The Ministry of Youth and Sports has fired back at Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, Member of Parliament for North Tongu, over his claims that renovation works at national stadiums were ineffective.
Ablakwa’s concerns were sparked by the Confederation of African Football’s (CAF) recent withdrawal of approval for the Baba Yara Stadium due to its poor pitch condition.
However the Ministry described Ablakwa’s comments as “disingenuous” and misleading, highlighting the extensive renovations done on the Accra, Baba Yara, and Essipong stadiums since 2018.
The Ministry went on to pointed out that both the Accra and Baba Yara stadiums have successfully hosted several high-profile matches, including CAF and FIFA-certified events like the 2018 Africa Women’s Cup of Nations and World Cup qualifiers.
Recent social media publications by the Hon. Member of Parliament for North Tongu, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, have alleged wastage of national resources by government towards renovating national stadia.
The full statement from the Ministry can be found below:
“The publications by the MP sought to mislead the public that all these monies were paid without the corresponding work done, following recent issues with the Baba Yara pitch. Below is, however a list of scope of renovation works done on the Accra, Baba Yara and Essipong stadia.”
“The statement by the MP sought to create the impression that monies were wasted without work done. However, it should be noted that FIFA/CAF Category 2 and 3 matches, including the 2018 AWCON, the 2019 AFCON qualifiers, the 2022 World Cup and 2023 AFCON qualifying matches were played at both the Accra and Baba Yara Stadia respectively. The recent 13th African Games, Accra 2023 football competition matches were also played at the Accra and Cape Coast stadia.
“It is disingenuous for the Hon Member of Parliament of North Tongu to use the recent state of the Baba Yara Stadium to create the impression that no work has been done at the aforementioned national stadia.
“It is also important to stress that, between 2009 and 2017, the erstwhile government, of which the Hon. MP was a member, did not carry out any major renovation on the Accra, Baba Yara and Essipong stadia.”
