The room was filled with anticipation. Club administrators, coaches, and football enthusiasts had gathered in Kumasi for the Ghana Football Association's (GFA) Ordinary Congress in 2023. As the GFA President, Kurt Okraku, took the stage, his voice carried the weight of promise and change.

"We have identified a unique problem in our football ecosystem—lack of transportation for our clubs. You see Division One League clubs travelling in rickety buses. You see Women's Premier League clubs travelling… is it in 2×8 or what do they call it? Small small buses over long journeys," he remarked, drawing nods from the audience.

Then came the big announcement.

"The FA is introducing a new bus strategy that will help our clubs in the upcoming season."

It was a moment of hope. For years, football clubs, especially in the lower divisions, had struggled with transportation. Players endured grueling journeys in unsafe and uncomfortable vehicles, often arriving at matches exhausted. This initiative, it seemed, was a game-changer.

But a year later, that hope has turned into outrage.

The GFA's much-anticipated bus project has been marred by controversy and the association is now embroiled in what appears to be a scandal.

The audience in this auditorium had hopes for something new, but instead of brand-new, high-quality buses, the clubs have received 16-year-old vehicles—unregistered, potentially unsafe, per former Ghana League Clubs Association (GHALCA) Chairman, Joseph Yaw Appiah, who did not mince words in interview with on .

"Look, the buses the GFA bought for the clubs are old. How do you buy 16-year-old buses for clubs? I understand they [GFA] have not been able to license those buses. A death trap, and nobody is talking about it," he fumed.

His concerns were not unfounded. A JoySports investigation confirmed that the nine Hyundai County Buses, presented to clubs on 20th November 2024, had not been registered.

Without proper documentation, they could not legally be used on the roads. The FA, realising the blunder, requested the clubs to return the buses. But many clubs, already struggling with transportation, refused.

Bank roller of New Edubiase United, one of the beneficiaries of the buses said, "We didn't understand why the FA asked us to bring it back, so we didn't take it to them.

"First, the bus is 23-seater bus which does not meet the clubs licensing requirements, and second when we drove it to Edubiase, it over heated and we were told to change the water tank and later, the engine. The bus is full of problems so we have to decided to fix it and donate it to one of the schools in Edubiase," he stated.

When quizzed if he's been able to register the bus before donating it to school, he said, "We have not been able to register the bus because we don't have the documents to register it. When we get the documents, we will register it and donate it to a school here [Edubiase]."

It's been three months since the buses were handed to the clubs in a ceremony at the Accra Sports Stadium, but three months on, they are halted.

The procurement process raised even more eyebrows. Documents obtained by JoySports revealed that the GFA secured the buses through a sole-sourcing deal with Freightgistics Ghana Company Ltd, which imported the vehicles from Word Trade.Co Ltd in Incheon, Korea.

The Director of Freightgistics Ghana Company Ltd, incorporated on 28th March 2013, is Michael Osekere, the Chief of Staff of the Ghana Football Association leading to a significant conflict of interest.

The deal, it appeared, had been kept within a close circle of GFA leadership.

Its secretary, one Charity Nti-Amo, also holds a directorial position within the company.

Customs documents indicated that some of the buses, shipped to Ghana on 9th July 2024, were listed as "used Hyundai County Buses" with a chassis number KMJHD17HPEC001316 and a manufacturing year of 2014.

However, independent checks in Korea revealed major discrepancies. The actual chassis number of the same bus was KMJHD17HP8C001316, with a manufacturing year of 2008—not 2014, as recorded in the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) documents.

It is unclear who is behind the changes and whether the details were altered to pay lower import duties or to mislead stakeholders about the condition of the buses.

The owner of the bus said, "We checked and I can tell you it's an old car. They sprayed it to look new, but it is not. When we checked, it was manufactured in 2008."

JoySports wrote to the football governing body last week, but at the time of filing this report, the FA had yet to respond to the questions raised.

It is understood that the GFA reportedly spent GHC 5,175,000 on the procurement of the buses, per documents available to JoySports, translating to over GHC 575,000 per bus.

Yet, market analysis shows that:

In Korea, a 2008 Hyundai County Bus costs between $5,000 and $7,000 (approximately GHC 75,695 - GHC 106,000 at the exchange rate of GHC 15.1391 per dollar, as seen in the GRA documents).

