Very characteristic of power-hungry, at times failed if not failing politicians whose lust is to desperately hang on to power when their term in office expires or is expiring, Ghana Football Association (GFA) President, Kurt Okraku dreams of another shot in office when his two four-year terms (eight years) elapse.

He wants a third term in office. That give him 12 years in power. He could then be the second longest serving GFA President in Ghana football’s contemporary history after Kwesi Nyantakyi who had 13 years. The difference is that, in Kwesi Nyantakyi’s time, term limit was not in the rules binding the top seat of the GFA.

That of Kurt Okraku does. According to the legal demands on the GFA President’s term of office, Kurt can only have two four-year terms – eight years at most. This is one of the significant developments that ushered us into the new dispensation of Ghana football post the normalisation committee’s work in October 2019.

Football people accepted that there must be limitations to the number of years their President stays in office. FIFA has three four-year terms. That of GFA is two four-year terms but in the early days of Kurt’s administration, a committee was established to among other things examine the possibility of changing the two-terms of four years to three terms of four years – 12 years in effect.

Notable football administrators like George Afriyie, Cudjoe Fianoo, Wilfred Osei Kwaku Palmer including Kwesi Nyantakyi have since rejected Kurt’s third term ambition. In a recent chat with Asempa FM, Kwesi Nyantakyi, a lawyer, even pointed out that there could be legal obstacles to Kurt’s third term agenda.  

“I know that laws do not take retrospective action, and so when you [oversee] an organisation, you cannot change the rules to favour you. If they change the term, limit Kurt Okraku should not be able to contest," said Nyantakyi.

“He came to office under a two-term limit, and during his term, if the association changes the term limit, he should not be able to qualify to contest," he added.

Is Kurt’s third-term agenda necessary? Should it be a priority at this stage of Ghana football? I say not all. That ambition is self-serving and backward, it must be fought fiercely if Ghana football has a Congress that is tune with issues and events of the time – particularly matters afflicting our football.