His Excellency President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo opened the gates of Jubilee House to a delegation of Ghana Rugby led by the newly elected President and Board Chairman, Mr. Herbert Mensah.
The honour was bestowed on Ghana Rugby by the President of Ghana due to the fact that Ghana Rugby has flown Ghana’s flag high by winning four continental trophies for Ghana since 2017.
The trophies, that were presented to the President, included the trophies for winning the Rugby Africa West Africa Regional Challenge in Ghana in 2017 (men’s fifteens), winning the Rugby Africa Bronze Cup in Ghana in 2018 (men’s fifteens), winning the Rugby Africa Women’s Sevens Challenge Trophy in Tunisia in 2019 and winning the Rugby Africa Men’s Sevens Challenge Trophy in South Africa in 2019.
In his opening remarks, Mensah praised His Excellency Nana Akufo-Addo as the President of Ghana who not only knows and understands sport better than his predecessors but who is also a great champion for the cause of sport in Ghana.
Mensah also appealed for the Presidency’s intervention in getting rugby officially approved as an optional sport in government schools, and to assist with allowing Ghana Rugby access to national stadia and facilities for their preparations towards flying Ghana’s flag high on the continent.
President Nana Akufu-Addo congratulated the national squads of Ghana Rugby ( https://youtu.be/P9mJAH68dVc ), the Ghana Eagles, for their achievements and urged them to continue to perform exceptionally in the best interest of Ghana.
The Ghana President also acknowledged the huge investments made by the President and his administration towards the development of rugby as a sport in Ghana and for flying the Ghana flag high. He also appropriated an amount of US$ 100,000 to Ghana Rugby to assist with preparations towards their 2020 international encounters.
Ghana Rugby will be competing in the 2020 Rugby Africa Cup Pool stages when it will face Zimbabwe on 20 June 2020 in Zimbabwe and Tunisia on 4 July 2020 in Ghana.
The Women’s Sevens Eagles will again compete in the 2020 Rugby Africa Women’s Sevens Tournament in October while the Men’s Sevens Eagles will do battle against the fourteen best teams in Africa. Venues for these two tournaments are yet to be determined.
Ghana Rugby had a busy week with two Ghana Get Into Rugby courses presented in Cape Coast and Accra by Rugby Africa’s Development Manager, Mr Charles Yapo.
On Tuesday the Union also successfully completed a Special Elective General Meeting that was graced by dignitaries such as Mr. Ben Nunoo Mensah (President of the Ghana Olympic Committee), Hon Perry Okudzeto (Deputy Minister, Youth, and Sports) and Mr. Charles Yapo (Development Officer Rugby Africa) as observers.
Herbert Mensah’s address:
About Ghana Rugby
Ghana Rugby is the official full member of both World Rugby (2017) and Rugby Africa in Ghana-West Africa and is responsible for the management and development of the Game Rugby Union in the country. The Union is governed by a Constitution and administers five KPAs (Key Performance Areas) namely: (1) Youth Development & Growth through the World Rugby “Get Into Rugby” Programme, (2) Women in Ghana Rugby, (3) Training & Education, (4) Domestic Competitions and (5) International Performance.
