#Number12: Was Former GFA Boss Kwesi Nyantakyi Hypnotized?

0
163
#Number12: Was Former GFA Boss Kwesi Nyantakyi Hypnotized?

Mr Kwesi Nyantakyi became the president of the Ghana Football Association on 30th, December 2005 defeating two other candidates, Ade Coker and Kojo Bonsu in the election that saw him elected at that time just at the age of 35 years making the youngest Ghana FA president.

In his time as the FA boss, Mr Nyantakyi led the senior national team the Black Stars of Ghana to qualify for a three successive World Cups.

Ghana played it maiden World Cup in 2006 and played in 2010 and 2014 held in South Africa and Brazil respectively.

Not only did the former president had successes with the Black Stars, he also oversaw the Ghana U-20 football team [Back Satellites] to win Africa’s first and only U-20 World during his stewardship in 2009 in Egypt defeating Brazil on penalties.

Women’s football in Ghana also saw huge successes under Nyantakyi with both the youth sides qualifying for the U-17 and U-20 World Cups in all editions, thanks to the concept to develop talent from the schools.

Additionally, the administration of the game transformed with proper permanent structures put in place to ensure that the management of the game is professional, resulting in other federations coming to Ghana to learn the style of management and competitions organization.

In 2011, when the then West African Football Union president, Amos Adamu was suspended by FIFA, Kwesi Nyantakyi was given the nod to be the interim president of WAFU until elections were conducted.

Two years down the line, he stood unopposed in the November 2013 elections and was re-appointed for another two-year term as president.

Not only did Nyantakyi enjoyed successes in his home country, he held several international positions in football. The appointments cut across sub-regional, regional to the international stage.

He was the president of West African Football Union Zone B, as well as Football Organizer at the 2012 London Olympics Member of FIFA Associations Committee Member of the FIFA Executive Council member and the 1st vice president of the Confederation of African Football [CAF].

Nyantakyi, a man who rose to become the second most powerful person in football on the African continent despite all these successes he enjoyed also at some point got entangled in dicey controversies.

Despite the success he has amassed since winning the Ghana FA top post in 2005, Mr Nyantakyi has been consistently accused of being corrupt but always demanded for a prove and threatened to sue any media house who accused him of being corrupt.

Prior to the airing of the ‘Number 12’ video Mr Nyantakyi has dragged Patrick Osei Agyemang popularly known as ‘Countryman Songo’ to court for defamation demanding $2M.

After Abdul Malik Kweku Baako who the Editor-In-Chief of the New Crusading Guide revealed on Good Morning Ghana on Metro TV that the ‘Number 12’ video is focused on football and politics, football fandoms in the country kept on guessing personalities involved in the video.

Mr Baako emphasized that the reputation of those personalities involve in the video will be irredeemable and until the airing of the Anas Aremeyaw Anas investigative piece that has shaken the foundation of Ghana football, the astute lawyer and banker was regarded as the most successful Ghana Football Association boss since the days of Ohene Djan.

Most of those controversies people believe have been actualized after the release of the Anas Aremeyaw Anas documentary dubbed “Number 12” which was aired at the Accra International Conference Centre on June 6 and 7.

One of such controversies includes the bloated payment for friendlies Kwesi.

With this, Nyantakyi became an object of public scrutiny after it emerged that he led the GFA to take double payments for the organization of friendly matches of the Black Stars before the 2014 World Cup in Brazil.

After the abysmal display in the 2014 FIFA World Cup, former president John Dramani Mahama a set a Commission of Enquiry to probe Ghana’s poor showing in the 2014 FIFA World Cup in Brazil.

It was uncovered that the GFA took money from both government and GNPC in organizing the friendlies. The revelation came as a shock to many Ghanaians, with Nyantakyi being ordered by the Commission to refund the money to the state.

During the work of the Commissioners, Nyantakyi caused a nationwide uproar when he disclosed that he shared an amount of $557,000 among seven management committee members of the Ghana Football Association using ‘co-efficient’.

