The National Sports Authority (NSA) has announced the immediate closure of the Baba Yara Sports Stadium for renovation works ahead of the 63rd national Independence Day celebrations in March this year.
The authority made the announcement on Monday via a statement signed by Acting Director of the Ashanti Regional office of the NSA, Edmond Appiah.
The statement said that there were important renovation works that needed to be done at the ground and so, all sporting activities in football and athletics needed to be halted and users of the stadium would have to find other facilities to use.
The decision will affect Asante Kotoko and King Faisal who use the facility for their home matches in the Ghana Premier League.
The statement went on to add that that the full renovation will resume after the celebrations.
“This is to officially inform users of the Baba Yara Sports Stadium for both football and athletics purposes of the temporal closure of the stadium from Monday 17th February 2020. This is to enable the Youth and Sports Ministry and the National Sports Authority to have ample uninterrupted time to fix critical places of the stadium before the celebration of Ghana’s 63rd Independence Anniversary Celebration. The total renovation will, however, resume immediately after the celebrations.”
Independence Day in Kumasi
The Ashanti Regional capital, Kumasi will be the host city for this year’s Independence Day celebration.
The event which will be held at the Baba Yara Sports Stadium on 6th March 2020 is to mark the 63rd anniversary since Ghana attained independence.
This will be the second time the event will be held outside Accra after it was held in the Northern Region in 2019.
The parade will involve personnel from the security agencies, schoolchildren and other notable organizations.
Prime Minister of Trinidad and Tobago, His Excellency Keith Christopher Rowley will be the special guest of honour for the function while the Asantehene Otumfuo Osei Tutu II, and other dignitaries will also grace the occasion.
The theme for this year’s celebration is ‘Consolidating Our Gains’.