Anas exposé: Nyaho-Tamakloe demands GFA house cleaning

Following the damning revelations from Anas Aremeyaw Anas' investigative work, a former Ghana football chief, Dr Nyaho Nyaho-Tamakloe, has demanded a "total house cleansing exercise" at the GFA "to purge the system of corrupt elements".

He said the exercise should include a comprehensive review of the constitution of the GFA to introduce proper checks and balances within the set-up.

For a starter, he has called on "the genuine ones within the football set-up to initiate the appropriate procedures according to the GFA's constitution to sweep aside the corrupt gang who have brought the local game into disrepute".

He stressed that power must no longer be concentrated in the hands of an individual as it exists under the current structure to forestall corrupt tendencies among power holders.

Instead, he advocated a strict number of terms for the presidency in order to discourage dictatorial tendencies that could undermine local football development.

Dr Nyaho-Tamakloe said he was scandalised by the level of corruption that had engulfed the local football landscape as captured on video by the investigative piece, and demanded that laid down procedures must be applied to kick out persons found to have been compromised in the investigation.

Last Wednesday's premiering of the exposé in Accra was highly patronised, with various newspaper headlines portraying a nation in shock.

GFA president, Kwesi Nyantakyi, the biggest act in the video, was seen and heard describing how to make money from a proposed sponsorship deal from a supposed investor.

For a deal worth about $15 million, he and his fellow 'conspirators' were to make $3.5 million from it in one of the most damaging scenes in the video.

He also boasted of his relationship with President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, suggesting the president and his vice, Dr Mahamudu Bawumia, were susceptible to bribery, and that the two could be influenced with $5 million and $3 million respectively.

Other football officials caught red-handed were members of the Executive Committee of the GFA, notably Greater Accra Regional Football Association chairman, Nii Kormiete Doku, and numerous referees.

Two persons — Messrs J.F. Mensah, of Ebusua Dwarfs fame, and Kweku Eyiah, chairman of the Black Starlets Management Committee — declined the offer of bribes to influence their work.

Dr Nyaho-Tamakloe said those persons and their like must be bold to stir a change agenda to wipe the slate clean and claw back the confidence of the public.

'If those who have been shamed by the exposé are refusing to bow out to save some honour, the rest who could lift their heads up must show them the way out if Ghana football," he told Graphic Sports in an interview.

"When there is too much power in the hands of one person there are always chances that those powers would be abused. Unfortunately, the current constitution of the GFA has given the president too much powers to the extent that he could sack his vice. Who then could actually challenge him when he errs? This should be checked immediately," he said.

The investigative work has already gained international attention, with the BBC said to have collaborated with Anas for the undercover investigation into what was perceived to be a corrupt terrain — Ghana Football.

What was unknown was the degree of corruption and the ease of compromise of officials, with some executive committee members receiving as low as GH¢300 CEDI's and a referee receiving a paltry GH¢500.