The role of the vetting committee in the 2019 Ghana Football Association Presidential elections

The season has come for another epic election for the presidency of the Ghana football Association. Characteristic of this election in the past there has been frantic efforts and profligate rhetoric on who is qualified to aspire to the position of presidency in the association.

The past decade or over the association has been beset with real issues of corruption, impunity and insensitivity to the needs of the association and the people they have been elected to serve, ultimately leading to a great disservice to the people of Ghana. Prior to the Anas expose, we have been beset with arrogant narratives about the ‘’right’’ of certain people to the ‘’throne’’ as if it was their birth right much to the annoyance of everyone.

The new statute which has emerged as a result of the Fifa Normalization Committee efforts for the last nine months has clearly defined the eligibility criteria for the positions that fall due. The contestants must pass an integrity test.

The new statute is welcome news for we lovers of football who have viewed the sport from the comfort of our homes and as a pastime to assuage the hard economic conditions in the country. The reasons are not hard to find.

The new statutes make room for a board, a CEO and a Chairman to oversee the administration of football in Ghana. As a layman I am aware that the association is a creation of statute and therefore is governed by rules and regulations including the Companies Act. For that reason the Act requires that persons who are appointed as Directors of such creations should be persons of high moral turpitude and proven integrity.

From the rumour mill, at least five out of the seven persons contesting the presidential election are tainted with fraud and criminal behaviour. Some petition we are told have been sent to the vetting committee for their disqualification. Thankfully, like the proverbial bird, we are privy to the information.

Fifa itself has had to grind the axe against some of its own influential leaders due to the new Ethic Rules which were introduced to crush corruption.

The question therefore to ask is how the present Normalization Committee can lower the bar, without becoming the ‘’bad boys’’ themselves. In that respect, the integrity of the high professional and lawyers on the Vetting Committee is in clear focus. The people of Ghana are watching.

We members of the public have been watching with keen eyes the reaction of the vetting committee. We cannot allow football to degenerate into the abyss of hopelessness that it has sunk into for the past 13 years.

We demand that the narrative for football will change radically for the football-loving people, however, almost everything will depend on the tenacity of the vetting committee. Even if there is only one contestant with clean credentials, we urge the committee to send a signal of ‘’non-corruption’’ to the international community. We cannot afford of be the laughing stock anymore. Ghana and Africa must shake off this shackle of mediocrity, once and for all.

We urge the vetting committee to stop this ugly dance in Ghana football for good. We are watching with KEEN AND DISCERNING EYES.

Written by a passionate patriot. In love with Ghana & Ghanaian football.