The President of the Ghana Rugby Football Union and former Chairman of Kumasi Asante Kotoko, Mr. Herbert Mensah has stated that a positive attitudinal change is more important than lessons learnt from the May 9th tragedy that occurred in 2001.
“There is no lesson to be learnt from May 9th disaster. As Ghanaians, we must change our attitude to prevent such disasters from happening in this country”, he specified.
Mr. Mensah cited Russia and other European countries where the passion for football has led to similar tragedies noting that the disaster that struck the football fraternity is not a peculiar case for Ghana. He underscored the need for football administrators and the Sports ministry to put the right measures in place to enhance the safety of people who watch football at various stadia across the country.
He said that human beings have the tendency to go astray adding that people who break the law must be punished drastically.
Speaking at the just ended annual May 9th remembrance in Kumasi, Herbert Mensah described the loss of the precious souls as the worst calamity that has ever happened in the history of Ghana which must not be swept under the carpet.
According to him, the anniversary was not just a remembrance but to offer assistance to affected families and most importantly pay respect to victims who lost their lives on that day.
In an exclusive interview with XFMNewscenter, Chairman of Kumasi Asante Kotoko, Mr. Opoku Nti praised Mr. Herbert Mensah for his enormous task of helping the families since the incident occurred fourteen years ago.
Mr. Nti noted that this year’s event was remarkable and pledged his support for subsequent years.
An Islamic prayer was offered for the departed souls at the Kumasi central mosque.
The occasion ended on Saturday 9th of May with a peaceful walk and an inter-community football game between two Zongo communities in Kumasi.
The anniversary was supported by Interplast Ghana Limited, Melcom Ghana, Printex Limited, Latex Foam, Voltic Limited, Inesfly Africa, Sunda International, Kessben Group, XFM, Daily Guide and Peace FM among others.