President of the Africa Paralympic Committee, Mr. Samson Deen, has made a passionate appeal to fellow sports administrators to “clean the house” if Ghana is to attract meaningful support from Corporate Ghana.
Mr. Deen made the call on Tuesday, July 7, 2026, during the unveiling of Eezzy Group Foundation’s partnership with Team Ghana ahead of the 2026 Glasgow Commonwealth Games. The event was held at the La Palm Hotel in Accra, where Eezzy Group donated GHS 800,000 to support Team Ghana’s preparations.
His remarks came after Mr. Mawuko Afadzinu, 1st Vice President of the Commonwealth Games Association Ghana (CGA), appealed to corporate bodies to invest more in sports.
Mr. Deen said the lack of unity and internal wrangling in sports administration is driving sponsors away.
“And for my colleagues in sports, I am happy, Mr. Mawuko, you made some statements about Corporate Ghana. It is time we cleaned the house. We have to clean the house. If we want to do it, we must clean it. Our sports like he told me when I said the same thing — Mr. Mawuko, you know it,” he said.
“We have great people around. But why is everybody running away? Everyone is trying to find a way out of sports. Why? Are they running from sports? It is because of one thing: ‘Let me remove him and get there.’ And if I say I am in charge in Kenya, then it becomes a big problem. Then we destroy ourselves. How do you expect a sponsor to bring money and dump it into confusion? It is not possible. It is not. Sports belong to all of us. Let us do it right.”
Citing his leadership at the National Paralympic Committee since 2019, Mr. Deen said discipline and a unified front were key to gaining respect from institutions and sponsors.
“Let us change it. It is not just by the words ‘reset, reset.’ No. It is by action. When I became President of the Paralympic Committee in 2019, the rules were clear. You were not supposed to grant interviews. I told my athletes, ‘It is not your job. Do not go and seek support from anybody. If I am the president, you cannot seek support on radio.'”
“I banned it. Those who disagreed with me later agreed that what I was saying was right. Because people had it in their minds that Paralympians are beggars. I said no. If I am there, you cannot beg on radio. You cannot write any letter to any institution. If I see your letter, I will stop it. Now, when we write, they respect it. Because they believe it is a whole institution speaking, not individuals.”
Mr. Deen urged all sports associations to emulate that approach and present a united front to government and corporate partners.
“It is the same thing that applies to many of our sports associations. What are we doing? We are just watching. No, let us stand firm. Let us come together — athletics, swimming, everybody. Let us come together as one unit. To the politicians, I am one of them. We will come if you push us to help you destroy it. But if you push us to do the right thing, we will do the right thing.”
