Lecturer at the Department of Planning at the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST), Dr. Samuel Takyi, has cautioned President Nana Addo to take lessons from the predicaments of former Ghana Football Association (GFA) boss Kwesi Nyantakyi that led to his downfall.

According to the social commentator, the GFA boss adapted a “wrong” leadership style by surrounding himself with singing-praising-people, who he (Dr. Takyi) described as “sycophants”, seeing “nothing wrong” with Nyantakyi’s ideas.

The Former Confederation of Africa Football (CAF) vice president was handed a life ban from all football-related activities by FIFA on Tuesday following various violations of the governing body’s ethics code, including bribery and corruption.

Nyantakyi, a former member of FIFA’s General Council, was found guilty after being filmed by an investigative journalist in a hotel room appearing to take a $65,000 bribe from a supposed businessman seeking to sponsor the Ghanaian football league. He was also fined 500,000 Swiss Francs ($498,000).

Speaking on Otec FM’s morning show, ‘Nyansapo’ hosted by Captain Koda, on Thursday, October 1, 2018, Dr. Takyi said “Mr. Takyi downfall should be attributed to the ‘praise singers’, Nana Addo shouldn’t adapt the same style but rather open up for criticisms, a situation he can assess himself.



“Most of the time, leaders in Ghana surround themselves with praise singers who do not tell the truth, and no critics is given a pivotal role in the governments’ decision process. This government led by Nana Addo should be careful not to surround him with the kind of people Nyantakyi chose that led to his downfall,” he cautioned.

Giving examples, he said “since 1992, no government who lost the elections anticipated it because those surrounding the leaders never told the truth.



Former president John Mahama’s lost in the 2016 elections was a big shock to him because he felt all was well with him, based on the information the sycophants were feeding him. They never told him the truth.”