President of the republic of Ghana, Nana Addo Danquah Akufo Addo presented the state of the nation to members of parliament on Thursday. The annual address on the progress made so far in development in key sectors of the nation was his second since assuming the reigns of governance of this country in January, 2017.
The sports side of the address touched on a range of issues in the development of sports such as infrastructure, the sports bill and the sports fund.
On infrastructure, the president said, “In partnership with the Inner City and Zongo Development Ministry and the Ghana Football Association, we are constructing a number of football pitches in the Zongos and across the rest of the country, to aid in the revival of colts football.” This he said will propel the unearthing of talents from the lower level up to the national teams to make them stars like Abedi Ayew Pele, Tony Yeboah among others.
The president went further to say that “Mr Speaker, this year we will continue the process of passing the Legislative Instrument of the National Youth and Sports Act, pursue the enactment of the draft National Sports College bill and create a Sports Fund to improve sports development in the country”.
He added that,”We will pursue the enactment of the draft National Sports College Bill, and create a Sports Fund to improve sports development in the country.”
Currently, the Accra Sports Stadium is being renovated which the president indicated in his address is estimated to cost about GH¢ 12.5million. Work on it is expected to be completed in the next six months and be ready for the 2018 Women’s African Cup Of Nations (AFCON) which begins in November, 2018. The Sports Minister, Honourable Isaac Asiamah cut sod for work to begin on this project on Wednesday.
