Ga Traditional Council Says Banku, Powers Fight Cannot Take Place But GBA Says Fight Is Set

The Ga Traditional Council has dismissed media reports that it had consented to a change in the fight date of the Bukom Banku and Ayittey Powers clash slated for May 15, 2014. According to a press release signed by the Acting President of the Ga Traditional Council, Nii Dodoo Nsaki II and copied to the Daily Graphic, the said date for the much anticipated bout between the two boxers fell within the period of the ban on drumming and noise-making and would therefore not be allowed to take place. The council cautioned the public not to side with persons who were bent on making ludicrous amounts of money even if they had to flout the laws of the land to do their businesses. It further advised panelists on various sporting programmes in the electronic media to desist from attacking Ga traditional leaders due to their stance of not allowing the bout to come off during the Traditional Lent Period. �Every community has a tradition or culture that identifies them as a people. We of the Ga Traditional Area see this period as what makes us a people with a heritage. Much more, the period offers us the unique opportunity to commune appreciably with God, the Creator,� it said. Furthermore, it warned persons in all quarters of the capital to strictly observe the regulations of the traditional area by avoiding any form of noise-making or drumming during the stipulated period. The Ghana Boxing Authority (GBA) has insisted that the Ga Traditional Council (GTC) has no power to cause the postponement of the much anticipated non-title cruiser-weight bout between Braimah Kamoko (Bukom Banku) and Ayittey Powers. The GBA has therefore assured fight fans that the bout would take place on May 15 as scheduled, and asked boxing fans and the public to ignore a press statement issued by the Council declaring that the fight would not take place. �The GBA hereby confirms that the fight between Bukom Banku and Ayitey Powers will surely take place at the Accra Sports Stadium on Thursday 15th May, 2014,� said a GBA statement issued and signed by its president, Peter Zwennes. In this regard, the GBA said it was collaborating with the National Sports Authority, the Ghana Police Service and the relevant security agencies to put adequate security measures in place to protect boxing fans who would troop to the stadium to watch the bout. The GBA described as unfortunate and misleading, a statement by the council warning that no boxing event would take place during the Traditional Lent period. The boxing regulatory body said it had reached a compromise with the Osu Stool under whose jurisdiction the stadium falls. It was through the agreement with the Osu Stool that the fight, originally scheduled for May 16, was brought forward to May 15 to escape the ban on drumming and noise-making. The GBA said it was ironical that the GTC issued a statement last Tuesday insisting that the new date still fell within the Traditional Lent period.