Vice-President, Alhaji Dr. Mahammudu Bawumia, who did the official kick-off at the opening ceremony for the eight-day programme (August 31-September 07, 2017), said the government had the tenacity of purpose to transform sports development in the country.

“The nation is endowed with countless sporting talents and potentials and we the policy-makers will consequently, explore the needed avenues to harness them to the advantage of our people”, he noted.

He outlined measures by the government to hold regularly more of such national sporting events, while constructing adequate sporting facilities, motivate athletes and also resource technical men in order to transform and make the sports sector more viable in employing the youth.

The festival, which had been put on hold in the last six years, serves as a platform for the nation to unearth talents for major international competitions.

This year’s programme had brought together athletes from all the ten regions to compete in disciplines, including soccer, handball, basketball, tennis, athletics, boxing and martial arts. "Sports - a Tool for National Unity and Job Creation”, is the theme for this year’s programme.

Vice-President Alhaji Dr. Bawumia said the government was currently pursuing the community park concept, and that, this was expected to help nurture potential sporting talents at the grassroots level.

He reminded the participating athletes of the rules of engagement at the festival, urging them to abide by the regulations in the various disciplines for the successful organization of this year’s event.

The ceremony had in attendance the Minister of Youth and Sports, Mr. Isaac Kwame Asiamah, the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the National Sports Authority (NSA), Mr. Robert Sarfo-Mensah, as well as technical team of the various national teams.

GNA