Why Mahama Ayariga nearly rejected sports minister appointment from President Mahama

Majority Leader in Parliament, Mahama Ayariga, has said he was surprised when he was contacted to occupy the position of sports minister.

According to him, a high-ranking official called him one midnight to inform him about the appointment which astonished him.

However, the then Chief of Staff convinced him to accept the appointment, assuring him that he wouldn’t be required to participate in any sporting activity.

“I had the blessing of spending a short period at the Ministry of Youth and Sports, and it exposed me to football. There’s something I’m shy to tell you. Around midnight, I received a call from the Chief of Staff of the President at that time. He said, ‘Ayariga, your brother says tomorrow you’re going to the Ministry of Youth and Sports immediately.’

“And I said, ‘Chief, tell Oga that I’ve never even entered the Accra Sports Stadium before.’ The Chief responded, ‘He didn’t say you should go and play football yourself. He said you should go and lead the ministry, not to go and play football yourself,'” he recounted, as shared by GTV on X.

Ayariga indicated that serving as sports minister afforded him the opportunity to learn about football and other sporting disciplines.

“But I believe that my short stay at the Ministry of Youth and Sports was my greatest leadership training program. And I had this experience within just a period of three weeks when I joined the Black Stars to Equatorial Guinea for the African Cup of Nations.

“What I saw there, what I learned there – if I engage you in a private conversation, I’d say it’s the greatest highlight of my career in public service,” he added.

During President Mahama’s first tenure as President in January 2014, Ayariga was appointed as sports minister but was reshuffled in 2015, spending one year in the role.

Watch Ayariga’s comment below:

SB/AME

Meanwhile, watch as football fans question FIFA’s move to scrap penalty rebound rule