More revelations continue to emerge on a group the National Democratic Congress (NDC) clandestinely formed in 2009 weeks after assuming the reins of government with the sole aim of using political power to take over various sporting associations, particularly the Ghana Football Association (GFA).
The group has been revealed to have included among others, Joseph Ade Coker, Nii Lantey Vanderpuije, Koku Anyidoho, Kojo Twum-Boafo, Ben Nunoo-Mensah, Kojo Bonsu, Oteng Arthur and Kofi Anokye-Darko, one of the Commissioners on the Brazil 2014 World Cup Commission.
In the latest turn of events, Kofi Manu, alias ‘Blue Blue’ who has confirmed to be aware of the group and its activities has confessed that aside their direct acts to destabilize various sporting associations, the group swore to do everything possible to kick out Ministers in charge of Sports, who failed to comply with their dictates particularly, those that concerned the Ghana Football Association and its administration headed by Kwasi Nyantakyi, who they targeted to kick out at all cost.
Speaking on Happy FMs Sports Show on Monday, Kofi Manu, who is a renowned NDC member and recently lost narrowly the Chairmanship of the NDC in the Brong Ahafo region, indicated that because he was a known sports administrator and an NDC member, he was invited by Kojo Twum-Boafo to a meeting of the group not long after the NDC took over in 2009.
The meeting, which he said was held at Castle Annex, near State House, was to discuss how the group could work to take over Ghana Sports beginning with the Ghana Boxing Authority, then the Ghana Olympic Committee and finally the Ghana Football Association in a sequential order.
“I kept all of this information to myself since 2009. I am only speaking because surprisingly, Ben Nunoo-Mensah who as he said was one of the core members of the group, has decided to volunteer this information himself without any provocation”, Kofi Blue Blue averred.
“After the election in 2009 since I am a known NDC member and because I was close to Nii Lantey Vandepuije and Koku Anyidoho to an extent, I was invited to join the government delegation to the CHAN tournament in Ivory Coast in 2009. When we returned from the CHAN tournament, this group as has been stated by Ben Nunoo-Mensah, invited me to a meeting at Castle Annex.
The duty they gave me was for them to use me to destabilize the GFA so as to oust Kwasi Nyantakyi. They told me they are in power so they want to control Ghana Sports starting with the GBA, then the GOC and especially the GFA”, he revealed.
Continuing the startling revelations, Kofi Manu, who is now accused by the group of betraying the cause they started in 2009, disclosed that the group, in several of the meetings held vowed that to further their aims, it was necessary to have the Minister of Sports on their side and so they vowed to have any Sports Minister who failed to listen to their dictates, sacked and replaced.
“I will tell you one thing that a lot of people don’t know. This group has caused a mess in Ghana and some families have suffered for it and I am happy they have themselves exposed their machinations over the last few years”, he continued.
According to him, the group said that they will “get out any Minister of Sports who doesn’t listen to them by creating problems for that Minister. Now let me tell you the reason why Ghana had an astonishing 4 Ministers of Sports in only 3 years under Prof. Mills.
This same group plotted against Muntaka because they said he had become friends with Nyantakyi. They eventually got Rashid Pelpuo out because they later discovered that Pelpuo was classmates at a point in time with Nyantakyi and so he was not listening to them to work against the GFA. They did same to Sena Dansua because when she got in and worked with the FA, she realized that the things they had been saying about the FA were not true”
The luckiest of the Ministers to have escaped the machinations of the diabolic group according to him, “was Kofi Humado partly because Prof. Mills died not so long after he was appointed and it was close to elections too.”
Kofi Manu reminded Ghanaians of a statement Prof. Mills made in 2011 when at a Press briefing, he was asked by a Journalist on what his relationship was with the GFA.
“You remember in 2012 or so, Prof. Mills was asked about his relationship with the GFA and he said that he had a good relationship with them but he regretted some decisions he took because he had been deceived by some people? This is the group that deceived the whole President of the Republic. That day I was sad”, he recalled with nostalgia.
The NDC guru further rubbished the excuse by Ben Nunoo-Mensah that the group was formed to basically ensure transparency at the GFA noting that the group first of all had no power to do that and therefore, that could not be the reason.
“I have told you about the discussions we were having at the meetings. It couldn’t have been about transparency because the group had no locus to ensure there was more transparency at the GFA as he is claiming. That is a lie. Again what we should know is that the Auditor General Audits the GFA every year. After auditing, they submit the report to the Public Accounts Committee of Parliament.
They have been calling people to answer questions on audited reports because of fraud and irregularities, have you ever heard them call the FA? Is Ben Nunoo Mensah and the others saying that they know more than the Auditor General or the PAC? That cannot be the case and certainly that was not the purpose of the group”, he reiterated.
The current scandal blew up last Thursday when Ben Nunoo-Mensah, a Presidential staffer called in to a Happy FM programme to challenge Kofi Manu on some comments he had made. While reacting, Ben Nunoo Mensah slipped and disclosed that in 2009, a core group of certain eminent NDC personalities were formed made up of Joseph Ade Coker, Nii Lantey Vanderpuije, Koku Anyidoho, Kojo Twum-Boafo, Ben Nunoo-Mensah, Kojo Bonsu, Oteng Arthur and Kofi Anokye-Darko, one of the Commissioners on the Brazil 2014 World Cup Commission to bring the FA under the direct control of the government.
He also questioned the principles of Kofi Manu and wondered what had changed for Kofi Manu to be defending the GFA now, since Kofi Manu was part of the group and was in agreement with all their plans during that period.
Kofi Manu later admitted to the existence of the group and provided graphic details of what the group was formed to do and their modus operandi.
Many sports enthusiasts are concerned whether the alleged involvement of Kofi Anokye Darko, in the said group would have any impact on the final report of the World Cup Commission.
Contacts made at the GFA could not get a firm response on the raging scandal but a source suggested that the GFA was studying the revelations closely. |
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