It is time to call for a Ministry of Sports

It has traditionally been the case in Ghana that sports has always been attached to ministries such as education, youth and employment and has never enjoyed a status of being a ministry on its own. Currently sports share the ministerial status with education. A visit to the website of The Ministry of Education and Sports will tell you that the Ministry exists to carry out the Government's vision of using quality education delivery to accelerate the nation's socio economic development through the expansion of access to education at all level of education and providing and improving infrastructural facilities. It states also that the overall goal of the ministry is to provide relevant and quality education for all Ghanaians especially the disadvantaged to enable them acquire skills which will make them functionally literate and productive to facilitate poverty alleviation and promote the rapid socio-economic growth of the country.

It is noteworthy that that there is absolutely nothing said with respect to the ministry’s vision for sports. And this is not the fault of the vision holders of the civil service. It is because as a developing nation education is of such prime importance that that they cannot let any other visions dilute the quest to provide quality education for its youth.

As a nation, however, our navel was cut with sports, especially football. From the moment of independence there have been many political and tribal rivalries, but sports remains the only unifying factor. We have united behind our sportsmen and women - be they footballer, boxers, field and track athletes, tennis players or hockey players. Ghana has been firmly placed on world map because of our performance in sports at international level. It is amazing to know that in an area like sports where we do not have a clear national vision, our sportsmen do so well. We have won the Under-Sixteen World Cup twice; we have won the African Cup of Nations for keeps, won gold at Olympic level, won world level boxing accolade at both amateur and professional level. Kumasi Asante Kotoko and Accra Hearts of Oaks have together lifted The African Cup on several occasions. Ghana was the home of African football and yet it took us 49 years to get to the World Cup. When we got there however we announced our debut with a bang, stunning the world with a second round place. On Tuesday we faced the ultimate football maestros of Brazil and we went home as losers having done ourselves proud. Football has made us all proud as Ghanaians once again.

These catalogue of successes chalked by our sports men and women call for a case for a debate as to whether we need a full blown ministry responsible for sports and nothing else, where a clear national vision for sports can be channeled and promoted. Since the 1960s when Ohene-Djan’s sports vision carried Ghana to her sports glory in Africa, Ghanaian governments have carried sports on their own levels of enthusiasm and on ad-hoc basis. We have had countless situations in the past where we spend more on officials (who are often more than sportsmen) when we go for international sports competitions. A case in point is the “Bouake debacle” in 1992.

Governments upon governments have been short-sighted on sports vision leaving GFA, GBA, Olympic and Commonwealth and All-African games planners to have a field day with our meagre resources. All too flimsily, we have been prepared to sacrifice sports because of political differences. In 1982, Rawlings made a personal decision after his coup d'état to take the Black Stars to Tripoli where we emerged as champions, after the PNP government had committed Ghana to boycott the game. Rawlings used his personal flamboyance to carry football in Ghana for the period of his leadership and not based on any well-tracked national policy. In fact it has been alleged by quarters of Accra Great Olympics supporters that his unbridled support of Accra Hearts of Oaks led to their demise

Ghana’s qualification for the World Cup this year has largely been credited to the commitment and enthusiasm of the President of Ghana, His Excellency JA Kufour and his former Minister of Education and Sports, Hon. Osafo Maafo. This is hardly an achievement driven by long-term policy or vision but by providence, luck and personal enthusiasm of players, supporters, sponsors and government officials. In 2008 we plan to organize CANN 2008. This is a medium-term policy driven by a vision to see Ghana take a centre stage in African Sports after our Golden Jubilee. This requires long-term planning that will go beyond 2008 in terms of stadia and sports facility provision, infrastructural development, employment, growth and nurturing of sports enthusiasm in the youth etc. This requires an integrated policy that should be overseen by a full blown ministry possibly of cabinet status.

A case has been made about the size of government by the African Peer Review Committee and the government has rightly responded to it but Africa’s economic revival lies in its development of sporting potential. The “New World of Football” is not Europe or the Americas. It is in Africa and if we have ministries for lands and minerals which are owned by individuals, chiefs and international conglomerates respectively, why can’t we have a ministry which will invest in our nation’s sporting potential resources. I believe that irrespective of the size of government, a Ministry of Sports is needed to for sports vision and mission to stand up and be counted rather than always tagging sports along youth, employment and education. Interestingly all the portfolios that sports get tagged along are not minnows but extremely big and major areas where a government dare not fail.

One of the major areas that the government is focusing on is education. The government is knee deep in the implementation of the FCUBE, free feeding in schools, introduction of Capitation Grant, free textbook allocation, technical and vocational curriculum development and a new direction in teacher training. In effect the new Education Act promises a root and branch review and renewal of education in Ghana. It is therefore unfair to tag sports along such a busy and important ministry. One may argue that the Minister for Education and Sports has deputies in charge of areas such as sports. But this is hardly an argument that holds much water as a deputy minister in charge of sports is never the same as a full minister holding a full budget.

This article is not intended to suggest a sports policy for Ghana, but clearly to suggest the need for a home where an integrated sports programme can be created and nurtured. A programme that will not be heavily biased towards football but harness the potentials in athletics, tennis, cricket, hockey and boxing in schools, district, regional and national levels. A programme that supports both individual and team sports. A programme that will create sporting facilities in every region of Ghana and secure lands and spaces for sporting purposes. A programme that will give reassurance to our sporting men and women that they will be supported and secured so long as they represent the nation and beyond. A programme that will attract investment and private sector participation with government backing and assurance. A programme that will not be based on individual goodwill and trust but based on well documented policy statements for which governments can win or lose elections.

The government should therefore be bold to detach sports from education and make it a full ministry.