By Reuben Hadzide, Former President GNC.
………..During the Council meeting, when the cold, hard reality of this illicit expenditure was brought to light, the President did not stand up and defend his “project cash flows.” He did not point to the minutes. Instead, after being told bluntly by Council member Illiahsu that this was “a hard lesson for him to learn,” President Effah Ameyaw stood before the Council and stated, and we quote:“I take full responsibility. I am sorry, it won’t happen again.”
The Ghana National Council of Metropolitan Chicago (GNC) recently published a “rejoinder” signed by its President, Effah Ameyaw, attempting to discredit SankofaOnline’s investigative reporting regarding an unauthorized $3,500 withdrawal from the Council’s treasury for a “Ghana Jersey Project.”
Read the rejoinder : Rejoinder By The GNC President
In a masterclass of corporate gaslighting, the President claims our report was “incomplete,” “misleading,” and “sensational.” He appeals to the community for unity, cloaking himself in the language of transparency and responsible stewardship.
Unfortunately for the President, facts do not bend to rhetoric, and official minutes do not lie.
SankofaOnline does not deal in narratives; we deal in unassailable evidence. Below is the unvarnished truth of what actually transpired, juxtaposed against the fictional defense mounted by the GNC Executive.
1. The Fiction of “Council Authorization” vs. The Reality of the Recorded Minutes
In his rejoinder, President Ameyaw boldly asserts:
“The Council authorized funds to support activities associated with the World Cup watch events, including the procurement of jerseys… The characterization of the transaction as an unauthorized withdrawal is therefore inaccurate.”
This is a blatant falsehood. We challenge President Ameyaw to produce a single page, a single line, or a single syllable of approved Council minutes that establishes a line item for purchasing Ghana jerseys. You cannot produce it because it does not exist.
Let us look at what the official records actually show. During the review of the Council’s minutes and governance controls, the allocation for youth and World Cup activities was explicitly debated and voted upon:
- The Motion: Mr. Davidson Zigah tabled a motion to approve $2,000 (not $3,500) specifically for immediate youth event costs, including transportation and the World Cup watch party.
- The Second: The motion was seconded by Mr. Paa Kwasi Sam.
- The Vote: The majority of the Council, by voice vote, approved exactly $2,000 for these specific youth activities.
Nowhere in this authorization was there permission granted to withdraw an additional $3,500 of community funds to engage in a speculative retail venture importing jerseys from Ghana. The President conflates a $2,000 approved youth activity budget with his own unilateral $3,500 treasury raid. In the world of non-profit governance, taking money authorized for one purpose, or taking money never authorized at all, and spending it on an unapproved project is the very definition of an unauthorized withdrawal. To claim otherwise is a deliberate attempt to mislead the Ghanain community.
2. The Smoking Gun: “I Take Full Responsibility, I Am Sorry”
If the “Jersey Project” was as transparent, authorized, and routine as the President’s rejoinder claims, why did he apologize to the entire Council when confronted?
During the Council meeting, when the cold, hard reality of this illicit expenditure was brought to light, the President did not stand up and defend his “project cash flows.” He did not point to the minutes. Instead, after being told bluntly by Council member Illiahsu that this was “a hard lesson for him to learn,” President Effah Ameyaw stood before the Council and stated, and we quote:
“I take full responsibility. I am sorry, it won’t happen again.”
If the transaction was authorized, what is there to take responsibility for? If the process was transparent, why apologize? If some the executives acted within the bounds of proper governance, why promise that “it won’t happen again”?
This confession is the ultimate smoking gun. The President apologized because he was caught red-handed bypassing financial controls. His rejoinder is a desperate retrofitting of facts to walk back a humiliating, recorded admission of guilt.
3. The Threat to GNC’s 501(c)(3) Status: A Private Venture Masquerading as a Community Project
The rejoinder attempts to normalize a chaotic financial arrangement, admitting that payments to an overseas supplier were structured around “anticipated project cash inflows” and “advance orders.”
Let us call this what it truly is: a reckless, undocumented, private business venture financed with community funds disguised as interest‑free capital. The number of jerseys to be purchased, the projected margins, the expense structure, the invoices,none of this was disclosed to the community, the Board, or any oversight body. Only a small circle of executives had access to the details.
The President now wants the community to believe that because he personally imagined this as a “community project,” the unauthorized and illegal expenditure is somehow justified. But nonprofit organizations do not operate on presidential daydreams, private assumptions, or internal monologues. They operate on documentation, transparency, and compliance. Anything less is a breach of fiduciary duty.
- There are zero supporting documents to legitimize this expenditure.
- There are no receipts, no approved vendor contracts, and no standard procurement protocols.
- Instead, we have a tale of 127 jerseys scattered across four boxes—two of which were impounded by customs because of systemic logistical incompetence.
This is not just bad management; it is a existential threat to the organization. This exact brand of loose financial playing, commingling of funds, and undocumented back-alley trading is precisely the behavior that causes non-profit organizations to lose their tax-exempt 501(c)(3) status. President Ameyaw is jeopardizing the legal and financial standing of the entire Ghana National Council to cover up a botched jersey hustle.
4. Defiance and the Echo Chamber: The Council Says “NO”
The true measure of the Council’s trust in the President’s financial “stewardship” was put on display immediately after this disaster was exposed. Flushed with the failure of the Jersey Project, the President proceeded to ask the Council for additional money to fund “GhanaFest shirts.”The Council’s response was swift, unanimous, and devastating: NO.
The delegates see through the smoke and mirrors. They have realized that the current leadership views the treasury not as a sacred trust to be guarded with strict financial controls, but as a personal piggy bank to fund pet projects under the guise of “community spirit.”
Conclusion: SankofaOnline Stands by Its Reporting
President Ameyaw concludes his rejoinder by lecturing SankofaOnline on “responsible journalism” and “verification of facts.”
We have verified the facts. We have reviewed the minutes. We have heard the confessions. It is because of our commitment to responsible journalism that we refuse to sit idly by while community funds vanish into undocumented black holes, only to be dismissed as “unforeseen customs challenges.”
Read the origial article : By sankofaonline
The Ghanaian community of Metropolitan Chicago deserves leadership that respects the law, honors the Council’s bylaws, and protects its collective resources. They do not deserve an executive that raids the treasury, begs for forgiveness at meeting, and then publishes defiant, dishonest press releases in public.
We stand unreservedly by our original reporting. The withdrawal was unauthorized. The project was unapproved. The apology was issued. The facts remain undefeated.
