10-member LOC for Accra 2023 African Para Games formed
Confirmed for September 3-12, it will serve as a test event for the Accra 2023 African Games which has been moved to a yet-to-be-announced date in 2024.
Ghana’s Sports Minister, Hon. Mustapha Ussif, on Friday, inaugurated the Local Organising Committee (LOC) for the successful hosting of the African Paralympic Games, Accra 2023.
The Para Games – confirmed for September 3-12 – will serve as a test event for the Accra 2023 African Games which has been moved to a yet-to-be-announced date in 2024.
In his address, the Sports Minister stated: “The appointment and eventual inauguration of the Local Organizing Committee (LOC) today, is a strong indication that our nation under the able leadership of the President of the Republic, is anxiously ready and prepared to successfully host and organize the Games.”
“I have no doubt that the Chairman and his members of the LOC will do their maximum best to mobilize all the resources required for the nation to successfully host the thousands of athletes, coaches and team officials from all 55 nations in Africa as well as hundreds of dignitaries and volunteers from the rest of the world in Ghana, as a test event for the 13th African Games in 2024,” he added.
The LOC is made up of a membership of 10 distinguished personalities with Dr. Chris Boadi-Mensah as Chairman.
Other members are Bella Bello Bitugu (Director of Sports), Juliana Addo-Yobo (Legal Director), Reks Brobby (Director of Operations Services), Henry Tachie-Menson (Director), Saddick Adams (Communications), Gifty Afia Oware Aboagye (Director of Marketing), Osman Ali (Director of Finance), Eric Kissi (Member of NPC Ghana), and Dr. Hayat Khattab (Member of AfPC).
The Para Games idea – a stand-alone multi-sport event for athletes with an impairment – was conceived in 2017 during the General Assembly of the African Paralympic Committee in Angola. Morocco was chosen to organize and host it in 2019 but the plan could not materialise. This makes Accra 2023 the inaugural edition.
“The African Paralympic Committee (AfPC) in conjunction with the Republic of Ghana will make history by organising the First African Para Games as a stand-alone International Multi-Para Sporting Event for athletes with impairment on the continent of Africa in August 2023.
“The African Para Games, Accra 2023 is aimed at providing African Para Athletes with a world-class, multi-sport event on African soil, which their “able-bodied” counterparts have enjoyed since the inception of the All African Games in 1965,” AfPC and Ghana National Paralympic Committee President Samson Deen stated.
The Games’ official sports programme includes seven sports codes, notaby: Amputee Football, Para Athletics, Para Powerlifting, Goalball, Para/Sitting Volleyball, Wheelchair Basketball, and Wheelchair Tennis.
“Significantly four of these sports are sanctioned qualification events for the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games; these are Para Athletics, Para Powerlifting, Para Volleyball, and Wheelchair Tennis,” Samson Deen also noted.