Accra, Sept. 23, GNA – Mr Kofi Iddie Adams, the Minister for Sports and Recreation, has stressed the need for broad stakeholder participation in shaping Ghana’s National Sports Policy, as he pushes for its swift approval.
Speaking at a national validation workshop on the draft National Sports Policy at the GNAT Hall in Accra, the Minister described the exercise as a crucial step towards developing a comprehensive policy that would guide the country’s sports sector.
Mr Adams noted that no meaningful development agenda could succeed without a policy framework, adding that policies imposed on people without adequate consultation often failed to achieve their intended goals.
“Any development agenda that we set out for ourselves must have a policy that guides it. Anytime policymakers sit in their rooms and decide for people what they think they need, it has never worked,” he said.
He explained that the validation workshop was intended to ensure that the draft document adequately captured the diverse interests and realities of Ghana’s sporting ecosystem before its final adoption.
According to the Minister, participants should consider themselves privileged to contribute to a national document that would influence how sports are managed and developed across the country.
“You are contributing to the development of a cause that would change the way we see and handle sports. We need to implement a policy that captures the various facets and aspects of the sporting ecosystem as we have it today and as we want it to be in the future,” he added.
The Minister assured participants that the government was determined to complete the validation process and secure the policy’s approval through the necessary legislative channels.
“We have pushed very hard to have this validation so that we can go through the other processes. My prayer is that before Parliament returns, we should have concluded this document and taken it to Cabinet so we can have it presented to Parliament for consideration,” he stated.
He said the objective was to transform the draft into a nationally owned policy that would enjoy the support of all stakeholders.
Mr Adams urged stakeholders to continue submitting suggestions even after the workshop, indicating that the validation process would remain open to additional contributions aimed at strengthening both the policy document and its implementation plan.
He further emphasised the urgent need to finalise the policy before the end of the year to avoid delays in its consideration by Cabinet and Parliament.
“We don’t want to push this into next year. We want to move at the speed of light, if not more than the speed of light, because the young people need to participate and participate right,” he said.
The Minister also called for greater attention to sports governance and investment, arguing that Ghana had for many years treated sports largely as a consumer activity rather than a significant contributor to economic growth and national development.
“We need to make sure that sports governance is taken much more seriously. We need to invest rightly in sports,” he noted.
Mr Adams commended all individuals and institutions that contributed to the preparation of the draft policy and thanked stakeholders for supporting the validation process.
GNA
Edited by Kenneth Odeng Adade