The President of the Republic, His Excellency, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo Addo on Sunday, October 3, 2020 joined Member of Parliament for Bantama, Francis Asenso-Boakye to commission a state of the art AstroTurf sports facility at Kookoo Ase, a suburb of Abrepo Junction, in Bantama.
With a more youthful population, the constituency is one of the most vibrant and active in Ghana. Additionally, there is a huge demand for sporting talents with the requisite skills to compete with the rest of the world.
The Kookoo Ase pitch had in the past been a training ground for many young talents, with some later becoming national football stars, such as former Black Stars and Asante Kotoko SC giants Akwasi Appiah, Prince Opoku Polley and Sarfo Gyamfi.
Francis Asenso-Boakye in his address expressed commitment to working with all stakeholders, be it sport or non-sport in identifying, nurturing, promoting and integrating young talents in the constituency.
“I am grateful to the National Lotteries Authority (NLA), financiers of the project, as well as to the traditional authorities and the good people of Bantama for rallying behind this project”, he remarked.
As a side attraction, there was a football match between Bantama All Stars, of which the MP featured and included former stars like Prince Opoku Polley, Kwasi Appiah, Opoku Nti, Papa Arko, Frimpong Manso, Thomas Duah, Michael Osei, among others and former Black Stars players, which featured Stephen Appiah, Ibrahim Tanko, Sammy Agyei, Laryea Kingston, Richard Kingston, John Paintsil, Jerry Akaminko, Derrick Boateng, Emmanuel Agyeman Badu, Emmanuel Armah, to name a few. The game ended 4-3 in favour of the visitors.
