Eulogy to Kwesi Nyantakyi,a former GFA President and CAF Vice President

Preamble

Today, I do not come to judge. I come to honor.

I come not to dwell on the storm that swept you away, but to celebrate the light you carried through the tempest.

I come to say, simply and sincerely: Kwesi Nyantakyi, Ghana sees you. Ghana remembers. And Ghana is grateful.

The Man Behind the Legend

Born to a Waa mother and an Akan father from Kwaso in the Ashanti Region, you grew up in the humble town of Wa, where your early education planted seeds of discipline and ambition. You became a banker, a lawyer, and a football administrator—three professions, one heart. A practicing Muslim from birth ,you carried faith into every boardroom and every pitch.

You were not born into football royalty. You earned your place at the table. And when you sat down, you did not sit for yourself. You sat for Ghana.

The Golden Era

From December 30, 2005, to June 7, 2018, you served as President of the Ghana Football Association. Those thirteen years were not merely years on a calendar. They were a golden era—a time when Ghanaian football stood tall, walked proud, and conquered heights never before imagined.

Under your leadership:

· The Black Stars qualified for their maiden FIFA World Cup in 2006 – Ghana’s first-ever appearance on football’s grandest stage. The world, which had barely heard of our small West African nation, suddenly saw us. They saw our colors. They felt our rhythm. They feared our power. As you yourself once said, many people in Asia and beyond got to know the brand “Ghana” only when the Black Stars arrived in Germany. You did not just qualify for a tournament; you introduced Ghana to the world.
· The Black Stars returned to the World Cup in 2010 – and this time, they reached the quarterfinals, coming agonizingly close to a historic semifinal berth. A last-minute penalty miss against Uruguay broke our hearts, but it did not break our pride. The world saw that Ghana was no longer a visitor at the World Cup. We belonged.
· A third consecutive World Cup appearance in 2014 followed, cementing Ghana as a global football brand. Three consecutive World Cups. That was not luck. That was leadership.
· On the continental stage, the Black Stars finished as runners-up in the 2010 and 2015 Africa Cup of Nations. We knocked on the door of African glory, and under your watch, we knocked louder than ever before.
· The Black Satellites became the first African team to win the FIFA U-20 World Cup in 2009 in Egypt. That trophy was not just for the boys on the pitch. It was for every Ghanaian who had ever dreamed of African excellence on the world stage. You made that dream real.

But your vision was never only about the senior team. You prioritized youth development, understanding that today’s child is tomorrow’s champion. You spearheaded critical infrastructural projects, including the Ghanaman Soccer Centre of Excellence in Prampram—a world-class facility that became the heartbeat of talent development in Ghana.

You called for urgent action to develop grassroots football, demanding a new approach where the development of coaches was as important as the provision of basic equipment. You purchased vehicles for the Regional Football Associations to strengthen grassroots operations across the country. You built not just teams but systems. Not just players but a pipeline of future stars.

Beyond the pitch, you secured massive sponsorships from telecommunications giants like MTN and GLO, from GNPC, from Unibank, from Guinness, and from the government itself. You turned Ghanaian football into a commercially viable enterprise, attracting investment that had never before touched our shores.

And at the continental and global level, you rose to become First Vice-President of CAF and a member of the FIFA Council. Dr. Nyaho Nyaho-Tamakloe, your predecessor, has publicly acknowledged that your influential roles significantly enhanced Ghana’s standing in international football, stating, “Kwesi performed excellently; he knew football. His achievements pushed Ghana forward.”

Indeed, as Alhaji Raji, former chairman of GHALCA, recently declared: “Kwesi Nyantakyi is the best GFA president to have ever emerged from the country. He achieved a lot during his time in office.”

The Fall That Was Not Your Final Chapter

Then came June 2018.

The investigative documentary “Number 12” aired, and in its wake, your world collapsed. You resigned. FIFA banned you—first temporarily, then for life, later reduced to fifteen years on appeal. The Attorney General filed criminal charges against you: conspiracy to commit fraud, corruption, bribery. You became a pariah overnight. Friends who had stood beside you turned their backs. The nation that had celebrated you now vilified you.

