George Afriyie: ‘I feel sorry for the text; I should have confronted Nyantakyi face-to-face’
The ex-GFA Veep concedes after more than four years that he chose a wrong approach to send a 'strong' message across to his boss.
Former Vice-president of the Ghana Football Association (GFA), George Afriyie has admitted he could have voiced out his grievances to then-boss Kwesi Nyantakyi than the SMS dig that unexpectedly went viral.
It will be recalled that in April 2018, the administrator cum businessman was yanked off from his position as the second in command after a meeting of the GFA Executive Committee.
Mr. Afriyie’s friendly relationship with Nyantakyi had deteriorated after the former issued a tirade via text message at his former boss labeling him ‘greedy and wicked.’
The friction between the two personalities since the said text message coupled with trust issues eventually led to the sacking of Afriyie months later.
Speaking with hindsight after more than four years, George Afriyie says he should have approached the issues that led to his full-of-fury SMS in another way, adding that he never betrayed his boss.
“Nyantakyi was not my friend; he was my boss. He was somebody I was working with and I showed so much respect as a boss. It wasn’t a friend-and-brother relationship. That’s how I see it,” he said in an interview with Untold Stories TV GH.
“Betrayed him, how? If there is somebody who served Nyantakyi from the beginning to the end, it is me. Is it wrong that I feel something strong about maybe something that a leader has done and I’ve been able to tell him that makes me a betrayer?
“The fact is that me the president had an issue. It is no secret that I sent a certain test message… Is that betrayal? I’m working with you and I don’t feel comfortable with something and I send you a personal message but somehow it got leaked not from my side. Is that what we call betrayal?
Afriyie however admitted: “Maybe probably it shouldn’t have been a text message but a one-on-one [talk] between me and Mr. Nyantakyi…”
“That message shouldn’t have gone via text but should have been a meeting. We are in the era of technology, if we are not careful things get messy. I feel sorry for that text message because of course it shouldn’t have been the way…
“If somebody should feel betrayed, it should rather be me, not him.
“The fact is that in this country people can’t stand up to their leaders…! “You can’t be quiet and things are not right then you keep it to yourself, no,” he added.
Watch full interview:
