Retired athlete appeals for support

A  Kumasi-based 75-year-old retired national athlete, E.F. Kesse, has made a passionate appeal to the Sports Ministry to support him financially to reduce the trauma he is going through at his ripe age.

Now without any fixed abode, no means of generating revenue to fend for himself and with failing health, the retired athlete depends on friends for survival.

Making his appeal when he bumped into the Daily Graphic in Kumasi, Mr Kesse said notwithstanding his age, he could set up a small shop at Asawase in Kumasi, hoping to use it as a source of livelihood.

According to Mr Kesse, he started running for the country after he was admitted to the then TI Ahmadiyya Secondary School (AMASS)  in Kumasi, following his outstanding performance at the Baptist basic school at Asokore Mampong.

He said he continued his exploits at AMASS where he caught the attention of national athletic coaches who selected him to compete for Ghana at the international level.

“I was a middle distance athlete and among the first batch of athletes who performed creditably in the first All African Games held in the then Congo Brazzaville. I won silver in both the 800 and 1,500m events in those days” he recalled.

He said he also competed in Egypt, Nigeria and Cote d’Ivoire among other international meets in those days where he won medals  as part of his contributions to market Ghana at the international level.

“Now I am helpless because I depend on friends for survival, hence my plea to the Sports Ministry to offer me a little capital to start petty trading so that I can fend for myself. With such support I can also generate revenue to seek medical care because my health is also failing me,” he pleaded.