A leading law lecturer has hit out at threats by Moses Foh-Amoaning that journalists will face contempt charges if they criticize the findings of Ghana’s 2014 World Cup Commission after widespread condemnation of the body's report.
Yaw Oppong, a lecturer at the University of Ghana, says claims by Foh-Amoaning that journalists who make critical comments of the Dzamefe Commission's reports will be charged with contempt is 'misleading' and calculated to silence and cow the media into submission.
Foh-Amoaning, who is a member of the of the three-man Dzamefe Commission, has been hopping from one media outlet to the other to defend the outcome of the commission's report which has been condemned as as 'fraudulent and bogus'.
There have been many commentaries on the report with majority opinion skewing towards criticizing the work of the three-man panel.
Critics have accused the commission of targeting the Ghana FA while leaving out the big fishes in the scandalous episode which rocked the West African country.
A key part of Foh-Amoaning's intervention on radio has been warning journalists of serious consequences for hacks who offer ‘destructive’ criticism against their findings.
However, the highly-respected lawyer Oppong, says the claims by the member of the three-man panel are false and that journalists are free to comment on the report of the commission without the fear if being charged for contempt.
"Anyone who claims that journalists will be charged with contempt for commenting on the commission's report is misleading the public. Such a claim is absolutely false," Oppong told Asempa FM.
"Like any other ruling in the court people are free to comment without the fear of being prosecuted or being jailed. It happens all over the world and the commission's report is no exception.
"Please disregard this threat and comment freely on it within the bounds the ethics of journalism."
The findings of the commission looked to have overly concentrated on the GFA while the key issues that affected the country which seems to point at government’s direction were largely ignored by the findings of the probe.
Ghana’s disgrace at the World Cup was highlighted by government’s failure to pay the players after several failed promises which led to the revolt by the Black Stars; the flying of the money to Brazil caused further embarrassment as it was carried on live television, and the treatment of supporters also added to the shame.
Yet the commission’s report seemed to focus on the GFA and its president- Kwesi Nyantakyi- who is now facing a forensic audit of friendly matches before the World Cup while ignoring the key issues that led to the country’s disastrous outing which points at government’s failings.
Shockingly, the forensic audit will look into claims of losses totalling $1,002,000 during the matches involving Ghana and Cape Verde, Ghana and Nigeria, and Ghana and Togo, even though these matches does not relate to the 2014 World Cup, as some of the matches were played way back in 2006.
The report also asked for Nyantakyi to be investigated over the $200,000 for a friendly before the World Cup, even though the money was not paid to him personally, but was paid to the GFA and failed to provide the reason why he should be held personally responsible.
This view is consistent with long-held fears from the GFA that the Commission’s work was expected to provide the launch pad for a major attack on the GFA boss with the aim of removing him from office.
These revelations and suspicion of witch-hunt of the GFA while government officials have been shielded in the report is what has sparked members of the opposition to react, claiming government is engaged in cover-ups. On August 4, 2014, government commissioned a three- man Committee, chaired by Justice Senyo Dzamefe, following the negative fallout from the Black Star campaign in the 2014 Brazil World Cup competition.
Established by Constitutional Instrument C.I 82 with CI 65 giving it the guidelines to operate, the Commission had Moses Foh Amoaning, a private Legal Practitioner and Kofi Anokye Owusu Darko, a Football enthusiast as the other members.
The terms of reference included; the preparations of the Black Stars team before the games, management of the team, financing of activities leading to the competition, treatment of the funds generated and to make recommendations based on the findings.