Pratt: I Was Shocked To Hear AMA Intends To Name Hockey Pitch After Mills

The Managing Editor of the Insight Newspaper, Kwesi Pratt Jr. has expressed dismay and questioned the locus of the Accra Metropolitan Assembly (AMA) to name the National Hockey pitch after the late President Evans Fiifi Atta Mills. Despite the fact that he is not against the naming of the pitch after the former President for his contribution to sports in Ghana, he was of the view that the power does not lie solely in the hands of the AMA to name a National edifice after anyone, just because it is in their catchment area. �I was shocked when I heard the news report this morning that the Accra Metropolitan Assembly (AMA) intends to name the National Hockey Pitch after the late President�what is the locus of the Accra Metropolitan Assembly?� According to Mr. Pratt, no one can dispute the contribution of President Mills in the development of sports in the country, but if anything is going to be named after him, it must be done in conjunction with all stake holders, in order to avoid controversy. Speaking on Metro TV, the Managing Editor of the Insight newspaper made these comments on the back of a report that the Chief Executive, Mr. Alfred Oko Vanderpujie announced at a special assembly meeting in Accra yesterday that the facility will now be known as John Evans Atta Mills Hockey Stadium. However, checks by Chairman Kwame Sefa-Kayi, the Host of Peace FM�s flagship program �Kokrokoo� indicates that the pitch has already been named after the designer of the National Flag of Ghana, Madam Theodosia Salome Okoh, who is incidentally alive. With the breaking of this angle of the story, a cross section of the general public have now formed the opinion that it would be unfair to strip the stateswoman, who is also a hockey lover off the honour bestowed on her by the state and would therefore be seen as a slap in the face of patriotism. Will the AMA push through it plans to rename the National Hockey Stadium after the late President? Time will tell.