#RescueGFADemo: Ghana Football Stakeholders Forum demonstrate against GFA President Kurt Okraku
In a display of unified discontent, hundreds of football enthusiasts, donning signature red and black protest clothing, brandished placards highlighting perceived setbacks in Ghanaian football during the Rescue the GFA Demo today in Accra.
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This impassioned collective, known as the Ghana Football Stakeholders Forum, took to the streets today to protest against the Ghana Football Association (GFA) President, Kurt Okraku.
Termed the '#RescueGFADemo,' the demonstration was a concerted effort to voice concerns about the GFA's governance under its President Kurt Okraku.
The protestors commenced their march from the Tetteh Quarshie Interchange, traversing the Ring Road, passing the Police Headquarters, making their way through Ringway Estates, the GFA Head Office, onward to the national cathedral site, the Accra Stadium and culminated at the Ministry of Youth and Sports.
Fronted by prominent figures such as Abraham Boakye alias 'One Man Supporter', gospel musicians; Nicholas Omane Acheampong, Charles, and Isaiah Kwadwo Ampong, alias Ampong, and a former football administrator Charles Kojo Ntim alias Micky Charles, the group rallied for change within the GFA leadership.
Among the demonstrators were spirited young people, footballers, and aggrieved football administrators, all joining forces to voice their grievances.
Amid singing and dancing, they carried placards bearing inscriptions including; "GFA is not Dreams, Kurt Go Away", "Football is not politics", "The GOG, FIFA and CAF Must Speak Now, Kurt Must GO as well as Sports Minister Act Now.
Though the Minister of Youth and Sports, Mustapha Ussif, was absent when the protestors arrived, the group's petition was received by the Chief Accountant of the Ministry of Youth and Sports, Dr. Haruna Osman Tweneboah.
Dr. Tweneboah applauded the organizers and the police for overseeing a peaceful protest.
In an interview with the press following the presentation of their petition, Micky Charles expressed disappointment in the trajectory of Ghanaian football under Kurt Okraku's leadership.
He said the petition outlined a litany of concerns, notably the underwhelming performance of various national teams in international competitions during Okraku's tenure.
"...We went to Cameroun and it was a disaster, the President of the FA came out to tell us because we have no Lionel Messi and we don't have a certain Cristiano Ronaldo in the team, that is why we lost and couldn't perform at the tournament," Micky Charles said.
"The CHAN team was in Algeria and look at how we disgraced ourselves, we have not been to the Olympics for so many years, we went to the Qualifiers in Morocco and it was a disaster.
"The Minister himself and the GFA President assured us that we were going to bring the trophy to Ghana, look at our position at the World Cup against Uruguay, Portugal and South Korea. Nothing is working at the FA now".
Micky Charles also slammed the GFA for closing its offices in Accra ahead of the GFA elections on Thursday in Tamale.