Ghana boxing promoter Alex Ntiamoah is threatening legal action against the leadership of the Ghana Boxing Authority (GBA).
Ntiamoah, the CEO of Box Office Sports Promotions, warned that he’ll be forced to seek the removal of GBA president Abraham Kotei Neequaye from office for day-to-day activities in contravention of article 4.19 (i) and 4.16 (i) of the GBA constitution.
In a letter dated October 21, 2022, and copied to the Ministry of Youth and Sports and the National Sports Authority (NSA), Ntiamoah stated that the Secretary-General is the head of the GBA Secretariat per the statutes and is mandated to run the authority’s day-to-day activities. These activities are currently being run by the GBA president.
“I wish to also bring to your notice that the Secretary-General is the one that has the mandate to head the Secretariat of the GBA as well as the one responsible for the day-to-day business and general administration of the authority and not the president as prescribed by Articles 4.19 (i) and 4.16 (i) respectively.
“I would further be compelled to invoke Article 7.6 of the GBA constitution to seek your removal from office as these anomalies amount to gross misconduct, abuse of office as well as breach of oath,” parts of the letter read.
Last month, a stakeholders meeting held by the GBA ahead of a scheduled Annual General Meeting (AGM) ended abruptly after promoters and managers failed to agree on certain amendments to the body’s constitution.
The meeting was necessitated after Neequaye proposed that some aspects of the laws guiding professional boxing in Ghana be amended to correspond with modern trends.
Following the misunderstanding between boxing stakeholders and the GBA over the legitimacy of the body’s constitution, Ntiamoah wrote to the NSA, a body mandated by law to regulate sporting activities in Ghana, to furnish him with a certified copy of the authority’s constitution.
On October 18, the NSA responded to Ntiamoah’s request and provided the promoter with the constitution and also named the members of the Executive Board of the GBA as submitted by the GBA to its office.
According to Ntiamoah, the constitution and list of Executive Board members he received from the NSA corresponded with what every stakeholder of the GBA possessed, thus legitimizing the authority’s current working constitution.
However, Ntiamoah pointed out that the list of Executive Board members on the GBA is inconsistent with the provisions of the authority’s constitution which stipulates in Article 4.12 (xi) that a maximum of two co-opted members must be named by the president.
Ntiamoah noted that instead, Neequaye named four co-opted members, namely Michael Leviticus Attoh Tetteh (Deputy Chairman, Promotions), Gideon Hansen Appiah (Head of Marketing), Daniel Ayikwei (Head of Security), Eyram Abra Daddy (Deputy Public Relations Officer), John Manfo (Member) and J.A. Annan (Member).
“In the above regard, the composition of the Executive Board (with four more co-opted members), the management of the secretariat (currently being headed by the president) is inconsistent with the GBA constitution and would therefore wish to advice your good self to remedied all the anomalies.
“Failure to do so would compel me to take legal action against the board and yourself, seeking all the decisions which have been taken by the board to be nullified as well as seeking the court to restrict you (the president) from heading the secretariat and running the day-to-day business and the general administration of the authority,” Ntiamoah’s letter to the president of the GBA continued.
When BoxingAfrica.com contacted the GBA for a response, President Neequaye denied receipt of any letter from Ntiamoah.
“I haven’t received any letter from anybody concerning my administration of the GBA so I can’t comment on all the allegations,” said Neequaye.
A surprised Ntiamoah insisted that he personally delivered the letter to the GBA president.
“It is shocking because I personally delivered the letter to the GBA president and to say he didn’t receive anything from me is surprising,” Ntiamoah told BoxingAfrica.com.
If Ntiamoah does not respond or amend the issues outlined in Ntiamoah’s letter, legal action could ensue.
