Undercover investigative journalist, Anas Aremeyaw has begun an online petition to get former President of the Ghana Football Association (GFA) Kwesi Nyantakyi prosecuted.
Anas is alarmed that months after his undercover Number 12 exposé was premiered, no proper action has been taken against Mr. Nyantakyi by the government of Ghana.
[contextly_sidebar id=”G3ghEOXRsgtNQKxFEcwYz4wQ0LuBJ2wI”]Nyantakyi who was captured in the Number 12 exposé engaging in some alleged shady deals had already been banned for life by the world football governing body, FIFA.
Anas believes, the online petition will compel the appropriate authorities to make the man who was once a member on CAF’s Executive Committee to face the criminal charges he deserves.
Anas in a writeup on the online petition platform expressed shock that the Attorney General has failed to take up the matter despite the circumstantial evidence that compelled FIFA to ban Nyantakyi.
“Police have completed investigations into likely criminal misconduct by Mr. Nyantakyi. They submitted their findings to the Attorney General last year [2018]. The Attorney General has not taken any action on the case till date. Please help us ask the Attorney General to move this case forward. Mr. Nyantakyi should face criminal prosecution over some of his misconduct, which borders on criminality,” Anas added.
According to Anas, should Kwesi Nyantakyi be made to go scot-free, it will only give credence to the weak laws that are seemingly governing Ghanaians in the country.
“If Nyantakyi is not prosecuted, our collective fight against corruption will be meaningless. It will also send a signal to many citizens that the law only deals with the poor, but the rich and powerful cannot be held responsible for their actions.”
As of the time this piece was being published, about 1,500 people had endorsed the petition.
Below is Anas’ full statement on his petition
“Mr. Kwesi Nyantakyi, is a Ghanaian who, until 8 June 2018 was a member of the FIFA Council; a member of the FIFA Associations Committee; first Vice President of the Confederation of African Football (CAF); President of the West African Football Union (WAFU) Zone B and President of the Ghana Football Association.
Past news reports made allegations of corruption against him, but he dismissed them for lack of evidence. He at times threatened to or sued journalists in a bid to silence them. We wanted to know if there was any basis for the perception of corruption, especially after the much-publicized money claims fiasco that characterized Ghana’s participation in the 2014 FIFA World Cup in Brazil.
For three (3) months in 2017, I (together with my team at Tiger Eye) investigated (and later produced an undercover journalism documentary) in which we found that Mr. Nyantakyi breached the criminal laws of Ghana – including offences as money laundering, corruption, bribery, and fraud by false pretenses, by abusing his office.
These were uncovered as hard facts, captured on audio/visual recording, electronic mail correspondence, and a memorandum of understanding drafted by Mr. Nyantakyi in his handwriting, and subsequently type-printed and signed by him. His abuse of office was in respect to the following:
1. A fraudulent scheme in which he set up a company that would divert commissions on sponsorship deals to the Ghana Football Association.
2. In an elaborate plan to introduce my outfit to the Government of the Republic of Ghana. Mr. Nyantakyi demanded USD12m as “appearance” fee totalling USD12m to be distributed to the President of the Republic of Ghana (USD5m); Vice President of the Republic of Ghana (USD3m); Minister for Roads & Highways (USD2m); Deputy Minister for Roads & Highways (USD1m) and for himself (USD1m). These acts were in violation of his roles in FIFA, a citizen of Ghana and duties as President of the Ghana Football Association.
Based on the foregoing, we requested a full-scale investigation into the activities of Mr. Nyantakyi, especially his stewardship of the Ghana Football Association and Fountain Savings & Loans Limited. FIFA investigated, then fined and banned him from all football-related activities. In Ghana, he was arrested, then granted bail.
Police have completed investigations into likely criminal misconduct by Mr. Nyantakyi. They submitted their findings to the Attorney General last year. The Attorney General has not taken any action on the case till date. Please help us ASK the Attorney General to MOVE this case forward.
Mr. Nyantakyi should face criminal prosecution over some of his misconduct, which borders on criminality. We are sending letters, making calls, sending social messages to all government entities that can help us MOVE this case to the next level. We are also reaching out to news media to help spread the word. If Nyantakyi is not prosecuted, our collective fight against corruption will be meaningless.
It will also send a signal to many citizens that the law only deals with the poor, but the rich and powerful cannot be held responsible for their actions. Please sign this petition, take the actions requested and share with everyone you know to MOVE this case forward.
Thank You so much for your assistance in this URGENT matter.”
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