After almost five years of trial, a former President of the Ghana Football Association (GFA), Kwesi Nyantakyi, and his co-accused, former Northern Regional Chairman of the GFA, Abdulai Alhassan walked free from the High Court presided over by Her Ladyship Justice Marie-Louise Simmonds.
Justice Simmonds acting on the Attorney-General and Minister of Justice, Dr Dominic Ayine's decision, withdrew the charges against them, following the prosecution’s failure to secure testimony from any of its five listed witnesses.
The situation exacerbated when the final witness Anas refused to testify unless allowed to wear a mask, a request considered abnormal by the court.
Nyantekyi was accused of fraud, corruption during his tenure at GFA, following Anas Aremeyas Anas’ exposé on corruption in Ghana football.
Background
On the charge of fraud, the state said: “Kwesi Nyantakyi and Abdulai Alhassan in 2017 in Accra in the Greater Accra Region of Republic of Ghana and Dubai in the United Arab Emirates as agents of the Ghana Football Association (GFA) agreed to act together with a common purpose to dishonestly obtain the sum of $65,000 as inducement for showing favour to a potential sponsor of the GFA.”
Abdulai was seen very prominently in the tape and seemed to act as the right-hand man of the former GFA boss, Kwesi Nyantakyi, in the captured dealings with undercover reporters posing as businessmen who wanted to invest in the Ghanaian league.
In the video, Abdulai seemed to set up the meeting between the business men and Kwesi Nyantakyi and was seen very often in the interactions of the various parties.
The accused persons, who pleaded not guilty to the charges, were granted a GH¢1 million bail as they have been on trial before a High Court in Accra since 2020.
Further details to come...
By: Pascal Amoah
