Former Ghana Olympic Committee (GOC) President, Prof. Francis Dodoo, has been appointed Chairman of the newly-inaugurated 13-member governing board of the Ghana Anti-Doping Agency (GADA).

Other members include Killian Kwame Abrampah (Secretary to the Board), former Black Stars captain Stephen Appiah, ACP Asiedu Eric Asamoah and Mrs Wilhelmina Asamoah, Chief Director, Ministry of Sports & Recreation.

The board, which was sworn in by the Sports and Recreation Minister, Kofi Iddie Adams, at the Ministries in Accra yesterday, is charged with safeguarding and driving the integrity of sports and sportsmen in this country.

It aligns with the Ghana Anti-Doping Act, 2024, enacted by the Parliament of Ghana for the establishment of the Ghana Anti-Doping Agency, implementation of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation Convention Against Doping in Sports, the promotion of clean sports and for related matters.

Inaugurating the group, Mr Adams expressed gratitude to the members for accepting the role, noting that a mandate as sensitive and consequential as safeguarding integrity in sport demands a heavy responsibility.

Passage of bill 

He stated that following the passage of the bill in Parliament in March 2024 and the establishment of GADA last year, Ghana has aligned its legal framework with the World Anti-Doping Code by the appointment of leadership, with a Secretariat building in the process.

"I sincerely thank you for accepting this call to serve. Public service is never convenient. It demands time, sacrifice, patience and courage. By accepting these appointments, you have chosen duty over comfort, responsibility over convenience and principle over ease. Ghana is grateful to you," he stated.

"Today marks a defining moment in Ghana’s sporting history. We are completing a national journey from intention to institution, from advocacy to law, and from law to action. Ghana has taken a firm and irreversible step forward because Ghanaian athletes deserve guidance and protection," the MP for Buem said.

"You are now the custodians of a system that must protect athletes, guide institutions and assure the world that Ghana competes with honour. I look forward to working with you to position Ghana as a model of clean, credible and principled sport in Africa and beyond," Mr Adams added.

Other members of the board are Yennah Ngminlasongna Michael, Dr George Tsey Sabblah, Hazel Juddy Mensah, Anna Pearl Akiwumi Siriboe, Gaetan Charles Adangabey, Apollonius Osei-Akoto Asare, Dr Christian Hagin and Wosiela Eve Bobie.