By Daniel Bampoe
What was once envisioned as a beacon of hope for grassroots sports development in Ghana now lies swallowed by thick vegetation, wild trees, and crawling reptiles.
The Azumah Nelson Youth Resource Centre at Kaneshie — named after Ghana’s boxing legend — has become a cautionary tale of abandoned infrastructure, mismanagement, and broken promises.
When construction began in March 2018, the centre was part of a government initiative aimed at revolutionizing youth sports across the country.
The project, spearheaded by then Sports Minister Isaac Asiamah, was projected to cost $4 million and promised a state-of-the-art multi-purpose facility featuring a 5,000-seater football stadium, boxing gyms, basketball and volleyball courts, athletics tracks, an ICT hub, and a counselling centre.
At the groundbreaking ceremony, Asiamah proudly declared, “This place, which has been named after our own Professor Azumah Nelson, is going to see a massive transformation — one that has never been witnessed since its establishment in the 1970s.”
However, that transformation never came.
Despite modifications to the original design, including the addition of floodlights and extra features that raised the project’s cost, the site saw minimal progress.
By October 2021, under the tenure of Sports Minister Mustapha Ussif, the facility was reportedly 90% complete. Then, construction ground to a halt — allegedly due to the government’s failure to honour payment obligations to the contractor.
A 2023 Right to Information (RTI) request by JoySports revealed that over GHC 12 million (approximately $1 million) had already been spent. Yet, the response from authorities claimed the project was only 50% complete — a stark contradiction to earlier assertions.
The neglect has been visible for years. In 2023, JoySports documented the site as part of its “Bush Resource Centres” series, exposing the overgrowth and lack of activity.
Two years later, little has changed. During a recent visit, Yaw Ampofo Ankrah, Director General of the National Sports Authority (NSA), was met not with cheering athletes or bustling activity, but with a dense forest. Waist-high grass, invasive trees, and abandoned concrete structures now define what should have been a national asset.
Videos from his visit showed how nature has overtaken the facility — where snakes, lizards, and other reptiles now freely roam.
A venue meant to inspire and nurture youth talent has instead become a symbol of governmental neglect.
The Azumah Nelson Youth Resource Centre was one of several district-level sports facilities planned by the Ministry of Youth and Sports and the National Youth Authority.
While some were commissioned and operationalized in other regions, the Kaneshie centre has become the most visible failure of the initiative.
More than seven years since sod was first cut, there is still no clear timeline for the project’s resumption or completion. No official communication has been made regarding future funding or a recovery plan to salvage the millions already invested.
For now, the legacy of Azumah Nelson — Ghana’s boxing icon — remains dishonoured by a facility that bears his name but stands for broken promises. And for the youth of Kaneshie, dreams of accessible, modern sports infrastructure remain lost in the forest.
