HONORARIUM COMMITTEE, REAL CAUSE OF BLACK STARS WOES

Recent scenes unfolding at the camp of the senior national team the Black Stars of Ghana boils down to one thing; leadership has failed.

Ghana's world cup fiasco coupled with the ‘Shame of Baba Yara’ are just products of poor decision making and in general terms weak/poor leadership.

Several factors account for this misfortune which has clout Ghana's football in recent times and I will touch on just 2 reasons why leadership of the Black Stars has failed.

We have square pegs fitting round holes at the various respectable positions.

One wouldn't need a 'KAHUNA' to tell that almost all of the Black Stars management and technical team don't deserve to be where they are.

The Black Stars Management committee membership, with happenings before, during and after the World Cup 2014 has shown that they are incapable of carrying out successfully the task required of them.

In simple and plain truth they have failed because they actually don't influence happenings there but just head-nodders to their 'Captain Jack Sparrow'.

It’s a one-man show and aside Kwesi Nyantakyi not one single individual of the black stars management committee can champion a course.

They are just there for being there and until things improve, same shall it remain.

The Black Stars as a team has the necessary backing to achieve unrivalled success, but having a malfunctioning leadership has culminated in the team disappointing in one tournament after the other.

Things look different now from the era of Fred Pappoe.

Mr Pappoe brought his managerial savvy to bear on the black stars and almost all connoisseurs and avid football fans will testify to this.

Indiscipline issues on the part of some players and even officials happening now happened during his time, but were effectively managed.

During the era of Fred Pappoe the team shrugged off issues like these to achieve results on the pitch.

In came Mr Kwesi Nyantakyi after the world cup 2010.

Under conspicuous circumstances, there was a major alignment and reconstitution of various committees of the GFA and some major casualties of this exercise were Fred Pappoe, Kudjoe Fianoo, Vincent Sowah Odotei, Neil Armstrong Mortagbe, and Randy Abbey who were compelled through circumstances to be distant from the activities of the GFA.

Kwesi Nyantakyi's on top of all these assumed the seat as Black Stars management committee chairman and his main tournament came in the 2012 AFCON.

The unfortunate incidents that unfolded in camp saw startling revelations and clearly showed that he had failed to emulate what John Fitzgerald Kennedy said that “Leadership and learning are indispensable to each other.”

He never took cues from the wrongs of  Fred Pappoe’s reign if there were any.

Issues came to the public domain and without doubt brought a dent to the image of the Black Stars.

From there problems of player unrest, among others have engulfed the Black Stars during and also in the aftermath of tournaments with the latest been the 2014 world cup.

Little was done to solve these problems and the GFA spokesperson has spent more time denying Black Stars camp issues than speaking about the Ghana league, women's football et al.

In fact things have fallen apart as the problems of the team have grown to an extent that a once much loved team have become the most loathed by the same fans.

Mr Kwesi Nyantakyi clearly has shown that he has failed as the management committee chairman and it will only be honorable if he vacates the post for a competent person to ascend and clean the system from this rot.

Mr Nyantakyi seems to have the numerous posts he has, weighing him down.

Till date he is the;

1.   GFA PRESIDENT

2.   GFA EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE CHAIRMAN

3.   BLACK STARS MANAGEMENT COMMITTEE CHAIRMAN

4.   WAFU PRESIDENT

5.   WAFU ZONE B PRESIDENT

6.   FIFA ASSOCIATIONS COMMITTEE MEMBER

7.   CAF EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE MEMBER

8.   CHAIRMAN OF THE PRAMPRAM SOCCER CENTER OF EXCELLENCE BOARD OF DIRECTORS

9.   CHAIRMAN OF THE FAIR PLAY AND SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY

10.               VICE PRESIDENT OF CAF MEDIA COMMITTEE

11.               CAF NATIONAL ASSOCIATIONS REP.

Even the much knowledgeable King Solomon won't assume such positions and serve in such capacities.

Too much crave for power. Why all these. A JACK OF ALL TRADES AND A MASTER OF NONE?

Ironically government has without doubt invested heavily into the team and those investments have been augmented by that of corporate bodies.

Here is a list of previous budgets approved for the Black Stars in tournaments by the government.

AFCON 2012: $5.5m
AFCON 2013: $7.5m
WORLD CUP 2014: $9.6m

Aside these, extra monies were spent to cover winning bonuses, air and other travel expenses, accommodation and feeding, per diems etc for the team during qualifiers for these respective tournaments which won’t fall below $12m in all.

Government has spent in excess of $30m on the Black Stars since Nyantakyi's tenure as the team's management committee chairman and very little has been paid back to the government.

We have made huge losses as a nation in this endeavor and all we have gotten from the leaders is the team's coach made a scapegoat for our woes and then incessant apologies to Ghanaians.

Borrowing a quote from the late American businessman Henry Ford which says "a true leader doesn't find a fault but remedies"

Mr Nyantakyi's style of management involves money and if money fails there is nothing better he can do but lay the blame on factors which are irrelevant.

His management style going forward will only only cripple an ailing nation like ours and the most painful thing is we have no trophy to show for all these splashing of cash.

AFCON 2015 qualifiers have already began and trust me government is going to spend excessively as usual on the team without us rectifying what killed our world cup dream.

The management committee of the black stars with its head should be dissolved in my honest opinion.

I can sense a scheme to gradually sacrifice the coach as the scapegoat just as was done to Kwesi Appiah's predecessor.

The Black Stars problems are more than tactical lapses.

It’s purely managerial problems and before we make changes in the technical team, the management committee must be dissolved.

We need competent people on board.

We need people who command respect not those who buy it.

We need football intellectuals not any money man.

We need selfless leaders not those interested in taking their honorarium and defending huge bonuses been paid players and themselves.

If the MOYS and GFA have connived to impose a technical advisor or whatever on the coach, the management committee also needs a new and competent figure head and similar members.

Without these, the black Stars will even fail if we bring on board the world's best tactician.

The root cause of the Black Stars recent predicament is Mr Kwesi Nyantakyi and his loyal disciples.

I end with this....1 Timothy 6:10...FOR THE LOVE OF MONEY IS THE ROOT OF ALL EVIL.