Even before nominations would be opened for the 2014 Sports Writers Association of Ghana (SWAG) elections, Larry George Botchway has made his intentions known that he is going for the position of Vice President.
Speaking to yours truly in an exclusive interview at the Accra Sports Stadium, the Assistant Public Relations Officer at the Ministry of Youth and Sports indicated that he had served the SWAG with all his heart and had been very regular at meetings.
He said the SWAG is a very big organization, however it has not been branded the way he wished, so when he is voted into power as an executive, he would lead a crusade to make the Association more popular and invite all sports journalists and broadcasters to join.
According to Mr. Botchway, as PRO at the Ministry of Youth and Sports, he was able to create a very cordial relationship with the umbrella body of all sports media in Ghana, which resulted in over 20 members travelling to South Africa to cover the 2013 African Cup of Nations.
He noted that a similar thing could have happened for the FIFA World Cup in Brazil, but some members went behind the Association to demand slots for the World Cup, resulting in SWAG being offered only three slots by the Ministry.
He said SWAG is recognized by the International Sports Press Association (AIPS) as very vibrant having been in existence for the past 46 years and been able to organize the most popular Awards ceremony over 39 years.
Mr. Botchway said if members give him the mandate he would continue with the good works initiated by past officers of the Association, and bring on board new ideas.
He was sad that the website of the Association initiated by the Deputy General Secretary is not updated regularly and observed that there are many things that can be done to attract more members and also link up with corporate Ghana.
The SWAG elections is supposed to be held in December, however at the time of filing this report, the Association has not met since June.
Meanwhile, the current President Ackah Anthony, who has served two terms since he was inducted into office at the Alisa Hotel on January 12, 2007 has called on members to be circumspect in voting to elect new executives as the Association would be honouring the 40th SWAG Awards in 2015 and hope to see officers who have the knowledge and experience of organizing a remarkable ceremony.
The current Vice President of the Association is Ben Ohene Ayeh, now with the Ghana Tourism Board. The veteran sports journalist worked at the Ghanaian Times and edited The Phobian Sports Newspaper.