Baba Yara Stadium still in good shape but...

The Baba Yara Stadium may not compare in prestige and heritage to the Accra Sports Stadium but it stands as the nation’s biggest stadium -- 45,00-seater capacity -- and is situated in the heart of Ghana’s second city, Kumasi, where it is ‘home’ to the Black Stars and venue for top athletics competitions.

Rebuilt from the scratch by Consar Limited ahead of the 2008 Africa Cup of Nations, the stadium remains perhaps the busiest sporting facility hosting league matches for Kumasi Asante Kotoko, King Faisal and most matches involving the Black Stars.

Despite its busy nature, facilities at the stadium are generally in good condition which speaks volumes of the effective management of the structure, even though regular maintenance would keep the facilities in top condition and prolong their lifespan.

Due to the pressure exerted on the tartan tracks at the stadium as a result of regular training by athletes and competitions, the tracks are wearing out fast and virtually peeling off, and would need to be replaced with a more durable, world-class surface to keep its reputation as the athletics capital of Ghana.

 The Ashanti Regional Director of National Sports Authority (NSA), Mr Ewuntomah Richard Iddrissu, told the Daily Graphic in an interview that the authority has managed to maintain the facilities despite its financial constraints. However, he noted that the deteriorating tartan tracks need serious attention, the lavatories are in a state of disrepair, while some of the chairs in the stands need immediate replacement.

He said one major problem currently affecting the effective management of the facility was irregular power supply as a result of the huge debt owed to the Electricity Company of Ghana.

Mr Iddrissu said the NSA had to spend close to GHc10,000 every month to service its electricity bill otherwise there would be no electricity at the stadium during league matches.

“Currently, our central air conditioner has broken and we had to fix small ones just to service the office and the conference room,” lamented the regional director, who said his outfit had written to Consar Limited, the contractors of the facility, on the need to repair some facilities at the stadium. 

“But they [Consar] said the sports ministry owed them and until the ministry paid them, they were not going to do any repairs works at the stadium.”

Giving the huge investment needed to repair some of the damaged facilities, which was beyond the means of the NSA, Mr Iddrissu said he had hoped Ghana would have won the rights to host the 2017 AFCON so that government would be compelled to invest in the refurbishment of the stadia.

Repair Work

The facilities needing urgent attention, he stated, included the central air conditioner and the entire plumbing at the stadium which needs replacement as they keep breaking down repeatedly.

The regional director revealed that over 2,500 plastic seats in the stands had been destroyed by some second cycle schools when the stadium hosted the regional super zonal athletics competition by the Ghana Education Service.

He said the regional office of the GES had been notified of the damage caused and an invoice forwarded to the Ashanti Regional Director of Education who had accepted to bear the cost of replacement of the seats.

Inspection of facilities at the stadium by the Daily Graphic revealed that most of the lavatories needed immediate attention as most of the taps had broken down and were non-functioning with unbearable stench emanating from the washrooms which were not attended to after being patronised by football spectators during matches.

The redesign of the stadium saw the construction of a 40-room hotel which has yet to be furnished and put to commercial use. 

Mr Iddrissu noted that such a hotel facility was expensive to run, particularly as the ECG had cut power supply to the stadium and the cost of running the standby generator was just too much.