Why Kotoko needs to be de-coupled from Manhyia

At the end of every football season, whether Asante Kotoko does well or not, so much speculation begins on who would be next to manage the club.

In fact this is more pronounced when the team does not do well by the high standards that have been set.

Currently, there are rumours flying around that the club’s acting General manager, Samuel Opoku Nti could be relieved of his duties.

Earlier this week, the news spread like wildfire throughout the Kumasi metropolis and Opoku Nti himself had to take to radio to announce that he was still at post.

I cringed when I heard on the radio that the club’s management would resign if David Duncan was sacked as head coach.

Was it not the management that appointed him in the first place? Or does the management have no authority at all?

It seriously begs the question of whether the club is being run effectively and who the appointing body is.

I will begin by stating bluntly that appointing a General Manager before appointing a Board of Directors for any corporate concern is a recipe for administrative disaster!

To all intents and purposes Asante Kotoko, one of Ghana’s biggest clubs, should be a corporate concern but instead, over the years, it has been treated as a subset of a traditional fiefdom. That is not right!

I am sorry, but perhaps the club’s spiritual head and the Ashanti Kingdom overlord, Otumfuo Osei Tutu II has to consider either selling the club or at the very least handing it over to either an individual or group of persons to handle.

The club has to stay independent of traditional influences.

At the moment, from the time anyone is appointed, persons close to Manhyia palace not only spy on the management but go to the extent of gossiping to the powers that be, with the intention of getting Manhyia to put their favorites in charge at the end of the season.

As a result, only Manyhia favorites are appointed and issues of competence and suitability for the job are thrown to the wind.

Ask yourself why Asante Kotoko’s sponsorship sample space reduced so much over the last couple of years that a bread company became a sponsor of the club!

I think that because of most of these things, the corporate image of the club has been damaged beyond repair.

It has to do with wrong administrative appointments as well as the fact that any one in office lives in perpertual fear that he could be removed at any time by the powers that be at Manhyia.

I know many accuse Dr. Kofi Kodua Sarpong of resigning, but he did so out of principle.

I can say this despite the fact that during his reign, I did not always see eye to eye with him.

Public comments from the powers that be resulted in him losing a contract worth over 600,000 Euros a year because the comments made asked questions about his integrity and that is why he left the club.

With the benefit of hindsight, perhaps those comments could have been made privately, instead of in public.

I am sure you all know what I am talking about.

This was a man that had 13 sponsors on board at the time he was leaving. How many sponsors does the club have now?

I would always say that the late Otumfuo Opoku Ware II was ahead of his time when he suspended the club’s constitution and handed the club over to Herbert Mensah in 1999.

The introduction of a Professional League in 1993 meant that things would not be the same again as it used to be when amateur football was played.

Indeed, 1993 was the last time Asante Kotoko made it to the final of the African Champions Cup (now the CAF Champions League).

The late Asantehene knew that it was time for a new style of leadership for the club, especially after the old style had resulted in the club’s inability to turn up for a Premier League game with Dwarfs.

For me, the decision by Manhyia to appoint a P.V. Obeng-led board later on stunted the club’s progress and led to Herbert leaving the club in early 2003.

12 years down the line, there are still voices clamouring for his return, although he has told me several times that he is not interested in a return. Can you blame him?

Many times since then, a figurehead is appointed before a Board of Directors is constituted. Talk about flawed administrative practices. The club has simply failed to move with the times!

Now Asante Kotoko is a sleeping giant in Africa and for me, there are too many square pegs in round holes administratively.

I feel so sorry for the many supporters of the club.

For far too long, they have allowed themselves to be whipped into a frenzy by the administration whenever there is criticism of the club or decisions go against them.

So many of the club’s supporters have adopted the mantra that the club is the most hated in Ghana and more often than not, do not stop to correctly analyse issues.

There is a lot to say on this issue but for me, unless Asante Kotoko is de-coupled from the Manhyia Palace influence, the club will continue to limp on towards mediocrity, instead of taking its rightful place amongst the elite clubs in African football.