‘Allocate funds evenly to all disciplines’
The Deputy Director General of the National Sports Authority (NSA) in charge of technical duties Saka Acquaye, has urged the government to evenly distribute funds to the various national sporting bodies without limiting it to the Youth and Sports Ministry alone.
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According to him, hitherto the NSA, MOYS and other sports parastatals received their monies directly from the Finance Ministry without recourse to the Ministry of Youth and Sports (MOYS).
He said this enhanced the work of the NSA and they were able to carry out their operational duties with ease and comfort.
“However, things changed over the past four years when all monies for sports agencies were given to the MOYS and we struggled to get funds to operate as a body”, he stated.
Mr Acquaye noted that it was hell in trying to source funds from the MOYS when their annual budget was lumped up with the Moys budget and given to the ministry by the Finance Ministry.
In an exclusive interview with the Graphic Sports to mark his 30 years work with the National Sports Authority, the former national swim star was cautiously optimistic about the future of Ghana Sports.
“We must take sports seriously and inject capital into all sporting disciplines. We must learn to prepare for upcoming games and future games without being seen to be procrastinating”, he stressed.
Mr Acquaye, popularly referred to as “Fishe’e’” for his prowess in the pool during his heyday was also a former national handball player.
He called on the incoming Isaac Asiamah administration to start preparations towards the next Commonwealth Games in Gold Coast in Australia in 2018.
“If we want to achieve something in the 2018 Commonwealth Games, preparations must begin now and we must be serious with it,” he stated.
According to him, without proper and adequate preparations Ghana should forget about the Commonwealth Games next year.