THE coming days may see yet another change in Kumasi Asante Kotoko as the Life Patron, Otumfuo Osei Tutu II, is set to name Kofi Kodua Sarpong, a former Chief Executive Officer of the Tema Oil Refinery, as the new Board Chairman.
The appointment of K.K. Sarpong, a stalwart fan but a surprise candidate for Kotoko’s Board chairmanship, is expected to help the club end the administrative quagmire it has been entangled in.
Though the decision to get a substantive board for Kotoko has been on the drawing board for sometime now, dwindling fortunes of the club under the nine-month old Interim Management Committee (IMC) may have triggered the impending sweeping changes.
Kotoko have struggled to stay among the top performers this season under the administration of the IMC headed by Alhaji Nje but the team’s first round exit from the CAF Champions League last Sunday could be the last nail.
Both Manyhia and officials of Kotoko have remained tight-lipped over the expected announcement, but Graphic Sports sources indicate Mr Sarpong will be handed the duty to restructure the club which includes the appointment of a substantive Chief Executive Officer and a management team.
In another development, the Chief of Staff at the Manhyia Palace, Mr Fosuaba A. Mensah Banahene, said the owner of the club, Asantehene Otumfuo Osei Tutu II, had not abandoned his decision to put in place a board for the club to oversee the work on management.
He told the Graphic Sports in Kumasi yesterday that the decision could come anytime even today.
“The Asantehene never eats back his words and he will surely put the board in place,” he told the Graphic Sports.
He, however, indicated that as of now, the King had not announced any names for the board neither had he set any date for the announcement of the board.
Just after Kotoko were kicked out in the first round of the CAF Champions League last Sunday, rumours went round in Kumasi that former Managing Director of GOIL, Mr K.K. Sarpong, was to be named the chairman of a new board for the club.
The rumour had it that Otumfuo was not happy about the direction of the club and hoped the formation of a board immediately was important in changing the fortunes of the club.
However, Mr Banahene said that could not be true because no names had come from the Asantehene.
“We will all have to wait and see what will happen in the coming days,” he said.
Otumfuo indicated his decision to form a board for the club when he dissolved the last one headed by Mr P.V. Obeng, about two years ago.
Since then two managements have come on board, one headed by Mr Sylvester Asare Owusu and the current one under the chairmanship of Alhaji Inje.
Mr Banahene said the current management had submitted their last performance report to the Asantehene in which a number of suggestions were included.
He would however get into any details unless he had express directives from Otumfuo.
Some of the critics of the current management say they lacked the managerial power to direct one of Africa’s biggest clubs.
They argued that the management had for instance not managed its information very well.
Others however believed that the management was doing well under trying times and it was important for all to support them to right the wrongs in the club.
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