Afranie was Coachhene - Tribute by the Ghana Football Association (GFA)
“The living owe it to those who no longer can speak to tell their story for them.”
— Czestaw Mitosz, The Issa Valley
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With tears and deep emotion, the Ghana Football Association (GFA) and the football family tells the story of such a remarkable person as Coach Emmanuel Kwasi Afranie, now that he can no longer tell his story.
Born on March 27, 1950, there is no known history of Coach Afranie being a prolific player, but certainly, he was an astute coach and the history of Ghana football can never be well writtten without a prominent page or pages dedicated to him.
Coach Hene (Kantinka), as he was affectionately called by a cross section of the football family, was fortunate to have coached all the national teams in Ghana and was equally successful in his stints with Ghana’s two most glamorous clubs, Accra Hearts of Oak and Kumasi Asante Kotoko, leading them to league titles in 1997 and 2005 respectively.
He holds the enviable record of coaching the most teams, either at club or national level.
Like most coaches then, Afranie was seconded to the GFA as a staff of the National Sports Authority, then a council.
A fast learner, Afranie soon established himself and in no time, was chosen as an assistant to Fred Osam Duodu, as they led the Black Stars to victory in the final of the 1978 African Cup of Nations (AFCON) staged in Ghana.
Having found his grounding in the job, Afranie, with so much passion for nurturing young talent, turned his attention to unearthing and grooming such as well as helping build the capacity of budding coaches.
He thus readily accepted the role when he was handed the Black Starlets in 1991 as an assitant coach to Otto Pfister as they conquered the world at the FIFA Youth Championship held in Italy.
Six years later, he led the Under-20 side, the Black Satellites to a fourth place finish at the World Youth Championship in Argentina.
Again, in 1998, Afranie took up the responsibility to lead the Black Queens to finish second at the first Africa Women’s Championship (AWC) staged in Abeokuta, Nigeria and thus qualified for their maiden Women’s World Cup hosted by the USA in 1999.
Many players have never hidden how much they owe their careers to Coach Afranie, who saw the gem in them and helped polish them.
Coach James Kwasi Appiah and the likes of Michael Essien, Sulley Muntari, Derek Boateng, John Pantsil, John Mensah etc, who later became the back bone for the Black Stars in their first two qualifications to the World Cup, all attest to the chance he gave them.
He was an astute patron of the rejuvenated Ghana Football Coaches Association and played very significant role in the activities of the association. He was personally very interested in the progress and development of young coaches in Ghana and lent his support for coaches and development of football.
Indeed, it was at one of such training courses, that the young coaches decided to confer the ‘chieftancy title of Coachhene’ on him, when it became obvious that he had coached more teams and knew so much about the game. He seemed to be ahead of his time.
Until his demise was the vice chairman of Ghana Football Association Technical and Development Committee. His immerse contributions and deliberations will always be remembered and at a time, assumed the role of Technical Director for the Ministry of Youth and Sports.
He achieved so much for Ghana not only winning laurels but identifying and nurturing talented Ghanaian player of both gender. He dedicated his later days to talent hunt, playing active part in the Airtel Rising Stars competitions.
He was a mentor, teacher, father, counsellor and an encyclopedia of football and a friend of all players and coaches of every level. Perhaps, sharing many things in common, he enjoyed a very good relationship with the Osam Duodu, who incidentally, is also being buried at Agona Nyakrom, the same time Afranie will be buried at Bonwire in Ashanti.
Afranie’s legacies will forever be remembered and he can be assured that the younger generation he nurtured, will live by his shinning examples and continue to work hard to emulate his good work….
Indeed, like Antonio Porchia said, Afranie lived in the hope of becoming a memory.”
We are most pained not just by his death, but by the way he left, but that could only signal one thing: that the final whistle of Life was sounded to him on that fatal day.
“Yes, when that fateful day came, we knew that God’s calendar of Coachhene’s life was due, but, we take solace in the fact that he is not dead, as his name is still well spoken of, according to Terry Pratchett.
Coachhene, Fare thee well and rest peacefully in the bosom of the Lord.
Kantinka, Damri fa due, Damri fa due!
