Former Sports Minister Mustapha Ussif has accused President John Mahama’s administration of neglecting the Legon Sports Stadium and other sporting facilities during his first term in office.
The facility which was initiated in 2007, was completed in 2024 for the African Games hosted in Accra.
Speaking on the floor of Parliament, the former Sports Minister claimed that the achievements of the Akufo-Addo-Bawumia government in the field of sports were unprecedented in Ghana’s history.
“Unlike the first Mahama-led NDC administration, which handed over a collapsing Accra Sports Stadium in 2014, the ESL conducted a feasibility study that indicated both the Accra and Kumasi sports stadiums were unfit for sporting activities,” He said.
“They also abandoned the Legon Sports Stadium, which was initiated by His Excellency, former President J.A. Kufuor, in 2007.
“In 2014, when the report was published, nothing was done in 2015 or 2016. It wasn’t until 2017, when Ghanaians gave President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo the mandate to govern, that rehabilitation and renovation works began on the Accra Sports Stadium, Baba Yara Sports Stadium, Cape Coast Sports Stadium, and Essipong Sports Stadium.
The initial plan was to construct a new 50,000-seat stadium for the competition, to be located at the site of the Borteyman Sports Complex in the eastern suburbs of Accra.
However, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the investment was delayed, and the project eventually became unfeasible.
By mid-2021, a revised plan was adopted, which included completing the University of Ghana stadium.
