Ghanaian sports administrator, Herbert Mensah received a red-carpet reception at the Kotoka International Airport in Accra on Tuesday, March 21, 2023 after being elected the President of Rugby Africa.
The former Asante Kotoko executive chairman was elected the new boss of the continent’s rugby association during its annual general meeting in South Africa on March 18, 2023.
After his overwhelming victory, Herbert Mensah returned to Ghana to a mammoth crowd awaiting him at the airport.
His welcome party had some federation Presidents in attendance and among them were Mr. Bawah Fuseini; Triathlon Ghana President, Mr. Evans Yeboah; President of Badminton Ghana, Mr Mohammed Shaban; Secretary General of Ghana Cycling Federation and Mr Jojo Empheson who represented Ghana Amateur boxing.[ads3]
Also present were the Ghana Supporters Union, some members of Ghana Rugby Football Union, and well wishers.
Herbert Mensah has taken over the mantle from Khaled Babbou and expected to take rugby in Africa to the next level in his four-year mandate.
His progressive development of the rugby game in Ghana and in compliance with world rugby standards over the past years gained greater recognition in 2019 when he was appointed a member of the Africa Rugby Executive committee.
He is one of the highly-revered personality in the rugby fraternity and in March 2019, he put forward his personal bid to take over as President of Africa Rugby at a Marrakech summit, but later announced his withdrawal from the race shortly before the declaration of President Khaled Babbou and Mensah’s subsequent appointment unto the governing board of Africa Rugby.
During the Africa Rugby Summit in Morocco, Ghana Rugby Football union(GRFU), of which Herbert Mensah is the President, also received an outstanding award from the continental rugby body for ”Best Communication strategy” as part of the 2019 rugby Africa awards night held in Marrakech-Morocco.
Herbert Mensah is highly recognised in the rugby circle as the first person to employ social media and the mass media in general to develop, advance and make the professional game of rugby popular in Ghana and Africa at large.
His contributions to the development of rugby in Africa cushioned the Ghana Rugby Football Union to be approved by the World Rugby Council as a full member union, bringing the total number to 104 full members and 17 associates on May 10, 2019
As the President of the Ghana Rugby Football Union, Herbert Mensah has for the past years, in compliance with a World Rugby youth development program ”Get Into Rugby” focused on recruiting, training, coaching and inspiring the next generation of young women rugby players in Ghana through basic schools.
His vision as President of the Ghana Rugby Football Union is to help women in Ghana rugby to compete in international tournaments in the near future hence why the union has for the past seasons been organising women’s sevens tournaments alongside men’s fifteens.
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