OlympiAfrica votes $150,000 for GOC complex
OlympiAfrica is to support the construction of the abandoned Ghana Olympic Committee (GOC) complex at Amasaman with $150,000 to enable the GOC to embark on the project.
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The president of the GOC, Ben Nunoo-Mensah, told the Graphic Sports in an exclusive interview on telephone from Djibouti, where he is attending the 17th Ordinary General Assembly of the Association of National Olympic Committees of Africa (ANOCA), that for the last five years the Amasaman project had stalled after OlympiAfrica had initially spent about $200,000 on it.
He said one of the reasons the project stalled was because some of the recommendations, particularly with respect to the construction of the fence wall, was not met, but added that, “with my appeal to them they are ready to look at the project again”.
The GOC President said, “they cannot give us anything more than $150,000 to restart the project”, adding that OlympiAfrica had also invited him to its offices in Benin to have a first hand view of the specifications for the project to facilitate the construction process .
Mr Nunoo-Mensah said he would formally bring the issue to the attention of the president of ANOCA, Gen Lanssana Palenfo, to also take up the issues at his level, pointing out that some parastatal institutions in Ghana would also have to come on board and support the project.
“The focus of OlympiAfrica is on youth development and community sport and so all that will be factored into the structure of the project”, he explained.
During their discussion, Mr Nunoo-Mensah stated that the Director General of OlympiAfrica, Alhassane Diack, was emphatic about the need to transfer the facility into the name of the GOC from the Ministry of Agriculture. The GOC president promised to engage the Minister of Youth and Sports in that regard on his return.
The congress offered the GOC president the opportunity to reactivate the GOC’s relationship with the IOC, ANOCA, as well as other individual representatives.
Meanwhile, members of the Association of National Olympic Committees of Africa (ANOCA) have elected Gen Lanssana Palenfo from Cote d’Ivoire as the president to steer the affairs of the continental body Committee for the next four years.