Hmmm, A Big Bonus for the Black Stars from the government

I seeeeee. The boys will get some nice compensation for getting out of the group stage...
'The President of the football controlling body in Ghana, Mr. Kwesi Nyantakyi confided in The Chronicle that a special package, including huge financial component, has been earmarked for the team - provided they qualify for the knockout stage...' Read the rest here: http://allafrica.com/stories/200606210753.html

Meanwhile, 'Because every TV set in Ghana will be used, South Africa-based gold producer Gold Fields Ltd. will cut power usage at its mines in the country. “We were asked to cut down on our power use during the World Cup,” Terence Goodlace, the head of international operations for Gold Field, told an analysts' presentation this week.'

So, being the suspicious type, I started to wonder who these Gold Fields Ltd. people are, and what wondered what I would find if I followed the money. I haven't started work on the 'follow the money' piece of this - yet. But I did find this out: Gold Fields is an official sponsor of the Ghana FA WEBSITE, and, it seems that in 2001, there was a gold mining incident that left people with contaminated water (I know this isn't unusual). See this link, from No Dirty Gold: http://www.nodirtygold.org/wassa_district_ghana.cfm. Here is a quote:

'On October 16, 2001, a tailings dam burst at the Tarkwa gold mine in the Wassa West District of Ghana sending thousands of cubic meters of mine waste into the Asuman River and contaminating it with cyanide and heavy metals. The Tarkwa mine is operated by Gold Fields Ghana, a South African gold mining company. The disaster left more than one thousand people without access to drinking water. Virtually all life forms in the river and its tributary were killed. Hundreds of dead fish, crabs, and birds lay on the banks of the river and floated to the surface.'

Not to put a dampener on things, but looking away just because we are celebrating makes no sense either, does it?? This sporting event seems to have revealed more about the government's priorities, don't you think??