President of the African Paralympic Committee, Leonel da Rocha Pinto has urged Ghana’s Ministry of Youth and Sports to extend the African Games to include Para Sports.
Ghana are still preparing to host the continental multi-sport event which will take place in 2023.
If the extension is granted, Ghana could become the first country to host the African Games alongside an African Para Games.
In a letter addressed to Mustapha Ussif, the Minister of Youth and Sports, Pinto suggested that Ghana consider adding Para Sports to the upcoming African Games.
“I would like to respectfully ask again whether Ghana could organise as an extension of the African Games the first edition of the African Para Games or at least to include a limited number of Para Sports and Para Sports competitions/events into the sports programme of the African Games 2023.”
“I am aware that your agreement with the African Union does not foresee that Ghana would host Para Games
but offering the opportunity for athletes with disability would be an important opportunity for the African
Paralympic Movement and the Republic of Ghana to underline their commitment to using sports as a tool for
development of persons with a disability. It would be an activation of the United Nations Convention on the
Rights of People with Disabilities that Ghana signed in 2007 and ratified in 2012,” Pinto added.
In a letter sighted by JoySports, Pinto, who has been President of the African Paralympic Committee since 2008, has requested for a meeting with the President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo through the Sports Minister for a deliberate delivery of the First African Para Ganes.
If Ghana decides to include Para Sports in the 2023 African Games, it will serve as a qualification tournament to the Paris 2024 World Paralympic Games.
