After days of constant speculations on the probable names of the members of the FIFA normalization committee (NC) for the Ghana Football Association everything is now officially known.
In the end Dr. Kofi Amoah is appointed President of the NC and Lucy Quist will be his deputy.
Lawyer Duah-Adonteng and Naa Odofoley Nortey have been appointed as members but former GFA chairman Alhaji M.N.D Jawula widely tipped to be part of the team was not mentioned.
The list was announced by the FIFA and CAF representatives during a press conference organized at the GFA headquarters in Accra on Friday.
FIFA Director for Members associations for Africa and Caribbean regions Mr. Veron Mosengo Omba, FIFA manager of member associations Mr. Luca Nicola and Nigeria FA president and first CAF vice president Amaju Pinnick were said to have arrived last Tuesday and interviewed the members at the Tang Palace Hotel in Accra on Wednesday.
The members are expected to have been subjected to various types of inspections including the FIFA integrity check to make sure the right persons of the right individual and professional records are selected onto the interim committee.
The Kofi Amoah led Normalization committee has been given an initial mandate till the end of March 2019 to organize elections of new executive members of the GFA and also lead the reformation of the association.
The Big Four : The destiny of Ghana football has been put in the hands of these four men and women for the time being.
But what do we know about them?
Naa Odofoley Nortey – member
Naa is involved in corporate and business Law. She is a board member at the Attorney General’s department and specifically under the Legal Aid Scheme division where FIFA’S Discpilnary committee chairman Justice Anin-Yeboah is also the chairman.
We can read on Lawyers.com that she is licensed as a lawyer for the past 14 years and is a member of the Liberty Legislation Consult.
She belongs to the Ghana School of Law of class of 2004. Naa completed the University of Ghana in 2002 with a B.A in Sociology and Law.
Not much is known about her public life. A Twitter account with the name – Naa Odofoley Nortey – created in Jan 2018 has 9 followers and her last tweet was a retweet of a Joel Osteen’s post but we cannot tell whether this is her official page.
Dr Kofi Amoah – president
He became the chairman of the FIFA/CAF Liaison Team that was appointed to oversee affairs of Ghana football in terms of international competitions. He was the chairman of the Local Organizing committee for CAN 2008.
He had his secondary education from Opoku Ware School in Kumasi in Ashanti Region Ghana in the 1960s as he was on scholarship thanks to a free compulsory education which was a national education policy of Ghana’s first president, Dr. Kwame Nkrumah according to an article on Todaygh.com.
Amoah completed Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) and went on to graduate at the University of California, Berkeley in the USA also.
He is credited for persuading Western Union to come to Ghana and Africa because he encountered difficulty in sending money to his mum in Ghana in the 90’s.
Dr. Kofi Amoah is the Chief Executive Officer of Progeny Ventures.
He has served as Non-Executive Director of State Insurance Co of Ghana Ltd since May 29, 2008. He worked in the United States at Northrop, Electronic Data System (EDS), Southeast Investment Corporation Development, Elsafe Incorporated, Global One and Bear, Stearns Inc.
The FIFA/CAF Liaison Team chairman is the founder and president of J.S. Investments Inc., Los Angeles, PPVI Ghana Ltd, and Progeny Aluminum and Design Ghana Ltd. He was a member of Ghana Investment Advisory Council, past member of the Ghana Football Association and Chairman of the Local Organising Committee during the Ghana 2008 tournament. He owns Citizen Kofi, a popular entertainment centre in Accra.
Lawyer Dua-Adonteng – member
A former boss of Ghana Post. Dua-Adonteng, the former Managing Director of Ghana Post and a lawyer has been involved at the very top of football management in this country.
The Alumni of Ghana school of Law and some his mates of the 1984 year group are Ms Gloria Akuffo current Attorney General of Ghana, Mad Charlotte Obeng and Mr Ebow Paitoo.
He is also a former board member of Kumasi Asante Kotoko SC which had other members like lawyer Paul Adu Gyamfi the chairman, Baffour Kwame Kusi II (Ankobiahene), Mr. Frank Appeagyei, Mr. Kwaku Amponsah, National Circles Chairman and former Black Stars defender Mr. Samuel Osei Kuffour. He was also a member of the Asante Kotoko legal team.
The former PNDC secretary of Youth and Sports Zaya Yeebo wrote about Dua Adonteng in his article on the Anas corruption video and it reads : I also set up the Dua Adonteng Committee to investigate allegations of corruption, misuse of sports facilities, ghost names and the like. His report was dynamite, but the PNDC administration under the late P V Obeng did not accept it.
Lucy Quist – vice President
Lucy Quist (born 1974) is a British-Ghanaian an international business leader. She is a technology professional who advocates for greater participation of young people in STEM for development.
Education and Qualifications – She holds an MBA from INSEAD in France.
Born in London, United Kingdom, to Ghanaian parents Peter and Mary Afriyie, Lucy Quist spent her formative years in both Europe and Africa. She went to Wesley Girl’s High School in Cape Coast and attended sixth form at the Presbyterian Boys’ Secondary School, Accra, both in Ghana.
She went on to study at the University of East London, graduating with a first-class honours degree in Electrical and Electronic Engineering.
Experience – Lucy Quist is the founder and CEO of Quist Blue Diamond. She serves as the President of the African Institute of Mathematical Sciences, Ghana. She is a co-founder of FreshBakery, the parent company of the FreshPay payment platform in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).
Quist began her working life as an Electrical and Electronic Engineer at Ford Motor Company, progressing to Chartered Engineer (IET), UK.
She joined the Royal Bank of Scotland as a change manager. In 2008, she stepped into telecommunications.
Quist started her telecommunications career at Millicom International Cellular (MIC), where she worked in business development, sales & distribution, and marketing. Lucy Quist also led the transformation of Vodafone Wholesale from a local to an international player. Later she went on to become the MD of Vodafone Ghana’s Enterprise division.
She joined Vodafone in Ghana from Millicom as Head of Strategy & Planning. She also ran the company’s wholesale and enterprise businesses.
She was the Managing Director (CEO) of Airtel Ghana. Since taking over the helm of affairs at Airtel Ghana, as the first Ghanaian woman to lead a multinational telecom company, Quist has successfully re-positioned the company into the fastest growing telecom brand growing customer market share for both voice and data.
