Former Ghana Football Association (GFA) president Kwesi Nyantakyi has described the personal and professional toll of investigative journalist Anas Aremeyaw Anas’ exposé as “irreparable,” while calling on the journalist to leave him out of any personal moral reckoning.
Speaking on the AM Show, Nyantakyi reflected on the aftermath of the 2018 Number 12 undercover investigation, which uncovered widespread corruption in Ghanaian football and resulted in his lifetime ban from football administration by the GFA Ethics Committee.
“The damage is irreparable, but I don’t have anything against him. He should relax. If his conscience is battling with him, it’s between him and God,” Nyantakyi said.
He also spoke about the emotional toll the exposé took on his family, recalling a painful moment involving his nine-year-old daughter at the time.
“My daughter was in GIS then, and she asked me, ‘Daddy, is it true that you are a thief?’ She said she heard it on the radio. Imagine being judged by your own daughter based on what she heard,” he recounted.
Nyantakyi said the revelations shattered his reputation and negatively affected opportunities in both his professional and personal life.
“The condescending posture of some people towards you… they see you as a condemned criminal. The aura of respectability around you is broken. It was very damning,” he noted.
Despite the ordeal, he expressed appreciation for friends who stood by him during what he described as a deeply challenging period, pointing to the significant social and psychological impact of the public scandal.
The Number 12 investigation, aired in 2018, sent shockwaves through Ghanaian football after exposing officials involved in bribery and match manipulation, triggering sweeping reforms within the GFA and leading to the banning of several football administrators.
