The Minister for Youth and Sports, Mustapha Ussif has disclosed that the Baba Yara Sports Stadium, which was closed for renovations, is ready and will be open for use soon.

The Minister, during a press conference held at the Baba Yara Sports Stadium after inspecting the facility, said, “the decision to also close the stadium forms part of H. E Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo’s vision and grand agenda to modernize all sports facilities across the country, including the Essipong Sports Stadium, Accra Sports Stadium, Baba Yara Sports Stadium, and the 10 multi-purpose youth resource centres to meet international standards and also serve as a platform for the nurturing of talents.”

“In the last five years, Ghana has seen an unprecedented increase in the number of sporting facilities,” he added.

The Baba Yara Sports Stadium, which serves as home ground for Kumasi Asante Kotoko, King Faisal and other lower-division clubs was closed for renovation in February 2020.

Phase 1 of the project saw the grassing of the pitch, laying of tartan tracks, fixing of spectator seats, fixing of an underground pitch drainage system, installation of scoreboard and floodlights among others.

The facility, as indicated by the Minister is ready to be used for the local league which will commence next month, as well as for other sports events.

The Minister also disclosed during his address that, the facility will be under 24hrs CCTV surveillance. This he added, will “ensure the easy identification of unscrupulous persons who might cause damages during usage.”

Persons identified will be surcharged and made to face prosecution.

He added, “all these monumental infrastructure development executed within the first 4-years of Nana Addo’s government clearly demonstrate the President's love for sports. We shall continue with it.”

In conclusion, he called on all stakeholders including the media, cooperate institutions and the general public to play their roles as responsible users of the facility.

The Minister will be embarking on a similar tour across the country to have first-hand information on the numerous infrastructure projects embarked on by the Akufo-Addo government.