Though JoySports checks at Hyundai Ghana revealed that County Buses are out of stock, we discovered that a 2014 Hyundai County Bus could cost GHC 495,000—significantly GHC 80,000 lower than the FA’s procurement price.

JoySports was directed to further check at Kia West Africa for details on County Buses, and we gathered that the only buses currently available are the 2025 models, which cost $79,200 which translates to GHC 1,199,06.72 per bus.

GFA could have bought four brand new 2025 County Buses at GHC 4,796,066.88 and saved GHC 378,933.12 or better still add up to procure five buses for five clubs while other clubs could have waited for theirs.

However, in an effort to impress, clubs are left depressed.

We do not know the exact buses the GFA asked Freightgistics Ghana Company Ltd, owned by its Chief of Staff, Michael Osekere, to import and whether they are significantly priced higher, as discovered.

At the port, the FA cleared each bus at GHC 72,116.10, while the full container which had other stuff cost GHC 96,972.46. A total amount of GHC 649,044.90 was paid to clear the buses alone, while GHC 872,752.14 was spent clearing all containers per arithmetic.

However, industry sources estimate that the actual duty for buses of this age should have been around GHC 120,311.46, meaning the GFA might have underpaid about GHC 50,000 per bus if the claims are legit.

On 28th August 2024, the FA made a cash payment of GHC 96,972.46 to the GRA via Zenith Bank, with a receipt issued for one of the containers that delivered the buses.

The GRA subsequently issued a clearance receipt on 29th August 2024, which expired on 13th September 2024.

Despite this, clubs have struggled to obtain the necessary documentation from the Customs Division of the GRA, preventing the buses from being legally registered and used on the roads.

It should be noted that about nine months ago, the Ghana FA opened bids for interested companies to procure 12 units of 4×4 double pickup vehicles and four saloon vehicles.

This procedure was in line with FIFA procurement laws, which state that "...where a member association uses the services provided by parties such as companies, contractors, manufacturers, suppliers, or consultants for an amount of $50,000 or higher, the member association concerned must submit the cost estimates of at least three parties or evidence of a competitive procurement process."

Though this regulation, as captured by FIFA, is in reference to FIFA 2.0 Forward, the world football governing body goes on to state that "For any contract involving a financial obligation for FIFA or for the member association of USD 300,000 or higher, TENDER PROCESSES MUST BE CONDUCTED.

"A Confederation or any other potential beneficiary shall be bound by the same obligations to conduct a tender process or a cost estimate process if external third parties are required to perform certain activities."

Per this FIFA regulation, it appears the FA breached the procurement laws of its mother body by handing the contract to the right-hand man of the FA President, Mr Osekere, who is the director of Freightgistics Ghana Company Ltd. At no point did the FA publish on its website or any of its social media accounts requesting bids for this project.

This apparent procurement scandal not only highlights a blatant conflict of interest—with the FA’s Chief of Staff benefiting from a lucrative deal—but also points to potential financial mismanagement and a disregard for club safety, which could lead to FIFA sanctions for breaching its regulations.

Historically, the GFA procured Nissan Pickups from Japan Motors, who are authorised dealers of Nissan vehicles in Ghana. The Tata pickups were bought from PHC Motors, authorised dealers of Tata vehicles.

In fact, for the current vehicles used by FA President Kurt Okraku and his General Secretary, Prosper Harrison Addo, the GFA procured the cars from Dubai and paid the duty.

Maybe the FA was not in a position to procure used buses, hence their decision to engage Freightgistics Ghana Company Ltd to do so on their behalf. However, this raises the obvious question of why the association paid to clear the nine Hyundai County Buses from the port when a third party, Freightgistics Ghana Company Ltd, was the company assigned to procure the buses and deliver them to the football association.

What is worse is that the buses, per independent documents, appear older and unsafe for human use than declared, seem overpriced per queries from Hyundai Ghana and even a basic internet check, and remain unregistered.

Questions remain about who authorised the procurement, how funds were allocated, and why proper due diligence was not conducted to avoid some of the buses being driven direct from pick up point to the mechanic shop.

For now, the buses sit idle. A stark reminder that in Ghana football, promises do not always translate into reality.

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