The President of the National Paralympic Committee of Ghana, Mr Samson Deen, has warned that Ghana risks sacrificing its sporting future to political rivalry.
He has called on the New Patriotic Party and the National Democratic Congress to help end a cycle of attacks he says is discouraging sponsors and wearing down sports leaders.
"Politics is dividing us. Politics is destroying our sports," Mr Deen said in a statement on his Facebook page.
His warning was reinforced by remarks captured in a separate video from a Team Ghana sponsorship event, where he questioned how a divided sector could expect businesses to commit their money. "How do you expect a sponsor to carry money and dump the money into confusion? It's not possible," he asked.
Mr Deen called for a wider forum involving the major political parties and sports stakeholders to address the sector's problems. He warned against a recurring pattern in which a change of government becomes an opportunity to target sports officials associated with the opposing political camp.
"Let's come together with a bigger forum where we shall be able to address the issues bedevilling our sports," he said.
He said his defence of the Minister for Sports, Mr Kofi Adams, reflected the same position he had taken in supporting former Sports Minister Mustapha Ussif against the politicisation of sport. Attacks on officials under one administration, he argued, risked encouraging similar treatment under the next.
"I defended Mustapha Ussif and I still defend him till today," he said.
His appeal raises a question for national debate on how Ghana can demand accountability in sports administration while preventing scrutiny from becoming a partisan campaign against individuals.
Mr Deen urged journalists to investigate issues before publishing claims about sports officials. He criticised what he described as damaging public exchanges over organisational and financial matters, arguing that personal attacks were weakening the goodwill needed to attract investment.
"No sponsor will invest in sports if we don't stop this attitude," he said.
At the sponsorship event, Mr Deen also challenged sports leaders to turn the language of reform into visible action. He urged associations, including athletics and swimming, to work together and said organisations would command greater respect when they acted as institutions.
"It's not just by the words, 'reset, reset'. No. It's by action," he said.
He called on administrators to resolve disagreements internally and present a united front, linking unity to the practical work of winning support and building confidence in sport.
The funding debate, he argued, also demanded lessons from the past. Mr Deen questioned why Ghana remained caught in disputes over World Cup participation, allowances and payments to technical officials after the Dzamefe Commission's inquiry into the country's participation in Brazil 2014. He said the inquiry and the discussions surrounding it should have helped improve the management of sport.
On infrastructure, Mr Deen questioned whether the US$12 million figure being discussed would meet the scale of Ghana's stadium needs. He estimated that bringing the four major stadiums in Kumasi, Accra, Takoradi and Tamale into good condition would require at least US$80 million.
He called for better facilities across the country and stronger encouragement for children aged eight to 16 to participate in sport. In his view, the hostility surrounding sports administration risked weakening its appeal to young people and their parents.
Mr Deen also reiterated his intention to retire from sport in 2028, citing frustration with what he described as sabotage and blackmail. He warned that other experienced administrators could step aside if the environment did not improve.
"I have announced just recently that I'll be retiring from sports in 2028," he said.
His proposed forum would bring political parties and sports stakeholders together around those concerns. For a sector he says is losing confidence, Mr Deen's appeal begins with cooperation and a demand that promises of reform produce action.
"Let's come together as one unit," he urged.
