[ad_1]
General news for Saturday, February 27, 2021
Source: Peace FM
02/27/2021
Mustapha Ussif, Minister of Youth and Sports designated
Mr. Mustapha Ussif, the Designated Minister of Youth and Sports, has denied media reports linking him to transporting people to register in the Yagaba Kubori constituency during last year’s national identification registration exercise.
A news report from an Accra-based media organization, shown during Mr. Country’s vetting of the constituency.
However, Mr. Yussif told the Nominating Committee, where he was examined for the position of Minister of Youth and Sports, that he was not personally involved in the transportation of the registrants.
As a member of the then and still ruling New Patriotic Party (PNP), Yussif was accused in the images of using his position as director to bring registrants to the constituency, which the accusers equated with partisan political activity.
However, Mr. Yussif told the Committee, sitting in the House of Parliament in Accra, that he was not personally involved in the transportation of registrants, and when he learned that National Service buses were being used, he advised against it.
Mr Yussif, said that the buses purchased during Vincent Koagbenu’s tenure that were inactive were later arranged to be rented, and it was some of those buses that an association rented to send people to the constituency to register.
In the course of his explanation, Mr. Joseph Osei-Owusu, the Chairman of the Committee, suggested that it is not illegal to use rented buses for a national exercise, and asked: “Were you showing party cards? Not all.”
On a question on why the National Service Scheme, which was deemed less gifted than the Ghana Education Service (GES), donated 10 vans to the Service, Mr. Yussif explained that the idea was to forge a collaboration to help school farms to produce more food for the Free SHS Policy.
In addition, the National Service Law, Law 426, empowers the National Service Board to introduce new models into the scheme, said the Designated Minister, adding that it was the practice of the Service to support other public service-oriented organizations, especially during the National Service Week Celebrations.
On the recommendation of the Dzamefe Justice Committee to ban the air transport of supporters with taxpayer money to support international tournaments, such as those in Egypt and Australia, the nominee said that all over the world, supporters were sent to give their support. morale to their national teams.
However, as the practice is being questioned in Ghana, the Designated Minister explained that there was a need to rebrand sports to attract patronage from corporate institutions.
Mr. Yussif described himself as a “commitment believer” and would engage other stakeholders in the need to charge realistic fees for watching sporting activities and adopt a cost-sharing formula to promote public-private partnership to maintain the sports facilities of the country.
He said stadiums can also be used for social programs to earn income and indicated that a Sports Development Fund was in the offing.
The appointed minister called on stakeholders to come together to improve Ghana’s performance in international soccer tournaments.
He said: “Our performance in international tournaments when it comes to soccer is something we have to consider as a country. What I have observed is that the preparation for tournaments is done in the year of the tournament.
“If given the opportunity, I will engage stakeholders like GFA and the National Sports Authority (NSA) to see how we can have a plan on this.
“As a country, we have to come together and see what is the best way to have a comprehensive short- and medium-term plan for our national teams so that we can improve our ratings.”
