my Radio G-Live Axim Youth Protest Against Delayed Stadium Project
Written by GliveRadio Accra on July 8, 2024
Youth in Axim, located in the Nzema-East Municipality of the Western Region, have given the President a two-week ultimatum to open a stadium that is 95% complete and has been abandoned, left to deteriorate.
The stadium, promised to the community, has remained locked and unused for years, with its facilities—including VVIP areas and goalposts—falling into disrepair.
Speaking to Channel One News during the demonstration, Jonas Kwabutey, the leader of the Axim Youth, expressed concern over the deteriorating state of the stadium. He emphasized that the Axim Youth have been deprived of a place to play, as the new seats and ceilings installed at the stadium are now rotting due to years of neglect. As a result, they have given the President until July 29th to intervene or face their protest.
He also mentioned that they had submitted a petition two months ago, which was ignored by the Municipal Chief Executive (MCE), Eric Essien.
“They promised to construct a multipurpose sports stadium for us. As I’m talking now, if you enter the stadium, you can see that all the things are rotting. They have done the VVIP, they’ve mounted the goalpost, all the necessary facilities, they’ve done it but they’ve locked it and everything is rotting, so we are poised to demonstrate.”
“All we are telling them is this, we submitted our petition, which was two months ago, and the MCE didn’t call us, and he didn’t even show up. We wrote a request for a police escort, but they didn’t even mind us.“The reason why we are today is we are sending a signal to the government that the stadium, whether commissioned or not commissioned, must use it. And we have given up to 29 July, that’s the ultimatum.”
In response to the concerns, the Municipal Chief Executive (MCE), Eric Essien, expressed regret over the deteriorating condition of the stadium. He stated that he has reached out to the Regional Minister to facilitate the return of the contractor, who abandoned the site due to non-payment for work done, by August.
