A candidate in the recently held contest to elect a new Ghana Football Association (GFA) president, Ms Amanda Akuorkor Clinton, says she is humbled to have become the first woman to contest for the topmost job in Ghana football.
According to Ms Clinton, she was not disappointed that she polled no vote during last Friday's election in Accra because she was not prepared to win at all costs. The legal practitioner maintained that the relatively short period she had to campaign, coupled with her decision not to entice delegates with money in exchange for votes, affected her chances negatively.
"I was not prepared to become president of the GFA at all cost," Ms Clinton told the Daily Graphic in an interview on Wednesday.
"Although to attain elite success one must sometimes be willing to make the hard choices, do the unpleasant things, risk one’s most valuable assets and at times do away with the shackles designed by society and the uninvited imposition of lesser people's moral agenda. In this case, I truly believe that integrity, fortitude and perseverance towards a noble goal is of much importance in one's professional life."
Vote-buying allegations
Reiterating allegations of vote-buying that she made to the Normalisation Committee before the elections, Ms Clinton said it was a huge factor during the elections, with some delegates receiving in excess of 4,000 euros each. "Many delegates were invited to East Legon the night before the elections where they queued up for money to be distributed," she alleged.
She said she provided the NC with evidence of vote-buying but it was not pursued because the "evidence was not enough". Ms Clinton also disclosed that she spent approximately US$5,000 on her GFA presidential bid, saying the money was spent on filing fees, as well as marketing, flight and accommodation during trips to meet delegates.
She said in the short-term, she was going to focus her efforts on her private practice after spending weeks away from work during the campaign.
Hope
Ms Clinton said she was hopeful that the GFA President, Mr Kurt Okraku, would seize the "amazing opportunity to redeem the image of the GFA and improve Ghana football." She advised Mr Okraku to focus on grassroots football by developing football pitches and resourcing academies which would produce better footballers for the various national teams.
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