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Tag: Herbert Mensah

  • Herbert Mensah leads a walk to commemorate 23 years since the Accra Sports Stadium Disaster

    Herbert Mensah leads a walk to commemorate 23 years since the Accra Sports Stadium Disaster

    Former Kumasi Asante Kotoko Chairman Herbert Mensah on Saturday, May 11, 2024 led a multitude of Ghanaians through the principal streets of Kumasi to commemorate the 23rd anniversary of the Accra Sports Stadium Disaster.

    This tragic event, which took place on May 9, 2001, resulted in the loss of over 126 Ghanaian soccer fans during a league match between Accra Hearts of Oak and Kumasi Asante Kotoko.

    The walk saw participation from various keep-fit clubs, survivors of hole-in-heart disease, ordinary Ghanaians, and members of the physically disabled society.

    The May 9 Accra Stadium Disaster remains a sombre chapter in the history of African football.

    At the time of the disaster, Herbert Mensah was the chairman of Asante Kotoko and was widely celebrated for his dynamic and charismatic leadership of the club. He was actively involved in conveying deceased soccer fans and rescuing surviving ones on the evening of the tragedy.

    Subsequently, Mensah established the May 9 Foundation, a charitable organisation dedicated to providing support and assistance to the families and victims affected by the Accra Stadium Disaster.

    More recently, the foundation collaborated with the Shen Yang and Shen Yuet Children’s Heart Foundation to help families whose children suffer from hole-in-heart disease access costly surgical operations they could not afford otherwise.

    The Heart Foundation was founded by Y.C. Shen, a Chinese business mogul operating in Ghana, as the head of the SUNDA group.

    Speaking of the transitional progress made by the May 9 Foundation over the years, Herbert Mensah told Ghanaians, “In the last year, we have teamed up with the Shen Yang Children’s Heart Foundation of which I am the secretary, and whose founder, YC Shen, an extraordinary man from China, has invested so much in the heart surgeries of more than 25 children at the Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital under the guidance of Dr. Kow Entsua Mensah of the National Cardiothoracic Centre in Accra, and in the process, we have saved the lives of many children, although some could not make it.”

    Following the street walk, Herbert Mensah accompanied some of the families and their children, who had undergone successful hole-in-the-heart surgeries, to visit the Asantehene, Otumfuo Osei Tutu II.

    As the life patron of Kumasi Asante Kotoko and celebrating 25 years as the King of the Asante Kingdom, Otumfuo Osei Tutu II received the visitors warmly.

  • Rugby Africa elects Herbert Mensah as its president

    Rugby Africa elects Herbert Mensah as its president

    Following the end of the Rugby Africa Executive Committee Elections held on March 18, 2023, former Asante Kotoko board chairman Herbert Mensah has been chosen as Rugby Africa’s next president.

    Rugby Africa is the continent’s governing body for rugby.

    In the upcoming four years, Herbert Mensah will serve as the head of rugby on the continent. He is renowned for his love of the game and his wealth of knowledge in sports administration.

    In his acceptance speech, Herbert Mensah reiterated his passionate vision for the growth of African Rugby. He highlighted that his priority would be to continue the work he has already begun, helping rugby progress and grow not just in Africa, but globally. Mensah emphasized his business experience and stated that he would apply it to Rugby Africa, to generate revenues and development opportunities for all member associations.

    Mensah said, “As we embark on this journey, I want us to project rugby as an alternative team sport, gain financial independence and improve the World Rugby Elite Program. My aim is to make Rugby Africa the gold standard for sports administration in the African continent.”

    Rugby fans across the continent would be delighted by Mensah’s vision, which aims to raise the level of African rugby internationally. Mensah added, “My vision for the next four years is to foster an all-inclusive competition framework that will provide members equal opportunities to grow and develop. I am also determined to build a positive and strong brand for Rugby Africa, expand the women’s rugby program, and provide a national stadium for each member association.”

    Herbert Mensah is a well-known figure in Ghanaian and international sports administration. He has been a driving force for the development and growth of Rugby in Ghana, and his contribution to the sport’s progress in the sub-Saharan region has been significant.

    Mensah’s vast experience in sports administration and leadership, coupled with his passion for rugby, positions him well to lead Rugby Africa through its next phase of growth and development. Under his leadership, we can expect to see more investment in rugby development programs, increased participation of African nations in international tournaments, and greater visibility of rugby in mainstream media.

