Comment: Where dwells the truth in Asante Kotoko now?

Isn’t it strange when management of a particular company keeps contradicting itself always?

Is that a case where they seek to impress the teeming fans of KOTOKO?

How long can the lies and the contradictions survive them as management?

These are the few questions that come in mind in my little trip to melancholy.

My heart started bleeding when I heard the two most prominent executives in the current management of Kotoko contradicting themselves over a particular program under their own watch.

How could the General Manager report differently from what he gave his own PR directorate to tell us the fans of the Club?

What is this about and what are they contradicting themselves of?

Then was a Press Release that came from their fold that reported that Kotoko had sealed a friendly match with a Club in Spain.

Within the Press Release, the name of the Spanish Team was withheld; same as the date of the match, but the venue they said was Baba Yara Sports Stadium.

I candidly charged them that they were just lying just as they have been doing always for truncating the name of the team from Spain and the date they were coming to honour the match.

I personally heard the General Manager of Kotoko, who granted an interview to Joy FM that the purported friendly match could not come off due to the Ebola outbreak.

According to him, the executives of Seville have written to him that they were no longer coming to honour the match due to the Ebola outbreak in West Africa.

Over the same subject, Ali Maradona who is a member of the PR Directorate also said in an interview he granted to Metro FM that they could not honour the said match due to timing.

According to him, they were thinking of playing the match next year either on Otumfuo’s birthday or when KOTOKO turn’s 80 next year as a commemorating match.

This brings about my question, where is the truth in Kotoko now?

I fear and I tremble at the direction Kotoko is being taken by the current management!

Now what is happening?

What I see now is that, it has become a crime to comment on events in Kotoko. Why has that trend become a force in Kotoko now?

All I know is that Ghana is a democratic country and our constitution also allows freedom of speech.

What has changed that, under the stewardship of Mr. Samuel Opoku Nti, whoever speaks his mind is causing treason in Kotoko?

I admit that, as human beings as we are, we will continue to have dissenting views over situations but that do not suggest we are enemies. We only do not agree on issues and must end there.

Now the impression is created that good players were being bought into the club since conquering Africa this time around is the target. So I ask again, is that a realistic target?

Yes I will say that some crops of good players have being bought but these are individually brilliant players. The same cannot be said when a good team is made out from them.

Invariably, the prospect of forming a good team from them resides in the Technical Team and to make them invincible becomes the responsibility of all the managers of the club i.e. the Board, Management, and the Technical Team not forgotten the lovely fans.

I was pleased to see the match against Accra Hearts of Oak where we recorded 4 points plus 2 goals aggregate. Yes, it was an indication that we are preparing towards the champions league but I later realised that it we still have to do more of such matches.

At this juncture, I will commend management for lining up about two more international club friendlies.

I do not seek anybody’s downfall, my biggest dream is to wake up one day and see that my dear club Kumasi Asante Kotoko is once again crowned the champions of Africa.

But this dream will remain just that, especially when we continue to have this management structure and their practices.

This brings to mind why the Board has not acted on the directives Otumfuo gave them.

To the best of my knowledge, the Board is the body that has Otumfuo’s mandate to govern the club and that Otumfuo did not give the club to Mr. Samuel Opoku Nti.

Also, during the Board’s investiture, the Great King made it public that they should go and advertise the General Manager’s position for brilliant and globally networked people to apply. The idea was that, it was time Kotoko was made to rock horns with the likes of Ahlys from Egypt, TP Mezembe, Zamalek etc.

I ask again, what is deterring the Board to act on those directives?

Isn’t it appalling when we continue to have no befitting village for our players? The Adarkwa Jaachie project was supposed to save the players from the robberies they continue to suffer from the hands of armed Robbers and the constant unprofessional lifestyle they engage in due to lack of monitoring.

If these players are brought to leave in an enclosed place where there is monitoring and security, there exists the possibility of reducing the unprofessional lifestyles they lead sometimes and would also provide them a sterling security. Richard Mpong comes in mind.

I ask again, why has the project being left unattended to?

Finally, I will end with Abeiku Ainooson’s saga which is developing. How could management tell us that they signed a 3-year contract with him when in reality they signed a one-year contract with him?

The writer, Akwasi Coker Gyambibi, was a member of the Public Relations directorate during Dr Kofi Kodua Sarpong's time as Executive Board Chairman of Premier League Champions Asante Kotoko.