FEATURE: We celebrate Kwaku Ampem-Darko
In recent years, Ghana football and its followers have had a lot of bad and discomforting tragedies and deaths. The Anas Number 12 which occurred some three years ago sent our football into serious coma and near death. And as if that was not enough, it was followed by the raging fire of COVID-19.
Mingled with these two tragedies, our football was visited with very rapid demises of our experienced coaches, then the death of the legendary one-time Deputy General Secretary of the Ghana Football Association, Kwaku Ampem-Darko.
Advertisement
Mr Ampem-Darko admittedly has paid his dues to Ghana football, having died out of service and during his well-earned retirement. But the passion and dedication he displayed during his active working days made his death shocking and painful. Yes, he died at the so-called ripe age of 81, but the news of his death, nonetheless, was received with shock. The question is: why?
The obvious answer is that while in active service Mr Ampem-Darko was a dedicated and hardworking personality. His passion for the various schedules he handled was unequalled. But above all, he was affable and a team player. As the General Secretary responsible for match fixtures and the organisation and oversight of our leagues, he dealt with club owners, their agents and even players.
Every minute brought many visitors to his office to make enquiries and get various types of information. Indeed, he was regarded as the officer in charge of the core function of the football association.
Mr Ampem-Darko was also in charge of matters concerning referees and match commissioners, especially before the late employment of a Referees Manager. He had to ensure that all referees and match commissioners received their appointments on time and also ensure that they submitted their match reports on time. Indeed, for the period that I knew Mr Ampem-Darko, he was in charge of the appointment of match commissioners and he handled all the problems of the commissioners.
No doubt he was regarded as the General Secretary without the remuneration of the position, as he even acted on many occasions as the substantive holder of that post.
Perhaps Mr Ampem-Darko was the longest-serving senior officer of the Ghana Football Association. His dedication to his duties rendered him almost irreplaceable to the extent that when he attained the official retirement age, he earned many years of contracts into his 70s because he could not be immediately replaced. Mr Ampem-Darko was a legend and he has left a huge legacy at the GFA.
Above all, he was very humble. But the GFA never appreciated him and his work although he employed and squeezed everything within him by way of knowledge, competence, industry and experience in applying himself to his job. Thirty-six years ago, he was the Executive Secretary to the GFA.
Several years down the line, he had to retire as the Deputy General Secretary, subordinate to his juniors.
Indeed, all secretaries below and above him were able to buy and use brand new cars and put up personal executive houses, but he continued to live in his small rented Housing Corporation estate house at Kanda. When his car became too old, one of his children had to give him his second-hand car. This was because he was always ignored whenever it came to foreign travels, meetings and international matches. Unlike the others, he never accompanied any of the national teams on their international matches.
Ashford Tettey Oku (T.T), Mr Owoahene Acheampong and Nana Abra-Appiah who worked very closely with the late Ampem-Darko, especially on the Premier League Board, were broken and beside themselves with shock upon hearing the sad news of the demise of Mr Kwaku Ampem-Darko. We are all waiting for the funeral, even in this COVID-19 period.