the
leadership that existed and of course the debt situation we had to deal with.
I’m mentioning these ones not only because they were the
most crucial but also because they dominated media discussions. For me, the
survival of the paper rested on the two issues and again, it explains why we
needed to take a break and get the two issues satisfactorily dealt with.
I’m happy to report that, Kotoko Express has a new
management setup. The paper is now directly under the day-to-day managers of
the club. It’s no longer under the watch of the Publications Board – whose obvious
inactivity in the past few years suffocated the paper’s operations.
Thus while we went off, we engaged the club’s Board of
Directors over the role of the Publications Board and why the paper had to be
under management’s supervision. Thankfully, the Board of Directors agreed with
the editorial staff and therefore granted that request. Again, it was accepted
that, to better handle our debt situation at G-PAK, our printers, management
needed to meet with the leadership of G-PAK to find a reasonable payment plan for
our debt.
I can’t divulge the plan that was eventually settled on
but the good thing remains that, something forward-looking was arrived at, based
on which G-PAK agreed to print for us. We hope to meet the terms and conditions
of this payment plan while meeting other equally important demands to keep Kotoko
Express on its feet.
It’s on the back on this that, I commend my colleagues
who were involved in ensuring that, the right things were done to bring Kotoko
Express back onto the newsstands. I also reserve great praise for the Samuel
Opoku Nti-led management for the bold steps they have taken not just in
accepting to walk the paper out of the litany of difficulties it ran into, but
also for the good faith they showed particularly during the meeting at G-PAK.
I have said and will continue to say that, there are
numerous positive moves the present management makes that doesn’t get publicity.
Perhaps if light was to be thrown on these numerous positive things they do amidst
the difficulties they face daily, their critics will be charitable somewhat.
Talking about criticism, let me quickly point out that, the
editorial team takes divergent opinions in good spirit. There were critics who
ignorantly accused me of being an impediment to Kotoko Express’ progress. Those
are accusations lack correct basis but then, I appreciate the support and
encouragement I have received from readers, colleagues and people I can’t name.
The editorial team as a whole accepts and also welcomes fair
and constructive criticisms as we chart a new path, hoping that, with that, we
will all contribute meaningfully to make Kotoko Express and largely, Asante
Kotoko better. I encourage Kotoko supporters and all who have Kotoko at heart
to patronise the club’s newspaper as that’s one way of truly showing one’s
support for the club.
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