Quizzed how he did it, the Mr Nyantakyi disclosed that they shared the money using the coefficient of seven to the dismay of many.

More surprising was the fact that Nyantakyi’s former vice, Jordan Anagblah, who died before the World Cup started, was listed as one of the beneficiaries of the “coefficient”.

An undercover investigation led by The Telegraph and Channel 4 accused Kwesi Nyantakyi and other officials of the Ghana Football Association of match-fixing in 2014.

According to the investigations, the accusations involve just the international friendlies; World Cup matches would not be affected by the suspicions Nyantakyi denied the match-fixing allegations by saying that “the report of the newspaper or the media house is entirely not accurate” because ” there is really no cause for alarm as far as I am concerned because nothing untoward has happened involving me or the Federation.”

However, he was later cleared by the Ethics Committee who were ordered by FIFA to deal with the issue.

One of the dark spots on Nyantakyi’s reign as FA boss was the manner in which the Glo sponsorship deal played out.

The telecommunication giants injected $15million into the Ghana Premier League as sponsorship in 2008 with Abraham Boakye popularly known as ‘One Man Supporter’ being the broker of the deal.

However, it later emerged that Mid-Sea were the company that brokered the deal and so were entitled to 15% of the sponsorship money sidelining Mr Boakye who was a close pal of Kwesi Nyantakyi.

Further checks, though, revealed that the company did not exist, despite the money already been paid to them as the third party.

For emphasis
Here are top 5 scandals of Kwesi Nyantakyi as GFA president

1. Allegations of match-fixing
In 2014, a British newspaper, The Telegraph and Channel 4 did an investigation where the Telegraph’s reporters posed as match fixers and engaged Nyantakyi about the possibility of organising friendlies and influencing referees to determine the outcome of those games. The case ended up at FIFA, Nyantakyi was later cleared of any wrongdoing by the Ethics Committee.

2. Co-efficient payments
The “coefficient theory” became popular among Ghanaians following Nyantakyi’s appearance before the 2014 Commission of Inquiry.

The GFA boss alluded to the fact that he shared an amount of $557,000 among seven management committee members of the GFA which included his former vice, Jordan Anagblah, who was deceased even before the World Cup in Brazil started. Nyantakyi later said he calculated the shared amount using the coefficient of seven.

3. Double friendly payments scandal
The Dzamefe Commission also uncovered that the GFA, led by Nyantakyi, took double payments in organizing preparation matches ahead of the 2014 World Cup in Brazil.

Took money from government to organize friendlies for the Black Stars, before again turning back to take another money from sponsors GNPC for the same purpose.

The Commission, therefore, ordered him to refund a sum of $1 million to the state following the revelations.

4. Mid Sea brouhaha
Another big controversy of Kwesi Nyantakyi’s tenure as GFA boss was his handling of the Glo sponsorship deal which signed a $15million deal with the GFA to sponsor that Ghana Premier League, but not without a third party payment.

Mid sea, the brokers of the deal, stood to gain 15% of the total amount, however, it was later found that the agency could not be traced, leaving many to wonder who the 15% payment had been made to. The Economic and Organised Crime Office (EOCO) took up the matter, but could not prosecute anyone despite storming the offices of the GFA.

5. Inconsistencies in GNPC deal
Again, following the signing of a sponsorship between the Black Stars and state-owned GNPC, the GFA listed West Head as the company that brokered the deal.

However, it was later revealed that then GNPC boss Ato Ahwoi that no third party was involved in the deal, exposing the FA in the process.

If not when the applause was high, then maybe when the whole Anas documentary started making airwaves and hinting of a looming disgrace.

Ahead of the 2019 Ghana Football Association elections, Nyantakyi in an interview with five different radio interviews, the former CAF 1st vice president confirmed that he has decided not to seek for re-election when his term in office elapses, but he astonishingly rescinded his decision.

