A section of the national weightlifting team, the Black Cranes have called on Mr Ben Nunoo Mensah to rescind his decision not to contest for the presidency of the Ghana Weightlifting Federation (GWF) at its next election to be held soon.
Mr Nunoo Mensah who doubles as Ghana Olympic Committee (GOC) president took over the reins of the GWF in 2012 and has since completed his term but his announcement not to seek re-election has come as a shock to his admirers.
It is believed that the GWF boss’ decision not to contest was based on several allegations levelled against him by some members of the federation, such as using sponsors money for his personal gains and also denying athletes of monies due them after competitions.
However, seven weightlifters including Seth Fetrie, Joe Sintim Aboagye, Daniel Darko, Nii Dodoo Darku, Theophilus Nii Tackie Tawiah, Nii Otoo Larkyne and Alberta Ampomah Boatema have urged the outgoing chairman to rethink the decision.
In a statement issued to the media, they said “In as much as we acknowledge the efforts of our past presidents, it is also evident that under the leadership of Mr Ben Nunoo Mensah, weightlifting has become one of the most talked about sporting discipline in the country.”
“Under his leadership, three of us including Ruth Baffoe, were recruited into security services. Baffoe and Nii Otoo joined the Ghana Immigration Service (GIS) while Olympian, Alberta Ampomah also joined the Ghana Police Service (GPS),” the statement recalled.
Two other athletes – Christian Amoah and Richmond Osarfo, the statement said, are currently based in the US training with state-of-the-art-equipment and would possibly also school there.
“There have also been several travelling opportunities for some other athletes who without the support and benevolence of Mr Nunoo Mensah, their dreams of exhibiting their talents internationally would have been dead. He provided financial support when several attempts to get governmental support to get us compete internationally proved futile,” they added.
According to the beleaguered athletes it was unfair to cover the good works of Mr Nunoo Mensah for selfish gains and advised athletes across the country to acknowledge the efforts by their leaders.
They mentioned a four-year development plan to produce young athletes, an ultra-modern and well equipped gym and training center was constructed at the Accra Sports Stadium; Black Cranes winning of 19 medals at the African championship in Morocco which is Ghana’s highest medal haul at a single competition; feat at 2015 All African Games in Congo Brazzaville and others as some of the achievements under Mr Nunoo Mensah, the reason why he must be convinced to stay.
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