Mahama’s Sports Minister: Dissecting the chances of Nii Lante Vanderpuye

Former Member of Parliament for the Odododiodioo constituency, Edwin Nii Lante Vanderpuye, has been marked as one of the likely candidates for the Minister of Youth and Sports role in the Mahama government.

Nii Lante has been vocal about issues relating to sports in Ghana, especially football, and hopes to be given the opportunity to serve the nation again.

President John Dramani Mahama is yet to announce his ministers, with most people in the sporting fraternity wanting to know who will become the sports minister.

This GhanaWeb Sports write-up highlights the profile and analyzes the chances of Nii Lante Vanderpuye.

Nii Lante Vanderpuye's profile

Edwin Nii Lante Vanderpuye, born on June 11, 1965, is a politician and the Member of Parliament for the Odododiodioo constituency.

In March 2013, he was appointed as Deputy Minister for Trade and Industry under the John Mahama government.

He served in that role until 2014 when he was moved to serve as Deputy Minister for Local Government and Rural Development, where he served until 2015.

After a ministerial reshuffle in 2015, Vanderpuye was named by John Dramani Mahama as Minister of Youth and Sports to replace Dr. Mustapha Ahmed.

Reasons Nii Lante might get the sports minister appointment

Seen as an ideal candidate for radical changes in the sports sector:

Nii Lante is viewed as someone who does not tolerate mediocrity and would do well to get the best out of everything.

He has said on numerous occasions that he would revamp the sports sector which includes accounting for misused funds.

One of the things he has said is to make sure the Ghana Football Association (GFA) is dissolved and improve the performances of the national teams.

Experience as a Sports Journalist and Administrator:

Nii Lante worked as a sports journalist for over a decade before venturing into politics to become a Member of Parliament.

From 1990 to 2004, he worked at the Ghana Broadcasting Corporation, where he became the Deputy Head of Sports.

Between 2005 and 2008, he was the Head of Sports at Network Broadcasting Limited.

He is known to be one of the administrators that ensured the success of Liberty Professionals.

Nii Lante was also involved in sporting activities such as boxing and other athletics events during his schooling days, which he stopped due to certain setbacks in sports in Ghana.

Performance as sports minister:

Nii Lante’s tenure as sports minister from 2015-2016 was viewed as one of the best.

He is credited with confronting the GFA administration of the time and instituting accountability and transparency at the top level of sports management in the country.

Reasons Nii Lante might not get the ministerial appointment

Powerful football bloc could lobby against his appointment:

Nii Lante is not known to be a popular figure within the football circles due to his perceived direct and confrontational way of handling issues.

The football industry has been known to have powerful persons who could lobby against appointing someone they consider to be an outsider.

Reported interest in serving in a different capacity:

While Nii Lante has not ruled out a return to the Sports Ministry, it has been reported that he would love a role outside the sports fraternity.

This report has been corroborated by his disclosure that while he will not be in Parliament, he will be training the new NDC MPs.

In spite of all these reports, it remains to be seen the role he would serve in the John Dramani Mahama-led administration.

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