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Photo Gallery showing Former Ghana President Jerry John Rawlings and Mr Herbert Mensah at the Inauguration of Newly Elected South African President Jacob Zuma in South Africa.

Herbert Mensah has called on all stakeholders in the management of football in Ghana to pool their resources to rid the game of needless disasters.

Mr. Mensah said contrary to the perception that May 9 had thought us lessons the events of February this year which saw four people die at the Baba Yara stadium due to overcrowding should be a wake up call.

In a statement, which was issued to mark the eighth anniversary of the May 9 disaster at the Accra Sports stadium, he said government has to take a serious look at the structure of the National Sports Council (NSC) and how it manages football stadia.

“It looks as if the NSC is stuck in a time warp and is more concerned about percentage proceeds at soccer matches than the safety of the users of such facilities,” he said.

The businessman and football administrator said it is very unfortunate that the Baba Yara stadium should experience loss of lives after it had been refurbished to international standard.

“Our desire for monetary gain should not becloud the responsibility to protect users of stadia facilities. We have to ensure that capacity limits are followed to the letter,” he stated.

Mr. Mensah said the horrors of May 9 should serve as a strong reminder of the responsibility of every Ghanaian to ensure that the right processes are followed in all facets of our lives.

He said: “We owe it a duty to the lost souls and their families who grieve every day over what should not have happened that fateful day. Allowing the incident of February 8 2009 to occur at the Baba Yara stadium is a complete betrayal of the martyrs whose blood was lost to end the rot in Ghana football.”

Mensah called on government to liaise with all stakeholders to ensure that adequate emergency mechanisms are put in place during all major sports events as they go a long way to prevent disasters from escalating.

Herbert Mensah donated some bags of rice to victims of the disaster in Accra on Saturday. Alhaji Suleman Braimah popularly referred to as Alhaji Hearts received the donation on behalf of victims from the Hearts of Oak side with Madam Mercy Smith receiving on behalf of Kotoko.

Alhaji Hearts thanked Herbert Mensah was his continued support to families of the victims of the May 9 disaster and prayed other personalities and institutions to throw their weight behind Mensah in the coming years.

Victims of the February 8 2001 disaster would also benefit from this magnanimity.

Voices From Ghana

Presentation of foodstuf to families of the 9 May 2001 stadium disaster victims in Kumasi on behalf of Herbert Mensah.

Photo gallery of award ceremony at Manhya Palace for B.A. Mensah attended on his behalf by Herbert Mensah.

Former Kumasi Asante Kotoko boss Herbert Mensah has called on all stakeholders in the management of football in Ghana to pool their resources to rid the game of needless disasters.

Mensah said contrary to the perception that May 9 had thought us lessons the events of February this year which saw four people die at the Baba Yara stadium due to overcrowding should be a wake up call.

The statement, which was issued to mark the eighth anniversary of the May 9 disaster at the Accra Sports stadium, said government has to take a serious look at the structure of the National Sports Council (NSC) and how it manages football stadia.

“It looks as if the NSC is stuck in a time warp and is more concerned about percentage proceeds at soccer matches than the safety of the users of such facilities,” he said.

The businessman and football administrator said it is very unfortunate that the Baba Yara stadium should experience loss of lives after it had been refurbished to international standard.

“Our desire for monetary gain should not becloud the responsibility to protect users of stadia facilities. We have to ensure that capacity limits are followed to the letter,” he stated.

Mensah said the horrors of May 9 should serve as a strong reminder of the responsibility of every Ghanaian to ensure that the right processes are followed in all facets of our lives.

He said: “We owe it a duty to the lost souls and their families who grieve every day over what should not have happened that fateful day. Allowing the incident of February 8 2009 to occur at the Baba Yara stadium is a complete betrayal of the martyrs whose blood was lost to end the rot in Ghana football.”

Mensah called on government to liaise with all stakeholders to ensure that adequate emergency mechanisms are put in place during all major sports events as they go a long way to prevent disasters from escalating.

As he has done over the years Mensah is donating cash and food items to some families who lost loved ones in the May 9 disaster of 2001. Victims of the February 8 2001 disaster are also beneficiaries of his magnanimity.

