Flashback: First Lady unveiling the football kit in Beijing, China
FIRST LADY Rebecca Akufo-Addo has dismissed media reports suggesting that StarTimes Corporation – a Chinese firm operating in Ghana – is a partner of her charity organization, the Rebecca Foundation.
Mrs. Akufo-Addo issued the disclaimer in a rejoinder following some media publications linking StarTimes Corporation to her Foundation after she jointly unveiled a football kit with the Chinese firm on the sidelines of the 2018 Forum on China-Africa Corporation (FOCAC).
The kit is designed to be used by Ghanaian children in sports exchange programmes and it comes a year after the First Lady had signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the Rebecca Foundation, and Licang District Experimental School in Qingdao to develop the programme for Ghanaian schoolchildren and their Chinese counterparts to kick start this year.
Children from across Ghana
would for a month participate in activities under the exchange programme being sponsored in part by the StarTimes Corporation and the Rebecca Foundation.
But some media outlets in Ghana have mischievously misrepresented the facts of the programme, claiming StarTimes Corporation is a partner of the Rebecca Foundation based on the football kit.
In a rejoinder to ‘set the records straight,’ the First Lady and her Foundation indicated that “StarTimes has never been, at any time, a partner of the Foundation, as it has been suggested.”
According to the rejoinder, “The foundation is, however, very grateful to StarTimes for offering football kits to be donated through the Foundation to the SOS Children’s Village, where the first lady is honoured to be a patron.”
Facts
It explained that “in 2017, the First Lady, on a trip to China, signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the Rebecca Foundation and the Licang District Experimental School in Qingdao, to establish an exchange programme between Ghanaian and Chinese school children.”
The programme which seeks to deepen cultural, academic and sports ties between the pupils of the two countries would see an exchange of 15 pupils each between Ghana and China annually, it said.
According to the rejoinder, under the terms of the MoU, the Ghanaian pupils would learn martial arts, ping-pong and other disciplines, while Chinese pupils would benefit from football training with their Ghanaian counterparts.
Accordingly, the first batch participating this year from Ghana includes 15 children from the SOS Children’s Village. This experience is anticipated to make a positive impact on the lives of participating children.
It stressed “StarTimes Corporation offered to provide football kits for the children because of their association with Ghana football. This worthy effort, it must be stated, was not at the instance of the Foundation.”
“The support was publicly announced and it is purely for charitable purposes. It is worth emphasizing that neither the First Lady nor the Foundation has any role to play in any engagement between StarTimes and the government of Ghana, either directly or indirectly,” according to the rejoinder.
It concluded “the Rebecca Foundation is committed to improving the welfare and wellbeing of women and children, especially the vulnerable in society, and works with various partners who contribute in diverse ways toward our vision and mission. We are forever grateful for the continuous support the charity is receiving from its well-wishers, both in Ghana and abroad.
We wish to assure the general public that the Rebecca Foundation will continue to be guided by the strict principles of honesty, integrity and transparency.”
BY Melvin Tarlue