Akpokavie gets nod at GOC Congress
A Former General Secretary of the Ghana Olympic Committee (GOC), Mr Richard Kofi Akakpovi, returned to mainstream administration when he was voted into office as President at the Committee’s Elective Congress held on Saturday at the Accra International Conference Centre (AICC).
After an intense campaign period, Akpokavie emerged a convincing winner of a two-horse race with Mr Michael Odum Aggrey from the golf fraternity, sweeping 44 votes against 19 by his opponent.
It was described as a reward for hard work and an expected return to lead the GOC to transform Ghana sports.
Saturday’s exercise attracted over 60 delegates from the various sports federations and a few observers as well as past GOC executives, including Prof. Francis Dodoo and Mr Peter Kpordugbe.
Also in attendance were the Minister of Sports and Recreation, Mr Kofi Adams, National Sports Authority (NSA) Director General, Mr Yaw Ampofo Ankrah, and the Treasurer General of the Association of National Olympic Committees of Africa (ANOCA), Abu Gomel.
The road to the presidency was the climax of a peaceful, free and fair elections conducted by officials of the Electoral Commission (EC) led by Mrs Gladys Pinkrah, the Greater Accra Regional Director and a three-member independent election committee led by seasoned lawyer and former Ghana Boxing Association (GBA), Mr Peter Zwennes.
Joining Mr Akpokavie at the helm were Messrs Mawuko Afadzinu, President of the Ghana Table Tennis Federation (GTTF), and Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) staffer, Mr Frederick Lartey Otu, President of the Ghana Taekwondo Federation (GTF) and Ernest Danso who comes in as First, Second and Third Vice Presidents, respectively.
Messrs Afadzinu and Lartey Otu went unopposed but Danso polled 43 to earn a landslide win against the then incumbent, Mohammed Mahadi, who had 19 votes.
Perhaps, the biggest casualty was Mohammed Baadae Sahnoon who lost his General Secretary position after securing 30 votes against his opponent, Mohammed Muniru Kassim, who garnered 33.
Ghana Athletics (GA) boss, Bawa Fuseini, joined the GOC ranks as Assistant General Secretary after going unopposed.
The Ghana Tennis Federation (GTF) President, Isaac Aboagye Duah, was also big victim of election surprises in the contest for the office of Treasurer as he was beaten by the Badminton Association of Ghana (BAG) President, Evans Yeboah, who polled 33 against the incumbent’s 30 to unseat him.
For the position of Assistant Treasurer, Handball Association of Ghana (HAG) President, Edward Patrick Nii Lante Bannerman, pulled a shocking victory after polling 44 votes to beat Ghana Boxing Federation President, Bernard Quartey, and Ms Aurora Commodore-Toppar who had 10 and nine votes, respectively.
For the Non-Olympic sports category, George Owusu Ansah had 34 votes to beat Abdul Hayye-Yartey with 28 votes to claim the slot while Samuel Tetteh Ayeh emerged successful in the category of Affiliated.
The Five Olympic Sports slots went to Delphina Quaye, Kamal Sulley, Richmond Quarcoo, George Tettey and George Lamptey.
Three other members including Rafatu Inusah, Edwin Amankwah and Nathaniel Johnson were voted to join the new team.
Swearing them into office, the Mr Kofi Adams tasked the new team with the responsibility of lifting Ghana sports to where it deserved.
He urged the team to consider women in the formation of sub-committees in order to ensure gender balance in the activities of the committee.
“What this committee must strive to do is to identify these women and bring them on board. They are around, look for the good ones and empower them to take up such roles,” he said.
Mr Adams pledged the support of the ministry and NSA to be successful, adding that with the Anti-Doping Act passed, the ministry will look for the needed resources to put an agency in place to kick start its operations.
He further urged the new team to give attention to the GOC’s project at Amassaman and complete it on time to boost Ghana sports.
Responding, the newly elected president reminded members that the election was over and it was time to bury differences and work together to promote and develop Ghana sports.
BY ANDREW NORTEY