Kwesi Nyantakyi relieved George Afriyie from office as vice president of the Ghana Football Association after he declared his intention to contest the top Ghana FA post in 2019 during the celebration of his 50th birthday.

Soon the eye of June came on the sixth day of the month and all the rot in the FA was exposed by the most feared investigative journalist on the planet Anas Aremeyaw Anas.

In the investigative piece, Kwesi Nyantakyi was caught on tape receiving $65,000 as a gift from an investor who expressed interest in sponsoring the Ghana Premier League which goes against the ethics of the Ghana Football Association.

He was seen outlining plans of how a sum of 20-25% will be used in the sponsorship deal can be looted into a private account. With a back story that the money was going to a middleman who brought the investor.

Many Ghanaians were hugely surprised after watching the video at the Accra International Conference Centre.

However, his deeds highlighted in the video angered and shocked many Ghanaians as the long-term president was exposed by the award-winning journalist. With all that knowledge in the public domain, he refused to resign from his post, defending that he was being framed.

The President of Ghana, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo ordered the arrest of Nyantakyi after the watching the video at his office in which Nyantakyi was apparently engaged in some fraudulent activity using the name of the President.

Deputy Chief of Staff, Samuel Abu Jinapor in an interview with Accra based Peace FM confirmed the president’s order for Nyantakyi’s arrest indicating that the GFA captain engaged in influence peddling using the name of the president. “The footage indicated that Kwesi Nyantakyi used the name of the President to defraud some people; constituting defrauding by false pretenses…” Jinapor indicated.

“He ordered the CID to arrest him to assist in the investigation and then the next step will be taken. The president is the custodian of the law and he’s not biased. No matter who you are, once you are wrong, he will hand you over to the law. He has demonstrated that his determination to fight corruption and crime is unquestionable” Jinapor noted.

When quizzed if the President is on the right course since the GFA is deemed autonomous, he said, “GFA is not an island when it comes to the criminal laws of Ghana and so an action can be taken and that is what has been done. Nobody will be allowed to go scot free if found guilty”

Having been exposed in the “Number 12” video, the Executive Committee Members of the Ghana Football Association refused to condemn him and opted to stand behind their president.

They notoriously released a statement showing their loyalty to Mr Nyantakyi.

Below is the statement by the ExCO
PRESS RELEASE: GFA STATEMENT ON DOCUMENTARY BY TIGER EYE ON ALLEGED ACTS OF CORRUPTION

The Ghana Football Association (GFA)’s attention has been drawn to the airing of a documentary by Tiger Eye PI alleging acts of corruption by some match officials and senior officials of the federation.

The Gfa was not provided with an opportunity to watch the premiering of the documentary as it was neither provided with an advanced copy of the said documentary nor furnished with tickets by Tiger Eye PI to watch the airing.

Though the GFA did not commission Tiger Eye PI to undertake this exercise and have not been provided with the opportunity of watching the documentary, we view the allegations circulating in the media very seriously and would wish to take immediate steps to address them.

To this end, we believe it’s only fair and proper that Tiger Eye furnishes us with the said documentary and hereby request Tiger Eye as a matter of urgency to furnish us with all the recorded material on this documentary to enable us to forward it to the appropriate quarters for further investigations.

The GFA wishes to emphasize that it is an association incorporated under the laws of Ghana and as such governed by the laws of Ghana as well as its own Rules and Regulations. It is also affiliated to CAF and FIFA

The GFA wishes to place on record that, there will be no attempt of a cover-up or shield any of our members caught in alleged acts of corruption.

The GFA wishes to assure all that as an institution it does not condone any manner of corrupt practices.

We wish to put on record that eight months ago, we got evidence of some external influences seeking to manipulate matches in our various competitions.

As soon as it became clear to us that we were facing the possibility of some external influences seeking to destroy the sanctity of the game in Ghana, we wrote to FIFA seeking assistance to help combat this menace.

