The Akufo-Addo administration has failed to complete a single one of its commitments on sports since it came to power, according to data provided by the government itself.
In total, the administration has fulfilled just one promise under the umbrella of both Youth and Sports,
The only promise delivered was the one to establish a Youth Enterprise Fund to provide start-up fund under the National Entrepreneurship and Innovations Plan (NEIP) for young entrepreneurs.
However, specifically in the area of sports, about 13 promises were made by the government, all of which are still being delivered, according to the government.
They include the promise to enact a comprehensive Sports Bill and to develop stadia in regions without any.
The current government has also failed to complete the construction of the University of Ghana Stadium which was started under John Kufuor, as it promised.
The promises the government describes as pending are the pledges to Institute a buy-local policy for government agencies with regards to ICT to ensure that applications and software are procured from local ICT firms, the promise to set up a Youth Development Authority to harmonize all youth initiatives and the promise to award scholarships to promising young athletes.
In its 2016 manifesto, the NPP spoke highly of these sectors saying “it is obvious that it is the youth who will drive the discovery of new technologies, innovation and growth in the future.”
“The NPP’s national youth policy is designed to help shape our youth for this role through developing leadership skills, quality education, entrepreneurship, job skills, creative skills and sports. We will create an enabling environment to build the capacity of our youth to take on more active roles in our country’s future and its development.”
In all, the government says it made 388 promises in its manifesto and that its most recent validation exercise showed that it had delivered or was delivering on 78% of the promises.
President Nana Akufo-Addo recently assured that the government was committed to passing the Legislative Instrument (LI) on the National Youth and Sports Act.
He also said the government was pursuing the enactment of the draft National Sports College Bill amidst plans to create the Sports Fund to improve sports development