Nyantakyi charged with fraud, granted GHC1m bail

The former President of the Ghana Football Association (GFA) Kwesi Nyantakyi and the former Northern Regional Representative of the GFA, Abdulai Alhassan, have been charged with fraud and corruption over their involvement in the Anas Aremeyaw Anas Number 12 Exposé.

The former FA president Pleaded not Guilty and has been granted bail in the Sum of GHc 1 million.

Defence Team

Lawyer for the second accused person Douglas Seidu, who also held brief for Thaddeus Sory, lawyer for the first accused person, argued for bail for his clients after the Court read their charges to them and their pleas were taken.

State Attorney

Principal State Attorney, Victoria Aseiduwaa, who represented the State did not oppose the bail application. She, however, asked the Court to ensure that the bail conditions are strict enough to guarantee that the accuse persons will avail themselves to stand trial.

By Court

Criminal High Court Judge, Justice Comfort Tasiame, admitted the two accused persons to bail in the sum of 1 million Ghana Cedis each with three sureities, two of which must be justified. She ordered that the accused persons to report themselves to the Police every Friday till the case is over. Justice Tasiame further ruled that the party should return to Court on the 25th of March 2020 for the Case Management Conference (CMC). Before the CMC though, the presiding judge ordered that the State must make full pretrial disclosures to the defence team ahead of the CMC without fail.

Background

The embattled former President of the Ghana Football Association (GFA) Kwesi Nyantakyi, came under heavy criticism after the content of ace journalists’ Anas Aremeyaw Anas investigative piece entitled ‘Number12’ aired in Ghana on the 6th of June 2018.

The piece captured Kwesi Nyantakyi supposedly taking $65,000 (£48,000) from an undercover reporter pretending to be a businessman. The video among other things also captured top officials of the football association including its President, Nyantakyi allegedly taking bribes to influence the invitation of players to the national team, to influence the duration of playing time offered to some players and to influence the selection of unfit players and referees to participate in games.

Additionally,the Number 12 documentary captured more than 100 referees allegedly taking bribes to manipulate the outcome of games in a team’s favour. Following the first screening of the video which attracted more than 3,000 persons, many called for a complete dissolution of the Ghana Football Association (GFA) and immediate resignation of its embattled president, Kwesi Nyantakyi.

Kwesi Nyantakyi, who was also the first Vice President of the Confederation of African Football (CAF) eventually resigned from all football-related positions few days after the video was aired. Fifa subsequently suspensed Kwesi Nyantakyi and later banned him for life.

Source: Ghana/otecfmghana.com