The action we took was in furtherance of the GFA’s desire to fight against match manipulation and maintain the integrity of our game and federation.

We received a full FIFA response a few days later, with an action plan on how we can fight the menace of match manipulation through a roadmap for the implementation of the national integrity initiative.

We are still working with FIFA Integrity Department to find the appropriate dates for the action to help educate our members on the dangers of this menace.

The GFA will subsequently be undertaking a holistic review and continue with our reforms geared towards the enhancement of its operations in dealing with alleged acts of corruption in the game.

We urge the football fraternity to remain calm and provide us with all the support we need as we bid to restore confidence and trust in our beautiful game.

We ask anyone with information about these allegations to get in touch with us through: info@ghanafa.org

SIGNED
ISAAC ADDO (GENERAL SECRETARY)
The World Football Governing body FIFA after being petitioned by Journalist Anas Aremeyaw Anas suspended Nyantakyi for 90 days with a possible extension of 45 days.

Despite the ruling from FIFA, Kwesi Nyantakyi chaired a meeting with the ExCO at the Alisa Hotel showing how resilient the powerful man was.

In days, the heat turned up and Government stepped up to sanitize the disgrace GFA. The government decided it will be best to take steps and dissolve the office completely and build it from the ground. At this point it was obvious his only options were to step down from his various position.

Nyantakyi relinquished his position as FA boss, stepped down as the first vice president of CAF as well as a FIFA Executive Committee Member.

Astonishingly, Kwesi Nyantakyi sued the investigative journalist for defamation and further responded to TigerEyePI in a statement in which he denied accepting $65.000 from an undercover journalist who expressed interest in sponsoring the Ghana Premier League.

Below Is the statement:
PRESS STATEMENT BY KWESI NYANTAKYI ON THE INVESTIGATIVE REPORT BY ANAS AREMEYAW ANAS AND HIS TIGER EYE PI TEAM.

1. INTRODUCTION
Good morning media and fellow Ghanaians.
Thank you for the opportunity you have offered to listen and consider my responses to the investigative report on corruption in Football in Ghana by Anas Aremeyaw Anas and his Tiger Eye PI team.

From the outset, let me state that I do not support corruption in any form. It is counterproductive and undermines the credibility of any endeavour.

In the same vein, I will condemn any premeditated and deliberately contrived scheme as well as any prejudicial piece of work undertaken under the guise of fighting corruption only for purposes of pursuing the private agenda of people intended to tarnish my reputation and cause disaffection for me among members of the general public.

2. APOLOGY.
I wish to first and foremost render an unqualified apology to the following very distinguished personalities. They are;

i. H.E. The President of the Republic of Ghana.
ii. H.E. the Vice President of the Republic of Ghana.

iii. H.E the former President of the Republic of Ghana.

iv. Ministers and Deputy Ministers of State.
v. Senior Government Officials.
vi. Members of the NPP and NDC, and
vii. The Football Family.
I owe them my deepest apologies because in my interaction with the supposed Sheikh from Qatar and his agents, I made comments that were not responsible for having regard to my stature and experience. Those comments resulted from a poor exercise of discretion arising on the spur of the moment and in the circumstances in which I interacted with the supposed Sheikh and his agents. I think I was carried away by the lies represented to me. I am deeply sorry for the inconveniences my unguarded utterances have caused you.

I also apologize to well-meaning and discerning Ghanaians, who I have by virtue of my indiscretion offended.

I extend the same level of apology to my family, friends and associates for the anguish and hardship this issue has created for them.

