Kwesi Nyantakyi Freed After 5-Year Legal Battle & Turmoil

Kwesi Nyantakyi Walks Free After Five-Year Legal Battle

It has been five years of back and forth in court concerning the ‘Number 12 expose,’ and now, the former Ghana Football Association (GFA) President, Kwesi Nyantakyi, is finally a free man. The High Court dropped all charges against him after the prosecution failed to bring any witnesses.

After such grave accusations, what could make this man walk free? It is the lack of evidence. The ruling, delivered by Justice Marie-Louise Simmonds, highlighted a lack of evidence as the key reason for dismissing the case. The prosecution had five witnesses lined up but didn’t get a single one to testify. The last hope was investigative journalist Anas Aremeyaw Anas himself, but he insisted on wearing his mask in court. The Court of Appeal shut that down, saying he had to testify without it. That led to delays, and eventually, Anas didn’t testify at all. With no key witness and nothing to build on, the judge had no choice but to dismiss the case, putting an end to Nyantakyi’s legal troubles.

On February 13, 2025, when the case came up again, state prosecutors tried to buy time, asking for another month to consult the Attorney General. But Nyantakyi’s lawyers pushed back, arguing that the case had gone on long enough without progress. The judge agreed, and just like that, Nyantakyi is a free man, despite all the distasteful things uncovered about his corrupt actions. It was even rumored that he claimed to have the former President of Ghana, Nana Addo, in his pocket. However, Nyantakyi clarified this stating “I said that I am a Ghanaian, I know politicians and once they want to invest, I can lead them to these politicians and I don’t think there was anything bad about that.”

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The “Number 12” Exposé

All of this began in 2018 when Anas released a documentary uncovering the corruption in Ghanaian football called “Number 12.” Nyantakyi was at the center of it, caught on tape taking money from an undercover journalist posing as a businessman. In the video, he promised to use his influence to secure business deals and was also accused of taking bribes to influence player selection for the national team.

The fallout was huge. Nyantakyi resigned as GFA President, lost his positions at FIFA and CAF, and was hit with a lifetime ban from football—though he later got it reduced to 15 years after appealing to the Court of Arbitration for Sport.

But while the exposé made waves, the legal case didn’t go anywhere. The biggest fight in court was whether Anas should testify with or without his mask. At first, the High Court ruled that he could wear it in open court but had to show his face to Nyantakyi in private. But then, the Court of Appeal overruled that, saying he had to testify without it. Anas refused, and without his testimony, the case pretty much collapsed.

Now that the court has cleared Nyantakyi, his legal troubles are over, but his football career is still up in the air and his FIFA ban is still in place. The case is closed, but the conversations about corruption in Ghanaian football isn’t going away anytime soon.

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