Emmanuel Osei: President Mahama, dissolve GFA and save our soul

Dear President Mahama,

There is a difficult conversation Ghanaian football can no longer avoid.

It is not a conversation about witch-hunting the Ghana Football Association. It is not about wishing for the failure of Kurt Okraku, his Executive Council, or anyone entrusted with the administration of our football.

Quite the opposite.

The Black Stars are our national joy. Their victories have brought Ghanaians together in ways few institutions can. Their failures have broken hearts in ways few sporting events can.

That is precisely why the current situation cannot be treated as business as usual.

Mr. President, in the last seven years, our Black Stars have suffered humiliating defeats:

AFCON 2021 – group stage exit.

World Cup 2022 – group stage exit

AFCON 2023 – group stage exit

AFCON 2025 – failed to qualify

World Cup 2026 – round of 32.

AFCON 2027 – may not qualify.

Mr. President, the last time Ghana won an AFCON qualifier was September 2023. That’s three years, 23 days ago.

Ghana has played eight Afcon qualifying matches without winning one.

Ghana last two AFCON qualifying matches at home were against Niger and The Gambia.

Our Black Stars lost both.

Mr. President, I listened to you talk about how quickly your cabinet rejected the US health compact offer because it was demeaning and insulting.

This is equally humiliating. Quite an embarrassing for our country.

I am quite privileged to have come from the home of one of the men who gave our forefathers joy many years ago.

As a son of the legendary Rev. Osei Kofi—a man whose legacy is etched into the golden eras of Ghanaian football, I have felt greatness closely.

Mr President, I write to you not merely as the son of an African champion, but as a concerned citizen who refuses to watch the heart and soul of our nation’s sport be dismantled by self-interest and administrative decay.

Ghana football has been in a steep decline for far too long. For decades, we have rested on our past laurels, constantly rehearsing the historic feats of our four-time African Champions and celebrating the breakthrough World Cup generations of the 2000s. But true progress demands that a nation moves forward, not hide behind bygone glories while the present falls into ruin.

The current leadership of the Ghana Football Association (GFA) has taken the Ghanaian people, including yourself and our passion for granted.

My father always reminds us that: a nation cannot thrive when conflict of interest becomes the business model of its sports administrators.

We cannot ignore the structure of Ghana football.

The leadership of the Football Association, from the president to last person occupant of an office at the district level, is drawn from football administrators, club owners, and representatives of clubs.

That, in itself, is not necessarily wrong. Indeed, people who understand football from the inside have every right to contribute to its administration.

But the question Ghana must now confront is much more fundamental:

What happens when those who govern the game also have direct interests in clubs operating within the same system they govern?

This is not speculation.

The President of the Ghana FA, Kurt Okraku, is the founder of Dreams FC and currently holds 33.3% shares of the club.

Mark Addo, the vice president of the association, is the president of Nzema Kotoko Football Club.

Executive Council member Dr Randy Abbey as the owner of Premier League side, Heart of Lions. These are just a few, Mr. President.

And these facts do not, by themselves, Mr. President prove wrongdoing.

But they establish a governance reality that cannot simply be wished away.

Officials of the Association have deep and direct relationships with clubs within Ghana’s football structure.

So the question is not whether football administrators can own or have owned clubs.

The question is whether the system has sufficient safeguards to ensure that private or club interests can never compromise decisions taken in the wider interest of Ghana football.

And this is not a question invented by critics of the GFA.

The Association’s own rules recognise the danger of conflicts of interest. Its ethics framework requires officials to disclose relevant personal interests and states that officials should not perform their duties where there is an existing or potential conflict of interest.

The principle is, therefore, already accepted.

The issue is enforcement.

Who determines when an interest creates a conflict?

Who ensures that disclosure is made?

Who monitors recusal? Who records it?

Who independently verifies that decisions are made without influence from private interests?

And, ultimately, who monitors the monitors?

We cannot have an FA leadership where officials sit at the decision-making table while simultaneously having interests in the football ecosystem they regulate, without demanding the highest possible standards of disclosure, independence, and accountability.

Football in Ghana must never become a private enterprise masquerading as a national institution.

This systemic rot has destroyed the pride of wearing the national shirt:

Erosion of National Honour:

Playing for the Black Stars was once the ultimate privilege for any Ghanaian footballer. Today, administrative interference and persistent public disgrace have forced our top players to hesitate or decline calls to represent their country.

Refusal of Accountability

In our political and administrative culture, officials in positions of power rarely resign honourably when they fail. Expecting internal reform or voluntary resignation from this current administration is a fantasy.

A Wasted Future

Qualifying for tournaments under the current system yields nothing but repeated humiliation. Continuing on this path guarantees further disgrace on the international stage.

​Football is the beating heart of Ghana. When our national teams play, the entire country comes together regardless of political, ethnic, or socio-economic background. That heart is currently failing, and it requires drastic surgical action.

​We call on Your Excellency, as the Father of the Nation, to intervene directly and dissolve the current Ghana Football Association.

​We are fully aware of the potential consequences, including a possible FIFA suspension or a two-year ban from international competitions. This is a price worth paying. A two-year hiatus is a reasonable and necessary trade-off to do our domestic homework, clean house, dismantle the conflict-of-interest networks, rebuild our grassroots infrastructure, and restore integrity to Ghanaian sports.

Your mantra says: reset.

We must reset.

We must rebuild.

We must revive our dying football culture so that the flag of Ghana can once again be lifted high with genuine honour, accountability, and pride.

​Mr. President, the nation is watching, and Ghana football needs your decisive action.

Above all, it needs its soul back.

Ghana must not continue to sacrifice its football future at the altar of administrative convenience.

Signed,

Emmanuel Osei

Son of Rev. Osei Kofi

DISCLAIMER: The Views, Comments, Opinions, Contributions and Statements made by Readers and Contributors on this platform do not necessarily represent the views or policy of Multimedia Group Limited.

DISCLAIMER: The Views, Comments, Opinions, Contributions and Statements made by Readers and Contributors on this platform do not necessarily represent the views or policy of Multimedia Group Limited.