You have since described that experience as an attempt on your life. “It felt like they wanted to kill me,” you said. “Not many people can survive such an ordeal.”

For nearly seven years, you endured legal battles, public scrutiny, and the slow erosion of your reputation. Seven years of waiting. Seven years of wondering if justice would ever come.

And then, on January 30, 2025, the Court of Appeal acquitted you. The prosecution had failed to present key witnesses—including the investigative journalist whose mask became a symbol of the entire affair. With no evidence presented, the court determined there was no basis to continue the case. Justice Marie-Louise Simmonds discharged you and your co-accused, emphasizing that a fair trial must occur within a reasonable time frame.

You were found guilty by public opinion before the courts had their say. And when the courts finally spoke, they said: Not guilty. Discharged.

The Quiet Dignity of Your Return

Many men, broken by such an ordeal, would have retreated into bitterness. Not you.

Even while serving a fifteen-year ban from football administration, you have quietly returned to service—not to reclaim power, but to offer hope.

In June 2025, you launched the Prison Football Project at Nsawam Medium Security Prison. Teaming up with the Professional Footballers Association of Ghana and legends like Samuel Osei Kuffour, John Mensah, and Kwame Ayew, you used football to inspire and rehabilitate inmates. After watching a match between inmate teams, you said you were “stunned” by the raw talent behind bars. And you acted. You donated kits, footballs, jerseys, bags of rice, and meat. You brought joy to a place more accustomed to routine and confinement. And you spoke words that still echo: “Prison shouldn’t be the end—it can be a new beginning. Nelson Mandela was in prison for 27 years and came out to be President.”

You have also made it clear that you have no intention of returning to football administration, even after your ban is lifted. “The fear of going through a similar ordeal will always be there,” you admitted. That is not weakness. That is honesty. That is a man who has tasted the bitter fruit of public disgrace and chosen, instead of revenge, to sow seeds of redemption.

Therefore, I Declare

Mr. Kwesi Nyantakyi,

For taking Ghana to her first World Cup—and her second, and her third.

For building the Ghanaman Soccer Centre of Excellence and planting the seeds of grassroots development.

For making Ghana a brand that the world respects on the football pitch.

For the Black Satellites’ historic U-20 World Cup triumph—the first for any African nation.

For your service on the CAF Executive Committee and the FIFA Council, which raised Ghana’s flag higher than it had ever flown.

For enduring nearly seven years of legal battles with dignity, and for being acquitted when the evidence failed to support the accusations.

For refusing to let a ban silence your passion, choosing instead to launch a prison football project that offers hope to the forgotten.

For loving Ghana even when Ghana did not love you back.

***The Author: Hajia Bintu Saana***
***Broadcast Journalist***

For being, in the words of those who worked closest with you, “the best GFA president to have ever emerged from this country.”

For all of this and more—I honor you.

The Tribute

Kwesi, you are a true gem.

Kwesi, you deserved to be honored long before today.

Kwesi, Ghana will forever miss your era—not because you were perfect, but because you were passionate. Not because you never stumbled, but because you always stood back up.

I, Hajia Bintu Saana, broadcast journalist and daughter of Ghana, hereby recognize you as a True Son of the Soil and a Champion of Ghanaian Football.

May Almighty Allah, whom you worship with devotion, continue to guide your steps, guard your heart, and grant you long life, good health, and the peace that has so long eluded you.

I pray that your remaining years are filled not with courtroom battles, but with the quiet joy of knowing that your work was not in vain. That the children who watched the Black Stars in 2006 are now adults who still remember where they were when Ghana first scored at a World Cup. That the prisoners at Nsawam who kick a ball today will one day walk free, carrying hope in their hearts—thanks to you.

Kwesi Nyantakyi, we see you. We thank you. We honor you.

May peace locate you at last.