President John Dramani Mahama's decision to separate the Ministry of Youth and Sports is aimed at making issues of sports and recreation different from issues of youth empowerment.

During his 2024 election campaign tour, Mahama noted that despite the ministry catering to both youth and sports, the youth seemed sidelined, affecting its mandate.

Mahama explained that the youth should have their own ministry to receive more attention, focusing on all sectors of the economy for their benefit.

He emphasized that this separation would help create measures to increase employment opportunities for the youth, improving their lives.

"We're going to separate youth from sports because it's a youth and sports ministry. However, over the years, the focus has been solely on sports, and even then, only on the Black Stars.

"My vision for this ministry is to mainstream youth interests in all sectors of the economy. It will focus on mainstreaming youth interests and concentrate on rolling out strategies to create jobs for young people," he said.

Mahama fulfilled his promise by separating the ministry into the Youth Development and Empowerment Ministry and the Ministry of Sports and Recreation.

About the separation of the Ministry of Youth and Sports

President John Dramani Mahama announced the separation of the Youth and Sports Ministry as part of his government’s effort to reduce the number of ministries.

In a directive issued on January 11, 2024, the Mahama-led government has split the ministry into two independent institutions- the Youth Development and Empowerment Ministry and the Sports and Recreation Ministry.

The Ministry of Youth and Sports has been a merged institution since 1981, initially known as the PNDC Secretary for Youth and Sports.

It transitioned into a full-fledged ministry in 1993 when Ghana returned to constitutional rule under the late President Jerry John Rawlings.

The late Enoch Teye Mensah, a former Member of Parliament, was appointed as the first Minister for Youth and Sports.

Watch Mahama's remarks in the video below:

The reason why the Ministry of Youth and Sports has been changed to the Ministry of Sports and Recreation - President John Mahama. pic.twitter.com/KY9jO40tFl

— BIG KAY🇬🇭 (@OfficialBigkay) January 12, 2025