Kwesi Nyantakyi, the former President of the Ghana Football Association has been discharged following the failure of ace investigative journalist, Anas Aremeyaw Anas to testify in court.
According to reports, the Accra High Court presided over by her ladyship Justice Marie-Louise Simmons on Thursday, February 13, 2025, discharged Kwesi Nyantakyi and Abdulai Alhassan a former Northern Regional FA chairman as the state could not adduce sufficient evidence against them.
A Court of Appeal ruling on January 30, indicated that Anas Aremeyaw Anas who was the last of the state’s five witnesses was only going to be allowed to testify if he did so without a mask on.
The panel was chaired by Justice Anthony Oppong with Justice Kweku Tawiah Ackaah-Boafo and Justice Aboagye Tandoh as other members quashed the High Court ruling and ordered Anas to remove his mask when testifying.
The High Court had ruled on May 17, 2023, that Anas Aremeyaw Anas could be allowed to testify in-camera but on condition that he revealed his face to Kwesi Nyantakyi in chambers.
With Anas unwilling to testify against Nyantakyi and Abdulai Alhassan who were facing charges of fraud by agents and corruption related to their involvement in the #Number 12 exposé, the court has discharged them.
The discharge has brought to an end the five-year trial of Nyantakyi who was captured in the documentary engaging in activities alleged to be corruption and influence peddling.
Number 12 documentary
The embattled former GFA president came under heavy criticism after the content of Anas Aremeyaw Anas’ investigative piece entitled Number 12 was aired in Ghana on June 6, 2018.
The video captured Nyantakyi allegedly taking $65,000 (approximately £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 their 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.
Number 12 also exposed more than 100 referees allegedly taking bribes to manipulate the outcome of games in favour of certain teams.
Following the first screening of the video, which attracted more than 3,000 people, many called for the complete dissolution of the Ghana Football Association (GFA) and the immediate resignation of its embattled president, Kwesi Nyantakyi.
Nyantakyi, who was also the first Vice President of the Confederation of African Football (CAF), eventually resigned from all football-related positions shortly after the video was aired.
FIFA subsequently suspended Kwesi Nyantakyi and later banned him for life.
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