An Open Letter To The Chairman Of The Regional Football Association In The Upper West Region Of Ghana.

Dear Sir,
I will like to express my disappointment from your unsatisfactory level of service ever since you took over as the chairman of the regional football association in the upper west region. I have expected much more from you with the vast opportunities surrounding you to develop football in the region.unfortunately,I cannot withstand the pain in me considering the state of football development in our region but to submit this letter of complaint hoping for a fast and adequate resolution.

I will like to point out some key thematic areas of football development to which you have either intentionally ignored or have little or no knowledge of, which are killing the game in the region some of which include but not limited to, The office structure, the legal committee, district football associations, grass root football, sponsorship and awards night.it is crystal clear to know that the regional football association chairman has failed in all these areas of football development in the region.
To start with, the office structure of our regional football association is nothing to ride home about.it is a 14feet by 14feet room which is very small for a reputable body of its standard.in this office, only the secretary and the chairman are those with separate tables and a small arrangements for close meetings. Let us use central region as a case study, the former chairman of the central region football association Mr. M N S Doe during his term as the chairman was able to collaborate with the Ghana football association who supported them with some amount of money to build a complex office for them.in this office, there is a separate offices inside the office where there is the chairman office, womenfootball, retired footballers association, juvenilefootball, development coaches, the secretary,refrees association among others. We claim that the president of the Ghana football association Mr.kwesi Nyantakyi is from upper west and with the cordial relationship that Nyantakyi had with him, why can’t they also collaborate to build such an office for us or develop grass root football but yet we keep on singing and barking every day that Nyantakyi is from upper west. The question now is what has he done to help develop football in the region? The answer is he has done little which is beyond his capabilities, wa all-stars is not enough, he can do better and I challenged him do more if not we would not be proud of him should he leave office without developing grass root football in the upper west region.

Grass root football is the basics through which football can be developed in the region but this has seen no future ever since Alhaji yahaya S D (Biyad) took office as the chairman of the regional football association since 2006.during the late 90s to which I was barely seven to eight years old where there was a proliferation of football talents such as Sadat
Bukari,Awudu,Awal,Mark,Amuzu,Hanif,Dodoo,Alkaali,Meadawpopularly known as Kanuamong others just to mention a few not to talk of the like likes of Mohammed Ayaapa,OliBaawa,IssahMohammed,SeiduSaabui and co but for them I never see their action days. Thank God, Sadat Bukaripenetrated to be a star boy in the early 2005 where he became the leading goal scorer in the Ghana premier league before he was handed a national call up to the black starlets. It never ends there; he also plays for the black meteors as well as the black stars of Ghana. He was part of the black stars team during the four nation tournament as part of the black stars preparation for CAN 2008 but today, the good days of “WAM WAM PARK” is gone and will not see light if the current administration do no channel resources into grass root football.we are in the space of dark under the administration of the current chairman. He lacks the technical know-how in using football as tool for peace, unity and development in the society. I do not largely blame him because he was not voted into office base on merit but base on religious affilliations.it is time we disassociate football from religion, ethnicity if we really want to develop.selfishness,incompetency and greediness are his core values and fundamental principles in his administration as the chairman since 2006.the greater Accra regional football chairman MrNii Komiete Doku is reported to have said ; I want to focus on juvenile football development because it is the foundation and we have to channel many resources there” he also vowed to supervise the activities of the region for next four years and now the question is What has our chairman done in terms of grass root football? The answer is zero.in my perspectives, our chairman is also a contributory factor to our under development.

After Mrkwesinyantakyi was honored JenJennaasungmaale I by the Wanaa,An U15 league was organized to yearly remember the honor and also a way of revamping grass root football in the region started on a good note and came to a standstill without any reasonable reason and my question is” Is mrkwesinyantakyi deceiving us or what? Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm
I am saddened and i know any other person who have the region in heart will be saddened too however, for the sake and love of our region we must embark on a path that builds rather than destroys in dealing with our disappointments and frustrations.
Another thematic area is the inability of the chairman to create district football associations. The chairman has intentionally refused to create district football associations in all the eleven districts in the upper west region just to deprive those districts of the benefits of football to the talented players,clubs,families and the entire districts. The regulation requires Ahajiyahaya S D (Biyad) to do it.this action is inimical to the development of football in these districts. It isalso done intentionally to narrow the voters register so as to be able to manipulate the few within him with material and or non-material wealth to gain power to which he does not always deserve. The former chairman of the central region Mr M N S Doe during his term of office was able to create six district football associations out twenty three districts but yet the people demonstrated against him for not creating enough district football associations and he was voted out of office and now my question is How many district football associations has Alhajiyahaya S D(Biyad) created in the upper west region? The answer is zero. If for any reason but Tumu deserves to have a district football association.this new year 2017,I challenged our chairman to at least create one district football association in Tumu because they have done enough to be given a district football association that coordinate football development in the district having had about seven division two club in Tumu and its surrounding villages such as Real 24hrs,Happy Stars,Friwah fc,Kpajunang fc,HilliaStars, Eleven Killers and Tumu Royal Ambassadors is not just necessary but sufficient to have a district football association.

