According to Accra-based Asempa FM it is unlikely that the scheduled ceremony to unveil the club’s new management team due to raging crisis within the board and executive hierarchy
by El Akyereko September 11, 2020
Huge crisis is blowing within the hierarchy of Asante Kotoko with the events leading to the scheduled cancellation of plans to unveil the club’s management team today.
Chief Executive Officer of the Porcupine Warriors Nana Yaw Amponsah was expected to announce his management team on Friday morning in a ceremony in Kumasi.
But, as things stand now the announcement has been called off due to the reported crisis that is blowing within the hierarchy of the club.
Ghana Sports Online reported on Thursday that the crisis could lead to the resignation of the club’s board chairman and the Chief Executive Officer.
On Friday morning, Asempa FM carried reports from Kumasi-based broadcast journalist Ayala who has reported that the club has called off their plans to unveil their management team due to the raging crisis.
According to a Ghana Sports Online scoop there are huge cracks within the board of directors as the members are divided over the membership of the management team. A section of the board members object the appointment of any personality from previous management team while others hold a contrary view.
One bone of contention has been the inclusion of Nana Gyambibi popularly known as Coker. A section of the board have taken a position against his appointment as they believe he should not form part of the new management.
BACKGROUND TO THE STORY…
The euphoria surrounding the appointment of a new Board and the Chief Executive for Asante Kotoko may just burst into flames and blown away by southeast monsoon winds. There is fire on the mountain.
Impeccable source has told Ghanasportsonline that the CEO, Nana Yaw Amponsah has considered resigning and so has the Board Chairman, Dr Kwame Kyei and his Vice, Mr Jude Arthur.
It would be recalled that at the unveiling of the new CEO, the Board of Directors claimed the astute administrator had their trust, backing and the free hands to ran club. But the opposite seems to be the case.
According to deep throat source, the posture of the Board has put the club on a tangent that could cause Kotoko to spiral into the wilderness for another decade.
The Board is said to have taken joy in duplicating the work of the CEO since his appointment. With more than 10 board meetings held since their appointment, the board have gone ahead to institute management committees within the Board who are running affairs at the blind side of the new CEO.
The source who spoke on condition of anonymity said “I’m picking strong signals and I’m afraid the CEO may resign in the coming days to allow the board to run the club the way they want.”
It is understood that, a section of the Board Members have formed a habit of granting interviews about what they intend in their personal capacities for the club, and are outdoing each other to keep the spotlight individually.
Recently, there were reports suggesting that there was a boardroom burst up between Dr Kofi Abban and CEO, Nana Yaw Amponsah on a similar incident where the CEO was not happy about the board member promising to establish a Kotoko owned TV station without recourse.
The source indicated that the Adako Jachie Training Complex which was meant to start two weeks ago to allow completion in time for resumption of football has stalled because after the CEO, was said to have negotiated a good deal with the engineers, the Board rather added many expensive options and decided to go and engage the engineers again on the blind side of the CEO.
The source explained that Kotoko were losing its transfer targets because instead of the Board providing money for the CEO, to execute their transfer agenda, they are rather engaging in player transfer negotiations themselves.
A section of the board has also formed a recruitment committee to duplicate the work of the CEO.
Apparently, what broke the camels back was that, according to the source, “last week in respect of Kotoko’s participation in the CAF Champions League, the Board at their last meeting held in Accra, decided to participate based on the case made by the the CEO.
“However, a few days after the Board meeting, the Board attempted to rescind their decision because according to them, a radio pundit had made a case against why the team should not compete in Africa and the board had bought into his arguments to rescind their decision. Just like that.
“ It only took the said pundit to go back on radio to make a case for why it’s important for Kotoko to participate in Africa after speaking to the CEO, where he claims, Amponsah made six solid arguments which convinced him to rescind his earlier argument and invariably the Board to back their CEO again.”
Some Board Members, according to the source are considering resigning on the basis of what they consider to be a hijack by the “rich Accra caucus.” It is understood that a coup was made to render current Chairman Dr Kwame Kyei redundant by the creation of sub-committees which he was not made a member of any.
“The Accra caucus are using these sub-committees to run the show at the blind side of the Board Chairman and the CEO. Dr Kyei, also threatened to resign and is telling his close allies that his decision is imminent ”.
Vice Chairman of the Board Mr. Jude Arthur has refused to attend meetings due to what he calls ‘lack of proper corporate governance being exhibited by members. The experienced Board Chairman of Ghana Commercial Bank has refused to attend what can be termed as pub-board meetings where a few members meet to drink, make merry and convert same into board meetings.
The source claimed that those Board Members without deep pockets have been sidelined, despite their rich knowledge of the game while “the money men” make all the footballing decisions.
“The poor members were openly told they don’t have the resources, hence their views do not matter and that has also created a big crack in the Board room,” the source alleged.
Asante Kotoko supporters may not see the success and the renaissance they envisaged with the current situation at hand where the hands of the Board Chairman, his Vice and the CEO have been tied behind their backs.
Source: Ghana Sports Online
