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AG 2023: Win medals to justify expenditure
Benjamin Kwaku Azamati – to lead Ghana’s medal charge
Spectacular ceremony kicked into motion yesterday the 13th edition of the African Games (AG) on Ghanaian soil for the first time in the history of the competition.
The Games would have in attendance over 7,000 world-class athletes from every part of the continent of Africa, in addition to other thousands made up of officials, technical delegates and many other stakeholders.
And as host nation, Ghanaians have every reason to be optimistic that her medal haul at the competition would improve.
Officials of the respective teams of Ghana are aware of this expectation of Ghanaians who have been made to understand that past failures were because few athletes participated as a result of the cost involved.
Gladly, the Games are happening right on our soil and every discipline code chosen for the Games must have no room for excuses.
Already, comments urging Ghanaians to be modest in their expectation have started flying with others even attempting to introduce Olympic values of mere participation and not winning at all cost into the fray.
It may be tolerable to sound cautious but one may then ask why a country should spend so much to provide infrastructure and other logistics to host such a high profile event and win nothing.
Exact figures of expenditure so far has been difficult to sight but those made available by the Minister of Youth and Sports, Mustapha Ussif, indicates that the government has so far spent a total of $195 million on the provision of infrastructure for the Games.
That represents the amount approved by Parliament although a few members of the same house are beginning to raise concerns over the Games’ expenditure.
In the Minister’s breakdown, he disclosed that an amount of $145,086,057.54 was spent on the Borteyman Sports Complex, which was constructed by Contracta Construction UK Limited; a total of $34,102,135.00 on the upgrade of the 11,000-seater University of Ghana Stadium with a track, a warm-up area for athletes, and a rugby pitch constructed by Consar Limited and a Games Village put up by Mawums Limited at a cost of $16,066,961.20.
That is a huge amount of money and the only justification for that expenditure should be a good medal haul and the quality of facilities Ghana would be left with.
That should make our athletes aware that Ghanaians would not accept any mediocre show on home soil and it is the reason they would enjoy the maximum support to deliver.
There is high expectation for the male and female football teams that would be competing at the Accra and Cape Coast Sports stadiums, the boxing team (Black Bombers), athletics, armwrestling team, taekwondo and others.
The African Games, without doubt, represents a platform to celebrate the traditions and cultures of the various countries and must be preserved at all cost.
However, the rising cost of hosting it will soon become its biggest demon due to the current state of the economies of member nations.
The story of Malawi has been very pathetic and must be a concern to all.
Despite the many talented youth in the country, Malawi could only afford to send two boxers to Accra for the African Games after her boxing association named eight boxers for the Games because the Malawian government was cash-strapped.
The duo includes light-welterweight, Elias Bonzo, and welterweight, Lewis Zakeyu.
Scarcity of funds has been a major stumbling block not only for Malawi. Many other countries are in similar financial quagmire, for which reason they may limit the number of athletes to sponsor for the Games.
In Ghana, there was division at certain points following the delay in construction works, leading to calls from a section of the political elites to abandon the hosting.
That should send signals to members of the African Union Sports Council (AUSC), the Association of National Olympic Committees of Africa (ANOCA), and the Association of African Sports Confederations (AASC/UCSA), owners of the Games to find ways to raise funds to sustain the event instead of leaving a chunk of the task on governments with ailing economies.
By Andrew Nortey
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NHIA set to boost its cybersecurity and IT Infrastructure
The National Health Insurance Authority (NHIA), in partnership with a leading private cybersecurity solutions provider in Ghana, CyberHawk Limited, is advancing the Authority’s digital infrastructure to ensure seamless operations.
This is to safeguard the Authority’s digital technologies and maintain the trust of active members of the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS).
In this context, the NHIA Management Information System (MIS) Directorate in the Head Office, on February 11, 2024, launched a three-day brainstorming session on the organization’s cybersecurity enhancement agenda.
The MIS Directorate Ag. Director, Mr. Daniel Blankson explained that the collaborative meeting aimed to scrutinize the NHIA’s Information Technology architecture, identifying potential risks and gapsto enhance its cybersecurity posture.
“By leveraging CyberHawk Limited’s expertise, the NHIA seeks to fortify its defenses against cyber threats, protecting sensitive information and maintaining the trust of its members.”
Mr. Blankson applauded the synergy between the two organizations and underscored the Authority’s commitment to embracing cutting-edge technologies and innovative solutions to drive its mission forward.
The Head of Information Security and Standards Unit, in the MIS Directorate, Mr. Ebenezer Hooper, highlighted the Authority’s significant milestone on the digital transformation journey.
According to him, the NHIA is actively engaged in fully adopting and implementing modern digital systems to improve its operations.
He said, “The three-day brainstorming meeting will culminate in the development of a robust IT infrastructure, as well as strategic plans to translate security implementations into tangible IT cost savings for the organization.”
“There is the need to form a steering committee or IT advisory committee, operated under the Board, so that they can pay more attention in protecting the huge IT investment while ensuring cyber security-related policies are well protected,” he added.
The Project Manager of CyberHawk Limited, Mr. Chetan Narayana Murthy, lauded the collaboration and anticipated that it would empower the NHIA to implement comprehensive cybersecurity measures.
According to him, “This is a huge project that will greatly benefit the NHIA by implementing robust cybersecurity measures, safeguarding their systems, and ultimately protecting the sensitive information of NHIA members and healthcare providers.”
A Senior Manager of IT infrastructure, Mr. David Asare Addo, and his colleague, a Senior Manager of Applications, Mr. Enock Afanyi, with the MIS Directorate, gave an overview of the NHIA’s current technological landscape.
Present at the meeting were representatives from the Claims, Membership and Regional Operations (MRO), Research, Policy, Monitoring, and Evaluation (RPME), Corporate Affairs, the Audit, Administration, and Human Resource Directorates.
Story By : Vivian Arthur
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Swedru All Blacks back to winning ways, Roshan humble King Faisal
Sekondi Rospak FC made it eight wins in eight successive home games after three second-half goals from John Amoah, Joseph Ntow and Stephen Anthony Kofi. John Amoah opened the scoring in the 55th minute after a barren first half. Joseph Ntow added to the tally in the 56th minute before Stephen Anthony Kofi rounded things up in the 74th minute to give Rospak a 3-0 win over former Premier League side King Faisal.
Elsewhere at Swedru – leaders Swedru All Blacks humbled PAC Academy in an emphatic 2-0 win. Zayat Bubakari scored first for Swedru All Blacks in the 27th minute before Rudolf Junior Nana Kwasi Mensah made it 2-0 in the 34th minute. Swedru All Blacks are top of the table with 36 points – 4 points ahead of second placed Rospak FC.
Meanwhile, Former Premier League side Cape Coast Mysterious Dwarfs recorded their fourth successive home victory after beaten New Edubiase United 2-1 at the Robert Mensah Park. Enoch Odoom struck first for Cape Coast Mysterious Dwarfs in the 19th minute but Steven Asante equalized for New Edubiase United before halftime. After the interval, Godfred Eshun scored from distance in the 65th minute to help Cape Coast Mysterious Dwarfs secure all the points.
Here are the results in Zone Two