3. FACTS
In or about September 2017, Mr Abdulai Alhassan (Mr Alhassan), then Chairman of the Northern Region Football Association called and informed me that a certain Sheikh Al-Thani of Qatar (Sheikh) had expressed the interest in sponsoring the Ghana Premier League for $5m per annum for 3 years. Mr Alhassan explained that information about the Sheikh’s interest in sponsoring the Ghana Premier League got to him from a certain Mr Ahmed Hussein Suale (Suale) who is based in Qatar and Dubai. Mr Alhassan told me that he knew Mr Suale in Tamale and believed that the offer was genuine. He further informed me that Mr Suale had been working with the Sheikh for at least 7 years for which reason the offer was worth considering.

Based on the representations Suale/Alhassan/I at Coco Vanilla (a restaurant at Adjiriganor, Accra) where we discussed the subject. During the meetings, Mr Suale confirmed to both Mr Alhassan and I that

(i) Sheikh Al-Thani wanted to set up an oil refinery in Ghana.

(ii) That as a businessman, Sheikh Al-Thani had similar investments in Cote D’Ivoire, Botswana, Lesotho and other parts of Africa.

(iii) The Sheikh Al-Thani was the majority shareholder of their family business known as MedGulf Construction Limited.

Mr Suale further said that in 2016, Sheikh had initiated a similar move to establish an oil refinery in Ghana. He had held discussions with the previous Government.

Mr Suale then told us that the Sheikh gave $8m in financial support to the National Democratic Congress (NDC) political party and the then President, John Mahama in December 2016 for the General Elections.

Mr Suale also said that the Sheikh was ready to offer financial support to the New Patriotic Party (NPP) in mitigation of expenses incurred in the run-up to the 2016 General Elections. He then sought our advice.

I responded by saying that if Sheikh Al-Thani spent $8m on a party that had lost Elections, it makes sense to spend the same amount or more on the party that won the election. I further stated that the President, Vice President, Ministers and Deputy Ministers all came out of a costly election so in making the provision to offer financial support to the party, he should donate to the NPP party:

• $5m in the name of (not to) the President
• $3m in the name of (not to) the Vice President

• $2m in the name of (not to) Minister and
• $1m in the name of (not to) Deputy Minister
I advised that these amounts should be paid to the NPP party subject to the political parties law. These statements were made in the spirit of a general discussion and were made believing that all present were genuine and credible. Subsequently, Suale and I met the supposed Sheikh in Dubai where I was tricked to repeat the donations in the name of the above officials. I did not know that I was being recorded. I certainly would have exercised a better discretion if I knew I was being recorded.

I would request that Tiger Eye does us a favour by playing the full videos/audios of all the meetings held with Suale. The only occasion I met the supposed Sheihk was the meeting in Dubai. The video/audio presented to the public cannot be appreciated outside the context of all the meetings and discussions held.

Now, after the meetings at Coco Vanilla, Accra, Mr Suale confirmed that Sheikh Al-Thani wanted to meet us in Dubai. They offered to provide pre-paid air tickets. Mr Suale, however, subsequently advised that the Sheikh had requested that I pre-finance the trip and be reimbursed. I agreed and travelled to Dubai. I did not meet the Sheikh as promised. I paid for my ticket and hotel for the trip. Mr Suale then arranged a second trip which was the only occasion I met the supposed Sheikh. Mr Suale provided me with an outboard air ticket (Dubai- Cairo) only contrary to an earlier agreement to finance an all-round trip for me (Accra-Dubai-Accra). It’s clearly discernible that apart from a partial leg of the trips I was owed for the rest of airfares board and lodging which were incurred at the request of Mr Suale.

There was, however, a third trip the circumstances of which are unrelated to me personally although the Sheikh again requested through Mr Suale that I pre-finance the trip to be reimbursed later. Since this trip does not relate to me personally, I do not think it necessary to disclose its details. I also paid for this trip.

It was during my second trip to Dubai that the Sheikh gave me $40,000.00 as reimbursement for the air tickets I pre-financed for my two (2) trips and the third trip.

It must be emphasized that I did not receive any other monies from the Sheikh for any other purpose.

