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Unto us, a sport is born!
• Mr Charles Osei Asibey – GAF President
A few years ago when arm-wrestling emerged as a new sports discipline on an already over-loaded sports scene, many did not anticipate it will soon be the rock on which Ghana sports would stand.
It was not, as it were, an entirely new sport. It was more or less a traditional sport among both young and old; male and female but extremely popular among the youth.
For them, it was purely a way to prove the stronger of the two.
But how Charles Osei Asibey, the Barrister with no background in law, managed to turn this into a sport that could suddenly turn the fortunes of Ghana over 360 degrees is what many sports federation bosses must learn.
In such an encouraging performance from a 13th African Games hosted by Ghana, it is proper to hail the entire team including those who could not make it to the podium.
Their sparring sessions, contribution in training, encouragement and words of motivation inspired the winners on to win their respective medals. It may therefore sound someway trying to single out a particular discipline for praise.
It can be likened to a popular scripture in the Holy Bible found in 1 Corinthians 3:6-9 (KJV).
It reads: “I (Paul) have planted, Apollos watered; but God gave the increase.
So neither did he that planteth anything, neither he that watereth; but God that giveth the increase. Now he that planteth and he that watereth are one: and every man shall receive his own reward according to his own labour.”
From the above, every member of Team Ghana, be it individuals or federations becomes one and must share in the glory.
But as human as we are, surely, some special praise would be heaped on the Golden Arms who breathed life into the campaign. Let’s not forget we are also commanded to give to Caesar what is Caesar.
So from nowhere through the sheer strength and resilience of a female weightlifter, Winnifred Ntumi, Ghana’s first medal seed was planted, registering Ghana on the medal table with a gold and two silver medals.
Just a day after, Abeiku Jackson fetched swimming the first of two medals garnered at the Games and while we waited, the Golden Arms dropped the medal overdose, registering 41 medals comprising eight gold, 19 silver and 14 bronze.
That was unprecedented and cannot pass without a special mention.
Until this feat, Ghana’s highest medal haul was pegged at 27, a feat attained during the 1973 edition of the Games held in Nigeria.
Even if Ghana were to set a new medal record in the Games, arm-wrestling was surely not one of the disciplines uninitiated fans would expect our achievement to come from.
But from the inception of the sport as one of the ‘children’ of the National Sports Authority (NSA), arm-wrestling has maintained some level of consistency, sweeping medals for fun at international meets; they have been very dominant.
Without mincing words, ‘Barrister’ Osei Asibey has done a yeoman’s job worth emulating by all although the dynamics differs as far as the respective disciplines are concerned.
But the Ghana Armwrestling Federation (GAF) must guard against complacency. They must not rest on their oars because it will mark the beginning of a fierce ‘war’ with other competitors.
Like the popular saying, behind every successful man, there is a woman but in the case of the ‘Barrister’, he has been lucky to have a strong and buoyant board to indeed make arm-wrestling a sport of choice.
The Executive Board of GAF includes Pahrm. Kofi Addo Agyekum (Vice President), Mr Jesse Agyepong (General Secretary), Mr Godfrey William Amarteifio (Finance & Administration), Mr Edwin Amankwah (Operations), Mr Jonathan Lambert Nii Okai Awuletey (Marketing & Communication), Mr Husseini Akueteh Addy (Technical Director), Dr. Marc Dzradosi (Medical), DCOP Lydia Donkor (Director, Corporate Affairs), Mr Robert Appiah Ameyaw, Mr Norbert Kwankye (Members).
These men and women have provided a solid foundation on which arm-wrestling has been established and as they keep working hard to remain at the top, the whole world would consider Ghana a force as the arm-wrestling agenda is pushed to the Olympics.
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
