Vice President Mahamudu Bawumia says six out of the ten sports stadia being built by the government in the ten former regions are ready for commissioning.
Speaking at the launch of the 100-day countdown to the African Games Accra 2023 in Accra yesterday, Dr. Bawumia, who also inspected facilities for the Games at Borteyman and the University of Ghana, said government’s investment in the facilities and others across the country, demonstrates its commitment to hosting the Games, as well as providing much-needed infrastructure to aid the development of sports in Ghana.
“The construction of these magnificent multi-purpose facilities at Borteyman and the University of Ghana for the African Games, clearly demonstrate our government’s commitment to the development of much-needed sports infrastructure in Ghana,” Dr. Bawumia said.
“In the past seven years, our government has renovated the Accra Sports Stadium, the Aliu Mahama Sports Stadium in Tamale and the Baba Yara Sports Stadium in Kumasi.
“Apart from this, the government has also constructed 10 Sports Stadia: one each in all the ten old regions. Six of these stadia, namely: Wa, Dunkwa on Offin, Axim, Dormaa Ahenkro, Ho and Koforidua are ready and commissioning will start soon, beginning with the Koforidua Sports Stadium, before the end of the year. The remaining 4 are expected to be completed next year.”
Dr. Bawumia added that the government is also developing sports infrastructure at the community level, revealing that 153 Astro turfs have been built so far, in communities across the country.
“It is important to note when we came into office, Ghana had only 3 public Astro turfs in the country, but in 7 years we have 153.
“This demonstrates government’s commitment to the provision of sports infrastructure to provide the right facilities for the development of sports in Ghana,” said Dr. Bawumia, who is also the flagbearer of the NPP for next year’s elections.
With so much investment in national, regional and community sports facilities, the Vice President called on the Ministry of Youth and Sports and its stakeholders to focus on maintaining the facilities.
“Maintaining these facilities is as important as building them, so I want to urge the Ministry of Youth and Sports and other stakeholders in charge of these facilities, to prioritise maintenance,” said Dr. Bawumia.
The ten new sports stadia are multi-purpose, with international standard facilities, such as a football pitch, 8-lane athletics tracks, tennis courts, basketball courts, conference rooms, as well as IT and skills training centres for the youth.