I did not receive any monies for myself or on behalf of the President, the Vice President or any other senior Government official. Let me also clarify that H.E the President, H.E. the Vice President, Ministers and Deputy Ministers and Senior Government Officials had no prior knowledge or subsequent knowledge of all the discussions contained in the video.

The money given to me was a refund for my expenses which I personally funded for the trip.

4.THE ALLEGED PAYMENT OF $65,000.
From voice-over commentaries on the video, I was reported to have accepted

$65,000 in banknotes in October 2017 from a man claiming to be a member of the Qatari Royal Family (the Sheikh) who told me “that the money was for shopping” and that I then thanked the said man, “placed the banknotes into a black plastic bag” but “failed to report this large gift to the GFA” I vehemently deny the same, and wish to state that;

i. it is completely false that I received $65,000 from a person claiming to be a member of the Qatari Royal Family.

ii. It is also completely false that at the time the money was handed to me, I was informed: “that the money was for shopping”.

iii In the context of (ii) above, it is therefore false that I was handed a “large gift”.

I have already dealt with the circumstances under which I received the money from the Sheikh. Of key significance, however, is the allegation that I received the sum of $65,000.

Travel expenses for the three (3) trips came up to $61,000.00 the breakdown of which is as follows:

I. Cost of air ticket for two (2) trips, board and lodging -$10,000.00

II. Cost of first-class air tickets for three others -$26,000.00

III. Cost of board and lodging for the three others at Burj Arab Hotel Dubai for five days -$25,000.00

Total cost= $61,000.00
I was handed the sum of $40.000 only in eight (8) bundles of US$ 50 banknotes but not $65,000 which both I and the Sheikh’s agent understood to be reimbursement for the travel costs incurred by me, at the Sheikh’s request. It is very easy to confirm how much was given to me from the videotapes. The money was exposed before I was tricked to put in the bag personally.

A critical review of the video clip will reveal that when the money was handed to me, there was no mention of shopping. A different video has a voice emerging from a faceless speaker saying, “shopping for now”. This insertion of an overriding voice was clearly an afterthought.

Based on the agreement with Suale, the $40,000 was a refund and not a gift or bribe. It’s disingenuous to purport to donate a gift when the donor owes a lawful debt for the cost of travels.

The question that beats my mind is why Tiger Eye lied about the amount of money given to me. Why was the viewing public not allowed to perceive what they saw and heard on the video themselves? Why run commentaries to deceive the viewing public?

ii. Namax
It is again alleged from voices on the video that, I personally negotiated a $15m sponsorship agreement between Ghana Football Association (GFA) and an apparent Qatari trading Company and that I intended that this money would be received by an agency named Namax, which is beneficially controlled by me. This is false.

At all times material to this matter, I never negotiated any sponsorship agreement between the GFA and any Qatari Trading Company.

I met with the Sheikh’s agent, Suale over a period of one (1) month and with the supposed Sheikh (only once) during which meetings, I advised that all sponsorships for the GFA are preceded by sponsorship proposals for which reason it was necessary for the Sheikh to present a written sponsorship proposal to the GFA for consideration.

I have no interest whatsoever in NAMAX. It is regrettable that the Tiger Eye could not ascertain that from the most rudimentary of checks.

The mischief inherent in the suggestion that I advised that the sponsorship money be paid to an entity known as NAMAX is obvious when the account is taken of the fact that there was no sponsorship proposal sent to the GFA as advised. For this reason, no contract signed between the GFA and the proposed sponsor. The effect is that any discussion as to monies to be paid through NAMAX or the Savings and Loans company for or on behalf of the GFA was pointless.

I recall, advising when Suale suggested to me that the sponsorship money would most likely be paid in CASH to the GFA that because the anti-money laundering rules would not support his suggested mode of payment to the GFA, the following options could be employed;

i. To open a bank account in Ghana to which the money should be paid, or

ii. To deposit the money with a Savings and Loans Company with a letter detailing the purpose for which it was transferred.

