Editor in Chief of the New Crusading Guide has debunked reports the embattled president of Ghana Football Association Kwesi Nyantakyi stated in the yet to be released investigative video that Ghana’s president was in his pocket.
“There is no such thing as the president is in my pocket,” Malik Kweku Baako said on news analysis programme Newsfile Saturday.
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At best, the ace journalist said the phrase may have been the interpretation of the few privileged viewers of what Mr. Nyantakyi said.
He was convinced however that the FA president was involved in some influence peddling using the name of the president and vice president.
Kwasi Nyantakyi has been a huge subject of criticism, ridicule over the last 48-hours after the Police CID triggered an arrest order following a complaint of fraud made against him by the president of Ghana. He has been cartooned, trolled with the caricature of the president in his pocket.
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The FA president had been caught in an investigative piece by Anas Aremeyaw Anas in which he was seen using the name of the president and the vice president to solicit money from prospective investors.
Unknown to him, the supposed investors were undercover journalists who captured the conversation and conduct of the FA president.
The president, Nana Akufo-Addo was shown part of the video in which his name was mentioned by Kwesi Nyantakyi and upon denying ever receiving the monies purported to have been given in his name, reported the matter to the police.
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Media reports have quoted Mr Nyantakyi as telling the investors that “the president was in his pocket” and that if he was given an amount of money, the investors will have their way doing business in Ghana.
But Kweku Baako insists no such comment was made in the video.
Reason for investigation
Malik Kweku Baako Jnr said the focus of the Anas investigation was to capture the alleged rot in Ghana Football.
It was centered on football administrators, referees, footballers, etc., he explained. However, the investigation took on a political twist when the case of influence peddling was introduced.
Mr Baako is reported to have accused the president of breaching a confidentiality agreement he [president] entered with Anas Aremeyaw Anas when the Deputy Chief of Staff Abu Jinapor held a press conference to discuss portions of the video the president watched.
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But the newspaper chief editor said there was no legally binding agreement with the president but there was a verbal understanding that the president could react a day before or on the day the video is aired.
The video is expected to be aired on June 6, 2018.
He was however quick to add that he understood why the president decided to breach the verbal agreement.
According to Kweku Baako Jnr, the investigative piece is a 10-hour recording of activities in football taken within a period of two years.
He said his prodigy, Anas Aremeyaw Anas is ready to cooperate with the police CID on the matter.