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Vice President Dr Mahamudu Bawumia has said the New Patriotic Party (NPP) government has so far commissioned ten multipurpose stadia since coming into office in 2017.
He made the claim on Thursday, May 16, 2024, in one of his engagements with the youth in Tamale at an event dubbed “Youth Connect”. The engagement was part of Dr Bawumia’s campaign tour in the Northern Region.
The Youth Connect event in Tamale streamed live on ABC News GH’s YouTube page. In the video, the Veep’s claim of commissioning ten stadia is at timestamp 19:14 – 19:35.
Fact-Check Ghana has verified the claim and presents the facts below.
Claim:
“We have built stadia, we have commissioned ten multipurpose stadia since we came in”
Verdict: Completely false
Explanation:
On March 13, 2018, the then Minister of Youth and Sports, Isaac Asiamah, announced at the “Meet the Press” engagement that his ministry would begin sod cutting for the building of ten multipurpose youth resource centres to be established across Ghana. These facilities were designed to provide a platform for developing the talents of Ghanaian youths.
Each of the ten multipurpose facilities was planned to include a 10,000-seat FIFA-standard football pitch, an eight-lane athletic track, a tennis court, a basketball court, a handball court, a gymnasium, a counselling centre, a youth ICT centre, an entrepreneurship centre, and a restaurant.
The centres were to be located in Kaneshie, Nuwunu-Ho, Koforidua, Axim, Nyinahin, Dunkwa-On-Offin, Dormaa, Yendi, Navrongo, and Wa. The projects were expected to be completed within nine months of commencement.
Later in the month of March 2018, Mr Asiamah proceeded to cut sod for the construction of the youth resource centres across the country. On March 15, when he cut sod for the commencement of the centre in Navrongo in the Upper East region, he said the project “forms part of government’s efforts to address the sports infrastructure deficit in the country”.
To verify from the ten youth resource centres where the multipurpose stadia were advertised to have been constructed, Fact-Check Ghana relied on its correspondents in the regions and other media reports.
Koforidua, Eastern Region
On December 27, 2023, President Nana Akufo-Addo commissioned the newly constructed Eastern Regional multipurpose youth resource centre in Koforidua. The facility was subsequently used for the March 6, 2024 Independence Day march.
Wa, Upper West Region
Fact-Check Ghana’s correspondent in the Upper East region, Rafik Nungor Adam, who visited the project site on May 23, 2024, said works were still ongoing. He observed that the first phase of the project was almost done, left with the tartan tracks to be installed.
Nuwunu-Ho, Volta Region
This facility was among the earliest the Minister of Youth and Sports, Isaac Asiamah, cut sod for its commencement in 2018. It was expected to be completed within nine months. Five years later, the CEO of the National Youth Authority, Pius Enam Hadzide, promised it would be completed and commissioned by June 2023. However, on May 23, 2024, Asaase Radio’s Volta Regional Correspondent, Albert Kuzor, reported that although the project is nearly complete, it has not yet been finished or commissioned. Thus, the centre is not yet officially open to the public.
Navrongo, Upper East Region
When Fact-Check Ghana spoke with TV3’s Upper East Regional correspondent, Castro Senyalah, he said the first phase of the multipurpose youth resource center was completed in 2021. However, the second phase remains unfinished. Also, a fire outbreak destroyed a portion of the completed section in February 2024, and the contractor has been absent from the site since 2021 according to the journalist. Below are photos and video of the centre after the fire outbreak.
Yendi, Northern Region
Four years after the start of the Yendi multipurpose youth resource center, President Akufo-Addo commended the work of the contractors NESSTRA Construction Ghana Limited. As of August 2022, it was 95% completed. After almost two years, the morning show host of Sankra Radio, Mohammed Suhuyini Shaharan, told Fact-Check Ghana that the contractor had abandoned the project site for about two years. As a result, the multipurpose youth resource centre remains incomplete, and portions of the facilities are deteriorating due to the cessation of work.
Axim, Western Region
Work on this facility started on April 31, 2018, which was scheduled to be completed within 9 months. After 5 years, the project consultants, Ugart Consult promised it would be ready by April 2023. A year after the promise, on May 21, 2024, an Axim-based youth pressure group, Youth of Axim called on the government to expedite the completion of the multipurpose centre to foster the development of young talent in the region. They conveyed this appeal to the Takoradi-based Connect FM on May 21, 2024.
Kaneshie, Greater Accra Region
According to Victor Atsu Tamakloe’s report on Joy Sports on April 29, 2024, the CEO of the NYA, Pius Enam Hadzide, stated that the Authority is considering terminating the contract with New Case Construction Limited. He explained that the contractor had breached several contractual agreements. Additionally, Hadzide mentioned that the NYA is facing financial challenges because, since July 2022, the District Assembly’s Common Fund has refused to release the 5% allocation that finances the NYA.
Dormaa, Bono Region
The situation was not different at Dormaa. According to Kusi Prince, a Dormaaa-based journalist, the project is not completed and the contractor abandoned the site for over a year. Although a portion of the first phase has been completed, the second phase has not started.
Dunkwa-On-Offin, Central Region
According to Gabriel Bediako, a journalist with Solar FM in Dunkwa, authorities have repeatedly stated that the facility is 95% complete. He noted that the centre has only been used for Independence Day parades on two separate occasions and has not hosted any other activities. Thus, it has not been commissioned yet.
Nyinahin, Ashanti Region
Mohammed Fuseini, a resident of Nyinahin in the Ashanti Region, informed Fact-Check Ghana that the facility is near completion. With its current state, some youth groups within the town have been using the football pitch for matches. However, the centre has not yet been commissioned.
Conclusion
From the above, indeed the NPP government cut sod for 10 multipurpose youth resource centres to help develop talents across the country. However, out of the 10, it is only one has been commissioned for public usage. This makes the vice president’s statement false.
