The ruling National Democratic Congress activist, Ras Mubarak, has lambasted the government for flying what he says are disgruntled party foot soldiers to South Africa under the pretext of sending soccer fans there. Mubarak thinks the purpose is to score political points. “We should find out whether indeed it was a priority to sponsor over thousand people who are made up of largely party supporters, in a very weak attempt to assuage the base of the NDC which is not impressed so far about what is happening.” Mr Mubarak in an interview with Joy News on Thursday demanded that the government discloses the total amount it incurred in sending more than one thousand football fans to South Africa. “The critical issue for me as a Ghanaian is to find out whether it is a priority for a government that is complaining about a former administration [of] leaving mountains of debts and actually rolling out austere measures that are squeezing Ghanaians.” The decision to send the fans to the World Cup to cheer the Black Stars, created some embarrassment for the government as hundreds of them seeking to be part of the team to South Africa were left stranded at the El Wak Stadium in Accra for almost a week. The final batch were expected to be airlifted to South Africa Thursday afternoon with officials of the ruling party claiming the trip for the group outside of the government sponsored batch were being funded by unnamed philanthropists. But Mubarak doubted government’s claim that those going to South Africa were sponsored by philanthropists. He reiterated, “A time has come for us to ask for full disclosure, who are the so-called sponsors who have associated themselves with this trip. They cannot tell Ghanaians that these companies do not want to be mentioned.” He said the gesture by the government was not only an attempt at silencing the members of NDC but to get good press, which unfortunately turned out to be a “bad attempt”. He added that the “whole intention behind sending people to South Africa is not hinged on good faith”. In a feature copied to Myjoyonline.com, Ras Mubarak stated: The millions of people who voted the National Democratic Congress in order for Prof. Mills to be president didn’t do so because they wanted to go to South Africa to see the World Cup. They did so because they wanted better lives – long lasting tangible benefits.” Touching on the Deputy Minister of Sports, Nii Nortey Dua’s call on soccer fans who were early on stranded at the El-wak stadium to go and rent a hotel and pretend they went to South Africa, Mubarak asked him to render an “unqualified apology” to the fans. He said the minister’s action was nothing short of “A typical example of the arrogance and chicanery of some of Mills’ ministers and aids, who are acting in a manner which pales in comparison to what we saw under the previous government. The contempt by some of these geeks in government towards voters is unbelievable. Nii’s comments are not only morally offensive, they are damaging to the National Democratic Congress.“ Story by Isaac Essel/Myjoyonline.com/Ghana