The shutdown of the $38.5 million Essipong Sports Stadium in the Western Region has ignited the idea for such sports facilities across the country to be given to private event organizers to manage for the profit to be shared between the government and the private entity.

Mr Wisdom Kobla Woyome, the National Democratic Congress’ Member of Parliament (MP) for South Tongu Constituency in the Volta Region has called for such state sports facilities to be handed over to private entities to manage while discussing the state of the Essipong Sports Stadium on the Ghana Yesnsom morning show hosted Odehyeeba Kofi Essuman on Accra 100.5 FM on Thursday, January 26, 2023.

According to him, the facility which is barely 15 years and has a capacity of 20,000 spectators has been abandoned and left to rot. 

He explained that many of such sports facilities in the country are begging for maintenance.

It is on this premise that, he called on the government to re-visit the idea by former president John Dramani Mahama to engage the services of private event managers to manage such sports facilities in the country.

He said sports facilities such as Wembley among others are properly managed and used for all-round activities in the United Kingdom.

The MP who is also a Ranking Member of the Youth and Sports Committee of Parliament was of the view the only way out of the current problem of such facilities being left to rot was to let the private people with the requisite expertise manage them.

He explained that in Ghana, the government puts up such facilities and goes to sleep leaving the facilities at the mercy of the vagaries of the weather without any proper maintenance culture.