cld dis be true?
International Soccer star Micheal Essien may have to look for another father because he has been disowned by the very man who gave birth to him.
Michael’s dad, James Essien, a frail old unhealthy pauper, for the past years, has complained that he had been abandoned and neglected by his son.
Not able to contain the alleged neglect any longer, James has asked Michael to drop the surname ‘Essien’, so he, the old beggar dad, can accept the bitter truth that he does not have a multi-billionaire son with world-class fame.
“His mother has been ill-advising him to stop providing for my upkeep.
I will go all out to ensure that he stops using my name. ..Even if I have to drag him to the law courts, I will do that…I have been ill for over a year now.
It is Kyeremeh (Berekum Chelsea board chairman) who takes care of me, and I see no point in him continuing to bear my name,” James Essien told Happy FM, an Accra-based private radio station.
But Michael has denied the dad’s allegations. The footballer said he takes care of the dad by sending him money on a monthly basis, takes care of his medical bills, has built him a house and bought him a car.
NEWS-ONE visited James Essien in May last year to find out if indeed he was living a miserable life that did not befit the biological dad of a billionaire footballer, or whether Michael indeed took care of him.
The old man granted the paper an exclusive interview and allowed telling photos to be taken of his house.
We reproduce excerpts of the interview.
News-One: “You seem to be destroying your son with this claim that he has neglected you.
James Essien:
“It is not true I am out to destroy Michael, at least I am proud he has sent my name to the international levels and if I played football for Gold Coast and my son is playing for Ghana, what can I say but to be proud of him, but truth must also be said that Essien is not looking after me as he is making the world believe.”
News-One: Why is he not looking after you as you are alleging?
James Essien: I believe it is because he grew up with the mother, Aba, so he is closer to her and takes care of her but I am an old man and I cannot tell lies against my own son. Michael does not care about me.
I have not seen him for the past 15 years and I have not spoken to him for the past six years because I do not even have his number, let alone contact him, and his mother has refused to give me the number. The sister, Diana, also says she does not have the number.”
News-One: But you know where to contact him when he is in Ghana.
James Essien: “No I do not. There was this time I heard he was in Ghana and would be training at the stadium so I dressed in my best clothes and travelled all the way to Accra…After the training I went to the dressing room but when my son saw me, he bent his head as if he was lacing his boots and remained there for over 15 minutes, so I went to him and raised his head.
“Michael asked me who brought me to the stadium and it came to me as a surprise and I told him I was playing football at the stadium before he was born….When he got ready to leave, I followed him to his car and reminded him that I came to see him for a discussion but he insisted he was busy.
“I then asked for transportation back home but he did not give me and asked me to meet him at Novotel the next Monday.
I managed to perch with friends in Accra and finally got to Novotel on Monday, only to be told Michael Essien left the country Friday night, soon after my meeting with him.”
News-One: Could it be he was hurt because you neglected him as a child?
James Essien: “Ha ha ha ha. I did not neglect Michael.
When the mother and I broke up, he was about two years so all the children stayed with her, but they always came to me during festivals and some holidays. It was after he got to France that I stopped hearing from him and had never had his number.
“I looked after him and I was the one who even sent him to Swedru Secondary school after his JSS. On that day, I even had an accident and this is a story many people in Swedru still remember. From there, he had a scholarship to St. Augustine.
“I must confess I was not sending him money when he was in school, but it was not deliberate because I was not having money at the time… I did my best to look after him but as a revenue collector, what could I have done. I took him to secondary school, when he had the Liberty opportunity I played a major role. You ask Alhaji Sly Tetteh.”
News-One: What about the three-bed room house he built for you?
James Essien: “This is where I live; a mud house built by my brother many years ago, even before Michael was born. It is the room in which I stay that he renovated and added a hall. He has never built me a house.
I do not believe he wrote that statement himself.”
News-One: He claims he sends you money for your up-keep and car maintenance.
James Essien:
“Yes once in a while he sends me GH¢500 (about $400), but the money is not regular and at times has about six months interval. As for the car, it is still at the workshop because there is no money to repair it. I am the third person to own that car and it is not as new as you think.
News-One: Is it true he pays for your medical bills and sent you to the Asikuma Hospital?
James Essien: “If Michael Essien says he sent me to Assikuma Hospital, it is a big lie; it is a traditional medicine man that comes here to take care of me.”
News-One: “If you had a message for your son, what would it be?
James Essien: “Oh I want to see him. We should live as father and son. It is not that I am interested in burdening him with my problems.
I was taking care of myself before Michael was born and since then I still take care of myself; look, I was born on 28th September 1932, so I am not a small boy and there is very little I still expect from this life.
But Michael is my son, my blood, the one that makes me proud all over the world and I must at least be made to feel like a father but not a stranger to him.
I would want him to know I still love him as my child and that I follow his career and all his games. In fact there are things I want to tell him as a father, things I want to tell him in person.”
News-One: Thank you for the opportunity.
James Essien: Thank you and tell those who do not believe what I am saying to come here to see things for themselves.”
http://www.ghanatoghana.com/Ghanahomepage/micheal-essien-father-james-essien-disowns
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