Minister for Youth and Sports Hon. Mustapha Ussif has paid a day’s visit to the Aliu Mahama Sports Stadium in Tamale Thursday. The aim of the visit was to among other things inspect facilities at the edifice with a view to adding it to governments ongoing renovation works at major stadia in the country.
The Sports Minister who doubles as the MP for Yagaba-Kubori was in the company of the Director General of the National Sports Authority (NSA), Professor Peter Twumasi and Alhaj Majeed Bawah, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the NSA.
After a short tour of the facility where the minister inspected the main pitch, halls within the stadium, the stands around the VVIP area among others, the Sports Minister reiterated government’s resolve to maintain existing stadia in the country added to their resolve to complete various Youth Resource Centers which are at various stages throughout the country.
“We are today on a working visit to inspect the facilities at this sports stadium. And I see that the maintenance is something we need to work on. The regional NSA director has informed me that the facility needed a ten year lifespan for major renovation to have been done. And that is the essence of this working visit.”
Hon. Mustapha Ussif further stated that even though there isn’t a timeline in place for these renovations, he however assured that it was a task the government is determined to execute.
“We can’t give any timelines because I said the reports of this visit form the basis for the renovation. Once we get there it is all going to be…we have to write to finance to get commencement certificate to ensure that we have funding to be able to do that. Until all the funding issues are secured and all the procurement processes are done, you can’t give time lines.”
The Aliu Mahama Sports Stadium is one of the stadia that were put up prior to Ghana’s hosting of the African Cup of Nations (AFCON) in 2008. Since then, the facility hasn’t seen any major repairs except when it was to host the Independence Day parade a couple of years ago.
There were therefore several challenges associated with the various units within the facility from the minister’s tour.