In Accra today, Mensah donated some bags of rice to victims of the disaster in Accra. Alhaji Suleman Braimah popularly referred to as Alhaji Hearts received the donation on behalf of victims from the Hearts of Oak side with Madam Mercy Smith receiving on behalf of Kotoko.

Alhaji Hearts thanked Herbert Mensah was his continued support to families of the victims of the May 9 disaster and prayed other personalities and institutions to throw their weight behind Mensah in the coming years.

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Accra, May 7, GNA – Former President Jerry John Rawlings left Accra last night for Johannesburg, South Africa, at the head of an official delegation attending the inauguration of President-elect, Mr Jacob Zuma, on Saturday in Pretoria.

A statement signed by Mr Kofi Adams, an aide to the former President, said he is accompanied by his wife Nana Konadu and a delegation that included Mr Herbert Mensah, a businessman and a soccer administrator.

The statement said the delegation is officially representing President John Atta Mills who is on an official visit to London.

Former President Rawlings is widely respected in South Africa and has a strong relationship with former President Nelson Mandela. Mr Mensah is a businessman with wide business knowledge of South Africa. He was for years the country manager for pay television station, M-NET, and currently consults for Prosport International a soccer management organisation based in Durban, South Africa.

Source: GNA

Businessman and renowned football administrator, Herbert Mensah has criticised the state sponsored property owning climate that characterised the eight years of the New Patriotic Party government.

Mensah also described as a disgrace the failure of the Kufuor government to return his father’s seized properties to him after the courts had ruled that the property be returned to him.

He said one had to question the value system within the NPP if a man (B.A. Mensah) who was the Godfather of the party and supported it in diverse ways could be treated so badly even when the courts had ruled that his property be returned to him.

Speaking in a wide-ranging interview on Joy FM’s Super Morning Show hosted by Kojo Oppong-Nkrumah, Mensah said he believed in harmonious blend of capital, labour and the environment.

“I don’t believe in a free property-owning society without regulation,” he stated.

Mensah decried the use of state instruments to acquire business as opposed to earning property through “justified business”.

Describing himself as a social democrat, Mensah, a graduate in Economics from the Sussex University said social democracy was key to the development of the country. But he noted that, “you cannot have socialism unless you have undergone capitalism” cautioning that good governance always should serve as a moderation between the two economic ideologies.

Asked whether he had taken a certain political position because he was bitter the NPP did not return his father’s seized properties, Mensah was emphatic that the ethos of social democracy was something his father, Mr Benjamin Amponsah Mensah and his mum, had imbued in him.

Mensah said his father always believed in helping the underprivileged in his environment particularly in his native Kumawu in the Ashanti Region and offered support in diverse ways including free education to many.

“I am certainly not a bitter person. I don’t do bitterness. Bitterness is a negative emotion. We have such little time and we have to move forward,” he stated.

Mensah said he had many reasons to be bitter but had never resorted to that emotion even when his radio equipment had been seized because he was seen as national security risk and had police ‘visits’ on his premises.

The former Kotoko boss said he was a social democrat primarily because he believed the future was about the youth who unfortunately finish school without jobs, lamenting that juvenile delinquency and prostitution was on the rise and change was necessary.

“I am part of a younger generation of people who are not stuck in the idealism of Kwame Nkrumah or the Busia Danquah or the Rawlings group. It is not based upon objectivity,” he emphasised.

Mensah said if the objectivity suggests that the social democrats come into power and refuse to uphold the ethos of probity and accountability then one is entitled to make an alternative choice.

According to him, President Mills deserves some commendation for not taking the country backward.

He said while he appreciated that President Mills had to take a certain legal recourse in terms of the way he managed issues, it was important that he moved with a bit of haste and send the right signals for people to understand that the issues of probity and accountability are being taken seriously.

Touching on the President’s appointments, Mensah said there were some strong appointees and some weak but noted it was imperative that the President put in place structures that would ensure that all appointees set a good standard as some of them have not been in positions of responsibility as have been entrusted them presently.

Source: Myjoyonline.com

LISTEN TO THE INTERVIEW AT THE LINK ABOVE

Also see links related to this article:

Peace FM

This article appeared in MyJoyonline on 9 October 2008 after the announcement of the acquisition of Ashantigold Sporting Club Ltd. from AngloGold Ashanti Ltd. by Fortia Ltd.

The Management of Fortia Limited is very pleased to announce an agreement with AngloGold Ashanti (Ghana) Limited for the purchase of its shares in Ashantigold Sporting Club.

Today’s signing ceremony is the culmination of months of negotiation led by our head consultant, Mr Herbert Mensah.

Fortia is an international sports management consortium with global interests in sports development.

Having recognised Africa as currently a major backbone in sports – particularly soccer – across the world, Fortia was very interested when news filtered to us that the AngloGold Ashanti was looking for a competent
organisation to purchase and take over the operations of the club.

Fortia never goes into any business transaction without the knowledge and expertise of indigenous business people.

Unlike elsewhere, locating one person whose competence and networking in the area of sports management in Ghana was etched in letters of gold took little time as the name Herbert Mensah came cropping up.

Mensah is singularly responsible for the revolution in Ghana soccer that introduced the much-touted professionalism era. His stints at Kotoko and King Faisal and association with a host of other premiership and lower division sides, is evidence of his legendary status in Ghana soccer.

Having understood and appreciated the business concept behind Fortia’s quest to take over Ashantigold, Mensah agreed to join our team and led negotiations with AngloAshanti Ashanti.

If we are here today signing an agreement to take over Ashantigold it is primarily because we are convinced we have the competence and manpower required to take the Aboakese to a new level.

Mensah and members of his team who will be responsible for the day-to-day running of Ashantigold have one major goal – to revive the dwindling fortunes of the club, ensure that it reverts to the powerhouse it was years ago and move to its all concurring form on the African continent.

This goal is one that requires huge investment and the resort to the best technical management available.

Mensah’s network of contacts includes big players in the football market like Pini Zahavi, who has brokered some of the most expensive transfer deals in Europe, Prosport International who are the leading FIFA player agents on the continent and a host of European technical brains such as our own Ernst Middendorp.

The journey to revitalising Ashantigold will not be an easy one. The new management will require not less than 48 months to turn the tide and during that period major changes will take place in the operations of the club to ensure that it moves in tandem with modern managerial practices.

Already we have contracted the services of a competent physical trainer in the person of Jacques Naude.

Naude has been in Obuasi since September 28 and is taking the playing squad through a strict pre-season physical training regimen aimed at ensuring that the quality of their game is not only about skill but also about stamina and strength.

Naude has handled Kotoko, King Faisal, Accra Hearts of Oak, Real Tamale United and Real Sportive previously through the instrumentality of Herbert Mensah and the positive effects of his pre-season programme shone through out the season for those clubs.

When Naude departs for his native country in a couple of weeks Fortia will unveil a new German Technical Director for Ashantigold. The Technical Director comes with an impressive resume including stints in Ghana and understands the terrain.

The Ashantigold project will be a multi-tiered one that will mean that local talent will be groomed into competent technical hands for the future. Of particular significance is the revival of the Sam Jonah Academy which hitherto was a major backbone for the club and which spawned the likes of Kamara Dini, Augustine Arhinful, Ebenezer Hagan, Ofosu Amoah and Opoku Agyeman.

Successful soccer clubs across the world harness a lot of their talent from their own football academies. In the African context this is even more important because such players are afforded requisite education, which is an asset, lacked by many of our top talent.

Fortia will procure the services of top class scouts who shall scour the length and breadth of Ghana and across the sub-region to secure young talent for the academy.

Our business plan means we shall give Ashantigold an impressive image including the redesign of the club’s logo, negotiate workable sponsorship and partnership packages and turn Obuasi into the hub of soccer in the region.

Our success will involve tapping the huge support base the Aboakese has in Obuasi. With the support of these followers and that of Nananom and Imams and other opinion leaders, Ashantigold will soar above all.

We commend Anglo Ashanti for a accepting our offer and we shall commit ourselves to the business of breathing a new life into Ashantigold Sporting Club.

Lawrence Nsarko Otoo
(Local Representative)

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