Former Black Queens goalkeeper, Memunatu Sulemana has shared a harrowing story of how she aborted a pregnancy just to be able to play for Ghana’s senior women’s team at the African Cup of Nations.
Narrating her ordeal on Original FM in Accra, Memunatu Sulemana disclosed that the incident occurred in 1997 when she was with the national team. Memunatu Sulemana recalled that she was carrying twins by then and her coach implored her to abort the pregnancy to be able to make the team.
She noted that her late grandmother who was her guardian and the Black Queens coach by then collaborated to get rid of the pregnancy so that she would be able to play for Ghana at the tournament.
Memunatu Sulemana who was able to brave through that difficult period noted that her grandmother and coach took her to a man at Kaneshie who did the abortion for her.
“I got pregnant but my coach and grandmother decided to abort it because we were a month and a week away from going to the Black Queens camp. My coach went to see my grandparents. I was young by then so it was recently that an elderly man I know told me the place I reside was where my abortion was done,” Memunatu Sulemana said as monitored by GhanaWeb.
According to her, the 1997 African Cup of Nations was her first tournament and chance to travel outside Ghana and her coach didn’t want her to miss the tournament.
Memunatu Sulemana who was unaware of her seven-month pregnancy narrated that the man who performed the abortion only injected her and asked her to dispose of the twins who were wrapped in a black polythene in a waste bin.
“When we came, I was instructed to lie down and my stomach was injected so I felt the pain. I was carrying twins for 7 months but I didn’t know and I was not seeing it. I was having my period regularly, there were no signs of me being pregnant.
Memunatu Sulemana who at this point broke down to tears said, “The man wrapped the twins in a rubber and asked me to dispose later.”
According to her, she became aware of ramifications of her actions in 2005 after relocating from Odorkor to Kaneshie.
Memunatu Sulemana who played at three World Cups for Ghana now resides in a wooden kiosk and struggling to make ends meet.
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