Ghana's women national team stage march to demand unpaid bonuses

Ghana’s women national team, the Black Queens staged a march on Thursday to demand payment of over a year’s unpaid bonuses amounting to US$25,000 per player.

The team is demanding bonuses for the 2015 All Africa Games, 2016 Olympic qualifiers and November’s Africa Women’s Championship in Cameroon where they placed third, local Ghanaian media Starr FM reports.

Over a dozen of the players marched to the West African country’s Sports Ministry in Accra in their red jerseys and carrying placards with inscriptions expressing their displeasure.

“Stop Discrimination”, “Honour Your Heroes”, “We Need Our Money” and “Equal Treatment” were written on the placards held by members of the team as they marched in the streets of Accra starting from the Ghana Football Association to the Parliament House and back to the Sports Ministry in search of the minister.

Happening now: #GH Black Queens now marching on Sports Ministry to seek a word with Minister Nii Late Vanderpuije over the unpaid bonuses. pic.twitter.com/pwNOMKR5ZG

— Mirpuri (@DennisMirpuri) December 22, 2016

According to Starr FM, the Black Queens began their protest on Wednesday and were informed by the Ghana Football Assosication president Kwesi Nyantakyi that the Sports Ministry promised to settle the arrears on Thursday but to no avail.

“It’s been the same routine because we have been waiting and waiting and nothing is happening. We wanted to see the Minister at parliament which was not successful, so we will go to the sports ministry and if we don’t get any good response, then we will do everything possible today to see the father of the land so that they will pay our money,” player Samira Suleman threatened to meet President John Mahama for his intervention.

The Black Queens held talks with the Sports Minister Nii Lante Vanderpuije Thursday evening and he assured them that he will get their cheques signed before the end of the holiday season.

Samira Suleman told local media that the minister gave them a hundred Ghana cedis each ($23) to aid in their transportation back home.

Nigeria’s women national team also held a sit-in protest at a hotel in Abuja for weeks since December 6 demanding for unpaid bonuses of US$23,650 per player for winning the 2016 Women’s Africa Cup of Nations.

They ended their strike two days ago after President Muhammadu Buhari intervened before the money owed them was paid by the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF).