Hon Jerry Ahmed Shaib
Weija-Gbawe
Mr Speaker, thank you very much for this opportunity.
Mr Speaker, Ali Jarrah is alive and kicking. I am excited the Minister of Sports and Recreation is here for him to perhaps consider my Statement in its entirety. Mr Speaker, I rise today to bring to the attention of this august House a matter of grave concern and national shame - the systematic neglect and abandonment of one of Ghana's greatest football legends, Ali Jarrah, whose sacrifice for our beloved nation has been met with decades of indifference from the very institutions that should have been his strongest pillars of support.
Mr Speaker, Ali Jarrah is not just any ordinary Ghanaian; he is a national treasure whose name should be etched in gold in the annals of Ghana's sporting history. This remarkable goalkeeper was the backbone of Ghana's golden generation that brought unprecedented glory to our nation in the early 1990s. As a member of the 1991 Black Starlets, Jarrah was instrumental in Ghana's historic victory at the FIFA U-17 World Cup in Italy, where his exceptional goalkeeping skills helped secure Ghana's first-ever FIFA World Cup triumph at any level.
Mr Speaker, Jarrah's excellence extended beyond the 1991 triumph. He was a key figure in Ghana's impressive run to the silver medal at the 1993 FIFA U-20 World Cup Championships in Japan and contributed to Ghana's silver medal success at the African U-17 Championship in Mauritius in 1993. At the club level, Jarrah distinguished himself as the first-choice goalkeeper for Accra Hearts of Oak, where his performances in the 1992/1993 season earned him all three major awards that season. The trajectory of this sporting icon's career was pointing toward international stardom, with reported interest from prestigious European clubs including my team, Liverpool FC and FC Köln of the German Bundesliga.
Mr Speaker, however, fate had other plans, and in 1993, during a highly charged Super Clash between Hearts of Oak and Asante Kotoko Wo kum apim a apim bɛba, Ali Jarrah sustained a careerending injury that would fundamentally alter the course of his life forever. The injury that befell Ali Jarrah in 1993 was not merely a sporting mishap; it was a life-altering catastrophe that left him paralyzed and stripped him of his livelihood while he was serving Ghana in the line of duty.
For 17 long years, this national hero has borne the physical, emotional, and financial burden of that fateful day, with his hope gradually fading as he faces continued neglect and indifference from the state. The treatment of Ali Jarrah by Ghana's sporting institutions represents one of the most shameful chapters in our nation's sporting history. The Ministry of Sports and Recreation has turned a blind eye to Jarrah's plight for over three decades, failing woefully in its duty of care toward one of the nation's most celebrated athletes.
Similarly, the Ghana Football Association has shown a disturbing lack of gratitude and responsibility. Despite Jarrah's emotional appeals for recognition and justice, his calls for acknowledgment have gone unheard for 17 years. The government's inaction in this matter is equally deplorable. While we celebrate our sporting achievements and bask in the glory brought by our athletes on international stages, we have failed to establish comprehensive support systems for those who suffer life-altering consequences while representing Ghana.
Despite the overwhelming challenges and institutional abandonment, Ali Jarrah has demonstrated remarkable resilience and determination to rebuild his life. Rather than succumb to despair, he has channelled his energy into chalk production, establishing a small business that serves as his primary source of livelihood. This entrepreneurial venture represents not only his personal struggle for economic survival, but also his unwavering spirit and refusal to be defeated by circumstances beyond his control.
The Ministry of Education presents a unique opportunity to provide meaningful support to Ali Jarrah while simultaneously addressing practical needs within our educational system. Given that Jarrah has established himself in chalk production - a commodity essential to our educational infrastructure - there exists a perfect synergy between supporting this sporting legend and meeting genuine educational requirements.
I call upon the Ministry of Education to engage with Ali Jarrah's chalk production enterprise and provide the necessary financial and logistical assistance to expand his operations. This partnership could include bulk purchasing agreements, equipment provision, technical training, and market linkage support that would transform Jarrah's small-scale operation into a thriving enterprise capable of serving educational institutions across the country.
The government must establish a comprehensive support system for former athletes who have suffered career-ending injuries while representing Ghana. This should include medical care, financial assistance, entrepreneurial support, and recognition programmes that acknowledge their contributions. As the Minister for Sports and Recreation is here, I call his attention on this matter. The Ghana Football Association must acknowledge its moral obligation to Ali Jarrah and take immediate steps to provide him with the recognition, financial support, and medical assistance he deserves.
Mr Speaker, let Ali Jarrah’s story be the last of its kind in Ghana’s sporting history. Let us honour our past heroes while protecting our future ones. Let us demonstrate that Ghana truly values those who sacrifice everything for the honour and glory of our beloved nation. The measure of a nation’s character is reflected not only in how it celebrates its heroes during their moments of triumph but also in how it cares for them during their times of need.
Our sporting heroes who lose their source of livelihood while carrying Ghana’s flag deserve our unwavering support, not our neglect. They deserve recognition, not abandonment. They deserve dignity, not despair. The time for action is now.
Mr Speaker, while I finally conclude, as President of the Ghana Weightlifting Federation, we are also scheduled to host the African Youth Junior Championship that is supposed to come off—
I respectfully end my Statement by saying that let us pay attention to our heroes, and not to neglect them. Thank you very much and God bless us all.
Hon Kofi Iddie Adams
Buem
Mr Speaker, commenting on the Second Deputy Minority Whip’s Statement on Ali Jarrah, it is true that our sports persons and sports icons must be celebrated, but this has not been done over the years.
I remember very well how the former goalkeeper of the Black Queens was virtually thrown out and not cared for or attended to. It took H.E. John Dramani Mahama then to intervene about three years ago in getting her accommodation. We should not allow our heroes and heroines to go through such a situation. Ali Jarrah has not been abandoned though by the state. But if there are other things that he needs and some other things that can be done for him, I believe that there are ways that we can carry these through.
Currently, His Excellency the President’s Cabinet has given approval for establishment of a Sports Fund and this Fund would also go a long way to support athletes and athletes’ development and also the former athletes when they retire. We are working very hard to even get the involvement of SSNIT and insurance companies in some of these projects. One insurance company has submitted a proposal to me as pathway of solving some of these emergency challenges that will occur in the course of their businesses.
Mr Speaker, support to leagues so that clubs can also support football and footballers especially. Just yesterday, we launched an arrangement that the Ghana Football Association (GFA) and Adesa Productions Limited (APL) have come into. Government is mobilising resources from private and public corporates to make sure we fund this project for the telecasting of games and also running of the games. So, there will be much more money available to take care of these players to reduce some of the stress that they go through.
Mr Speaker, I dare say that our Ministry is sensitive, aware and awoken to its responsibilities. And that was why arrears of coaches that have been left unpaid from 2020 till I took over as a Minister have been cleared. As we speak, we do not owe any former coach. Coaches that were sacked, coaches that were dismissed and were not paid, we have made sure we have cleared all these and we will continue on that. We will look into the Ali Jarrah issues and see what it is that we can do first as a Ministry and Government and I also invite the corporates. In many parts of the world where we see athletes’ welfare being taken very good care of, private corporates have been involved. We are not seeing much happening in Ghana and I think that this is a challenge to all of us.
As Members of Parliament (MPs), when we go to our constituencies, let us speak. When we engage the corporates, let us remind them. Let us know that they have a way to contribute to better the lot of our athletes. Mr Speaker, with these few words, I want to assure the House that I have taken note of the Statement. I will pick it up and engage Ali Jarrah and see what we can do to help him.
Thank you for the opportunity.
Hon Kwabena Okyere Darko-Mensah
Takoradi
Mr Speaker, on the issue of Ali Jarrah, when we were children, I think Ali Jarrah was more of our hero till he got sick. If you look at the issues that are coming up in supporting our artists, I believe that is something that we need to set up and work at it and make sure that the systems work. It is not just setting up funds. Most of the time, we set up the funds and they just do not work.
Mr Speaker, I believe that the Minister has brought up a key issue about the private sector supporting these funds and supporting artists. One of the critical problems we have in this country is that the business community want to support, but Government also has to support the business community to be doing well and then our ability as a country to create more businesses or the enabling environment for us to have more businesses, so that the more and the less each of them pay, when we accumulate them, becomes huge for us to be able to do the work that we have to do. These are some of the issues that I believe we need to look at. Because if the money is not generated in the first place, the business community cannot support in areas that Government cannot do well so much. With these few words,
Mr Speaker, I thank you very much for the opportunity.
Hon Collins Dauda
Asutifi South
Mr Speaker, with regards to Ali Jarrah, the situation that has been described to us by the Second Deputy Minority “witch” is not different from the situation of other people who have served this country. While I support the position taken by—Mr Speaker, by accident, I referred to him as a “witch”——It was by accident and I humbly withdraw.
Mr Speaker, I fully support the position taken by the Hon Member that Ghana must take care of people who have served this country as sportsmen and politicians. If you look at the sports space, you can talk about so many people who lack so many things even though they have played key roles in the sporting arena. In the same vein, if you look at us, the politicians, we also face the same situation. We have former Ministers who look very miserable and the same with former MPs. It is as if they have never served this country before.
And I thought that a scheme should be put in place to take care of our people who have served this country and served this country very well. Otherwise, it may not be useful to serve this country. Therefore, I am of the view that, as a country, we need to have a scheme to identify such people and support them when they age in order that it will serve as a motivation for others to also work hard and put their lives down for this country.
I thank you very much for the opportunity.
AskParly