Sports must be ‘stand-alone’ ministry – Athletics enthusiast
A former chairman of the Ghana Athletics Association (now Ghana Athletics), Ambassador George Haldane-Lutterodt, has hailed the decoupling of Youth from the Ministry of Youth and Sports.
The President, John Dramani Mahama, in the exercise of the powers conferred on him under Section 11 (3) of the Civil Service Act, 1993 (P.N.D.C. Law 327), the Civil Service (Ministries) Instrument, 2005, renamed the Ministry of Youth and Sports to the Ministry of Sports and Recreation on January 9.
Reacting to the announcement, Ambassador Haldane-Lutterodt told the Times Sports that Sports should be given a ministry of its own to deal with the many problems that confronts it.
“The state of Ghana sports is in a mess, and you need a stand-alone ministry to deal with the issues of sports.”
He questioned the addition of Recreation to the Ministry, stating that it will serve as a distraction “like it has been in the past.”
In his view, the addition of ‘Recreation’ must be well defined in order not to be as a distraction for the sector.
“Sports is a form of recreation, and there are other kinds of recreation that are not necessarily associated with sports. I think it is a good move but there needs to be a bit more clarity on what the recreation attached is all about.”
The former athletics boss further noted that sports is important to the nation, adding that the recent performances at the 2024 Paris Olympic Games and the Africa Games in Ghana were nothing to write home about.
“Even football, which takes about 90 per cent of the sector’s budget, is in a total meltdown, and for the least financed sports, there is nothing to write home about them. There is so much wrongs in sports in the country. It is a very wide field with so much involved in it, and leaving it to stand alone would give it the necessary attention the sector deserves.”
According to him, in the past, sports has been attached to other sectors, and that has partly contributed to the many problems the sector faces. Once upon a time, it was Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports and education took priority and sports was like a foot note.
“Even when it became Ministry of Youth and Sports; there was a dilution. The addition of youth denied the concentration sports needed due to complaints over youth related issues and problems.”
BY RAYMOND ACKUMEY
