OPEN LETTER TO THE MINISTER OF YOUTH
AND SPORT
Dear Mr. Minister,
Congratulation
for your elevation to such an august position, in fact, l couldn’t hide my joy
when I heard the news of the president appointing you as the Minister designate
for Youth and Sport. I remember I was buying grilled plantain when the news
broke, filled with joy to the brim l forget to take my balance from the
plantain seller.
The question which is
riding on the lips of sport journalists and true sport loving citizens in this country
is ,why did it take ages for the President to name a true son of the game to
head the Ministry? This question also affirms your competency to head such an august
house. I was a pundit on a sport
discussion and on our phone-in segment, a caller described you has the “the
true Messiah for football in Ghana”.
Mr. Minister, the same
lips that chanted HOSSANA!!! HOSSANA!!! With palm front, where the same lips
that bellowed CRUCIFY HIM!!! CRUCIFY HIM! With blows and slaps. But wear the amour of vigilance and let truth be
your shield , for bootlickers and sycophants will help you sing “BRAZIL!!! BRAZIL!!
BLACK STARS HERE WE COME YEAAAHH!!!” but in the end you will be crying in front of Justice Djamafie Commission of
Inquiry alone. But listen to the cries of sport journalists in the country for
we have been through all the nooks and crannies in this game and our voice
represent the voice of the people
Mr. Minister, of late,
sport in Ghana means football and Black Stars. Football has been raised above
all sporting disciplines. Millions of dollars are being injected into to
football at the expense of other discipline like boxing and athletics, boxers
like Nana Konadu, DK Poison, Prof Azuma Nelson just to mention a few, were able
to project the name of Ghana to international bodies via boxing, but now boxing
is a pale shadow of itself, there is no sponsorship, lack of employment for
boxing coaches, lack of strategies to develop amateur boxing. Mr. Minister
there are 50 boxing in Ghana all based in Accra, effort should be made to
decentralized boxing to other regions, boxing league could be staged across
Ghana this will help in discovering young talent who have the penchant for
boxing.
The time is due for
the much awaiting sport bill to be passed, Mr. Minister, if nothing at all,
ensure the passage of the sport bill and l can assure you will be in the wall
of firm when it comes to football. We need the sport bill to help streamline
sports in this country, without the Sport Bill National Sport authority for
instance will continue to be a toothless bull dog, without the bill lesser know
sports will continue to wallow in abject poverty, without the bill hooliganisms
in our sport stadia will never be curbed. Mr. Minister let me remind you; it is
as a result of hooliganism that Kwame
Andoh Kyei, a 21-year-old referee who was beaten to death, the bill will help
in nipping such atrocious art which is on it ascendancy in the bud.
Mr. Minister, the state of our stadia is one vital aspect l will like to
turn your attention to. In 2008, four stadia were commissioned all in their
glam and glory, a year down the line, our stadia have metamorphosis into death
trap, metals that support the edifies are rusty, the seats are broke, the green
pitches are now sandy and dry like the dessert, the urinary are so disgusting
with pageant smell of urine. Mr. Minister to make the matter worse, none of
these stadia is disability friendly.
Mr. Minister, it is enshrined in
Ghana’s persons with disability Act,715
that “ the owner or occupier of a place to which the public has access shall
provide appropriate facilities that make the place accessible to and available
for use by a person with disability”, this Act already existed before the
construction of these stadia, but the regulation has been breech blatantly at
the expense of disabled who have love for sport but because of the unfriendly nature
of the stadia they shy away from going to these stadia.
Once again congratulations Mr. Minister, but to him that much is given
much is desired, the trust that Ghanaians have in you could be compared to the
trust they have in Ghana’s lone striker, Asamoah Gyan, 'please don’t miss the
penalty', they trust you in bringing back the lost glory of Ghanaian sport,
until we meet in the commentary box, we wish you all the best.
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