Posted by Erstwhile manager of Black Stars Kwesi Appiah last month launched a book titled “Leaders don’t have to yell”.
In the book he made some shocking revelations, which includes how political officials in Ghana influence football appointments, with the imperative of this subject matter being how he landed the Black Stars job and how he was axed.
Kwesi Appiah in “page 90” of his book made a revelation on how former President John Agyekum Akuffo helped him secure the vacant Black Stars assistant position in 2008.
“After Ghana’s appearance in the 2008 African Cup of Nations, I found out that there was a vacant position on the Black Stars because the coach at that time, Claude Le Roy, had sacked his assistant. I made a call to a few people I knew at the Ghana Football Association (GFA) office to inquire about the vacancy and to apply.
I presented my CV to the GFA representative. The person accepted my CV and that was the end of it. Like they say in Ghana, they sat on my CV. They just held on to it and did not invite me for an interview. Neither did they inform me that I was going to be considered for the job, even though I was duly qualified.
At that time, Mr John Agyekum Kuffuor was the president. I had a good relationship with him from my days with Kumasi Asante Kotoko where he had served for a while on their board of directors. I contacted the Office of the Ghana President to request an introduction to the GFA leaders. It was my hope that the President’s influence could get someone to take a look at my CV and let me know what was going on with my application.
Thankfully, that influence from the President (JA Kuffuor) led to a phone interview, and then I was invited to come for in-person interview in Accra. I flew from London to Accra for the interview.
I was offered the assistant coaching job with a salary of $3,000. The salary was extremely low compared to how much they were paying the foreign coaches. m
I remember President Kuffuor reminding me not to focus so much on the money but to rather get there, excel at the job and see what happens next.
It is possible that nothing would have happened to my application without the President (John Kuffuor’s) influence”.
Kwesi Appiah was named Black Stars manager in April 2012. He was axed in September 2014 after a poor showdown at the World Cup in Brazil.
Kwesi Appiah in his book also disclosed how erstwhile GFA President Kwesi Nyantakyi avowed to him that John Mahama, who was then president of Ghana ordered for his sack
“To anyone who was objectively looking at the facts of the circumstances surrounding Brazil 2014, it was obvious that my termination was an attempt by the powers-that-be to shift blame away from themselves”
“Kwasi Nyantakyi called me to his office that day and informed me that he had been asked by the President of the nation to relieve me of my duties. When decisions about the national team staff became that heavily-politicized, it was very clear to me that the political machine was flexing its muscles to make me a scapegoat.
“The Minister for Youth and Sports who should bear the ultimate responsibility for the money issue that was at the heart of the Brazil problem was reassigned to another job in the President’s office but I was rather fired.
“Considering the order for my firing was to have come from the president, that made it a fight I was not interested in”.
Kwesi Appiah in December 2019 was relieved off his duties as Black Stars manager.