Former Ghana Journalists Association President lauds Ghana Rugby President Herbert Mensah for contribution
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He was speaking during the Ghana Journalists Association’s commemoration of its 70th anniversary
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ACCRA, Ghana, August 16, 2019/ -- Former President of the Ghana Journalists Association (GJA), Kabral Blay-Amihere has praised Ghanaian businessman and philanthropist Herbert Mensah for his foresight and contribution to the growth and development of journalism in Ghana.
Mr. Kabral Blay Amihere who also served as Ghana’s High Commissioner to Ivory Coast and Sierra Leone between 2001-2009 said it was sponsorship from private business men in Ghana like Herbert Mensah in the early ’90s which helped propel independent journalism in Ghana through its best journalist award scheme.
He was speaking during the Ghana Journalists Association’s commemoration of its 70th anniversary on Thursday, August 15, 2019, at the Movenpick Ambassador Hotel in Accra.
”The GJA has come a long way. When I joined the GJA in the 80’s it was dangerous to be a journalist in Ghana. Before I became President of the GJA in 1993, the government had completely hijacked the GJA and its best journalist award scheme” the former GJA President revealed.
”The government at the time selected their favourite journalists for awards. We had no offices and no private support”.
Kabral Blay-Amihere recollected the timely intervention of private individuals who came along to sponsor the GJA and help it to grow independently.
”I have to acknowledge and thank Herbert Mensah without whose support and sponsorship we couldn’t have freed ourselves from government control in those days. We also had support from Sam Jonah and Amakye Dede in those early days. We thank them for their support when we needed it most to develop and grow journalism in Ghana.”
He also praised President J.A Kufuor for providing the International Press Centre to the GJA.
The commemoration of the 70th anniversary of the GJA also involved the cutting of anniversary cake and reflections on the history and relevance of the GJA by some distinguished personalities including Prof. H. Kwasi Prempeh, head of the Ghana Centre for Democratic Development (CDD-Ghana), as Guest Speaker.
Other key speakers at the event also included Dr G.T. Anim, the first Ghanaian General Manager of the Ghana News Agency (GNA).
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Rugby - 2023 Olympic Games: Zambia's Future Olympians
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The young talent will be drawn from all the 10 Provinces of Zambia and will be used as a talent identification avenue for the 2023 Olympic Games
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LUSAKA, Zambia, August 14, 2019/ -- Saturday 17th August, 2019 will bring see the under 14 to 18 girls and boys from across the country converge at the Olympic Youth Development Centre in Lusaka to compete in a Youth Rugby Tournament.
The young talent will be drawn from all the 10 Provinces of Zambia and will be used as a talent identification avenue for the 2023 Olympic Games set for Senegal in West Africa.
Get Into Rugby Zambia Manager Tom Chaloba reviewed this on Wednesday. He said "As a Union we are very excited about the first African Olympic Games and we want to leave no stones unturned as far as our preparations are concerned. We have lined up a number of games in different locations with a view of identifying raw untapped talent which can/will be nurtured in readiness for the 2023 games".
"So far this year, more than 1,000 girls and boys have taken part in the games across towns such as Livingstone, Lusaka, Kitwe, Ndola, Luanshya, Mufulira, Kabwe and Chililabombwe. We also had Inter-Provincial Rugby games played in Chipata, Eastern Province where a number of school going kids participated", he added.
The Zambia Rugby Union through its (Get Into Rugby Zambia) partnerships with the Tag Rugby Trust and the Bhubesi Pride Foundation has really proven to be an effective way to get a hold of the young talent in areas that seemed unreachable in the past.
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Women’s Rugby World Cup African Qualifiers: Kenya defeated Uganda on Tuesday in Johannesburg during the Rugby Africa Women’s Cup
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Kenya’s Lionesses ended the game on top with a convincing 37-5 victory, beating the Lady Cranes of Uganda on Tuesday in Johannesburg, South Africa
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JOHANNESBURG, South Africa, August 13, 2019/ -- On Tuesday, Kenya played against Uganda during the 2019 Rugby Africa Women's Cup (www.RugbyAfrique.com), in a qualifier for the 2021 Women's Rugby World Cup. In an entertaining game, the Lionesses thumped the Lady Cranes 37-5.
Kenya applied pressure on their East African neighbors from the first whistle and they managed to open the scoring early on. Grace Adhiambo was the lady who drilled in three points after the Lionesses were awarded a penalty.
The score was 3-0 to Kenya at the interval following a low scoring first-half which saw Uganda grow in confidence, but the Lady Cranes could not record a point.
An entertaining second-half followed as the Lionesses extended their lead through dot-downs from Janet Okello (a brace of tries) and Staycy Atieno.
The Lady Cranes managed to score a try through Alice Nandawula, but Adhiambo completed her hat-trick of tries before Janet Owino sealed Kenya's 37-5 victory over Uganda with a late try.
Kenya coach Felix Oloo was pleased with his charges’ performance after they recorded their second successive win in the tournament and he is also confident of masterminding a victory over South Africa in their last match.
"We played according to our game plan against Uganda. At the same time, we are also happy to have tested all of the players in our squad," he said.
"We are taking it one game at a time and it will be a totally different match against South Africa. We will adopt a different approach. We are expecting a good result from the final game."
Uganda coach Edgar Lemerigar felt that his troops produced an improved performance against Kenya following their disappointing defeat to South Africa in their opening game.
"We played very well. We improved a lot from the first game against South Africa. We were trailing 3-0 during the half-time break. We got everything right," he said.
"However, we opened up in the final stages of the second-half as we committed defensive errors. Yes, we can win our last game (against Madagascar) if we play like we did in the first-half against Kenya."
The next games will be played on Saturday, August 17 in Johannesburg with Kenya taking on tournament hosts South Africa, while Uganda are set to face Madagascar.
The top-ranked team in the group after three rounds of matches will be crowned champions of the 2019 Rugby Africa Women's Cup and will qualify for the Women's Rugby World Cup to be held in New Zealand in 2021.
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Many thanks to the APO Group for including us on their media list. JLP