Let me also shift my attention small to ladies soccer in the upper west region. I also want to take this opportunity to congratulate Umar Farouk popularly known as King Fah and his colleagues for doing something unprecedented to adding the name of upper west in the national women’s league. I say Bravo Bravo and Bravo once again. When others are making conscious efforts geared towards football development in the region, others are also at destructive ends. May the Good lord strike every evil minded person in the region with his power and destroy them as he destroys those before us. The regional football association chairman has in many times vowed to use his office to kick real upper ladies out of the national women’s league to which I never believe until I was given a recording of his speech on a phone call conversation between him and Umar Farouk to which I became surprise. The office which is responsible for football development have now turned to be a catalyst of our under development and I think the chairman has to render an unqualified apology to the people of upper west.
To the area of sponsorship, he has never in his administration since 2006 he came to power as the regional football association chairman been able to secure a sponsorship for the 2nd division league for over a decade now he has been in power, he has not been able to organize things right such that potential sponsors would be attracted to come on board. His knowledge level in using football as a tool for development in communities and society at large is very little or minimal and as such exhibited great ignorance on the regulations and the status and this is killing the 2nd division and division one clubs in the upper west region. I therefore call on him to change his leadership style to a more participatory, dynamic and selfless if we really want to develop. I will urge him to either use his private venture which Biyad Gas Filling station as a starter to sponsor this year 2nd division or to go out and look for sponsorship for the league. I also urge to meet the head of national youth authority Senior Abudi as he is popularly called for ideas and how to implement them to achieve the desire goal. I trust that you will take the necessary precautions to prevent such incidents in not too distant future.

The last area I want to talk on is organizing Awards night. Awards are used to honor deserving personalities for their selfless, commitment and handwork in contributing their quota towards the development of football in the region both in the past and present. Some notable personalities to be awarded may include but not limited to awarding best female and male worker, past footballers such as Kamaaradeeni,Abdul Malik Jabir, and coaches such as Coach KD,Coach Iddrii,football administrators such as Gulinaa Seidu Braimah,NaaYussif Mumuni and present footballers such as Hafiz Adams of WaAll stars for captaining the team to win the Ghana premier league. Giving awards also to players, managers and teams that will excel at the end of our division two league.
The awards night will go beyond just giving awards but will also serve as an avenue where the past and present footballers will interact and lessons learnt will be put into practice.it will also be a night of re union where our footballers will come from all over the country to continue the socialization process where we will have the opportunity to interact with each other. With all these thematic areas outlined, the regional football association chairman have failed and can do better with three years left for him in office.it is not over Mr.chairman, there is more room for improvement. I once again recommend that, you seek consultation from the national youth authority boss to guide you as to how he has been consistently over the years able to properly organize awards night so that lessons learnt can be put into practice.

I request from you to provide an immediate replacement of some of your incompetent executive committee members and have a well-structured body with efforts oriented ideas towards the development of football in the region. I urged the regional football association chairman to accept this piece in good faith. In Islam, it is said that, speak the truth even if it will be against your own self, your parents, families, friends among others and it further emphasized that the only way you can disobey your parents is when you with the truth and want them to see the light that is prophet Ibrahim alaihi salaam disobeyed his father because he was with the truth and wanted the father to see the light. Telling the truth and make someone cry id better than telling a lie and make someone smile.
LONG LIVE GHANA LONG LIVE UPPER WEST REGION

DISTRIBUTION
All Media houses
National sports Authority
National Youth Authority
Regional Co-coordinating Council

By: ELYASU ADEL
(0206966067)