A lawyer for the Ghana Football Association (GFA), Amanda Clinton, claims the only reason government is going ahead to dissolve the association is because it intends to put party people in various positions of the association.
The government last week appointed a registrar general to supervise the GFA assets, days after announcing it will pay salaries of the staff of the country’s football governing body.
Government is taking steps to dissolve the GFA after an investigation by journalist Anas Aremeyaw Anas exposed alleged systematic corruption in the association which led to the resignation of its president, Kwesi Nyantakyi, while five other Executive Committee members who were implicated, were asked to step down.
Clinton claims government’s move is part of a ploy to bring the GFA under government’s ownership so they can fill it with party people.
“Why would government offer to pay the salaries of the GFA? Because they know the GFA is independent, and they did that to say ‘oh we own GFA.'” she told Kumasi-based Oyerepa FM.
“Even when government sponsors the national teams to the world cup, the money is returned to government when FIFA pays the GFA. It was a complete company and then all of a sudden because the GFA is worth a lot of assets, you want to take over the company and make it government-owned and start filling it with your party people.
Clinton also said the government’s move to take over a company she describes as “independent” would be a bad precedent for corporate Ghana.
“It’s not just about the GFA. It’s about all companies in Ghana, because if you allow the government to do this, next time a profitable company will be taken over by the government out of ‘public interest'”, she said.
The Attorney General’s petition to have the GFA dissolved has yet to be heard by an Accra High Court.
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Fentuo Tahiru/citinewsroom.com/Ghana
