Mr Herbert Mensah, Chairman of Kumasi Asante Kotoko at the time of the second biggest recorded stadium disasters, is true to nature remembering the tragedy of 9 May 2001 for the 16th consecutive year in 2017 with a series of events in Kumasi.
The Accra Sports Stadium disaster occurred at the then Ohene Djan Stadium, Accra, Ghana on May 9, 2001. It took the lives of 127 people, making it the worst stadium disaster to have ever taken place in Africa.
May 9th 2001 occurred during a match between Ghana's two most successful football teams, Accra Hearts of Oak Sporting Club and Kumasi Asante Kotoko. Trouble had been anticipated, and extra security measures had been taken. The home side scored two late goals to defeat Kotoko 2–1 which led to disappointed Kotoko fans throwing plastic seats and bottles onto the pitch.
The response to this crowd disturbance from the police was to fire tear gas into the crowd. Panic ensued and a resulting stampede led to the deaths from compressive asphyxia of 127 people.
Since that tragic day in 2001 a group of philanthropists under leadership of Herbert Mensah, supported by various individuals and companies in Ghana, religiously remembered the day with a series of events that include prayers at churches and at the central mosques in Accra and Ghana, a huge “May 9th Remembered Street Walk” in Kumasi and a May 9th Remembered football match between teams from both the South and the North.
This year’s prayer session at the Central Mosque in Kumasi took place on Friday 5 May 2017. The Ashanti Regional Chief Imam, Sheikh Abdul Mumin Haruun, prayed that Allah may bless Mensah and his associates with the compassionate work they have been doing for so many years.
Herbert Mensah repeated his message of May 9th Remembered in that he said, “We realise that we live in a nation where we forget our heroes. We do not celebrate our past until it is often too late. As a result we have made sure that every year we visit and provide material support for the families of the lost ones.”
Mensah also said that the message of May 9th Remembered is to also bring a positive message of responsibility to administrators, sports fans and the youth of Ghana in general.
The 2017 May 9th Remembered programme also included the customary May 9th Remembered Kumasi Street Walk and a May 9th Remembered Cup between Aboabo Number One and Kantudu on Saturday 6 May
This year’s celebrations also included a visit to Manhyia Palace on the 6th of May, a day that coincides with the Otumfuo's birthday celebrations.
<<Print>>