    With Mensah at the helm, Rugby Africa is poised for growth and development, and his team’s collective experience and vision for African rugby bodes well for the continent.

  • How Sulley Muntari turned down his mother’s wish of playing Kotoko to play in Europe

    Former Black Stars midfielder, Sulley Ali Muntari has revealed that he had to take a risk of ‘disrespecting’ his ever-loving mother, Hajia Kande to become successful.

    Sulley’s love for his deceased mother is an open secret and he reaffirmed it in an interview with Dan Kweku Yeboah: “she was my everything, she is my everything and now she has given me the strength to take care of my siblings which I was ready for.”

    In the interview, Sulley said there is one person he cannot turn deaf ears to and that is his mother, “for my mum, whatever she says I do it.”

    But he recalled a time when for the very first time in his life, he had to choose between his mother’s wish and his ambition of playing in Europe.

    Sulley Muntari narrated that, his mother wanted him to play for Ghanaian giants Asante Kotoko while he was yearning to play in Europe because he believed it was the only way to change the fortunes of his family.

    He said he almost signed for Kotoko as his mum wished, but he missed Kotoko’s Chief Executive officer, Hebert Mensah at the entrance.

    “There was one time we went to Kumasi. We were going to Herbert Mensah but while our car was entering, his car was going out. So, I missed him. I would have definitely signed if I had met him.”

    After not tying himself to Kotoko, Sulley took the opportunity to be more thoughtful about his career and how he could change his family’s situation.

    Following a long thoughtful moment, he decided to “disrespect” his mother for the very first time.

    “But then I came back and sat down. At that age, looking at my mum, and my siblings where we were coming from, I was like ‘for the first time in my life, I will disrespect my mum’. Meaning I won’t listen to what she was saying and pause (Playing for Kotoko) to have a great future. I could see there was a future for it, in the long term.”

    He said he never went back to look for Herbet, because he wanted to play in Europe like Michael Essien, Derek Boateng, and a couple of others who were all at the U-20 camp.

    “No, they(Kotoko) didn’t see me again. So when I went back to camp, Sly spoke to me. I saw Derek, Essien, and Obodae. They were young and they played for Ajax, Panatheniacos, Bastia and all these big teams. Ibrahim Razak was also playing for Italy. And also I thought about it, looking at old Kotoko, Awudu Adama, even Joe Henricks wasn’t there, Prince Adu Poku, the Stephen Oduros and the likes, top, top players. For me, I would come from school to play only two matches and they will put me on the bench. Because I’ve seen top, top Kotoko players who couldn’t make any impact, so from colts straight to the first team was going to be difficult. So I thought of all these aspects and I said no. Mum, I’m sorry. There was no one cedi at home. No cedi to buy foodstuff and all that,” he said.

    Sulley continued that even though his mum was disappointed, his decision was the right way to make his mother whip the benefits of her investment in his career.

    “Yes(she was disappointed), but she had invested her whole life(in me). I can come from camp and there is no money. The last one that she should have spent on my siblings, she will say “take it”. Then she will go and hustle from the side. So all of these things pushed to make my own decision to go and I’ve never regretted it.”

    Sulley said Hajia Kande came around after he left the shores of Ghana when Alhaji Sly Tetteh secured trials for him at Manchester United.

    “She was angry a little bit but after when I left the country(she accepted it). Sly took me right away to Manchester United.”

    Although his mother passed away in 2021, she lived to enjoy the fruit of her investments. Sulley is one of the wealthy ex-Ghanaian footballers but prefers to keep a low profile on his wealth.

  • Coronavirus: Ghanaians should take personal responsibility – Herbert Mensah

    Herbert Mensah, President and Board Chairman of Ghana Rugby Union, has called on the public and the Ghana Rugby Union to continue taking personal responsibilities in the fight against the deadly coronavirus disease.

    Ghana has recorded 229 new cases of Covid-19, bringing the total tally to 12,193 cases with 58 deaths and 7,813 active cases as at June 16.

    In a social media post, Mr Mensah said, “Covid-19 is a reality and urged those in the Ghana Rugby to take measures to avoid contracting the virus.

    “We have watched the pandemic grow around the world and understand that it was not exclusive to everybody else, but we are also part of the global world and so we should be careful,” he said. “In this last two to three weeks, we have seen the numbers rise in terms of testing and in terms of the number of people contracting the virus.

    “I think we got 300 to 500 increments daily in terms of people having it. We are very lucky as a country that the President closed the borders and minimised risks,” Mr Mensah said.

    Source: GNA