I accordingly advised that the money would be transferred to the GFA only after the contract with the GFA is signed.

iii. Formation of a company as an agent.
It is also alleged in the video, that I said I would form a Company to be an agency which would negotiate between the GFA and the Qatari Company and that this would be cool money. That I would charge between 20% and 25% with me and the Qatari Company agreeing whether various people would get a percentage with the effect that I would have benefitted by $4.5m. The videos do not support this. The story is constructed with my voice recording from a different discussion on a most probably different subject. The point is credible if the account is taken of the fact that basic arithmetics would have revealed that there was no way, assuming the allegation to be correct that I would have made financial gains in the sum of $4.5m. By simple arithmetical calculation 20% of $15m = $3m and 25% of $15m = $3.7m.

I also reject all fabricated emails constructed from my account to implicate me in a wrong-doing. I have evidence that at least on five (5) occasions during the period under review, some person[s] gained unauthorized access to my email account.

The avowed aim of the Tiger Eye Team being mischief, my belief is that my email account was hacked with the deliberate aim of tarnishing my reputation.

iv.Memorandum of understanding.
It is also alleged in the video that Tiger Eyes investigations reveal that I drew up a Memorandum of Understanding to outline the sponsorship arrangement with Namax and signed as President of the Ghana FA. Tiger Eye must have extracted my name, title and signature somewhere which was then cloned to an agreement between their company and Namax. The point I have just made is obvious when the account is taken of the description accompanying the signature. It is unthinkable that I will be signing a document in my capacity as the GFA President when the GFA is not a party to the document.

v. Middleman.
I have also heard, I said that I put myself as the middleman for the sponsorship deal with a view to taking a large commission that would deprive the GFA of which I was President of significant sums. This is ridiculous. Having advised that an agency be appointed to manage the sponsorship agreement between the GFA and the Sheikh (which is the usual practice) this accusation against me is without substance. I further advised that the cost of activation by the agent should not be part of the US$15m proposed sponsorship amount. The MOU bears that out.

5. CONCLUSION
Let me also confirm that there was a demand on me through a third party to part with $150k for Anas to drop the videos on me. I didn’t have the said amount of money to meet his demand.

My humble request to the Ghanaian public now is this, having heard my side, whatever your view is, please tell Anas to let you have the benefit of the full video devoid of his prior commentary and advice. You are capable of understanding things yourself. Unfortunately, I do not have a video to show you because I dealt with people I trusted to be businessmen because they were introduced to me by a person I knew well. I have learnt the bitter way that the fact you trust someone does not mean you must trust who they trust.

I assure all my friends and loved ones that I am determined to deal with this matter in accordance with the law as well as the most ethical and professional standards.

MR KWESI NYANTAKYI
DR MARTIN LUTHER OBENG
(P.R.O- 0242643462)
After the statement was released, many Ghanaians slammed the former Ghana FA boss asking was he asleep when he pocketing the money, or his greediness led him to this situation? Was he forced to accept the money from the undercover journalist or he was bewitched?

Government then appointed a five-man Interim Member Committee to champion the affairs of the FA for the meantime as the dissolution process was being carried out. Unfortunately, the committee could not start work because they were never inaugurated.

FIFA stepped in and had meetings with the Government which has now led to the appointment of a liaison team seeing to the affairs of National Teams and Aduana stars who are involved in the continental competition.

Now, this is where we are. The era of Dr Kofi Amoah and Oti Akenteng who are the two-man FIFA/CAF Liaison team ensuring Football continues in the country as Government looks to dissolve the GFA.

The dissolution is not far from complete as the High Court has named the Registrar Generals Department as the official liquidator of the GFA.

As to what will have after all this is over is a big question which not many can answer.

From here where do we even go as a country that has its football at heart?

Who will be the next GFA boss and how do we make sure that what happened will not happen in our history again?

With the steps government has taken we only hope and pray things will not be the same!!!