NPP Manifesto: Bawumia's 10 Bold Solutions To 10 Major Sports Problems

Flagbearer of the New Patriotic Party, Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia, over the weekend, launched his manifesto for the 2024 elections dubbed “bold solutions”.

As the title of the manifesto suggests, it offers bold solutions to current problems in different sectors in his quest to transform the country if Dr. Bawumia is elected to lead Ghana from January 2025.

In the Sports sector, Bawumia identified 10 current problems including challenges with funding, high taxes among others contributing to the decline in development of the sector.

His manifesto therefore addresses the problems by providing these bold solutions:

1. PROBLEM: Inadequate funding for Sports

SOLUTION: A statutory Sports development fund to ensure sustainable funding

2. PROBLEM: Lack of corporate support and investment in Sports

SOLUTION: Provide tax incentives to corporate institutions to woo them to invest in Sports

3. PROBLEM: High taxes on football clubs and Sports entities such as VAT

SOLUTION: A lower flat tax rate to football clubs and Sports entities

4. PROBLEM: Salary burden on Premier League clubs

SOLUTION: Support the payment of players' salary through policy direction with the NLA and the Gaming Commission as Bawumia government's direct support to the Ghana Premier League, clubs and players

5. PROBLEM: Unreliable transportation issues for Premier League Clubs

SOLUTION: Provide Premier League clubs with a bus each, as a form of direct support to clubs.

6. PROBLEM: Poor grass root Sports development

SOLUTION: Establish the Ghana School Sports Secretariat with dedicated funding to ensure effective and school-based grass root sports development in collaboration with the GES and Sports federations

7. PROBLEM: Poor preparations towards the Olympic Games

SOLUTION: Initiate the Operation Olympic Games Glory programme in 2025 to prepare Ghanaian athletes for the 2028 Olympics with a special focus on some disciplines Ghana has competitive advantage

8. PROBLEM: Lack of development in emerging or alien Sports in Ghana

SOLUTION: Collaborate with international Sports bodies like the NFL and NBA to develop and promote these Sports in Ghana just as Bawumia is already doing with the NFL

9. PROBLEM: Inadequate Sports infrastructure

SOLUTION: Continue the expansion of Sports infrastructure by the Akufo-Addo government by completing unfinished projects, construct standard stadium in Sunyani and in each of the six new Regions as well as expand the astro turf projects to cover constituencies without astro turfs

10. PROBLEM: Poor maintenance of Sports facilities

SOLUTION: Institute an effective maintenance module to ensure that national, Regional and community Sports facilities are managed and maintained well

Source: Peacefmonline.com/Ghana