The dissolution of the governing board of the National Sports Authority by President John Dramani Mahama is unlikely to result in major changes to the representations such as Ghana’s Olympic and Paralympic movements on the board.
President Mahama dissolved the NSA board with immediate effect on Wednesday, 2 September, as part of a decision affecting the governing boards of nine state institutions.
The development has raised questions about the fate of some members of the dissolved NSA board, including the presidents of the National Paralympic Committee and the Ghana Olympic Committee.
However, the Sports Act, 2016 (Act 934), provides for representation from both organisations on the NSA Governing Board.
Section 4 of the Act requires the board to include one person nominated by the National Paralympic Committee and another nominated by the Ghana Olympic Committee.
Samson Deen, President of the National Paralympic Committee, represented the Paralympic movement on the dissolved board, while Ghana Olympic Committee President Richard Kofi Akpokavie represented the Olympic movement.
Their membership of the dissolved board ended with the President’s decision.
However, the two positions remain part of the statutory composition of any new board constituted under the Sports Act.
Mr Deen and Mr Akpokavie could therefore return to the board if they are nominated again by their respective organisations and subsequently appointed by the President.
The Act does not, however, guarantee that the presidents of the two organisations must occupy those positions. The organisations are required to nominate representatives, who must then receive presidential appointment.
The dissolution of the board therefore does not remove either the National Paralympic Committee or the Ghana Olympic Committee from the NSA’s governing structure.
It also means the authority’s new board could retain some of the representation seen on the previous board, depending on the nominations and appointments that follow.
In the meantime, NSA Director-General Yaw Ampofo Ankrah remains responsible for the authority’s day-to-day administration.
The dissolution of the board does not affect his separate appointment as Director-General.
However, his powers do not extend to those previously exercised by the governing board.
He cannot, for example, reinstate former board members or independently reconstitute committees established by the dissolved board.
One such committee is the Resource Mobilisation and Partnership Committee, which was established by the former board to support resource mobilisation, strategic partnerships, the Constituency Games and sustainable sports financing.
Its authority derives from the governing board and, following the dissolution, its continued mandate would need to be formally confirmed or renewed by the incoming board.
The President’s decision has therefore brought the current NSA board to an end, but it does not necessarily mean a complete departure from its previous composition.
If the new board is constituted under the Sports Act, the Olympic and Paralympic committees will continue to have seats, with their current leaders, Richard Kofi Akpokavie and Samson Deen, expected to retain their positions as representatives.
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